Hello,  this is my first post.  I'm excited to be here!  i got home a bit ago from a small Occupy March in downtown Pdx.  Our focus was on our diversity.  It was organized by a Latino contingent.  Also happening this weekend: City/Police closing Portland's Occupy Camp tonight.

First draft. Text will evolve according to feedback...



What do we hear when we listen to the forgotten U.S. nation-wide End the Fed movement in 2008, which sparked the TeaParty movement, or to the so-called…

Peter pointed me to this one from

Edgar Cahn, ‘I think we’re learning that money isn’t what we thought it was, that bankers aren’t what we thought they were, and that the monetary system is not enabling us to get to where we need to get to,’ he says. ‘Money that depends upon repayment of interest requires that we have to keep producing more and more in a world that’s having to learn how to become sustainable.’

And this, 

"For while the market economy locks out those not…

I realize what I am about to post may not seem directly related to the Occupy movement - BUT for me it is.  

This morning I watched a video, "No More Shooting and Crying"  that affirms all that I think about why war and military occupation is not the answer. 

I appreciate that these young people in Israel have found a way to share the message of what war and military occupation…

It's our world; when do we get our turn in running it?

Last Saturday, as I walked out of "World Government House" where I live and work in South Burlington, and climbed into my Accord to join the local Vermont group at the Burlington City Hall park supporting the now global "Occupy Wall Street" movement, I wondered what would be appropriate for me, a world citizen since 1948, to contribute in a meaningful way. Following Amy Goodman's daily "Democracy Now!" reports of the same…

Message to the 99%:

Please find more compassion for the sickly 1% (not to condone their behavior). And remember that if you are emotionally "charged" by seeing their actions it probably means you are doing some similar "greedy' behavior yourself and you can use them as a mirror to clean up your own life. Once you have done so you will still see their greed and still take action but without the "charge".…

Since 2000, when I Greg Palast broke the story of the 50,000 disenfranchised people of color and democratic persuasion, three months in advance of the election, and Al Gore took the offer to accept the theft as being "within the bounds of reasonable dishonesty," I have been creating an Electoral Reform Act outline.  I took everything I could find from Ralph Nader, the undisputed foundation for any such work, and then worked with Jim Turner and others to create a ten point Act.  Once I…

Lindsay Newland Bowker brought the fact of declining general public support for #Occupy to us yesterday in a status post that was soon off the site's front page.  She asked what it means.  My thought is in my title for this blog.

We live in a time that mixes confusion concerning wants and needs with profusion of offers to satisfy both.  Once someones complain or cry foul, people want to know…

The Occupation is gaining depth and breadth, nationally and globally.  The appearance is that spontaneous actions have arisen and continue to proliferate, cross-pollinate and act independently from the original occupation on Wall Street itself. Though there is a groundswell of coordination, no one is directing, no manifestos have appeared. No leaders have been elected. No one speaks for it all. The message may appear to be muddled, yet action appears everywhere and support materializes as if…

An Open Letter to The People and The Media:

A Voice From Occupy Wall Street and Tea Parties Worldwide

All over the world, people are tired of waiting for their government leaders to make the necessary changes that are promised year after year.  While we try to remain optimistic about our future, some of us are frustrated, some are understandably angry, and we all hunger for change.  Change is at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street and Tea…

Peter Joseph is Peter Joseph Merola, born into a working/middle class family, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and dropped out of the Mannes Conservatory of Music in NYC. He had hoped to be a professional marimba player, but instead went into video production and Wall Street day trading. He currently lives and works in New York City as a freelance film editor/composer/producer and is the creator of the Zeitgeist film trilogy and the founder of the Zeitgeist…

As I become more educated about the national and global issues that have given rise to the Occupy movement, I am also running across some alternative ideas - regarding how we get from where we have been, up until this present moment; and where we might find ourselves next.  So, I hope to share in this space, from time to time, the best that comes my way to spark discussion and allow for further rippling of thoughts that may spur improvement for us all.

 …

For years now, I've been part of something in Santa Barbara called "The Conscious Evolution Community", that emerged in the late 1990s around the personality and message of futurist and visionary Barbara Marx Hubbard.  We built a network for them that we call the "CEN" (Conscious Evolution Network). 

One current spin-off from Conscious Evolution is the "Love Grid" group, that meets every first Monday down at the Ayni Gallery at 216 State just past the freeway underpass.  Ayni (a…

This post speaks to the topic of our conversations today:

http://organizationunbound.org/expressive-change/occupy-oakland-strike-change-and-the-power-of-nonviolence/

http://youtu.be/1oHRdiklTlU

Today, Occupy Atlanta re-occupied their park during regular hours--by 11:05 pm only three people were left in the park--one a homeless man. In response to these 3 people--police arrived in riot gear. One officer drove through a crowd of protesters and allegedly hit 4 people. One of the young men hit was also arrested. Protesters are reporting on Live-stream that people were thrown to the ground, pushed against walls, and beaten. Another protester shared that a white cop told a black…

If you have not seen this interview, I invite you to watch it.  It did a nice job I thought of explaining some of the attributes of the Occupy movement - and the differences from the Tea Party - 

Sorry to say this link expires in 2 days. :(

Charlie Rose - Occupy Movement

I love that one one who was fed up with Bank of America statrted this movement which dovetailed with and no doubt got momentum from the Occupy Movement.

I love this response by credit unions and community banks staying open longer hours and competing for transferrees.…

My friend was telling me how they were doing a yoga circle at Occupy when a guy, in his 50's, ran into the circle shouting "this is not what the revolution is about". He kept yelling into the circle. The yoga teacher guided everyone to stand strong in warrior pose, and beam out light. They chanted the sound of OM.

Wow I was thinking, this is a totally different scene than doing yoga in a yoga studios with their buddha statues and soft music and beautiful wood floors.

Then, my…

It can well be argued that human culture has been shifting slowly out of equilibrium since we stepped out of Nature's gift economy and began to mine the Earth for our need and then our greed. This began with the so-called Agricultural Revolution, by which humanity began to dramatically alter the environment to force it to grow more food than it would otherwise, creating the first regular surpluses (and, inevitably, the first cyclical shortages and consequent poverty and…