Open Thread – Yirqa Kuik (Occupy the River)
This from Diane McEachern who posed for the original “Occupy the Tundra” photo.
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Yup’ik Elder Esther Green and I went out on the river at her request. She instructed me to post this photo of her “Occupying the River.” She also would like to include the sloughs, streams, brooks, and ocean. She wanted to be a part of the Occupy movement in her own way, while ice fishing for “lush fish.” She does not want Pebble Mine or Donlin Creek mine “bothering the fish” and is worried about the impact those mines will have on the fish. She specifically told me to post it so “The Occupy Wall Street people can see it.”
Update 11/14: Tonight I called Esther to read her the comments. There are another large number of comments at the FB page so I read her those too. Mulling all of this over she said, “You know, I saw all of this on the news and then your picture went everywhere. I remembered ‘find your spot, Occupy it.’ And I thought about how I Occupy all of Alaska…but that was too big, too general. I wanted to narrow it down, and I thought of the river. That’s IT. I found my spot. Water. On the other side of the world, there is water. Everything is connected with water. When are we going out again?”
Occupy our watersheds. Moose Pucky is so into it. Gunalcheesh, Esther, Diane, and AKM.
The Super Committee–and turkeys! LOL! 🙂
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Monitor-Political-Cartoons
How can you NOT love a movement that connects people in one of the largest and most crowded cities in the world with a wonderful woman like Esther? And all working together for a common cause.
Thank you, Esther, for standing up for our rivers, lakes and oceans.
We cannot live without water…for our bodies and for our souls.
leenie17: Indeed. It IS something to love…the manifestation of connectedness, creative, and immediately heartwarming. Thank you for acknowledging that connection! Diane McEachern
Quyana, Ester. You occupy my heart with the beauty of your message and I pass it on.
Quyana, Diane and AKM
Quyana, to all who “find your spot and Occupy it.”
Quyana, Lee323 @ 1.1, spit spot occupied.
Scout (spit spot occupy’r): Thanks for your comment. And you’re welcome back. Esther and I are having fun figuring out our little Occupying ways….:)
While awaiting the judge’s decision on whether or not OWS can move back to Zuccotti Park (where there are brand spanking new signs posted stating the park’s hours as 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and that there’s no camping/tents allowed), I came across this:
http://www.businessinsider.com/fdic-fights-fed-over-trillions-in-bank-of-america-derivatives-2011-11?utm_source=twbutton&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=clusterstock
Yes, it’s complicated, but well worth trying to understand. Bank of America is trying to get the FDIC to insure its risky trades and worthless paper from credit default swaps.
And he’s a Republican. There might be hope for some reasoning, after all.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/tom-coburn-30-billion-millionaires-tax-breaks_n_1092692.html
I’m either coming late to the party or haven’t been paying close enough attention or…. I was listening to Alaska One (public radio) today, interview with an Egyptian who asked the OWS movement to KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. And asked the questions that I have been asking, essentially, What’s it all about? Can someone tell me what this movement is about, why, what is hoped to accomplish, when will you know if it’s been accomplished? Where does it goe from here?
Anyone, please KISS so I can pass it on.
It’s about natural people reasserting their authority over their communities, their states, their nation, their world.
It’s about processes where all voices are heard.
Once you have this, the sparks start flying. So much can be accomplished.
Carol: I am not sure how to read your note…someone in Egypt requests that people in the Occupy movement simplify their purpose? And in asking “what’s it all about?” They were not offered any answer that you could hear on the broadcast? Confusing. But I’ll take your question as genuine and share why I went out to Occupy the Tundra. KISS version: I can’t fly to Wall Street. So I had to find a way to link to the movement via my own context. My context is the Tundra outside of Bethel. Way out here, I do feel concerned with the overwhelming wealth of a teeny tiny number of Americans compared to the enormous “rest of us.” That disparity is not sustainable. Equally unsustainable is the virtual vacuuming up of wealth by the big “too big to fail” banks and the destruction of our economy by their gorging on the wealth. Here on the tundra, I worry about Pebble mine and the potential damage it WILL do to the salmon and HUMAN habitat. It might be useful to do some of your own homework. There are a ton of articles and stories on the Occupy movement that can readily help you…
Anybody know what the on-line definition of a person with leprosy is?
Without going on line, I’d say “a person with Hansen’s Disease”.
Okay.I’ll bite. What is Hansen’s Disease? Sing it right out loud.
the link I posted—doesn’t seem to work! Soooooooo
Try———http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKDu6cdXLI
The last link didn’t work because of the quotation marks; this one because of the added ———http.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKDu6cdXLI
Voila!
I’m finding myself REALLY pee’d off lately (I would use the original term but don’t want to be “moderated”) about a pervasive amount of stupidity (Republican candidates) and cowardice (Penn State) in the zeitgeist. Coming here today, seeing Esther’s photo and reading everyone’s comments has really helped me calm down. Thank you all.
Maggie
I’m still angry, though!
Esther, tears well up in my eyes. You go girl!
Thank you, Esther. Water is life. We cannot live, grow food, or have a society without it. It is the most precious resource on Earth.
Bad news to report. The militaristic police went into Zuccotti and wiped out OWS, including making 200 arrests, shutting down all but one local subway station, arresting a reporter, using teargas, and throwing all 5,000 books from the OWS library into a dumpster. Read about it here:
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/730802/crackdown_on_ows%3A_zuccotti_park_raided_under_media_blackout%2C_pepper_spray_and_batons_used%2C_tents_cleared_out
or here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/police-begin-clearing-zuccotti-park-of-protesters.html?_r=1&hp
This movement cannot be stopped with such tactics, and will continue.
and here’s the story via The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/15/occupy-wall-street-you-cant-evict
whose coverage has been stellar, and Al Jazeera (English):
http://www.aljazeera.com/
Thank you Esther for standing up for “Water.” and I agree 100%, we have to protect the waters for all the fish that live in it and in turn the water provides us food for our table. Thank you Esther!
Good to see you here neighbor. Hoping all is well with you and yours after the latest storm.
And yes, thank you Ms Esther!
We are all connected by water and the bounty it provides on all levels.
Just a metaphor
“Credit derivatives trader calls me: ‘I spent $4,000 on a white truffle dinner on Monday at Babbo. This is sh!tty.”
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/11/bankers-boycott-batali-comparing-them-hitler/44773/
{{{{{Esther Green and the river}}}}}
*river memories, river dreams*
Here’s a little something to jazz up your day!
“http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lXKDu6cdXLI?rel=0”
Now that’s a committed protester! And the media wondered if the OWS protesters in NY would stick around when there was a little snow….
The GOP comedy show continues but it looks like they have no more time for the likes of Sarah Palin according to this Tea Party website:
“Sarah Palin Is Not the Answer
By CHQ Staff | 11/15/11
Nearly seven in ten conservative and Tea Party activists tell our CHQ Poll that Sarah Palin is not the presidential candidate conservatives are looking for.
We asked you: “Is now the time for Sarah Palin to enter the presidential race?
And we explained: “It’s obvious that conservatives are not united behind any one candidate, and that the only thing that unites us is our aversion to Mitt Romney. Are the dynamics now such that Sarah Palin should reconsider the race? Would you like to see her enter the presidential race?
Here is how you responded:
69% No, Sarah, stay in Alaska
21% Yes, Sarah, jump on in
10% Call me undecided at this time”
http://www.conservativehq.com/article/5463-sarah-palin-not-answer
Well, that’s a little encouraging, I guess. Not much is encouraging when I look at any of the repubs, however.
I feel like I’m watching episodes of The Three Stooges or Keystone Kops…
Good morning! Please tell Esther I think she is a wise and wonderful woman. I wish I could spend a day with her, just doing what she does. I suspect I would be worn out before the day is half done but I would learn a lot. 🙂
Today is a big day in Wisconsin and I hope Scott Walker gets his come-uppance. People in Wisconsin should be riding on the wave from Ohio’s recent defeat of SB5. Let’s go!
Merrycricket: On behalf of Esther, thank you. I told her about your and everyone’s comments and it gave her a wonderful feeling of connection to those who care about the earth (the earth being the great unifier)…She and I have fun together, and if you hung out with her, you would too. Take care, Diane McEachern
Wow… Occupy the _____________… Fill in the blank with your own pet peeve… And the Gubament should step in and fix those pet peeves for us??? Sheesh… No wonder we have a 15 trillion dollar deficit…
Pet peeves??
Concern for the environment is a pet peeve?
Wall Street’s excesses and penchant for gambling with other folk’s money is a pet peeve?
The fact that Warren Buffet pays an effective lower tax rate than his secretary is a pet peeve?
The fact that 30 of the most profitable corporations in America paid no taxes in the last 3 years is a pet peeve?
The reality that the top 1% increased their wealth nearly 300% in the last 30 years while the remainder of the country essentially languished is a pet peeve?
The reality of 9% unemployment and depleted pension funds after the 2008 crash of the economy is a pet peeve?
…and the list goes on and on.
You could really use a brain to occupy your skull, Bob….and it wouldn’t even add to the deficit.
But, dontcha know, Lee, we’re supposed to just accept that the corporations now run our country and are accumulating all the wealth in their big, fat bank accounts. We’re seeing the same financial disparity that happened just before the Great Depression but we should just sit down, shut up and send more money to the rich people. We’re being turned into the silent, impotent majority and we should really just be happy about it because the 1% are the REALLY important people and we’re just worker ants, helping them gather more money and power.
On second thought, maybe the Occupy movement has the right idea… 😉
Bob, goodness, pet peeve? Pebble mine, the largest open pit mine in human history…a “peeve?” I think you’re joshing. Trivializing heartfelt and genuinely reasoned positions on important issues of the day? Peevish.