After 30 Years of Silence, the Original NSA Whistleblower Looks Back

After 30 Years of Silence, the Original NSA Whistleblower Looks Back

Click above for good article.

"Ecotopia"

Ecotopia is one of the "Nine Nations. "  It lies close along the north Pacific shore of North America.

Form Ecotopia barges can make it all the way to Idaho. 

Ecotopia runs along the west coast of North America from just north of southern California north along the coast of Oregon, Washington, and Canada well up the Alaskan coast.

There are persons in Ecotopia willing to reduce the amount if money they earn in order to improve their quality of life. They question the directions we take. Even some southern Californians may call Ecotopians weird. They  are against things like putting an atomic plant for the generation of electricity near a liquid propane plant in an earth quake fault. How weird is that?

The people of Ecotopia note that our failure to stop wealthy business owners from employing large numbers of illegal aliens by enforcing our laws, takes our employment and weakens respect for our laws.

There is a high level of education and if civic organization in Ecotopia.

Mondragon

Some "Tweeters" have wondered what I have meant by "putting ourselves to work."

If you are curious about what I mean, you can do some checking online. You can start by 'googling' the following: 

~ American Cooperative Movement

~ cooperative banking

~ worker cooperative

In the Basque region of Spain is am outstanding example of what I am talking about. It's Mondragon. Check Mondragon at Wikipedia or elsewhere.

At Mondragon you can find a cooperative university, cooperative banks, and a very profitable worker owned manufacturing cooperative. If you look into Mondragon a bit you can gain a good insight into worker owned corporations. You can learn about corporations that are democratically owned and operated.

I believe that today the democratic federation of Mondragon has about 85,000 members who always have good jobs, share in management, and share profits. Members seem to love the excellent pay, the job security, and being owners of the place they work. That's part of what I mean by putting ourselves to work.

I think that the Mondragon is about the tenth largest corporation in Spain. As I remember it was started by a Catholic priest the year I graduated from high school.

Why did we learn so little about co-ops in high school? Check it out.

It's Our Fault

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Californians became more conscious San Andeas fault. The San Andreas is estimated to be at least 800 miles long and about ten miles deep. From the air, the straight line of it across our desert is clear.

There are places along the fault where water wells up. At some of those places an oasis may be found with beautiful native palms and perhaps a small pool. Earthquakes originating in the fault can so shake the desert hills along it, that landslides created there raise so much dust that i looks as though those hills are on fire.

Sometimes I think that the mass of Mount San Gorgonio as a great peg. A peg so blocking movement along the fault as to cause dangerous stress to build up. Mostly;y, Californians don't let the fault concern them much. Andrew Lawson, the Berkeley professor who did much to document the aftermath of the San Francisco quake, had his house built on top of a part pf the fault that runs along the Berkeley hills.

Hopewell Culture

  This is handiwork of Hopewell Culture people. It is eleven inches high and made of sheer mica. It was found in Mound 25 at Hopewell,Ohio.

Welcome to Mayanmar

A friend and me receiving a friendly welcome from the Myanmar 'secret service.'

Guatemala

There is a lot to discover, learn, and enjoy in Guatemala ... and it's not as expensive as Mexico. The natural landscape is a series of marvels. I like the high mountain cloud forest best. I found its delicate mist forests particularly attractive. I once found magic little nodes of geothermal activity there.

There are beautifully attractive beaches on both coasts; even the tiny east coast. The shipping is interesting too.  You might find it easy to visit Honduras by boat.

The capital seems old, yet it bustles with modern activity. I have know women who have found the men their amazing.

You may find some of the frequency ceremony and pageantry in cities and towns a soothing medicine for mind and body. Then again if you get invited to one party, you may get invitations there to keep you partying for a month. You may find yourself in real need of the peace of village life.

You may be treated to a vision of a Maya princess touched by Castile. Should she treat you to her frank and noble smile you will have the memory of a lifetime. 

If poverty and massive injustice is your bag, you can find it in abundance in Guatemala. You may find that much of the injustice had been kept in place there by countrymen of yours.

There may be good reasons for Guatemalans to hate your guts. However, you will probably find that Guatemalans are more welcoming to you in their land than your compatriots are to
Guatemalans in your land.

University of California

It seems true that most Californians no longer think of the University of California as their university. If that is the fact, I am sure that they have good reasons for thinking that way.

Californians now think so little of their university that they give it less emotional, intellectual, and financial support than is need for the University to continue as theirs. For the first time in the history of the University, private philanthropists contribute more to it than do the people of the State. The influence of military and corporate money is as great, or greater, than it has ever been.

State universities across the land are suffering similar experience. The heart of the experience seems to be the buying by the 1%, that which once belonged to the people.

It might be worthwhile to revisit the purpose for which the people built these great institutions

Hot Water

There are those who seem to be able to get into hot water wherever they go.

In Uruguay, for example, one can head west from Montevideo on a comfortable bus and in a day get to the City of Salto in the State of Salto. Within easy striking distance from that city are a number of 'Termas,' pleasant and comfortable sites with facilities for hot water bathing. There are lots of pools. I understand that wells were sunk in holes of finding oil; hot water is what was found.

Do you know how close Montevideo is to Buenos Aires? The hot water one woman got into in B.A. caused here to have to explain to her husband why her relationship with her Tango instructor wasn't grounds for divorce.Do you know how much closer  yet the picturesque Uruguayan city of Colonia is to BA? Who could get into hot water on the ferryboat ride to Buenos Aires? If she doesn't care for hot water bathing you could promise her a tango in the home of the tango.

On the way to Salto I have found it rewarding to stop at the very Uruguayan city of Paysandu. Paysandu may not be the most Uruguayan town in Uruguay, but it will do. In my book Paysandu is a city, but compared to London or Buenos Aires it may seem a town. An overnight stay in Paysando is not expensive. You can get a great meal there with a passable wine for what you might pay for 'fast food' elsewhere. A simple, but adequate, room can also be had for a comparable price.

Just across the river from Salto is Argentina. Looking,one may find a casino there.

The three main 'termas' or bathing places are Salto Grande, Arapey, and Dayman. Take time to check them all out. If you have rented a car, that will be very easy. For me, accept on certain holiday weekends, Dayman is usually the plays of choice. Dayman is the one closest to Salto, the one with the most restaurants and hotels, and with plenty of pools. I get from my hotel to the public pools in my bathrobe, At Dayman the water temperature is high enough and the prices are low enough. If you have youngsters with you, there is a water-park in close driving distance

If you keep your eyes open you may see fine horse, a fine woman, a man who knows his mate, and kids can play 'futbol.'

In  the 'comment' section below, feel free to ask questions, offer corrections or added information, and to comment.

Georgia

Georgians age the people of the great cross-roads state of the Caucus.

Ask them who Karles' great great grandfather was.

They are a people who worked gold and other metals from  very early times.

If the Kaukasos did not hold up the earth, perhaps they did hold back the great waters.

Were Georgians  Iberians before the Spaniards and Portuguese?

People Power: one

The act of workers uniting for mutual aid was feared and vilified by ruling classes. Workers used the power of unity to motivate rulers to more fairly share with workers the fruits of the labor of workers.

What Kind?

What kinds of people are there?
What kind of person am I?
What kind of person are you?
What kind of people have we been?
What kind of people do we want to be?
Who decides what kind of people we are?


Why do we use so much of our collective wealth to kill and dominate others?

Not Perfect

A page about Fidel Castro in a world history book I was looking at stirred me to consider how I think about 'the people' in the 'We the People of the United States ...' which begins our Constitution. 


I think that, that 'People' is meant to be inclusive. I don't think that it just refers to the comfortable ones. I think that it includes the ones who want a better, more honorable, more just nation.


I think that 'the People' of our Constitution includes the hundreds of thousands of Americans without work, the hundreds of thousands who work and cannot earn enough to house their families without crushing debt. I think 'the people' includes industrial workers who not only lost their jobs, but also saw much of their benefit and retirement funds disappear.


The people includes those who pay interest on money borrowed to get their families from on moth to the next in some dignity. The people includes tens of thousands of teachers and professors who are treated like jailers and trainers, but paid less. Teachers and professors vital for maintaining the good in our society and for providing the people a chance for a better destiny are honored less than a stock broker and paid less.


The tens of thousands of small business men and women weighted down with debt and too often with confounding paper work are part of this 'People.'


Tens of thousands of young professionals with fresh degrees and a desire to work find themselves before closed doors are part of this 'People.'


Each of these  people are responsible for his or her -self and, have also united to form a move perfect union.

Americans

I have traveled a lot.

I enjoyed my travels. I was treated well everywhere.

I found that Americans were generally well liked, but that the America government was not.

I am not surprised that I am well liked. I'm a likable guy. For a time I was surprised that my government was not well liked.

As I traveled, I not only talked a lot, I also listened a lot, and learned to keep my eyes open. I began to learn. I began to understand that even though most people wanted to like the United States, they could not.

I remember being taught that one of the strengths of democracy was its stability. I saw my government supporting anti-democratic government everywhere. We supported those who trusted the people least and who were trusted least by the people. We supported killers, despots, dictators, and cruel exploiters. We supported those interested in the greatest good for the very special few.

My travels began in the days when Americans still referred to the government as 'we' and 'us.' I went to Embassies and Consulates and asked, "Why are we supporting these guys?" When they found that I was serious they explained that it was done in the name of stability! At first I asked, "What about my teachers?" "What about democracy?" I said that I talked to many people who wanted their own democratic government. I said that the people found it confusing that Americans supported their actual point of teaching that government how to suppress them. When I noted How I was being asked, "What people?" and "Which people?" I began to think that I was talking too much.

I began to make my observations a bit more discreetly. My earliest inquiries were mostly in Latin America. I continued observations in Europe, the East and wider.

The major change over these years is that Americans began to refer to their government as they and them.

How Many of US to Elect A President?

Figuring that there are about 307,000,000 people in the Unite States;  
estimating that 225,000,000 us are over 18;
Understanding that President Barack Obama was elected with 64,000,000 votes;
I calculate that we can elect a president with less than 29% of us of voting age.


Please correct my facts, figuring, and calculations

democracy

There is a lot to be said for democracy. I'll begin by saying a little of it.


I tend to think of democracy as a target and as a process.


Democracy means 'government by the people at large.' It means rule by the common people. Whoever 'the people' is, democracy is government and rule by all of them.
How might such a thing be done?


I don't know anyone who has seen such a government. Still, I like the idea and believe that it is a good thing to shoot for. I'm not talking about war. I'm just suggesting that it seems a decent way to direct ones civic activities. Directions in ones activities often proves useful.


A democracy does not necessarily call for majorities or votes. It is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly. It may be carried out in a variety of ways.


Democracy is a way of doing things that keeps power with the people. For some it may be an ongoing process of democratization. For me, it is the measure of my government.

Jobs

Its the job of a corporate man to increase the power of the corporation.

Its the job of a military man to increase the power of the military

Its the job of a president to increase the power of the presidency.

Its the job of a Congressman to increase the power of the Congress.

Its the job of a member of the Supreme Court to increase the power of the court.

Its the job of a person to increase he power of the people.

What Kind of People Are We?

A caustic friend of mine gave me pause for thought. I would begin to relate a problem of mine, but before I got far into it he would say, "Tell someone who cares."  Am I writing to someone who cares about what kind of people we have become?

At other times I would begin a sentence with "We" and before I got much further he would say "Do you have a mouse in your pocket?" Might we be a "we?" What kind of 'we' might we be?

How does a "we" come about? How is a "we" created.

To be a 'we' we'd probably have to have something in common. That which we had in common would probably determine the kind of 'we' we are.

Many years ago I sat at a cafe table with several young men from various Latin American republics. Because they were better educated and possibly more courteous than I, we were speaking English. We each began telling the others where we were from. I was among the first to respond. I said, "I'm an American." I was taken a bit aback by the responses: "Me too." "So am I." "We all are." "Aren't we all?" Of course they were right. The New World is The Americas.
If we had been Speaking Spanish or even Portuguese I might have avoided further mix-up. Trying to correct myself I said, "I'm from the United States." Now they were ready to have some fun with me. "Oh" one said, "The United States of Brazil or the United States of Mexico?" One of my companions said, "He's a North American." Going along with their play, I  asked, "Which do you think I am Mexican or Canadian."

Saying who one is, is not always easy. Just naming ones group or category can be difficult. How much more difficult might it be to name a new "we?"

The People

We the people may not always be sure who 'we' are, but I am sure we are not aristocrats, nobles, or gentry.

People of France

Thanks for the reminder.


It's sleeping reason that raises monsters, right?