Things to Know - 1 October

 Mike Luckovich cartoon: Class warfare

1.  The other day I alluded to the lack of coverage on the Wall Street Occupiers.  It is difficult not to cover it fully. Sure, police spraying protesters, and general civil disobedience playing out in the back ground. More is coming out now, as to the REASON why the leaderless occupation seems to be growing and spreading.   This article begins to touch a bit on the lack of full disclosure.  You see, Wall Street institutions have long, rich, and powerful tentacles.   It scares the crap out of them that a civil disobedience that questions there existence is going on in the neighborhood.  They are afraid that they are going to look like the real bad, greedy, and uncaring behemoths that they are, and they know it.  They are afraid that if this protest gets up a head of steam that we may be a witness to a historical apocalypse.  Rather than go there, the Wall Street bosses will do anything to have it go away.  Their ownership of our retirement plans, mortgages on media facilities, bonds that support city projects ....and just keep going on what else they own.  The guys on Wall Street own everything, and they can put pressure in ways we cannot even begin to imagine to get these protest demonstrations scuttled, put down, or not on full display in the media.  Such is the power of Wall Street:
http://www.truth-out.org/print/6981

 http://www.truth-out.org/print/6984

2.  Read about how a Faith-Based Economy is supposed to work - yes, faith-based:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/38688/

3.  The War Games are emerging in this timely Washington Post column.  The  "hyper-luxury" term replaces just plain "luxury", so yes times are changing.  What is emerging is an image of decadence amongst the folks at the top.  Gee, when did this stuff happen before?:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rich-people-demonized-for-flaunting-their-wealth-are-under-attack/2011/09/28/gIQAcJn4AL_print.html

4.  Charles Blow is taking a wait-and-see attitude, and tosses in a bunch of data that goes contrary to the Occupiers.  See for yourself:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/opinion/hippies-and-hipsters-exhale.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

5.  Dick Cavett ends the East Coast media offerings, and closes with a nice change of pace:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/enough-with-the-agony-already/?pagemode=print

6.  This is a TV program to record, or not miss - Ken Burn's "Prohibition" on PBS for three days starting tomorrow.  As we watch, we may be able to draw parallels with the 'war on drug" prohibition that is really devastating us today:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-prohibition-20111001,0,6190520,print.story

7.  There is an other "prohibition" going on right now.  It also is ripping us up.  Now, more than ever, the federal laws have to meet this problem:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-alabama-20110930,0,7161994,print.story
--
Juan Matute

"We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don't know."
       -- W. H. Auden

"I find nothing more depressing than optimism."
       -- Paul Fussell

"When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes.'"
       -- Steven Wright

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
       -- Dan Quayle