Just Say No!...

My grown kids worry about my homeless/moneyless situation;

They want to know why I just can't/won't play THE GAME...

Because THE GAME is toxic and kills...

My soul demands that I refuse to collaborate and enable THE GAME, and to do what I can to interrupt, if not end, it;

I bear witness to, and call out, its sociopathic cruelty - NOT IN MY NAME - and I pay a material price for that...

And the price we all pay for playing THE GAME is much higher than the loss of physical comfort and "security"...

In this case, just saying "NO", abstaining, is really the only strategy we have that will work in ending the madness...

 

Post Script:

I've had a lot of response to this post, particularly from older women who are in the same situation, walking the same revolutionary path;

We've turned our backs on security to push for change;

Our souls want/need to help heal the world, for all the other beings on the planet, and for our children and grandchildren... 

“The world will be saved by the Western woman.”

~Dalai Lama

Vancouver Peace Summit, 2009

I'm Not Male, I'm Not Jewish & I'm Not American...

... but I'll take with pride, the association a Twitter follower made with Saul Alinksy...

This is who Saul Alinsky was: Saul Alinsky - Life and Work

and this is some of what he said in his 1946 "Reveille for Radicals":

"... A People’s Organization is a conflict group, [and] this must be openly and fully recognized.  It's sole reason in coming into being is to wage war against all evils which cause suffering and unhappiness.  A People’s Organization is the banding together of large numbers of men and women to fight for those rights which insure a decent way of life. . .

A People’s Organization is dedicated to an eternal war.  It is a war against poverty, misery, delinquency, disease, injustice, hopelessness, despair, and unhappiness. They are basically the same issues for which nations have gone to war in almost every generation. . . War is not an intellectual debate, and in the war against social evils there are no rules of fair play. . .

A People’s Organization lives in a world of hard reality.  It lives in the midst of smashing forces, dashing struggles, sweeping cross-currents, ripping passions, conflict, confusion, seeming chaos, the hot and the cold, the squalor and the drama, which people prosaically refer to as life and students describe as 'society'..."

 

 

Newt Gingrich doesn't like Saul Alinsky... how sad... too bad!

 

Keep Your Hands Off My Web...

I will not be posting new blog entries

for 24 hours after midnight 17-18 January 2012,

in solidarity with the internet blackout protest

over SOPA -

the internet censorship legislation
the oligarchs are attempting to impose on US citizens...

 

Christmas Arrived Early In Seattle...

I've already got my Christmas present,

as have many Seattle public education advocates:

"Seattle scores victory over GATES and BROAD; evicts education deformist superintendent, kicks out/dumps two education deform puppet school board directors and the deformist interim super resigns rather than having to compete for her job against other qualified applicants in an open search..."

Not a bad score for the second half of this year...

Get rid of Teach For America and MAP standardised testing and kill charters and common core curriculum before they get their feet under the table and all will be well with the world!!! 

Big grin...

Seriously though, our progress here in Seattle, education deform head honcho Bill Gates' own backyard, is giving a sense of hope to other school districts all over the country, fighting the same hostile corporate takeover of public education...
 

They think that if we can do it here, they can do it anywhere!

Thanks Santa, elves, fairies etc...

 

And the Seattle "establishment" - ie those sycophantic people hanging onto the coat tails of Bill Gates and Eli Broad - is pissy that we parents have not fallen hook, line and sinker for the lies, manipulations and half truths that have been fed to us...

They've been whining in the Seattle "media" over the past couple of weeks about us and our apparent lack of understanding and appreciation of the need for their brand of education deform...

Seattle has the most educated population in the country, in terms of the adults in the city...

And MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, if all of these educated adults have not embraced the Eli Broad and Bill Gates vision of education deform, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE corporatist education deform REALLY IS BAD FOR OUR KIDS - ALL OUR KIDS...

It requires local knowledge of the situation and the players involved to really appreciate the following contributions by parents and teachers within the community, but the visuals should be enough to get the gist:

As AuntyBROAD points out - in 2007 Big Business bought itself a school board:

 

Big Business again used big money to try to keep its school board puppets in power this year, enabling the incumbents to outspend the challengers by an average of 4-1; guess the oligarchs learned that "money can't buy me love"...

LYRICS:
Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love

I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend
If it makes you feel all right
I'll get you anything my friend
If it makes you feel all right
Cause I don't care too much for money
For money can't buy me love

I'll give you all I've got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
but what I've got I'll give to you
For I don't care too much for money
For money can't buy me love

Can't buy me love
Everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love
No, no, no, no

Say you don't need no diamond ring
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want those kind of things
that money just can't buy
For I don't care too much for money
For money can't buy me love

Can't buy me love
Everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love
No, no, no, no

Say you don't need no diamond ring
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want those kind of things
that money just can't buy
For I don't care too much for money
Cause money can't buy me love
Ooh, can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love, no

Deformist Superintendent does her thing:

Parents: We're Not Stupid...

and from Seattle public school parent Arch Stanton:

 

If you want all the gory details, you can find them at the Public Disclosure Commission, at the Seattle Schools Community Forum and the Seattle Education Blog 

 

Happy Holidays To One And All

 

and Get Ready...

2012 Will Be A Wild Ride

In More Ways Than One...

 

 

Calling A Spade A Spade...

When I deconstruct things down to their bare bones (something for which I seem to have a gift!) some people get pissy and say I'm just being crass...

Well, not sure this woman could be accused of being crass - sardonic yes, crass no:

And if you do want to say she's crass, then I'm in very good company!

What's It All About, Alfie?...

LYRICS:

What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
or are we meant to be kind?

 
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
then I guess it's wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
what will you lend on an old golden rule?
 

As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there's something much more,
something even non-believers can believe in.

 
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
and you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.

LETTER TO THE RULING CLASS:

You control our world. 

You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. 

We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. 

You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. 

We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. 

You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. 

You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. 

You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. 

You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. 

We are hit… we are bleeding… but we ain’t got time to bleed. 

We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution!

~ A Pencos Reyes

 

The More Things Change...

...the more they stay the same...

20 Minutes Is All It Takes...

... to turn a news report into propaganda:

The Occupation Continues...

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”

~ Howard Zinn

Two weeks now, and still going... 


Though you wouldn't know it from the mainstream media...

The Occupation is spreading as people realise WE ARE THE 99%...

Occupations are now happening all over the US and across the world:

MIDWEST
Occupy Chicago
Occupy Cincinnati
Occupy Cleveland
Occupy Columbus, OH
Occupy Indiana
Occupy Indianapolis
Occupy Kansas City
Occupy Michigan
Occupy Minnesota
Occupy OKC
Occupy Omaha
Occupy OSU (Stillwater)
Occupy St. Louis
Occupy Tulsa
Occupy Wisconsin
Occupy Youngstown

NORTHEAST
Occupy Albany
Occupy Binghamton
Occupy Boston
Occupy D.C.
Occupy Hartford, CT
Occupy Maine
Occupy New Haven
Occupy New Jersey
Occupy Pittsburgh
Occupy Providence, RI
Occupy Rochester
Occupy Vermont

SOUTHEAST
Occupy Arkansas
Occupy Asheville
Occupy Atlanta
Occupy Birmingham, AL
Occupy Charlotte
Occupy Clarksville, TN
Occupy Columbus, GA
Occupy Daytona Beach
Occupy Durham
Occupy Florence, SC
Occupy Greensboro
Occupy Jacksonville, FL
Occupy Knoxville
Occupy Lexington, KY
Occupy Louisville
Occupy Memphis
Occupy Mississippi
Occupy Nashville
Occupy New Orleans
Occupy Orlando
Occupy Raleigh, NC
Occupy Richmond, VA
Occupy Tallahassee
Occupy Tampa
Occupy Winston Salem

SOUTHWEST

Occupy Albuquerque
Occupy Austin
Occupy Dallas
Occupy Houston
Occupy Phoenix
Occupy San Antonio
Occupy Tucson
 

WEST
Occupy Boise
Occupy Colorado Springs
Occupy Denver
Occupy Eugene
Occupy Las Vegas
Occupy Los Angeles
Occupy Olympia
Occupy Portland
Occupy Sacramento
Occupy Salt Lake City
Occupy San Diego
Occupy San Francisco
Occupy San Jose
Occupy Santa Cruz
Occupy Seattle
Occupy Spokane

INTERNATIONAL
Occupy Adelaide
Occupy Brisbane
OCCUPY DEN HAAG (NL)
Occupy Finland
Occupy Frankfurt Germany
Occupy Hamburg Germany
Occupy Manchester | March on the Tory Party Conference
Occupy Melbourne Australia
Occupy Montreal
Occupy Perth
Occupy the London Stock Exchange
Occupy Toronto Market Exchange
Occupy Vancouver 

Occupy Together 

KIA KAHA - BE STRONG

It Has Begun...

Rage Against The Machine...

"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious - makes you so sick at heart - that you can't take part.

You can't even passively take part.

And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop.

And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

- Mario Savio, Berkeley, California, December 2, 1964

LYRICS:

Come on!
Uggh!

Come on, although ya try to discredit
Ya still never read it
The needle, I'll thread it
Radically poetic
Standin' with the fury that they had in '66
And like E-Double I'm mad
Still knee-deep in the system's shit
Hoover, he was a body remover
I'll give ya a dose
But it can never come close
To the rage built up inside of me
Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy

Movements come and movements go
Leaders speak, movements cease
When their heads are flown
'Cause all these punks
Got bullets in their heads
Departments of police, the judges, the feds
Networks at work, keepin' people calm
You know they went after King
When he spoke out on Vietnam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

Yeah!
Yeah, back in this...
Wit' poetry, my mind I flex
Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat finesse
Whadda I got to, whadda I got to do to wake ya up
To shake ya up, to break the structure up
'Cause blood still flows in the gutter
I'm like takin' photos
Mad boy kicks open the shutter
Set the groove
Then stick and move like I was Cassius
Rep the stutter step
Then bomb a left upon the fascists
Yea, the several federal men
Who pulled schemes on the dream
And put it to an end
Ya better beware
Of retribution with mind war
20/20 visions and murals with metaphors
Networks at work, keepin' people calm
Ya know they murdered X
And tried to blame it on Islam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

Uggh!
What was the price on his head?
What was the price on his head!

I think I heard a shot
I think I heard a shot
I think I heard a shot
I think I heard a shot
I think I heard a shot
I think I heard, I think I heard a shot

'He may be a real contender for this position should he
abandon his supposed obedience to white liberal doctrine
of non-violence...and embrace black nationalism'
'Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to
pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them.
Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to
pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them
and neutralize them, and neutralize them, and neutralize them'

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

How long? Not long, cause what you reap is what you sow

The young see it for what it is...

What is it that happens inside us,

to turn us all into collaborators, enablers?

Where is YOUR rage?

What are you going to DO with it?

 

Charlie Is My Darling...

Twas on a Monday morning,
Right early in the year,
When Charlie came to our town
The Young Chevalier.

Chorus
Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling.
Charlie is my darling, the young Chevalier.

As he cam' marchin' up the street,
The pipes played loud and clear.
And a' the folk cam' rinnin' out
To meet the Chevalier.

Chorus

Wi' highland bonnets on their heads
And claymores bright and clear,
They cam' to fight for Scotland's right
And the young Chevalier.

Chorus

They've left their bonnie highland hills,
Their wives and bairnies dear,
To draw the sword for Scotland's lord,
The young Chevalier.

Chorus

Oh, there were many beating hearts,
And mony a hope and fear,
And mony were the pray'rs put up,
For the young Chevalier.

Chorus

Meaning of unusual words:
Chevalier=a French order of knighthood
bairnies=children

Prince Charles Edward Stewart, the young Chevalier or Young Pretender, raised his standard at Glenfinnan, at the start of the '45 Jacobite Uprising on August 19, 1745.  The campaign lasted through the winter and although his army reached as far as Derby, by early in 1746 he was back in Scotland and was finally defeated at Culloden Moor on April 16, 1746.
   

This song is attributed to both James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, who lived from 1770 to 1835 and Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairnie) who lived from 1766-1845. There is yet another version by Charles Gray (1782 - 1851).

And because I'm not a royalist, THIS Charlie is MY Darlin':

What Are We Waiting For?

The Time Is Now...

...Where Are You?

Women, World, Crows & Freedom...

Indigenous elders around the world, say the change we need will be brought by us women...

LYRICS:

Cause I come from the land of the shaming
Where the innocent are taken to the pavement
Won't somebody just tell them
Won't somebody oh, won't somebody oh oh oh oh oh...

Won't you please look after my children 

All the words that are coming from the mouths of the women 

Someone gettin' all the wood to get the fire laid

Someone pickin' up the pieces of the last days

Won't somebody oh oh oh oh oh

So we're Calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free

Cause I come from the land of the shaming
Where the world is looking up you know it's changing
Won't somebody just tell them
Won't somebody oh, won't somebody oh oh oh oh oh...

So we're calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement

Then get up girl and let them know you're free

 
Said the rebel to the rebel
I will go if you come with me
I'm tired of living in a fable
Blue sky I'd love to see
The journey must continue and does not start or end here, no
Cause the rivers wide
but with all of us we can reach from side to side
and it is here that we must all hold so dear

So we're calling all the crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary come with me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free

It's just a murder of crows
They comin' in slow
It's gonna be a show down
Said the rebel to the revolutionary follow me
And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement
Then get up girl and let them know you're free
You got to get up girl and let them know you're free
You got to get up girl and girl let them know you're free

 HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CLAIM FREEDOM

FOR YOURSELF AND THE WORLD

TODAY

AND 

EVERY DAY

HEREAFTER?