Anxiety in the US or One More Rodeo with Iran

The current state of anxiety in the US and the Middle East regarding a potential military strike on Iran is well warranted. The Israeli government seems committed to, if not longing for, a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. However, surgical strikes on Iranian facilities are not as easy as attacking other Middle Eastern targets. Iranian nuclear sites are spread across the entire country and most of the facilities are under ground. So even the most precise bombings could not guarantee that the sites would be damaged beyond repair. Even more so damaging their technological capabilities would only at best delay their pursuit of a bomb; not suppress the program. On the contrary, a military strike could signal the beginning of a nuclear arms race in the region, which would only heighten tensions and incentivize Iran to redouble their efforts.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Any military intervention on sovereign soil is assured to prompt an immediate response. Israeli cities will almost certainly be dealt blows from a retaliatory strike from Tehran. While Iran's military capabilities are not as modernized as Israel's, lives will still be lost. Also, a strike also risks increased motivation for radical groups such as Al-Qaeda to step up their efforts in planning attacks on American soil. Israel and the United States are inextricably linked in the Persian government's mind and an attack from one is an attack from both. After all where is the "little Satan" without help from the "great Satan?" If Israel attacks then the US attacks as well – whether we like it or not.

However, American complicity does not necessitate American intervention. President Obama has been correct to use the rhetoric he has been using. As Teddy Roosevelt said, "speak softly but carry a big stick." The President has extended the hand of friendship to Israel in its dealing with Iran's ambitions but he is reticent (thank the heavens) to commit to any military intervention. Instead, he has spent his time urging the international community to step up economic sanctions. While these are temporary measures to a more permanent regime problem, they do offer an alternative to bloodshed.

The cultural and socio-political context of Israeli-Iranian relations offers the biggest indicator of intention from the Israeli perspective. During a recent interview in the White House both President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu exhibited less than cordial conversation about the topic. Sure, they exchanged pleasantries and smiled for the cameras but one could not miss the slyly indignant, and somewhat condescending, tone of Mr. Netanyahu toward Pres. Obama when he stressed that Israel had "the right to defend itself." (It is no secret that there is no love lost between the Israeli PM and the President.) Mr. Obama, wisely in this reporter's opinion, has been quick to speak and slow to act. Military force should always be a last resort and Mr. Obama is doing a good job, for appearances sake at the very least, of leaning on sanctions and international pressure. But Iran may yet do it for him.

Iran, in an attempt to institute energy-crippling measures on the west, has already stopped oil delivery to France and Germany. Additionally, they have threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping channel out of the Middle East. Consequently, fear and speculation are already playing a role in the global oil price. Their goal, it would seem, is to threaten the world with oil price inflation. They reason that if they could disrupt the flow of oil in and out of the Middle East then they can cripple the world economy. However, Iran has not thought this one through.

By shutting down oil delivery to certain European countries, Iran is effectively starving their own economy of 60% of its GDP, which comes from oil and gas exports in addition to risking a US-Israeli attack. Iran is simply out of options. While Iran, as a sovereign nation, has the right to pursue whatever course of action it chooses, international socio-economic pressure is going to either squeeze the country so hard they will have no choice but to acquiesce or pursue a radical course of retaliation.

The US policy should be one of passive resistance. Continue pressing Iran with economic sanctions and let them implement their own counters. The west will suffer from an increase in oil prices and heightened tension with Israel but we will also avoid another prolonged conflict which will costs billions of dollars and sacrifice many more lives. Have we not learned out lessons in Iraq? Afghanistan?

War is not the solution. Even if an American-Israeli coalition wiped the Iranian nuclear program off the face of the Earth they would still rebuild. They would still pursue the desires of their hearts. Conflict and violence only exacerbate and prolong these issues. If a real solution is to be reached it will have to come willingly from the people and government of Iran. Outside military intervention will only raise the stakes. Energy yields energy. The American government needs to be very careful where it puts its energy because we will reap what we sow.

PAN invite

Inter-Assembly List and Global Newswire

This is an invitation to join our Inter-Assembly Newswire project. It’s being run by team members from Occupy/15M/PAN in the USA, Spain and London. Please read the following information, and ask your Assembly's external and international communications workgroups (or equivalent) to subscribe and participate.
There are two aspects to this project: (1) the global email list and (2) the decentralised blog-link, or global newswire. We are excited about the newswire which allows you to 'news tag' your local blog posts for people to follow and receive your news at the global level. Both platforms are designed to maintain local assembly autonomy while also establishing clean lines of inter-assembly communication, and are open-source so can be utilised on other sites. You may subscribe to one or both (we recommend both so we can monitor and make improvements).

Participation in the Email List requires only that your local workgroup (i) subscribe and (ii) considers what assembly-endorsed messages to post there [*]. Individuals may also subscribe, but only as observers.

Participation in the Decentralised Blog-link/Global Newswire requires that you (i) set up a new posting category (on your local blog) and (ii) send us the RSS feed. Similar posting guidelines apply to both platforms [*].

Both are therefore simple to set up. More detailed info on the platforms, and how to participate is as follows:

(1) Email List

A strictly moderated Assemblies-Only (ie. noise-free) email list[**], and linked open source newswire. Subscribe individually as an observer or, to obtain posting rights subscribe using your official assembly workgroup email address (be ready to verify this, in the interests of transparency).

Subscribe here:

https://lists.takethesquare.net/mailman/listinfo/assemblies ( please ignore security warning )
[**] Every post will also appear on a dedicated blog-space [location, to be confirmed] as part of the global newswire. Further info on this platform is set out (in ENG/FR/ESP/IT) at: http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2012/02/assemblies-only-email-list/

(2) Global Newswire

Once your local blog is linked in the www.peoplesassemblies.org platform will live stream blog posts designated by your external communications workgroup as of wider national or international interest while also linking global subscribers back to your local assembly blog. Streamed content will be geographically organised at the global level by continent, country and city/region and, if your local group uses news tags appropriately [see (iv) below and recommended!] also by issue / topic.

Linking your blog to the Global Newswire is simple. Here's how:

(i) Create a new, uniquely designated category on your local blog (eg 'PAN', ‘Assemblies’, ‘GA’ 'PA' or as you choose).

(ii) Register (ie send) that designated RSS feed address to us at: pan-owner@lists.takethesquare.net
(iii) Start posting under your designated category local assembly content your group deems of wider national or international interest [*] and watch it appear on the global newswire :)

IMPORTANT: Aim to News Tag designated posts by topic wherever possible. The Global Newswire will work without it, but tagging will make it much easier to organise content at the global level, so subscribers wil be able to access the assembly content they are most interested in. General tags like 'actions', 'democracy', 'economics', 'education', 'politics', 'corporations' 'global' and/or others could be used. Tagging works best if similar tags are used worldwide, so you may wish to consult http://wiki.occupy.net/wiki/Harmonized_groupings to see if there is a tag that suits before posting.
Once the above is done, whenever you locally post to the designated category (think 'newswire channel') the post will live-feed to the global site (and other sites that choose to access or mirror newswire content) appearing under continent, country, city/region and relevant topic :)

[*] Please note: posts in the designated PAN category (as with the Email list) should be

A - Text/info/projects your local assembly has endorsed

B – Text / info your local, assembly-endorsed communications group wants to broadcast to the wider world (eg communiques, minutes of meeting, call-outs, political statements etc).

More Info / Join the Team!
- We are an open working group made up of an international team of activists working in the Take the Square International, Inter-Occupy, Occupy-Net, London International Commission, People's Assemblies and the Global Square communications platforms.

- The www.peoplesassemblies.org site is being redesigned to facilitate the newswire, and this will go live when we have RSS feeds from sufficient assemblies. Our basic aim is to take the PAN project to support assemblies worldwide by enabling reliable, effective and transparent communication between all local people’s assemblies.

A link to the info in this message, plus details of our next weekly global planning meeting (to which all are invited) is at http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/newswire/

Love and Solidarity

Carolina, Larry, Dana, Ternura, Mark and the rest of the team

The Homeless in America and the Occupy Movement

Some have come to occupy for political reasons. Others have been occupying most of their lives. Since the Occupy movement began it has become increasingly apparent that one of the biggest problems in America would take center stage: homelessness. It was inevitable that the two groups of occupiers would influence each other and change the nature of the movement. From LA to New York the homeless have found a community in local occupations. However, what happens to the homeless community once initial encampments are dissolved?

Once an eviction notice was released for Occupy Philly to vacate Dilworth Plaza, our original encampment, the previously homeless population started to organize their own community. A sizable contingent of tents and resources were transferred from our original encampment to a site much farther north and out of the way. This has led to two questions: 1) what is the nature of this Occupy annex and 2) how do we continue to support them?

The original Dilworth encampment accomplished a goal it didn’t even intend: it empowered the disenfranchised of America to work together to build an infrastructure for themselves. Our working group and general assembly structure now functions as a model for this 21st century Hooverville. They have taken donated materials such as tents, tables, and pallets to assemble their own occupation. In addition to their structural emulations they also have their own councils and caucuses. They have empowered themselves with a sense of purpose, cooperation, and community, that has been absent from their normal day-to-day for years, independent of the primarily political participants of OP.

Philosophically, this raises interesting and important question: if and/or how does the centralized occupation continue to support this expansion. The movement as whole was not intended as a direct action against homelessness. It has however become a possible champion of the cause. So how do we allocate resources in a way that supports the movement as a whole and yet is fair in its donations to the sustainability of tent city annexes? We need to very concretely create a structured plan of allocations including members of both the political off-siters and the citizens of the new tent city which includes a code of conduct, stipulations of support from both sides, and a third party check and balance for accountability and transparency.

Occupy 2.0 is about to begin but we cannot leave troops in the trenches. This expansion is a victory for our movement. The hardest hit of the victims we represent have empowered themselves to create their own community. As we take the battle to the top 1% we must not leave any of the 99% behind. As the old saying goes: united we will stand but divided we will fall.

Political Pandering and The Blame Game

The US government’s recent squabble regarding the national debt ceiling has finally revealed congress for what it is: 541 prepubescent monkeys throwing shit at each other. A democracy is based in open dialogue and a mutual understanding of compromise. Rational men elected to lead the “greatest nation on Earth” should be able to wisely rise above their ideological trappings for the good of their constituents. Alas! Republicans and Democrats instead spend their time alone, masturbating at the thought of their own superiority. The debt ceiling controversy was not a national crisis; it was a game of Risk played with the lives of common men by the powerful elite.

This charade was revealed to be a farce when House majority leader Mitch McConnell proposed a measure giving the President executive privilege to raise or lower the debt ceiling. Why? Because he wanted to see the problem solved and the “crisis” averted? From the Senator’s own mouth: “The single most important thing [Republicans] want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Millions of people’s jobs, medical care, and livelihoods were falling into the abyss of the political process while our countries leaders were playing politics. Thankfully, the American public has not turned a blind eye to Congress’ shortcomings.

In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll Congress received an 82% disapproval rating. 77% thought they acted like “spoiled children.” Even now, they cannot agree to stop wagging their genitals at each other. In response to the S&P’s degradation of the government’s credit rating John Boehner, the Speaker of the House and Republican mouthpiece, still pointed the finger at the Democrats. "It is my hope this wake-up call will convince Washington Democrats that they can no longer afford to tinker around the edges of our long-term debt problem.” The Republicans have suffered the greatest PR blow in this debacle and still they preach their Reaganesque mantras of tax cuts and smaller government. But nowhere has this cabaret stimulated more erections than in the 2012 Presidential race.

Michelle Bachman, the tea-bagging-fundamentalist-Neanderthal darling of the Republican party, suggested that the President fire his economic staff while Mitt Romney pronounced the death of the President’s policy, lauding America’s brand-spankin’ new AA credit rating as Obama’s “latest [economic] casualty.” I am sure that under their watchful eyes all this could have been averted.

The Democrats aren’t doing any better. A deep-set belief that your policies will better the country should thrust them into the public domain like an army on the shores of liberation. Instead, to maintain their golden thrones and comfortable paychecks, Democrats have fattened themselves with timidity. They have acted like puppies that have been beaten too much when they should have been the hounds of hell, come to gnaw on the bones of irresponsible government. They are pussies of the worst kind—cowards who call themselves kings.

“Bi-Partisan” politics is a joke. Democrats and Republicans care more for their legacies, luxuries, and opulence than they do about the well being of the American people. We now have heard from the horse’s ass, on so many occasions, that politicians would rather be re-elected than propagate progress. We must stand up to these megalomaniacs. Their egos grow a mile for every inch that we are set back, creating a chasm so wide that the Grand Canyon itself might groan in envy. It is time we take our lives back from these entitled and engorged enigmas. I call on our politicians to account for their crimes of omission and commission. Repent and we can be saved. Who knows? Maybe even shit-covered monkeys can make a difference.

Letter to America #1

Letter to America #1

Dear America,

Children file down the avenue absentmindedly waving their national pride
Their smiling faces stretch from east to west as they marvel at this
Monster
we have created

Their innocence is unblemished by the blood running in the streets of Kabul
Their happiness undisturbed by the cries of their freshly orphaned brothers
They do not know because we do not tell them
We do not speak because we are afraid
Afraid that we too will be labeled terrorists

And the dream we have slaved for
for years
will fall from our feet

I watched a Memorial Day parade today. Bright shiny fire engines slowly rolled by, reminding me of tornados and earthquakes. A drumline led the charade, keeping the pace steady. They looked like old time revolutionaries proud to march into battle, assured of the justice of their cause. Sharp notes rang out on the city air like gunshots. One after another: intimidating and mowing down all who would oppose. It frightened me to think of my country this way. It was like having a drunk father peering over his shoulder at you. He knew what you were up to. You just prayed he was too fucked up to notice. And just as I felt most like a helpless infant, my reflection stared at me from the face of a child in the throng. It was like looking back in time. Once upon a time I simply absorbed all the pretty colors and smiling faces at these things. In pre-logical bliss I would fly on the wings of the dream of what was America. Now I look at this parade of ignorance from the sidelines. When I was a child I thought like a child, acted like a child, and was ignorant like a child. Now I am a man. I think like a man, act like a man, and finally know like a man. I don’t fly flags anymore. I know that I am helpless in the face of my government. I am Jack without the benefit of a beanstalk. I am a lonely voice crying out in the desert “make straight the paths of progress: love, peace, joy, and happiness.” Yet still the flags fly. Our military industrial complex has festered into a disease yet we dress up our children in the garb of conquest: red, white, and blue. We adorn tyranny with the face of innocence and sell it at a discount rate. As long as flags fly and gods inspire America will march, in order, to the drum of greed.

I didn’t really watch the parade after that. I staggered home, grabbed a scotch, and poured it over my rebellious thoughts. I was scared. When did America become this whore? Have men always valued their fear over hope? They have told me over and over again that my neighbor is my enemy: that the color of his skin or the posture of his prayer is sufficient cause for death. Always draped in old glory and romanticized in hero worship. And here it was right outside my window on the painted faces of tomorrow. I cried. We have bought the lie. I don’t blame you. 99 cent security is an enticing offer. But you get what you pay for. You have traded your freedom for security and your soul for a big mac.

(Families are forced from their homes because malicious men gambled away their life savings. Meanwhile, rich men dominate Capitol Hill with a big green iron curtain. The corporation and the government have bonded themselves in a blood tie. The
harlot has wed the beast and the takeover is complete. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. You are a profitability factor. Your child’s health is a cost-benefit analysis. We live in the United Corporations of America.)

And so I think back to the parade. The fire trucks gleamed engine red as they slowly passed. The marines were in full dress reflecting American glory. And the children waved red, white, and blue as if to say “we’re the best!” We are the best. But we is they. Corporations and compromised governments have stolen old glory. We pledge our allegiance to the idea that greed can be used for good. And parade it around like it’s a blessing. You have been lied to America. We have traveled back to 1984 and we haven’t even noticed.

Sincerely Yours, Larry Swetman

This Is Not Our America

Scheming investment bankers irresponsibly gambled away billions of dollars and the futures of our children in pursuit of the Almighty dollar. And when their empire crumbled under the weight of their own greed our government bailed them out with billions of dollars of our money. Money that should have been used for investment in education, infrastructure, and alternative energy was blown to the wind. It was given as bonuses for the very devils that caused the crisis. Not only were they not punished; they were rewarded. Meanwhile this very same government is pumping trillions of dollars into imperial war mongering while our children, our elderly, and our infirm suffer. In the name of “balancing the budget” services that people depend on are cut in order to keep bombing civilians in Afghanistan, torturing at Guantanamo, and aiding oppressive regimes. The Corporate giant has finally devoured the national interest. Big money finances big election campaigns and big lobbying produces a big conflict of interest. The United States government has finally been bought off.



Now we see them coming for the worker. It is not enough that the top 1% owns 90% of the wealth. They need more. They need cheaper labor so they can pay their executive more. Over the past 25 years productivity has increased several fold while the laborers earnings have remained the same. The profits go to the top while the worker fights to survive. And when we stand together to make sure that even the least of us is taken care of we are met with resistance. We are met with threats. We are met with tyranny. Corporate bought politicians defend the interests of big money and strip us of our god-given rights. Its in an Orwellian society when those who speak up for each other are silenced by their government. Not in America. Not in our America.



In our America food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and education are universal rights which are guaranteed to every man, woman, and child regardless of color, gender, sexuality, or religion. In our America governments do not spy on their own citizens. In our America children receive world class educations from teachers that are taken care of. In our America sick babies do not die from lack of insurance. In our America our mothers and fathers are do not choose between their groceries and their medicine. In our America we are all free people in the pursuit of happiness.



So here we gather across the nation. Holding hands in the solidarity of brotherhood. Demanding a new day. In this new day we will have a democracy. A real democracy where every man has a say and is fairly treated. We can longer stay silent. People all over the country are being robbed by the corporate giant while our supposedly representative government grants millions and billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top 1%. America was built on the backs of the hard working everyman. Our country should not crumble under the weight of greed and special interests.



St. Augustine once said that an unjust law is no law at all. Therefore, we have the right, if not the duty, to rebel with violence or civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.

Nostalgia

Lazily drifting through an autumn river
amidst fragrant fiery reds, delicious glistening golds, and a remnant of spring green
a nippy chill creeps up my arm
I absentmindedly pull at my jacket
though I don't mind it much

Memories fade to fantasy as the present pours in
Tomorrows are patient enough