Japan

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Second Harvest Japan

oops, they've gotten so much response, their website crashed, so Microsoft set up this emergency donations site for them that can handle the traffic: http://2ndharvestjapan.blob.core.windows.net/index.html
Japan will be fine. She will be better than before. She is relearning the value of community, simplicity, courage, compassion, cooperation. People are leaving gifts of food and water to total strangers, seeing the stars for the first time.

Japan will develop the most sophisticated wind energy program on the planet. She'll develop community housing and public transportation. New technologies in communications will evolve.

Many Japanese will emigrate to Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and return money to relatives back home. In a few decades, they will return to their homeland, brimming with even better visions of recovery, having lived in heterogeneous communities.

Japan will be the first nation to evolve beyond corporate, crony capitalism into something more humanistic, cooperative and sustainable. Japan will show us the way.

I have no idea where it came from and I'm not a woo woo person. I just know it can happen. The Japanese went from submitting to cultural expectations to flirting with American style individualism. But, in their hearts, they are Japanese, and that comes first. Cell phones, Elvis impersonations and Lolicon don't matter a hill of beans now. Japanese aren't afraid of hard work and do not indulge in self pity. They know how to do it without complaining and they know how to live sparse.

I grieve for the dead, for the families, for lost art and culture.

And I look at what Japan has done since the end of WWII. Yes, they got economic assistance from the "West." But THEY did the work. The Japanese TOILET is a miracle of modern science, compared to squatting over an open hole in the floor. They'll innovate their way out of this, watch and see.

I just think we need to start spreading this rumor, and it will happen.

Dan Reed - The Dictator

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We are anonymous. Expect us. 

The Dictator - Lyrics by Charlie Chaplin and Dan Reed, Music by Dan Reed and Brad Fish
Director - Noah Shulman for Sleepless City Productions
Special Thanks to Max Wasa from Liquid Music Group

Radiation wind needs to come toward US, Hawai'i

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I don't believe in woo woo magical invisible beings in the sky. I do believe we can change things by working hard. I don't believe we can will them to be as we wish. For those of you who do, you might consider drawing the winds from Japan over to the USA.

All this panic about iodine pills that can really make you sick, if you don't need them is absolutely pointless. The clouds of radiation need to travel toward us! They'll dilute in the atmosphere and won't expose us to but a smidge of the total radiation.

This is the way the Trade Winds blow. As you see, the air currents do not easily send air from as far as Japan over Hawaii or the Western United States.

 

North Pacific Gyre, Trade Winds

This chart shows you accurately what to expect from radiation exposure. Use it when you hear news reports about how much radiation is in the atmosphere.

This shows why it is essential that the wind come toward the United States. The small map shows that the wind, with the highest concentrations of radiation in it, would flow right over Tokyo. Tokyo is evacuating as we speak. That's nearly thirteen million people. And there are lots of people in between and past Tokyo who will be exposed to lethal doses, if the plant continues as it is going at present.

Bill Maher to Poor People

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Ok, as a poor folks' advocate and homeless person, this made me cry. And I'm an atheist. And this is one reason why! Brilliant! more of Faith47: www.streetartutopia.com/?p=1483

I've been saying this for YEARS! Thanks for posting this! When "Survivor" first came out, I said, aw, that's nothing. Throw them in the War Zone of Albuquerque with no car, credit cards or connections and see if they can survive. Now, THAT would be a show I'd watch! Thanks, Donna, this is a great find. I laughed my ass off! Sharing!

Bill Maher to Poor People: Stop Thinking Your Interests are the Same as the Rich

A scientific tour of pigeon poop

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This little research project was inspired by an Atheist Quote of the Day on Facebook:

"Having a degree in the field of biology, I can't help but to chuckle a bit under my breath, and be endlessly amazed when I'm in a Christian church and look up at the stained glass windows to see them ironically adorned with holy pigeons. Being the most vile of birds and the least intelligent of all Near Passerines, who coincidentally make it a habit of shitting in their own nests, I guess for all intents and purposes it's the most appropriate symbol."-- J. Hazelton

It seems I am not alone amongst atheists in thinking pigeons quite nice people, although, of course, there are always urban cranks who hate them. We have a small flock out here in the frontier of New Mexico at the entrance to our little subdivision of cows, house trailers and beaten down trucks. They perch on the gateway to the place and don't really bother anybody. Of course, out here, we're not piled on top of each other, like those nasty urban dwellers who can sleep right under a neighbor's toilet! Disgusting humans!

So, folks, there's your scientific tour of pigeon poop.

These "nasty bird" pictures are posted by a pigeon murderer for hire:
Got Pigeons living and pooping on your home or business ?

QUOTE: As the saying goes, “What goes in, must come out,” and that’s when my love affair with nature came to an abrupt halt. When the nestlings are very small, the feces, which are encased in a gelatinous sack, are normally consumed by the adults. Because the digestive efficiency of the young is so low, significant nutrients remain in the sac, so this system acts as a natural recycling mechanism. With older nestlings, the black-and-white sacs are supposedly dropped away from the nest, our common biological imperative not to poop where we eat. Nestlings deposit on the rim of the nest. In this case, one side of the rim was the great outdoors. Unfortunately, the other side happened to be inside my apartment, and the droppings quickly began piling up on my bathroom shelf.

A single pigeon produces an average of 25 pounds of excrement per year. END QUOTE

"The Poop on Pigeons"

There's a joke among Southern Black folk: What do you call the white spot on chicken sh!t? Answer: chicken sh!t! Well, it turns out, it's NOT! This doctor will take you on a tour of pigeon nests:

help the Japanese

"God" won't hear your pleas. So, get up off your knees, rolling up your sleeves and HELP THE JAPANESE! ~Rogi Riverstone 03/11/2011
nonbelievers giving aid to Japan: http://givingaid.richarddawkins.net/

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 Comment to a fellow non-believer:
James, I got "blocked" yesterday by Facebook from posting in public pages/groups, as I'd posted so many links to aid and relief organizations all over the 'net. Their software assumed I was generating spam, not trying to help people save their own lives. Same happened during Egyptian demonstrations, too.

Anyway, I cannot find the source of this photo, and I really looked. I traced it back to a facebook site, and there are 2 copies of it in blogs (one is mine). I tried all sorts of search categories, including different combination of words like Korean, Film, Dead Child, Flood, Chinese, Japanese, Tsunami, etc. I cannot find it. Wish I could. Like you, I want my facts verified, and it is very seldom that I use photos or data I can't verify.

I chose to use the photo, anyway, because of its allegorical, metaphorical, symbolic message and because it is so powerful. I don't know what race or nationality the subjects might be, who took the photo nor for what purpose. Under the extreme circumstances of the situation in Japan, and because I KNEW rednecks would, somehow, blame the Japanese for this tragedy, I felt it vital to convey as compassionate, empathetic and gripping an image as I could find. I also chose an image that is intimate and close up. I felt a photo of the vast devastation is too difficult for a human to conceptualize in terms of personal suffering.

To me, this photo, in this context, IS Japan, holding her child, grieving. We do not know who she is nor whether this child is alive or dead. I feel this photo is a meditation on the horror of tragedy: something to which we have become desensitized in over-stimulating media these days.

I wanted people to hurt when they saw this. And I wanted them to know it is our collective responsibility to WORK to help one another, immediately and hard, to alleviate such massive suffering.

My source:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27426&id=136051966462989
You like these better?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/11/2011-03-11_millions_of_japanese_stranded_in_tokyo_in_aftermath_of_earthquake_tsunami_as_tra.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/photos-news/Photos-World/tearsandfears/Article4-672241.aspx

Outsourcing everything

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US IT CEOs: Need more H-1B visas

I've been saying, for over a month now, that the corps. know the US population is tapped out. Aside from turning public sector jobs into privatized, corporate McJobs, they really don't have any use for us anymore. The REAL $ is in the developing middle class in India and China. We're a 3d world country now; we're useless as a population. Better to either lock us up, hook us on Big PhRMA RXs so we're compliant and pharmaceutical companies get massive profits from our chemical restraints, kill us off in endless wars, lock us up in McJails or confine us to subsistence living in "service" sector jobs. They can tax India & China middle class for the corporate welfare they'll need. We are not necessary.

Beware Americans Against Food Taxes

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I accidentally joined a facebook page called, "No food taxes in New Mexico," because I thought they were advocating against the regressive sales taxes on food our state was proposing. It's not. It's an astroturf group, trying to rabble rouse the "people" to oppose taxes on flavored mills and, especially, sodas. I'm betting a good deal of their income is derived from school lunches.

Well, today, I decided to do a tiny bit of research. They're part of this outfit:

http://www.nofoodtaxes.com/about/

Coalition Members include over 83,000 individual petition signers and the following:

Gene Valdez
Southwest Regional Co-Chair
Coalition Members include over 83,000 individual petition signers and the following:
New Mexico Grocers Association
ALCOA, Inc.
Allen Beverages, Inc.
American Advertising Federation
American Airlines
American Bakers Association
American Beverage Association
American Hotel & Lodging Association
American Wholesale Marketers Association
Archer Daniels Midland Company

Americans for Prosperity

LOOK AT THIS ONE!

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. High Country
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, Inc.
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Fort Wayne, IN
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Minden, Inc.
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Northern New England
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Pottsville, PA
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Winona, MN
Coca-Cola Bottling Works, Inc.
Coca-Cola Company, The
Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
Coca-Cola of West Greenwich, RI
Pepsi Bottling Group
Pepsi Bottling Ventures
Pepsi Northwest Beverages
PepsiAmericas, Inc.
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pepsi-Cola & National Brand Beverages
Pepsi-Cola of Florence, LLC
Pepsi-Cola of Rochester, MN
Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Association
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Atmore
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Central VA
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Hastings
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Hickory, NC
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of LaCrosse
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Logansport
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of New York
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Pipestone, MN
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Roxboro, NC
Pepsi-Cola Decatur, LLC
Pepsi-Cola Dr Pepper Bottling Co.
Pepsi-Cola of Northeast Wisconsin
Pepsi-Cola of Topeka

And look how they represent their campaign! According to THIS picture on FlickR, the foods are wholesome and nutritious. But one might ask, "Who eats radishes with bananas?"

No Food Tax - SMILE!

 

Our Governor, in his almost infinite wisdom, today rejected to sign in to law a legislative will that would have reestablished once again a food tax. In lieu of the legislature not having managed to levy a tax on alcohol, due to a very powerful lobbying efforts, this tax law would have been wrong in oh so many ways. This supposedly has never been done before, a Governor opposing the legislature so drastically. But Governor Richardson in his last term and stretch of governing, I can only assume could not care less who else he opposes. As for myself, I am delighted. Long live our Governor, (he sometimes acts like a King) he listened to my urgings, hooray!

"Give Me a Break" Americans Against Food Taxes TV Ad 2011

How 2 make $ off poor folk

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Here's another take on how to exploit the poor! Yay!

Don't mock my rights by putting them in quotes, please. Some of us get picked up via selective prosecution or are arrested without just cause. It happens all the time and it happened to me twice, just because A the city wants a crimi...nal record for all poor people, so we're easier to manage and monitor (they literally criminalize the poor) and because B the city generates revenue through McJails, incarcerating us at taxpayers' expense.

I was locked up the first time because I didn't know I'd gotten a citation because my neighbor stole my dog, removed his collar then called animal control to report my dog was loose without tags, and it went to warrant. I couldn't pay the court fees (half a month's income) and a court clerk, when I'd gone to the city to learn what to do, said, "Get the fuck out of here before I call a guard and have you locked up, that's what!"

The second time was because I demanded a reckless bus driver identify himself so I could report him to the Transit Authority (speeding, swerving with door open and child asleep on bench by door). He called the police and I was arrested for "disrupting public transportation."

A published "mug" shot like that would cost me my job and get me evicted.

It isn't "crime prevention." It won't keep police from setting up road blocks in the War Zone to stop people just trying to come home from work for silly things like busted tail lights, then stealing their cars cuz they were too poor for insurance, etc., but need the car because there are no buses to their jobs.

Besides, "mug" shots show arrests, not convictions. And a person is innocent until proven guilty. It stigmatizes people without evidence, trial or conviction. Poor people can't stop this, can't sue, can't defend ourselves against exploitation.

It's cruel to the innocent. It's unconstitutional. It's not funny.

I forgot to mention: in court, all charges against me were dismissed. In the case of the bus driver, he was later investigated and suspended. I was arrested, in that case, for being too "uppity" by challenging his right to endanger passengers.

NATIONWIDE STRIKE!

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Boycott Wisconsin: no cheese without collective bargaining. This was RAPE!  There's a call for a nationwide STRIKE!

OH YOU CAN'T SCARE ME! I'M STICKIN' WITH THE UNION!

twenty-five percent of US kids homeless

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There's this union guy I really wanna slap

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A union boss campaigning on the public’s dime? Outrageous

Mr. Arencon,

Are you aware the Democratic party in this country is under systematic attack, accused of misspending citizens' tax dollars, called fiscally irresponsible and even, by the most rabid and irrational elements, branded as BOTH Communists and fascists, at the same time?

Sir, are you aware that some very brave, frightened, determined people are toughing out the frigid, March temperatures in Wisconsin to defend their union right, to protect public sector jobs and to keep our communities' workers paid enough to eat, feed kids and go to doctors in a time when TWENTY-FIVE percent of children in this country are, right this minute, homeless?

Do you have ANY idea how much damage you are causing to good and decent people who've played fair, followed the rules, done their jobs, respected their communities -- even by having such allegations brought against you? I don't care what happens to you; I care what happens to all of them, and to me, if there's a backlash whipped up because of this an our public sector employees get hammered like they're getting it in other states in the Union, right this second.

Sir, you had best come up with something to correct my suspicion that the charges against you are true, if you're really innocent. What, did GOP spies break in to use your computer while you were in to potty? Because, I'll tell you what, Mr. Arencon, you're doing a GREAT job for the GOP, the Tea Parody, KKKarl Rove, the Rio Grande Foundation and everybody ELSE who want to see YOUR JOB reduced to a privatized mcjob. You couldn't have DONE a better job of bad publicity!

So, "sir," I'm with Heath on this one: don't get all slick and snarky. Admit what you've done and atone. Don't hurt all the rest of us to prop up your brittle ego.

Jobs are HARD to come by these days. I'll bet there are a few hundred decent, hard-working, ethical, responsible, honest, skilled people within a thirty minute drive of your house, right this very minute, who could do a better job at your job with 2 feet nailed to the floor and a hundred pound weight dangling from their nose than you've done. If you want important positions in a union, in the public sector and in politics, make sure you know how to use three different time clocks. The people of Albuquerque paid you hard-earned money and you abused the privilege.

TO ALL OTHER DEMOCRATS AND UNION BIG SHOTS: this is the only warning you will receive. We cannot afford to look like petty despots and thugs in the current climate. Take it from the women, the people of color, the disabled who have to work twice as hard to get half as much recognition! We know. KEEP YOUR NOSES CLEAN! Because it's not only the GOP and their minions who will be watching you for corruption, it's those of us in your own party, your own union, your own campaign office, too.

Step off, Mr. Arencon. That old school greasy kids' stuff ain't gonna fly in the modern age.

Are we equals?

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It's International Women's Day. I have most of my women's stuff over in my Viri Diana blog, but am putting this here because women live in poverty.

Crash Tax. In trouble? It's gonna cost ya.

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'Crash Tax' More Bust Than Boom For Many Cities

Uninformed citizens don't want to pay taxes. What is local, public sector supposed to do to pay for emergency services? I heard a story from a rural town a few months ago: the fire department demanded payment to put out a house fire. This is easily corrupted into extortion: pay up or your house burns down. Same could easily happen with a "crash tax." But, if we don't take personal responsibility for our citizenship, this will happen.

War/Dance

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I have a movie to see. 

Grapes of Wrath

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I'm starting to miss the United States of America. I don't know what this new place is, but it's not my home, my heritage or my hope. Good bye, old friend. Nice try, old friend. You were a mess, but I loved you. Nobody can love whatever this mess is.

 

health care is not a human right

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In U.S., Health Care Never Was an Entitlement

"They say what others cannot do to you, rather than what you are entitled to. Your "inalienable...right to Life" is not a right to live."

You people keep whining that this country was founded on "Christian" principles? Then find the justification for this!

"The majority would never enslave a minority — viz., providers — in order to provide the majority with any "right," such as a personal service called health care."

True, the wealthy minority enslaves the majority. It is we, the workers, who are most in jeopardy of our health, working to make you wealthy. You don't even want to be responsible for injuries on the job, so of course, you see no responsibility for our contributions to your wealth and have no humility. And those of us who are too young, old or disabled to work? We should just die?

"Health-care-as-a-right lets the individual off the hook and makes us all pay for the consequences of an irresponsible patient's unhealthy lifestyle choices."

How do you decide most people can't have health care because a few people either have no education in self-care, have such low self-esteem they don't have the will or just don't know what to do, since WE are not DOCTORS??

Does an "unhealthy lifestyle choice" include the fact that I live on $3/per day food stamps and have to buy what's cheap and filling, not what's organic, low in fat, salt and sugar? Your corporations manufacture and sell this crap to us, instead of food, and you blame us, because it's what we can afford? Your corporations sell us tobacco, alcohol and prescription medications that are killing us, too. And, yes, sometimes, we self medicate to the point of addiction. Our lives are very hard, full of trauma; we have no healthy outlets and nobody is teaching us healthier ways to live.

"The Founding Fathers also understood that the free market — not a federal government — drives the economy and provides the greatest good for the greatest number. They understood — unlike modern politicians — that the "invisible hand" of the market works best unfettered and unrestrained by the "heavy hand" of oppressive government, burdensome bureaucratic regulations, onerous taxes and union extortion. If health care becomes a right, the latter is what we will get."

There IS no "free market" in this country! small businesses die on the vine as corporate big boxes invade and destroy local economies. The "invisible hand" has left all fifty states bankrupt, thrown the country into HUGE debt and raked in BILLIONS in corporate welfare, privatization of public sector, military contracts, all paid by taxpayers! It's socialism for the WEALTHY!

If we let you do what ever you want, we won't have water to drink, workplace safety, businesses who pay their fair share back to the community or any protections for workers!

If health care becomes a right, we will have healthy, not desperate, people! Folks are losing their HOMES to pay hospital bills! PEOPLE ARE DYING OF NEGLECT!

Sir, I don't know if you're a physician, but what happened to, "First, do no harm?"

I suppose the next push will be to charge us for urinating, defecating, breathing?

Thanks for trying to blame US for your greed and heartlessness. You are a bitter, selfish, immoral person and an embarrassment to my country.

Friday, March 04, 2011

In U.S., Health Care Never Was an Entitlement

By Dr. John R. Vigil
Medical Director, Doctor-On-Call Urgent Care
And Dr. Deane Waldman
Author of "Uproot U.S. Healthcare"
          A New Mexico constitutional amendment is under consideration to recognize health care as a basic human right.
        In the Feb. 25 Journal, retired public health doctor Bruce Trigg passionately supported its passage. With respect to our well-meaning colleague, this amendment is bad for patients as well as our nation.
        This country was founded on principles rooted in individual freedom — from control by a monarch, by a government or by the group with the loudest voice. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" as well as the Bill of Rights describe negative rights. They say what others cannot do to you, rather than what you are entitled to. Your "inalienable...right to Life" is not a right to live. It is a prohibition against an individual or the government killing you.
        Our Founding Fathers, five of whom were physicians, did not accidentally "forget" about health care. The society they created was based on personal freedom and individual responsibility. The majority would never enslave a minority — viz., providers — in order to provide the majority with any "right," such as a personal service called health care....
        Compelling one group to provide for the needs or wants of another is antithetical to U.S. core principles. The Founding Fathers clearly cast the first 10 amendments — the Bill of Rights — as constraints on group (government) control of the individual. There are no American rights that should be entitlements.
        Dr. Trigg asks "why can't we guarantee that everyone has medical care on the same basis that we provide police and fire protection and universal free education"? The analogy with health care does not work.
        Firstly, they are not "free" nor are they entitlements. The government provides these services solely to protect our persons and our private property. Further, they are based on and presume some reasonable level of personal responsibility.
        If you pull the fire alarm without a fire, you will pay for the fire department response. If you ignore forestry guidelines when hiking and require a rescue, you will receive a hefty bill. We all know how expensive property taxes are, the ones that pay for "free education."
        So we must ask Dr. Trigg and other supporters of the amendment: Does "health care as a basic human right" require any degree of personal responsibility? If not, government and its agent — the provider — become responsible. Health-care-as-a-right lets the individual off the hook and makes us all pay for the consequences of an irresponsible patient's unhealthy lifestyle choices.
        When the government is responsible rather than the individual, the government is in control. Do the supporters of the proposed state amendment believe the signers of the Declaration of Independence were just kidding in their opposition of tyranny?
        The Founding Fathers also understood that the free market — not a federal government — drives the economy and provides the greatest good for the greatest number. They understood — unlike modern politicians — that the "invisible hand" of the market works best unfettered and unrestrained by the "heavy hand" of oppressive government, burdensome bureaucratic regulations, onerous taxes and union extortion. If health care becomes a right, the latter is what we will get.
        What does health-care-as-a-right produce? Answer: a sickly American population that requires health care without limit, and a grossly inefficient, obscenely bloated and expanding federal bureaucracy.
        Resisting health-care-as-a-right does not make the physician-authors unfeeling monsters. It is precisely because we care deeply that we oppose loudly touted, ill-conceived legislation that harms our patients and our nation. Like us, the Founding Fathers would certainly oppose this un-American amendment that takes us from the age of enlightenment to an age of entitlement.

Read more: ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: In U.S., Health Care Never Was an Entitlement http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/0496514795opinionguestcolumns03-04-11.htm#ixzz1FmEikM49
Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal

Did you know they made Kosher ovens???

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how I feel about Anonymous

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Anonymous plans defense for Bradley Manning - promises a media war - Security
Oh, there are lots of different opinions within Anonymous, which is OK with me. The work they've managed to do to keep communications open in Libya, in particular, has been breath taking to me. They'll post cell phone #s for Egyptians inside the country, so people can contact them to arrange drop offs of medical supplies, food, etc. The media are leaning more and more heavily on Anonymous chat rooms to get the scoop on the pro-democracy demonstrations scheduled in Saudi Arabia and China and it goes on and on.

Some do it just to tweak the system and "prove" how "smart" they are, or they're just wannabes, or they're all talk no action. But the main direction, if there is one, is freedom to think, speak, share information, etc.

And frankly, when they took Westboro Baptist Church's websites off  the internet during a live television interview WITH Westboro, as that woman was ranting about Hell, I broke into tears, ran to http://godhatesfags.com and fell apart when it wouldn't load.

Is that fascist? I don't know. When the Supreme Court upheld their right to protest, I agreed. I don't want my free speech abridged, and there are a lot of people who want me to shut up and silence me when they can.

I can never say, "they got what they deserved," 'cuz I feel that's coming from a pretty self righteous place, which means I'm usually wrong.

Westboro is killing people with that hate speech, I know that.

I'm not anonymous, although I do pass messages along on facebook: what chat rooms are open, how to contact people, how to work around governments who shut down internet access, etc.

I even put together a little "survival kit" for the upcoming demonstrations and posted them on Anonymous facebook pages: how to make pepper spray, avoid dog attacks, perform first aid, what to wear to demonstrations, non-violent, passive resistance, etc.

I'm encouraged by the secular emphasis of these demonstrations; people are fed up with fanaticism and want no part. I'm also encouraged that, even in Saudi Arabia, they're speaking of equality for women and an end to all discrimination.

Anonymous is supporting good movements right now, and I'll help people liberate themselves however I can.

If Anonymous starts to turn ugly, I'll be the first on the lines to protect society from bullies.

It's a beautiful thing, seeing young people care passionately, but also know facts, history, politics, geography, cultures, etc. It give me a lot of hope.

WWJND?

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