WHAT CAN WE DO? | LET’S DO SOMETHING! | How can we Organize the Human Community?

Democracy is Dying and it's Startling, Few Worried, Paul Mason

Democracy is Dying and it’s Startling How Few are Worried Paul Mason

I have been in France just under a month. I found out not even two hours ago through a conversation on skype with my sister who lives in England and France, that during the time we were back in the United States of Apathy, that ICE (i hadn’t know what this was, i thought ICE was simply In Case of Emergency) However I learned from my sister today about the other version. (ICE) Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I hadn’t known what ICE meant, I had to google it. http://www.newsweek.com/immigration-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice-donald-trump-628896

ICE had come into the town of Lebanon, PA into a catholic church on a Sunday, and rounded up dozens of people, probably mostly men, of darker skin, and packed them into a van to take to another town to sit in jail, awaiting trial, perhaps a 1 or 2 year wait.

Newsweek, ICE raid, Risk, Deportation

Newsweek ICE raid Who Is At Risk Deportation.

While visiting the USA just a month ago, my sister befriended a guy from El Salvador who stayed in the motel room next to her. He’s been in the USA for 25 years, has a green card and has several kids and a wife in Virginia. Presently he’s been in central Pennsylvania working in construction to support his family. He was one of the people rounded up and loaded into this van. My sister attempted to stay with him, holding his hand, went into the van, and the police officer warned her with a tone of reproach that she better get the hell out of there if she knows what’s good for her.

The El Salvadoran gave my sister his phone and the number of his wife to call in VA. My sister said that his wife was screaming when she heard the news. Her life support money-earner for herself and her kids, disposed of.

War Zone Desperate and Dead Mondediplio

War Zone Desperate and Dead Mondediplio

I knew nothing of this. I was just reading headlines last night about 500 people in Turkey under questioning or worse, for attempting to overthrow a dictator. I know nothing of this Turkey official and hadn’t read the story yet.

500 in court, Turkey Coup Attempt 2016, CNN

Nearly 500 in court Turkey Coup Attempt 2016 CNN

Yet I thought to myself, can not the world step in and change this situation? That was before I knew what was happening in the neighboring town while I was sleeping on a Sunday morning. WTF.

 

 

What can we do? Sit back, crack open a beer and hang out with friends, watch a TV show, get ready to arrange the schedule of picking up the kids from their practice…..when before our eyes a military dictatorship fascist embarrassment of a President is enforcing this sweep of people across the country who have been living and working here, taking jobs that Americans haven’t wanted, and who were brought here to do the dirty jobs that help our system to run efficiently, are suddenly afraid to leave their homes to go to the grocery store?

Stop Swooning over Justin Trudeau, Climate Disaster, Bill McKibben

Stop Swooning over Justin Trudeau Climate Disaster Bill McKibben

McKibben writes for the Guardian, “Yes, 173bn barrels is indeed the estimate for recoverable oil in the tar sands. So let’s do some math. If Canada digs up that oil and sells it to people to burn, it will produce, according to the math whizzes at Oil Change International, 30% of the carbon necessary to take us past the 1.5C target that Canada helped set in Paris.

That is to say, Canada, which represents one half of 1% of the planet’s population, is claiming the right to sell the oil that will use up a third of the earth’s remaining carbon budget. Trump is a creep and a danger and unpleasant to look at, but at least he’s not a stunning hypocrite.”

Out of Wreckage, A New Politics, Age of Crisis, George Monbiot

Out of the Wreckage A New Politics for an Age of Crisis George Monbiot

Monbiot writes, “A toxic ideology rules the world – of extreme competition and individualism. It misrepresents human nature, destroying hope and common purpose. Only a positive vision can replace it, a new story that re-engages people in politics and lights a path to a better world.”

What are we going to do?

Immigrants from Syria and other parts of the world, war/climate immigrants are escaping deplorable situations to come to the West, which has been living amply, to be treated with hostility and turned away with barbwire. Black market money to stuff people on rickety over-loaded boats, taking peoples’ life savings, to flee situations, only to find that the rest of the world is not helping to organize their safe transport.

This is very, very wrong. We can use the money from the enormous profits from banks, international corporations who make millions and billions in profit, to set up communities, and renewable energy enterprises to re-esatablish safe havens.

This is not right. We can’t read news and do nothing like it isn’t our problem. In some countries people are having 12 to 16 babies. A large part of the problem of GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE IS due to over-population. We are sucking up the soil, destroying habitats of other animals who have a right to life.

Humans need to be accountable.

We need to be accountable for what is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD.

We Are Humanity Film, Jarawa documentary

We Are Humanity Film Jarawa documentary

We need to intercept. I’m sorry, but we need to educate and infiltrate, not remain passive, saying it’s not my problem. Not my problem if some people are cruel to other humans or animals or their actions are knowingly or unknowingly destroying the habitat and polluting some creatures’ environment.

I don’t think any living being can just sit back and let all this happen without having a conscience and wanting to help.

I don’t know where to begin, except for expressing this. I think the world needs leaders who will actually step in and shut Trump and other dictators down. People can divest – take their money out of banks and institutions that support dirty energy and dirty politics. There are numerous ways that people working together could SHUT DOWN OPERATIONS AS THEY ARE through organized actions like; those working in public transportation or truck drivers to not work for a day, or three…We can all work together, educate one another, demand new structures and create them together, IMMEDIATELY.

There are plenty of people with the wisdom and insights and contacts to know how to lead and guide a worldwide REVOLUTION. Not a violent one, a movement with people stepping out of their routines and giving a little time and effort and action to make their voice heard. We can’t let more dictators destroy peoples lives. We can’t let peoples religious beliefs just allow people to pop out 13 babies and pretend that it’s okay. We live in one world, one with limited resources. I refuse to just take on business as usual, and pretend that it’s okay for Mr. Orangehead Chump to push his grey suits around and whimsical notions of what he thinks needs to happen. It’s time for the fucking world intelligence, artists, teachers, scientists and leaders to step in. I still have to read about what’s happening in Turkey, or Venezuela, because I can’t keep up with all of it, but it just IS NOT OKAY ANYMORE, to think that “It’s not here next to me in my community, so it’s not my problem.” IT IS ALL OF OUR PROBLEM. WE NEED LEADERS WHO CAN STEP IN AND INTERCEPT, AGENCIES TO EDUCATE, GUIDE.

I thank all of the environmental, social, ecological groups who serve as watch dogs and educate the rest of us, but somehow, i think something much more brilliant has to take place to begin lighting up the whole world to working together. If we are the people – in a Democracy – choosing our leaders, then we should have the military industrial complex working with us, not in militarized suits, against us.

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Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

Carol Keiter the blogger on return hitch from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico

Carol Keiter the blogger on return hitch from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico

carol keiter blogger card

carol keiter blogger card

“Man” | animation by Steve Cutts | rEvoLuTioN

I just saw this video for the first time a few moments ago (December 8th, late night 2014). It is exquisite in the telling of the story.

In his 3 minute animation, “Man”, Steve Cutts reveals the stark reality of man’s cruelty throughout history. Not representative of all cultures, but most. I’m so captivated by how fantastic it is, that I’ve simultaneously posted it on each of my blogs! https://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/man-animation-by-steve-cutts-revolution/

It’s a scary bunch of images, that we really need to wake up to.

Something’s gotta change!

Time for an evolution, for a revolution.

Man, animation, Steve Cutts

“Man” animation by Steve Cutts displaying the history of human beings’ cruelty towards life forms in 3 minutes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU

People’s Climate March in nYc September 21st 2014 | Flood Wall Street

The People’s Climate March was timed with the United Nation’s Climate Summit 2014 in which dignitaries from around the world and President Obama responded to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s invitation to talk about Global Warming. On the 21st of September, people from all over the world participated in climate marches in their own towns. It was the largest simultaneous Environmental March in history.

Here’s a link to the 352 photographs that I took at the Climate March hitchabout nYc Sept. 21st and Flood Wall Street march the following day, Sept. 22nd 2014

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Here’s more info about the climate march. And a link to 352 more photos – highlighting and describing the specific messages of the climate marchers and ‘Flood Wall Street’ gatherers the following day.

Leonardo DiCaprio at UN

actor Leonardo DiCaprio shaking hands with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon

Leonardo di Caprio adressed the public in this video message, timed with the March and Climate Summit: Stop Pretending Like Facts Don’t Exist.

This shot below was zooming in to capture a drone hovering above the crowd. Small and moving with speed and precision, it was easy to miss. Perhaps it was monitoring for a journalist? Though much legislation will arrive regarding the rights and privacy demands that will ensue with the operation of drones, there are already some quite positive uses. This article about drones by Caitlin Kauffman  “Flying a Fine Line: Drones could be a boon for conservation – but first, they need to overcome their stigma”  in the Sept/Oct Sierra magazine points out. “Despite their reputation, though, small civilian drones like Hugo are making their way into a variety of eco-toolkits. Drone-mounted thermal cameras alert game wardens in Namibia to poachers stalking elephants and rhinos. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration flies tiny drones into the eyes of hurricanes to collect climate data and improve storm warnings, and scientists from southeastern universities equip them with sensors to track spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Here’s a link to the 352 photographs that I took at the Climate March hitchabout in nYc Sept. 21st and Flood Wall Street Sept. 22nd 2014

closeup shot of a drone that was executing very quick turns on all axis.

closeup shot of a drone that was executing very quick turns on all axis.

No Wars to Defend Petro Dollar

No Wars to Defend Petro Dollar

There was plenty of media coverage. Huffington Post reports on the numbers around the world that marched, around 600,000 people worldwide.

The World Wildlife fund sent this to my inbox today Oct 7th, regarding the numbers who came out to support the Climate March and the fact that this is only the B E G I N N I N G!

Climate Change Action Now, WWF, World Wildlife Fund

Climate Change Action Now | World Wildlife Fund

Cree prophecy

“Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”

I march because overpopulation and human habits have wrought havoc on our environment. As this article by Damian Carrington in the Guardian indicates, “Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF. “The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found.”

Regarding the Living Planet Index (LPI), “We have all heard of the FTSE Financial Times (London) Stock Exchange 100 index, but we have missed the ultimate indicator, the falling trend of species and ecosystems in the world,” said Professor Jonathan Baillie, ZSL’s director of conservation. “If we get [our response] right, we will have a safe and sustainable way of life for the future.”

The Living Planet Index (LPI) reflects changes in the health of the planet’s ecosystems by tracking population trends of over 2,500 vertebrate species. Much as a stock market index tracks the value of a set of shares, the LPI calculates the average annual rate of change for species populations from 1970 to 2008, the latest date for which sufficient data are available. I wrote about the Gross Domestic Project (GDP) in a different light in an earlier blog: “GDP Gross Domestic Problem – Why the Measurement of Wealth Depends on a Healthy Environment”. https://digesthis.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/gross_domestic_problem_-why-measurement-of-wealth-depends-on-a-healthy-environment/

My ribbon of hope stated “All of the species | plant | animal | fungal whose habitats are being lost.”

Here’s a link to the 352 photographs that I took at the Climate March hitchabout nYc Sept. 21st and Flood Wall Street march the following day, Sept. 22nd 2014

All of the species | plant | animal | fungal whose habitats are being lost

All of the species | plant | animal | fungal whose habitats are being lost

ribbons of peoples wishes

ribbons of peoples wishes

IMG_0121

Raging Grannies

Raging Grannies

BP $

BP $

March for the Penquins

March for the Penquins

 

facking

if you frack the water, you frack the kids

Let’s not even START to talk about the deleterious effects of the impact of fracking on groundwater. In an article written for the Rolling Stone, “The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind Aubrey McClendon’s Gas Boom“. Jeff Goodell states that “McClendon dominates America’s supply of natural gas the same way the Tea Party-financing Koch brothers control the nation’s pipelines and refineries.

The Climate March was organized by numerous global environmental organizations, of which these are a few: 350.org, Avaaz, GoFossilFree.org, the Center for Biological Diversity http://www.biologicaldiversity.org, Greenpeace.org and MoveOn.org.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was another of the groups demanding collective action; for people to join in the streets of New York city to demand world leaders meeting at the United Nations General Assembly, to turn-talk-into-action. WWF encourage friends and family members to watch this free online film about climate change.

Climate Change Disruption

Climate Change Disruption
the film

Climate. Change. Disruption” is a film by Kelly Nyks and Jared P. Scott. They ask you to be a part of the largest climate march in history.

There was also a lively hiphop crew with a very articulate native american speaker.

music hiphop

music and words about the environment

Hands Up

Here’s feedback from avaaz about the march.

http://peoplesclimate.org/events/

bird kites

the march with bird kites

Man carrying sign ‘Corporations are Killing the Planet, pauses as he gazes at a painted sign on the ground that says ‘Capitalism is Killing the Planet’.

Here’s a link to the 352 photographs that I took at the Climate March hitchabout nYc Sept. 21st and Flood Wall Street march the following day, Sept. 22nd 2014

Corporations are Killing the Planet Capitalism is Killing the Planet

Corporations are Killing the Planet Capitalism is Killing the Planet

the Bronx contingent

the Bronx contingent

native american spirit

native american spirit

Tax Carbon

Tax Carbon team

Tax Carbon

Tax Carbon

http://www.taxcarbon.info

Protect Appalachian Communities

Protect Appalachian Communities

submerged Brooklyn bridge

submerged Brooklyn bridge

Don't Panic Learn to Swim

Don’t Panic Learn to Swim

Reclaim the Future

Reclaim the Future

Tax Wall Street End Climate Change

Tax Wall Street End Climate Change

Financial Advisor, Progressive Asset Management Group

Financial Advisor groups Progressive Asset Management Group

 

I met Eric at the end of the march. He was promoting his Progressive Asset Management Group ‘Divest with Us’

 

 

 

 

 

 

horse-drawn carriage NYC

driver didn’t really have to pay attention, the horse was on ‘automatic pilot’.

the horse was our 'automatic pilot'

the horse was our ‘automatic pilot’

 

 

Later when several of us were trying to get a cab to go out to dinner, we were forced by the numbers of people there, to take a horse drawn carriage instead. The driver was well versed in talking about politics.

 

 

 

 

The march the following day, on Monday the 22nd was from Battery Park to Wall Street. The theme abounded, Flood Wall Street; Stop Capitalism, End the Climate Crisis

Wall Street river

I met a German woman, Godlind, who has lived in the United States for years. She and I chatted in the morning before the Wall Street march got underway.

Climate Action Now

Godlind holding sign Climate Action Now

 

She gave me a copy of her Sierra magazine, saying that at least two articles would be of interest to me. She was absolutely right. Sierra’s motto is Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet. The September-October issue of the Sierra Club looks into art as education about the environment, cool green schools and much more.

Imagine, Remembering John Lennon was on one side of this postcard.

Imagine, John Lennon

Imagine Remembering John Lennon

and on the other side were photographs of the simultaneous march globally.

theglobalmovement, The global movement Revolution, Globalization, Evolution

The global movement Revolution | Globalization | Evolution

@theglobalmovement Instagram Revolution | Globalization | Evolution

crimethinc workers collective

Artwork by Nikki McClure Poem by Hank. CrimethInc ex-Worker’s Collective

your life is your life, don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. be on the watch. there are ways out. there is light somewhere. it may not be much light but it beats the darkness. be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them, take them. you can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes. and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be. your life is your life. know it while you have it. you are marvelous, the gods wait to delight in you.

Another newspaper-sized flyer depicting Capitalism as a Pyramid Scheme was also distributed by CrimetheInc (an anarchist collective composed of many cells acting independently in pursuit of a freer and more joyous world). The resulting inequalities can only be maintained with escalating force.

Capitalism, Pyramid Scheme

Capitalism As a Pyramid Scheme

Global warming and recession are the first warning signs. Let’s join forces to establish another way of life.

After the People’s Climate March, the work begins. BEYOND EXTREME ENERGY – action to retire fossil fuels. A week of action – starting November 1st in Washington D.C.

Polar Bear

CO2 bubble

CO2 bubble

Scott Beiben media ripple
Bull Shit
preditor and prey

Carol Keiter Wall Street

Reclining on Wall Street banner

Naturally one learns a lot when gathering among a bunch of people, now the work begins!

Climate March New York, NY
The following day, 3,000 of the 300,000 who attended the march the previous day, met at Battery Park and walked to Wall Street. links to photos of each day.

Flood Wall Street

flooding wall street

mother earth tears

tears for mother earth and her creatures

 

I really was feeling emotional, as I held someone else’s earth globe, moved by all of the different people involved in expressing this purpose. My plastic dress had “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” written on it, though it just as well could represent the carbon bubble.

carbon bubble,

Carbon Bubble theory

Cree prophecy

I mentioned the Cree Prophesy in an earlier blog http://carolkeiter.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/the-truth-earthlings-love-letter-to-the-earth-thich-nhat-hanh-kumi-naidoo-greenpeace-saving-the-earth-from-ourselves-only-after-cree-indians/

Naturally, I hitched to the march. hitch sign NYC

nYc hitch sign

nYc hitch sign

hitch sign Canal St. Station

Climate March and NYC hitch sign upon arriving in SoHo at the Canal St. Station

And another sign I made along the way.

En route to NY, I encountered people inside their car, as it was towed after running out of gas.

towed car

towed car

towed car with the passengers inside

towed car with the passengers inside

Arriving in New York city, I met a young man Amir whose Jewish father was born in Iraq, his Jewish mother born in Iran. He was raised by his parents in Israel, and can NOT go to either of his parents’ homelands, because of his Israeli passport. Interestingly tragic. I was getting acquainted with his snake. snake

Here are 352 more labeled photos highlighting the specific individual messages of the climate marchers and Flood Wall Street gatherers the following day.

the Polar Bear canvassing for the Center for Biological Diversity

the Polar Bear canvassing for the Center for Biological Diversity

Valentine’s Day !! Dance !! for Awareness | One Billion Rising |

http://onebillionrising.org/

1billion_rising_logo
About One Billion Rising

ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.*

ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY

ONE BILLION WOMEN DANCING IS A REVOLUTION

On V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, 14 February 2013, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.

What does ONE BILLION look like? On 14 February 2013, it will look like a REVOLUTION.

ONE BILLION RISING IS:

A global strike
An invitation to dance
A call to men and women to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and rape culture ends
An act of solidarity, demonstrating to women the commonality of their struggles and their power in numbers
A refusal to accept violence against women and girls as a given
A new time and a new way of being

The Spark of the Arab Uprise

The other day I learned through a conversation with an Arabic speaking girl whose words I intuitively trusted – as she was obviously very clever and informed – a completely different perspective about what is going on in Egypt and Tunisia. Prior to that, it was more like a blur of various network channels recounting this massive unrest in Egypt and Tunisia. When I heard newscasters the other day on CNN groping to allude to the cause, pointing to the economics of the area, I decided that it might be of interest to give you this less widely available perspective, arriving from the Arab intellectual left.

Sure, economic aspects are woven into the core; in a world in which the material aspect of living dominates. This is about several secular Arab governments, in which the “democratic” leaders have elected themselves to tyrannically continue their rule, with seeming complicity coming from the vote, due to mass fraud re-electing them in landslide victories.

Within the last year there was an incident in Egypt in which a man was killed in the process of standing up for his rights. He became a symbol of people’s oppression. In the last months, an anonymous Egyptian citizen with internet savvy set up a Facebook page, as a memorial to honor this fallen man, who has become a symbol of people’s frustration. His site was widely embraced. So this person’s news feed was already becoming entrenched.

What just occurred in the similarly authoritarian Arab government of Tunisia in the last weeks, inadvertently sparked the uprising in Egypt. The unprecedented display of public outcry against their leader, spread electronically across borders, via the digital information tools which enable people to access information and communicate with one another; as opposed to being fed misinformation “news” from sources that inhibit real communication.

I was told that in a number of these secular Arab countries, the repression is similar to that of the GDR, German Democratic Republic that was established as the Soviet zone of occupied Germany in (1949-1989). Same, same, but different. In these countries in which the leader’s tenuous grip of his power is manifested through building walls to control information, one must always be careful about literally ANYthing you say in public. Spies and informants abound, who probably often out of their own fear of the regime, opt to inform on someone who says something critical of the regime, just to get some points and maybe a few other benefits, for having done so. Therefore, people remain silent, and solemn, fearful of doing anything that could elicit danger to themselves or their families. That’s another reason that these protests that have occurred in the streets of Egypt and Tunisia are dramatically unprecedented. What’s happening today is coming from years of oppression, with tensions silently kept under a pressurized lid. Suddenly, the pent up fear, distrust and hostility has been ignited.

Several weeks ago in Tunisia, a young male student, who like many people in his country, was finding it very difficult to find any means of supporting himself. He resorted to a meager income through vending fruits and vegetables in the streets. When one day he was confronted by the police who asked him for his license to do this, he explained that in fact, he was doing this as a last resort, having found no other type of work, and that he was a student, and could they please let him go in peace. The police responded by claiming that they were going to arrest him, and that he was going to have to go to jail, no choice, that day.

The student at this moment responded in his desperation, to grab a can of flammable liquid, poured it over his head there in the vicinity of the police, and lit it. He burned to death in front of them, in the middle of the day in the middle of the street. His silent last gasp of renouncing this hopeless situation was watched by people in horror. The measure so extreme, that in fact, his action sparked everyone around him, to explode with fury and anger. His drastic action is that of a silent, suffering martyr, symbolizing his desperation within the shackles of this hostile government. He has inadvertently ignited an audacity among the people, fueled by fury, to revolt.

When this same anonymous (out of self preservation) Egyptian alerted his following on his RNN feed on Facebook of the events in Tunisia, the message spread like fire to Egypt. http://www.rassd.com leads you to this facebook page:

RNN.NEWS

Learning of these events among their Arab brothers in Tunisia, was enough to simultaneously ignite the passion and fury of the Egyptians, who have been similarly victimized by their authoritarian government, in which expressing one’s opinion can be fatal.

Last Wednesday, January 26th has been called “Egypt’s Violent Day of Anger”. All of this actually facilitated through the internet sources, the vehicle of information for the people. It kindled the Egyptian people’s fury over Hosni Mubarak’s oppressive 30 year rule. And has since been reaching the Diaspora of Arab people throughout the world.

And read further for more insightful information, especially from Monde Diplio, the English version of Monde Diplomatique.

http://mondediplo.com/openpage/the-corruption-game

http://mondediplo.com/openpage/the-year-of-living-dangerously

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1519282

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/world/middleeast/29mubarak.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22