The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
I'm often stunned by the lack of questions that adults are prepared to ask.
When you see kids go on a field trip, the questions pour out of them. Never ending, interesting, deep… even risky.
And then the resistance kicks in and we apparently lose the ability.
Is the weather the only thing you can think to ask about? A great question is one you can ask yourself, one that disturbs your status quo and scares you a little bit.
The A part is easy. We're good at answers. Q, not so much.
Exploring #Occupy 2.0 – Part 4 – Model Community Bill of Rights and the Simultaneous Policy
Here is another example of the potential of the Occupy movement.
A major focus of Occupy is the need to radically reduce the toxic impact of corporations in our society and on our shared environment. Although corporations have a very valuable role to play, the form and actions of large multinationals and speculative financial institutions, in particular, have become increasingly toxic, and this needs urgent correction.
There are limits to what nations individually can do about this, given the way things are set up at the moment. However, there is great promise in both global action and community level action.
For global action, I find the Simultaneous Policy fascinating: http://www.simpol.org. This is a global network of activists working to design and promote economic and environmental policies that can then be pushed into law all over the world simultaneously. To the extent they are successful, business interests will have a harder time finding places to operate where they can profit at the expense of human and natural communities.
At the other end of the scale of activism – the local community – we find the Community Bill of Rights described below. It “can be used by Occupy cities to begin using lawmaking activities in cities and towns to build a new legal structure of rights that empowers community majorities over corporate minorities, rather than the other way around.”
As we gather energy to rework our economic and political systems so they are truly responsive to the needs of Life, the Simultaneous Policy and the Community Bill of Rights are two potentially very powerful tools we can use together to make a difference.
Coheartedly,
Tom
Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities
Prepared by Jeff Reifman, Envision Seattle and Thomas Linzey, Esq.
The Future of Occupy, December 11, 2011
There is strong undercurrent of “get out of the banks now.” Here are a couple of messages floating around, together with the observation to Occupy seems intent on creating an Occupy credit union and global lending network.
No. It's THE code breaker. No more secrets… Sneakers
Victims in hacking of security analyst Stratfor targeted after speaking to news media, online
Associated Press, 27 December 2011
EXTRACT:
The loose-knit hacking movement “Anonymous” claimed Sunday through Twitter that it had stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to the company’s clients. Anonymous members posted links to some of the information Sunday and more on Monday.
Phi Beta Iota: We sounded the alarm in 1994 and were ignored. We sounded it again in 2010 and were ignored. STRATFOR is the lowest common denominator in an abysmally irresponsible government-private sector ecology of ignorance mixed with complacency.
It's a real shame Gates could not connect to his integrity while in office.
Gates on D.C. lawmakers: ‘Oversized egos and undersized backbones'
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called out lawmakers for their inability to compromise and develop bipartisan strategies and policies to “address our very real and serious problems.”
During a speech in which he called Washington a town of “oversized egos and undersized backbones,” Gates said “zero-sum politics and ideological siege warfare are the new order of the day.”
Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Dr. Robert Gates Finds His Integrity”
Clintonizing Perpetual War
The same week Obama declared an end to the Iraq War, Congress brought the US closer to confrontation with Iran
Jasmine Ramsey, Al Jazeera, 23 Dec 2011
In the same week that President Obama declared an end to the Iraq War, Congress brought Americans closer to confrontation with Iran. The whimper with which America's presence in Iraq ended was also drowned out by Republican presidential hopefuls beating war drums. This is America nearly four years into Obama's leadership. The President may have begun his term by trying to pursue a different path with Iran, but his acquiescence to domestic lobbying has made the results of his policies indistinguishable from his predecessor. Ironically, his attempts to appease pro-Israel advocates have only invited more onerous demands while leaving would-be supporters disillusioned.
