“He expresses that the people of the land have been so busy these days wi/the end of the pregnancy or any other time as a guppy or anything.”
(regarding Martin Luther King, Jr. on the topic of strength of the Nation).

“He has become frustrated because it is quite clear at the time this was written, there was much supression and fules. Some of the people who knew they did not meet the criteria for such that they should be treated as invisig or just apparently pushing me out.”
(same paper)

Can you imagine? The most important day and event of your entire life; giving birth. Not only is it terrifying on it’s own, regardless of the experience you may have, (and I say this as a woman preparing to have her sixth child), but it’s a truly unforgettable experience. No matter how prepared you may be, or how wonderfully staffed your hospital is, or how many deliveries your midwife has done, you have no control over what could go wrong in the healthiest of situations. Childbirth always has, and still does, come with a risk of death. It is also a miracle; bringing life into the world, it’s a major medical process, a portion of your own body separating and becoming it’s own entity. Something to be proud of, and revered. To imagine being restrained, and even more, denied your child, and denied proper and needed medical care, is atrocious. It’s something you will never forget. A horrid marring of what should be the most critical and beautiful day of your existence, not to mention, the first days of the baby’s. That newborn needs it’s mother!

Also, let this not boil down to “she shouldn’t have broken the law” or “it was her choice to get into this situation”, because that’s not my statement here. If she did so, she should face PROPER justice procedures, regardless of citizenship, she is a resident, a worker here. Just as it is now apparently acceptable to assassinate US citizens off-soil, it is also acceptable to deny non-citizens what I consider basic, necessary, human rights and kindnesses, on-soil. In many of these cases, the women have not been seen by a court before the births took place.

Due process must be observed. We cannot go about the world forcing our way of life, especially if we do not observe it here in our own home.

here we go:

via @huffingtonpost here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/undocumented-pregnant-woman-gives-birth-in-shackles_n_971955.html 

Undocumented Women Forced To Give Birth While Shackled And In Police Custody

“When I was in bed, I was begging the sheriff, ‘Please let me free — at least one hand,’ and he said, no, he didn’t want to,” Juana Villegas said in an interview with a local Nashville television station. She was describing the experience of being shackled to her hospital bed as she went into labor. Villegas gave birth in the sheriff’s custody, after she was stopped by local police while driving without a valid license.

According to Elliott Ozment, Villegas’s lawyer, driving without a license is generally handled with a citation, not an arrest. He believes Villegas was only brought in because she was an undocumented immigrant.

Like Villegas, Alma Chacon, and Miriam Mendiola-Martinez gave birth in the United States shackled to their hospital beds, without their husbands, and in the presence of a prison guard. They also were not violent criminals, but rather, they were all undocumented and charged with an immigration-related offense in Sheriff Arpaio’s jurisdiction of Maricopa County, Arizona.

Cases such as these have garnered outrage from immigrant rights advocates. Critics take aim at both the legal classification of immigration-related offenses and the standards of prioritizing undocumented mothers’ rights at the state and federal level.

VICTIMS OF A BROKEN SYSTEM

While many immigration violations are civil cases, ICE classifies some undocumented immigrants as criminals when they are apprehended for certain immigration-related offenses. One of those is “re-entry after deportation.”

“To ICE, re-entry after deportation is not an immigration case, that is a criminal case,” explained Michelle Brané, director of the Detention and Asylum program at the Women’s Refugee Commission. “They’ve criminalized being undocumented; the act of entering after being deported is now a crime. You’re in the criminal system, and ICE will say they don’t have any authority over it,” Brané said in a phone interview with HuffPost LatinoVoices.

Although the Bureau of Prisons instituted an anti-shackling policy in federal correctional facilities in 2007, state correctional facilities are still free to shackle inmates before, during and after child delivery if they see fit.

Shackling during childbirth is illegal in 14 states and is against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy. But women being held for immigration-related offenses classified as “criminal offenses” can still legally be handcuffed to their hospital beds by state authorities in the 36 other states. Those women can also be denied the right to have a family member in the birthing room, or to hold their newborns for longer than 24 hours.

Malika Saada Saar, executive director of The Rebecca Project’s Anti-Shackling Coalition, believes that state authorities should take into account the circumstances under which pregnant women with undocumented status are put in behind bars. “These mothers are not prosecuted criminals, but simply mothers detained for lack of documentation,” Saar said in a phone interview.

Miriam Mendiola-Martinez gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 21, 2010, in Maricopa County, Arizona. She did so chained to her hospital bed and without any family members present. Mendiola-Martinez had been found using false documents in order to obtain work.

Her newborn son was taken from her within 48 hours of his birth and given to a family member, according to an interview Mendiola-Martinez gave to New American Media. Her attorney, David Black, said in the same interview that if Mendiola-Martinez had not been undocumented, she could have been released on bond before she gave birth, as is the case with women charged with other nonviolent crimes. Under Arizona state law, however, possession of false documents is grounds for denying the right to post bail.

Alma Chacon and Juana Villegas, while residing in Arizona and Tennessee respectively, gave birth under similiar circumstances. Chacon was detained for a non-violent criminal offense and shackled to her hospital bed. Chacon was allegedly not allowed to nurse or hold her baby until she was released from immigration custody almost 70 days later when she gave birth in .

For Juana Villegas, going into labor while in prison meant that her ankles were cuffed together on the ride to the hospital, and that she was denied a breast pump by local authorities after she was given one by medical professionals. Without a breast pump, “she was in great pain” after she gave birth and had trouble sleeping in prison, Ozment, her attorney, said in a phone interview.

Woman gives birth in shackles, unprosecuted. (video)

Villegas has since been awarded $200,000 for her mistreatment by local authorities, and Chacon’s case has been part of an investigation by the Department of Justice concerning the role of local agencies in federal immigration proceedings.

MORE THAN HANDCUFFS

Human rights advocates like Mallika Dutt believe that abuses of undocumented pregnant women by state enforcement agencies include more than shackling. Last week, Dutt’s advocacy group, Breakthrough, released a documentary that highlights the experience of one such victim. The protagonist, referred to in the film as ‘Maria,’ says she was mistreated by state officials, border patrol agents and even medical professionals when she went into labor at a traffic stop four years ago.

In the short film, “Checkpoint Nation?,” Maria explains how she was stopped with her husband and two U.S.-born children in Tucson, Ariz., in December, 2007.

Isabel Garcia, an attorney and advocate from Tucson’s Derechos Humanos organization, said in a phone interview that the family was stopped for “no reason aside from their race.”

Tuscon police spokesmen maintained in an interview with the Associated Press, however, that the family had been stopped as part of a “random license plate check,” which indicated that insurance on the vehicle was suspended. When Maria’s husband failed to produce a valid driver’s license and admitted to being in the United States without documentation, authorities called the Border Patrol.

Maria claims to have been pushed forcefully by a local enforcement agent into a Border Patrol car, causing her water to break. Shortly thereafter, she went into labor. She says that she was then accused of faking contractions, and told that she was going to be deported back to Nogales, Mexico, before she had the baby. She was not allowed to be with her husband as she gave birth and he was deported within the week.

Checkpoint Nation, via Youtube (see video)

A Border Patrol agent was stationed in the birthing room, and Maria claims that as she was in labor, he continued reminding her that she would be returning to Mexico as soon as her son was born.

“I’ve got this agent right next to me. La migra is by my side as though he was my husband. He was saying to me, ‘Come on, push, push, because you’re going to Mexico with the baby.’ It was a nightmare,” Maria says in Spanish in the short film.

“We talk about cops in other parts of the world, and we say ‘Oh, they don’t respect human rights,’” Breakthrough’s Dutt said in a phone interview. “But where are we now? If something as important and sacred as someone giving birth can no longer be treated as human, where are we?”

After giving birth, Maria was deported to Mexico. A few weeks later, she crossed the border again, to be with her two older children who are U.S. citizens — this time with her newborn child. Crossing the desert with her baby, she says, took seven days.

FEDERAL VS. STATE RESPONSIBILITY

With hundreds of state agencies working to uphold federal immigration law, things can get messy. Detention standards for immigration cases are made up of a complex patchwork of individual contracts between state and federal agencies. ICE rents bed space from 250 different state facilities around the country, and detains about 33,000 people at a time, according to ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen.

But if women like Villegas, Chacon and Mendiola-Martinez are abused under state purview, can ICE be held responsible?

Brané, of the Women’s Refugee Commission, claims that although ICE policy includes language about the treatment of pregnant women, it’s not “proscriptive” or “legally binding.”

“They say, our policy is that we don’t shackle women, but they don’t say ‘Don’t shackle women,’ and they don’t hold anyone to it,” Brané said.

While most of the cases that have garnered media attention have occurred under the purview of local authorities, Brané says that ICE should specifically be held accountable in “detainer” cases — those in which ICE has the authority to specify that pregnant women not be detained. Local enforcement agencies often hold individuals for a 48-hour detainer period in order to allow ICE to decide whether or not it wants to assume custody.

In the past, Brané says, if a woman went into labor during the detainer period, her case would be handled by local law enforcement agencies, and she would be vulnerable to the policies of state agencies. However, she believes that in accordance with recent prioritization memos, ICE should ensure that detainers are never placed on pregnant women to begin with.

“One of the shortfalls of ICE is that they won’t push local authorities enough — they’re very happy to wash their hands of things, and say, ‘That happened under local authority, not our authority.’” Brané said. “If you know someone is interpreting your request in a way that is illegal — just like with racial profiling — I think you have a responsibility to clear those ambiguities up.”

Aggie Hoffman, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles, believes that abuses of pregnant women seem to occur when “local law enforcement agencies act either out of ignorance of immigration proceedings or because they were not properly trained.” She also believes ICE must work harder to hold local law enforcement accountable for such abuses.

Christensen, the ICE spokeswoman, said in a statement that “it is against ICE policy to use restraints in medical situations, absent extraordinary circumstances.” Furthermore, she says that “guidance issued to the field in ICE Director John Morton’s June 2010 Civil Enforcement Priorities memo directs agency personnel not to detain pregnant or nursing women, unless they are required by law to be detained because of the severity of their criminal history or other extraordinary circumstances.”

Hoffman, like Brané, hopes that this memo “will help close the information gap” between state and federal law enforcement agencies, and will end treatment of pregnant women that appears “devoid of humanitarian considerations.”

Villegas, one of the undocumented mothers shackled before and after she gave birth, was interviewed by the Nashville Tennessean in August, 2008. “I don’t know that much about the law or any policy,” she said, “But this … it does not seem right.”

Another person had a long discussion with me about how she is not part of the 99%, by choice, and how it’s a decision to be one of “those people” who she believes are whining in the streets, blaming their hardships and poor credit decisions on the government, asking for a handout.

A different person on twitter posed the question, why aren’t any of these people at work? Hundreds of thousands of people in over 1,400 cities and towns, now around the world, not just in the US, are in the streets. This movement has been going on for over 30 days now. Many assume and state, that these people in the streets are “dirty, bongo-playing hippies”. Well, obviously there will be some of those.. but what people are too short-sighted to see is that amongst these dirty new-age creeps they fear so much, there are professionals. People are putting their lives on hold to represent themselves and all the people who are out there, and even those who refuse to accept that they are part of this issue. There are doctors and nurses providing mass medical care (for free), there are environmentalists protecting the areas where the demonstrations are taking place, keeping the plants well and watered, keeping the areas clean and sanitary. There are lawyers, I’ve spoken to someone directly, who is on the legal team at a massive demonstration. She was taking her own time working out the problem of the city trying to shut them down because of lack of bathroom facilities, while also denying the right to erect them.

Obviously, we’re not talking about idiots here. Sure there are peace-loving bongo players, but so what? I’ve always been one of those, personally, though I don’t play bongos well and I’m certainly not a dirty, or uneducated person.

In any event, to these people and anyone else who is or is not currently “standing with the 99%” either literally or just in their mind, here is a little bit of information to help you understand what these people ARE out there for, who they represent, and the FACT that everyone I can think of who will be reading this blog, is part of that. You don’t have to go and stand in the road, make signs, write blogs, or even give a damn about the people who are doing these things. But the fact still stands, they are fighting for you, whether you asked for it or not. You ARE the 99%.

Here is a list of the top 1% of the wealth in America. If you are not on this list, you are not in the 1%. That means that you are, by definition, the 99%. Have a browse, then you can know for sure:

(via @mindtraps, found here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29432.htm#.Tp1-RUFMUI4.twitter )

By Press TV

October 17, 2011 “Press TV“  –  The following are the largest full-service global investment banks which usually provides both advisory and financing banking services, as well as the sales, market making, and research on a broad array of financial products including equities, credit, rates, currency, commodities, and their derivatives.

1. Bank of America
2. Barclays Capital
3. Citigroup
4. Credit Suisse
5. Deutsche Bank
6. Goldman Sachs
7. JPMorgan Chase
8. Morgan Stanley
9. Nomura Securities
10. UBS
11. Wells Fargo Securities

Diversified Financials

The following are the top eight diversified financials in the U.S. in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. Fannie Mae ………. $153.82 billion
2. General Electric ………. $151.62 billion
3. Freddie Mac ………. $98.36 billion
4. INTL FCStone ……….. $46.94 billion
5. Marsh & McLennan ……….. $10.93 billion
6. Ameriprise Financial ………. $10.04 billion
7. Aon ………. $8.51 billion
8. SLM ………. $6.77 billion

Commercial Banks

The following are the top ten commercial banks in the U.S. in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. Bank of America Corp. ………. $134.19 billion
2. JP Morgan Chase & Co. ………. $115.47 billion
3. Citigroup ………. $111.05 billion
4. Well Fargo ………. $93.24 billion
5. Goldman Sachs Group ………. $45.96 billion
6. Morgan Stanley ………. $39.32 billion
7. American Express ………. $30.24 billion
8. US Bancorp ………. $20.51 billion
9. Capital One Financial ………. $19.06 billion
10. Ally Financial ………. $17.37 billion

Petroleum Refining

The following are the top ten U.S. petroleum refining firms in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. Exxon Mobil ………. $354.67 billion
2. Chevron ………. $196.33 billion
3. Conoco Philips ………. $184.96 billion
4. Valero Energy ………. $86.03 billion
5. Marathon Oil ………. $68.41billion
6. Sunoco ………. $35.54 billion
7. Hess ………. $34.61 billion
8. Murphy Oil ………. $23.34 billion
9. Tesoro ………. $20.25 billion
10. Holly ………. $8.32 billion

Oil & Gas Equipment, Services

The following are the top U.S. firms active in oil and gas equipment and services in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. Halliburton ………. $17.97 million
2. Baker Hughes ………. $14.41 million
3. National Oilwell Varco ………. $12.15 million
4. Cameron International ………. $6.13 million

Aerospace & Defense

The following are the top ten U.S. corporations in aerospace and defense in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. Boeing ……….. $64.30 billion
2. United Technologies ………. $54.32 billion
3. Lockheed Martin ……….. $46.89 billion
4. Northrop Grumman ………. $34.75 billion
5. Honeywell International ……….. $33.37 billion
6. General Dynamics ………. $32.46 billion
7. Raytheon ………. $25.18 billion
8. L-3 Communications ………. $15.68 billion
9. ITT ………. $11.15 billion
10. Textron ………. $10.52 billion

Motor Vehicles & Parts

The following are the top ten U.S. manufacturing companies of motor vehicles and parts in terms of revenue in 2010. Fortune 500

1. General Motors ………. $135.59 billion
2. Ford Motor ………. $128.95 billion
3. Chrysler Group ………. $41.94 billion
4. Johnson Controls ………. $34.30 billion
5. Goodyear Tire & Rubber ………. $18.83 billion
6. TRW Automotive Holdings ………. $14.38 billion
7. Navistar International ………. $12.14 billion
8. Lear ………. $11.95 billion
9. Paccar ………. $10.29 billion
10. Oshkosh ………. $9.84 billion

American Millionaires

The number of Americans who are millionaires is about one percent of the population. NPR

Of the 435 members of the House, 244 current members of Congress are millionaires – that’s about 46 percent and that includes 138 Republicans and 106 Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks money in politics. In fact, there are probably many more millionaires in Congress, since lawmakers don’t have to include the value of their family home and other details. NPR

In 2010, the average winner of a House race spent $1.5 million for his/her campaigns. The average Senate winner spent close to $10 million. Closely contested races are much more expensive. And about half of that money, on average, comes from an elite group of very wealthy donors. NPR

Wealthy Americans have more access to lawmakers than most regular voters and constituents do, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. NPR

The median net worth for a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives was $725,000 in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and the media net worth of a U.S. Senator was $2.4 million. Open Secrets

The richest member of Congress is Darrel Issa, whose net worth was valued between $156 million and $451 million. Open Secrets

Here is a list of the 20 wealthiest current members of Congress and their average net worth, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, based on their financial reports covering calendar year 2009. (The Center plans to unveil its analysis of lawmakers’ 2010 financial disclosures later this fall.) Open Secrets

1. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ………. $303 million
2. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) ………. $238 million
3. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) ………. $174 million
4. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) ………. $160 million
5. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) ………. $160 million
6. Rep. Vernon Buchanan (R-Fla.) ………. $148 million
7. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) ………. $137 million
8. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) ………. $109 million
9. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) ………. $98 million
10. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) ………. $94 million
11. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) ………. $77 million
12. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) ………. $76 million
13. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ………. $58 million
14. Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) ………. $51 million
15. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) ………. $50 million
16. Rep. Diane Lynn Black (R-Tenn.) ………. $49 million
17. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) ………. $43 million
18. Rep. Richard Berg (R-N.D.) ………. $39 million
19. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) ………. $39 million
20. Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) ………. $38 million

Top Donors to Obama in 2008

The following table lists the top donors to Barack Obama in the 2008 election cycle. Open Secrets

1. University of California ………. $1.6 million
2. Goldman Sachs ………. $1 million
3. Harvard University ………. $0.85 million
4. Microsoft Corp. ………. $0.83 million
5. Google Inc. ………. $0.80 million
6. Citigroup Inc. ……….. $0.70 million
7. JPMorgan Chase & Co. ………. $0.69 million
8. Time Warner ………. $0.59 million
9. Sidley Austin LLP ………. $0.58 million
10. Stanford University ………. $0.58 million
11. National Amusements Inc. ………. $0.55 million
12. UBS AG ………. $0.54 million
13. Wilmerhale Llp ………. $0.54 million
14. Skadden, Arps et al ………. $0.53 million
15. IBM Corp ………. $0.52 million
16. Columbia University ………. $0.52 million
17. Morgan Stanley ………. $0.51 million
18. General Electric ………. $0.49 million
19. U.S. Government ………. $0.49 million
20.Latham & Watkins ………. $0.49 million

Top Donors to Bush in 2004

1. Morgan Stanley ………. $603,480
2. Merrill Lynch ………. $586,254
3. PricewaterhouseCoopers ………. $514,250
4. UBS AG ………. $474,325
5. Goldman Sachs ………. $394,600
6. Lehman Brothers ………. $361,525
7. MBNA Corp ………. $350,350
8. Credit Suisse Group ………. $326,040
9. Citigroup Inc. ………. $320,820
10. Bear Stearns ………. $313,150
11. Ernst & Young ………. $305,140
12. US Government ………. $295,786
13. Deloitte LLP ………. $292,250
14. Wachovia Corp. ………. $279,310
15. US Dept of Defense ………. $279,157
16. Ameriquest Capital ………. $253,130
17. US Dept of State ………. $225,330
18. Blank Rome LLP ………. $225,150
19. Bank of America ………. $218,261
20.AT&T Inc. ………. $214,920

American Billionaires

The following is a list of top 20 American billionaires issued by the Forbes 400 in 2011. Forbes

1. Bill Gates from Microsoft ………. $59 billion
2. Warren Buffet from Berkshire Hathaway ………. $39 billion
3. Larry Ellison from Oracle ………. $33 billion
4. Charles Koch from diversified ………. $25 billion
5. David Koch from diversified ………. $25 billion
6. Christy Walton from Wal-Mart ………. $24.5 billion
7. George Soros from hedge funds ………. $22 billion
8. Sheldon Adelson from casinos ………. $21.5 billion
9. Jim Walton from Wal-Mart ………. $21.1 billion
10. Alice Walton from Wal-Mart ………. $20.9 billion
11. S. Robson Walton from Wal-Mart ………. $20.5 billion
12. Michael Bloomberg from Bloomberg LP ………. $19.5 billion
13. Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com ………. $19.1 billion
14. Mark Zuckergerg from Facebook ……….. $17.5 billion
15. Surgey Brin from Google ………. $16.7 billion
16. Larry Page from Google ………. $16.7 billion
17. John Paulson from hedge funds ……….. $15.5 billion
18. Michael Dell from Dell ………. $15 billion
19. Steve Ballmer from Microsoft ………. $13.9 billion
20.Forrest Mars from candy ………. $13.8 billion

~~~~

Why do we occupy?

Click (embedding disabled):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GgWrHZgmuU&feature=relmfu

http://youtu.be/LRtN5qDOJW8

http://youtu.be/KX8i_KhRysA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/kc-mom-admits-she-was-dru_0_n_1015277.html

Updates:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/baby-lisa-faa-halts-flights_n_1018709.html

http://drdrew.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/18/baby-lisa%E2%80%99s-parents-barred-from-home-as-police-execute-search-warrant/?hpt=dr_mid

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_missouri/northland/cops-expected-to-search-lisa-irwin%27s-home

Pick:

Occupy Humanity

(Taken in Canada, picture snatched from FB, a post by Sarah W.)

Thanks so much for visiting!

xoxoxo

~3B

http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/i-am-not-moving/

Posted to the feed by @jamieharbor

The video speaks for itself. It’s taken out of context and it’s affective.

Thank you for viewing.

~3B

Recently, there was a widely publicized tweet which addressed an issue of this nature. Someone asked a celebrity/human, why they would advocate this movement when they are obviously not affected by it. Not only have I personally spent a great amount of time answering to people about this very topic, regarding this very person, but also stating how this is something that applies to many people, not just “him” in question. A great misunderstanding is that of the purpose of this movement. The tweet to which I am referring was from a twitter user named Jen Lasher, aka @jennnsolo. The tweet was viewed by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands and she received a massive response. Not only did the “celebrity” in question retweet the information and praise her intelligence for having worded it so appropriately, but it was also retweeted by many, many others, therefore reaching a significant audience. She stated to me that she was touched by the responses she received and never imagined it would turn out the way it did. She did not write these things for the purpose of recognition, nor for self-attention, as it was stated so broadly. In her statement/opinion, she addressed who should and should not feel affected by the Occupy Wall Street movements. The tweet follows:

“Ok, I need to write this one out longhand. This suggestion that only those who are personally affected would/could participate in and support this movement — could care — needs to be addressed. There is only one prerequisite for participation. It has nothing to do with personal worth, or the personal worth of our family or friends…nothing to do with how much we personally have struggled, how much stress we have shouldered, or hope we have lost. It is, quite simply, the CAPACITY to care about those who HAVE. Anyone with a conscience should be outraged. This greed has resulted in incalculable suffering, and the suggestion that those who haven’t suffered as much shouldn’t care as much — about their neighbors, their friends, and their nation — makes this fight about the wrong thing, about money, when, in truth, it is about so much more.

It is about time — time lost — with loved ones who whose lives were cut short by who-knows-how long because insurance companies chose to deny deserved coverage.

It is about quality of life — the environment, about an entire nation exposed to toxic levels of pollutants, many very ill as a result, because of companies that value profit over protection…and the greed and irresponsibility of pharmaceutical companies

It is about despair…about credit card companies who “help” by sending the most desperate among us into a debt spiral that haunts them for decades and about rampant corruption that divides these United States, weakens our currency and serves just one small fraction of our citizens.

…and it is about a thousand other intangible things — things we experience when we give it all we’ve got and have nothing to show for it — guilt, fear….shame.

The financial damages are one thing but the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll taken on millions of individuals, and on the country as a whole (one might even say the world) is unfathomable. This is as much about integrity, and morality as it is about money. When you question the support, for this movement, of someone who has money in the bank you might as well question the patriotism of every naturalized citizen/refugee or of the sincerity of the next stranger who comes to your aid when you’ve been roughed up by a mugger in the street. There will be no end until we break apart the box, step outside it and recognize that we are all in this together, until what we achieve that shift, in perspective and priorities, and aspire to what our founding fathers (and mothers) wanted for all of us: One Indivisible Nation.

Let’s get back on track.

Love each other. Eye on the ball.

End rant.”

Amongst those who have another opinion, there are some who state things such as a photo of a piece of paper with writings explaining that being part of the 99% is a choice, because this person doesn’t consider herself part of the masses. She has no credit card and no debt and has paid for her college education through savings and working and scholarships. Based on her hard work. She believes if she did have debt, she would not be blaming others for her poor choices. The insinuation, I deduced, is that the hundreds of thousands of people, civilians, public servants, celebrities, journalists, people who are deeply in debt, and people who are very well off, who are out there protesting, are foolish souls who are looking for someone to blame for their unhappiness. Seeing this post made sparked a deep sadness in my heart. Seeing that it had been shared by 27 people and praised by many more was even more saddening. This is what prompted me to write my blog today.  

It’s wonderful that people are taking personal responsibility, of which I am an advocate. I think it’s also important to give merit to the fact that some people are in debt or in distress due to things that are NOT within their control. These are the things that the protesting is about, not about blaming someone for the poor credit choices they’ve made or the sadness they have about their life conditions in general. It’s a huge shame that some people are taking advantage of the situation/not understanding it and are protesting for reasons that do not include those originally set forth by the inspired bit of society who began this movement. Personally, I was distressed to hear that a group of protestors went into the Air and Space Museum in D.C. and caused a stir that required the shut-down of the Museum for some time that day. The police got involved and mace was suddenly the honored guest at the shindig. This is not what it’s about. Unfortunately, there will always be some who just want to be out there marching in the streets. Some people misunderstand the common goals and are marching for their own cause, which may or may not represent the goals of the group. These few, who take a different route with their behavior, then cause a label to be placed on everyone. In reverse, this is the same of the 1% in question. These same people passing this unified generalization, have personally taken offense and debated with me regarding the “misinterpretation” of the GOP or conservatives in general. Conversely, you could say the same about the Liberal end of the spectrum. There is a reason my mother always said you should not discuss politics with people you care about. On the other hand, I believe those are the ones you should discuss it with the most.

Choosing to be a victim, is one thing. Choosing to be part of the 99% is not a true decision that can be made. The girl who stated that she is not part of the 99% is incorrect. She stated that she had two scholarships and worked 30+ hours per week to live in her cozy apartment. Wonderfully, she is not in debt, but she also does not have a new car, and my guess is no health insurance, either. She claims to be “ok with that”, which is great. Acceptance is the key to being content. But I am not ok with that. In her behalf, I am not ok with that. If she does not choose to be part of the movement representing the 99%, it does not disclude her from the factors that determine who the 99% are. One of the things being protested is the rising cost of an education, and the possibility of University privitazation, which could be a reality in the upcoming year. Perhaps she will be finished with her education by then, but will her children be able to attend school? What happens if one of them is born with a physical disability and needs significant health care? Will her 30+ hours a week pay for open-heart surgery on her infant if it is needed? I wonder if she would consider herself part of the movement then. That would not be her fault. That would not be something she decided to inflict on herself. When that child suffers an illness through life that prevents attendance in school at times, and she is required to be schooled at home because she cannot attend public school, and of course, private school won’t be an option without assistance, will she feel like it’s her to blame when the child is not accepted to a fine educational institution because she did not meet the PE requirements to earn a high school diploma?

The bottom line is compassion. The people on the streets are not all in need. They are not the scum of our society, filthy and beating bongos and spreading their hippiness. They are composed of some of our society’s most well-known and respected professionals in every walk of life. Some of them have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spare, and some have not a penny. They are not there fighting for a handout, (though, mind you a scholarship is just that in it’s own right.. earned, sure, but free, yes), they are fighting for justice. Fighting to give the power back to the people. Fighting to un-privatize our government. There is a corporate stronghold on our society and we want that choke-hold released. We want to be able to make our own decisions, right or wrong, because, as it stands, much of our own existence is out of our control. A great portion of our existence is controlled in a corporate manner, by the 1% in discussion. Most of these entities are working for self-promotion and are not concerned with the survival of society or the brotherhood of humanity. Sure, to the average onlooker, this appears to be hippy behavior and “new age” thought and whatever you want to call it, but really, it’s just a matter of empathy, compassion and survival. Chivalry is not dead, it is only seen as ridiculous by those who are unwilling to be a part of it. 

(discovered via @johncusack)

The matter is, this movement is about something- many things, in fact. And it is also not about things. The tweet I posted above touches deeply on who should be affected. Here is another bit of information, shared by Naomi Klein, the author of such things as “The Shock Doctrine” and a constant educator on the matter of human rights, and lack thereof. She was raised with the example of caring for the people as a whole, as her father was a significant influence on her. In many ways, it has been her life’s work to open eyes to injustice in the world and the despicable acts performed at humans, by humans, each day. She is also the first to draw attention when she sees a great justice or a wonderful avenue for people to make a change. What I am saying is that she’s not a naysayer, so to speak, she’s an informant, the people’s informant- one of many I trust and watch very closely.

Naomi recently spoke through the human microphone at a movement for Occupy Wall Street. She beautifully explained what is going on in the streets and why:

(view entire speech here in text from her website): http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-most-important-thing-world-now

Additionally, you can find her explaining the massiveness of this crisis, which it precisely is. Some may ask, “why this sudden urge to make a big deal? We’ve been existing this way for ages!”, but we have not. We are not even getting by as a nation, certainly not as a society. Division is rampant. “One nation, under God” they used to say, we went through a time when we disallowed our children to make this statement in school, during our pledge of allegience to this nation and it’s basic principles. If we are not even allowed to say this, how can we be living it? “Indivisible, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL”.

Naomi Klein has also made great strides, with many of the same people, to attempt to protect our world. So many insist that global warming isn’t real, or that this action and that action will not contribute to our demise in the long run. This is not factual. These things are real. Again, we can see well-known people, using their influence and reaching for a greater purpose. The things they are speaking about will bring them strife in their careers, personal lives and more, but they do it anyway, because it is the right thing to do. Chivalry is not dead.

An important example is the Tar Sands situation:

perhaps you do not understand:

perhaps, you do not understand the connection:

 ”If you have your dignity in tact, if you have your decency, if you’re able to still muster that up and remember what it is to be a human being and know that you have a place in the world.. and you’re.. that you have a voice, that you’re important in this world, then stand up and use that voice, because now is the time. We are the change that we’re waiting for.”

~Mark Ruffalo

Please feel free to find a wealth of additional information at the following site:

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet

]]> http://bonniebellsez.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/i-am-the-99-and-i-am-proud/feed/ 6 bonniebellsez Ows http://bonniebellsez.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/the-best-email-in-all-of-history/ http://bonniebellsez.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/the-best-email-in-all-of-history/#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 06:16:00 +0000 bonniebellsez http://bonniebellsez.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/the-best-email-in-all-of-history ]]> My famous cousin, Emily, has sent me another winning email, but I think for sure this is the best ever. It’s even better than Charlie Sheen for sure. lol. So here are some of the ones I liked the best. I can’t even believe it.

Don’t sit around the house, get out and enjoy nature!

“Turn off the camera! Turn it off!”

With pride, they swarm.

They opened the top suitcase! lol! Look at her face! hahaha…

The Pickup Artist.

She should have ducked.

AMERICAAA!!!!

The elephant didn’t want a number on his tushie.

I wonder what’s in his pocket.. 

My name is JOSEPH!

Or stay inside. Whatever.

So that’s all.. have fun. lol. Thanks Emily!

~3B