A Message From the Poor, Obscenely Rich Guy

[Your Humble Scribe has Flu. Please don't expect too much.]

Jamie Dimon, King of JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street, and a large piece of The World, politely chides me in an e-mail today:  "I don't understand why you didn't open my email before. Totally typical of the disrespectful behavior I've come to expect from people like you. People who refuse to understand how important I am. 

So listen up. I'm saying something REALLY IMPORTANT here and you need to pay attention. For your own good.

--Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan Chase"

So here's what "HE" has to say -

"You people. You just won’t go away.

Once those Occupiers were finally cleared from our neighborhood in New York City in 2012, my fellow CEOs and I thought we’d finally get some peace. We were all about sending some token checks to a few distressed homeowners and then getting back to ruling the universe from atop our mountains of unprecedented wealth.

But no.

Last March when that impudent Senator Warren suggested that my bank should merit CRIMINAL prosecution, my friend Attorney General Eric Holder made the perfectly innocent observation we are simply too big and profitable to prosecute. YOU PEOPLE JUMPED ALL OVER HIM! You joined 333,000 others signing petitions and marching into my US Attorney Offices all over the country demanding “End to Big to Jail!”

Then in May you and your friends at the Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes actually surrounded the Department of Justice, demanding that my friends and I go to jail. (I heard 32 of you were arrested. I don’t know why it wasn’t all 500 of you – I guess our justice system really is broken!)

When Occupy Our Homes asked for your help to keep former police officer, cancer survivor and foreclosure fighter Jacqueline Barber in her home, you stood with her signing petitions and flooding my good friends at Wells Fargo and GMAC with phone calls. Another perfectly good foreclosure spoiled.

And, OMG, this Local Principal Reduction thing? All sorts of Mayors and towns using eminent domain to reset mortgages? Not funny. My friends and I make the rules and if we want your opinion we’ll give it to you.

And that doesn’t even include the steady stream of reports, news articles, the “Bank Crime Spree” and“100 Days to Fix What Wall Street Broke” campaigns. Do you think I want to hear the stories of everyone who ACCIDENTLY got screwed over? What’s the expression about breaking a few eggs?

This sort of thing has real consequences, people. I totally had to pay $13 billion, the largest penalty by a corporation to a government ever in the history of the world. Not that I can’t afford it, but I so TOTALLY had other plans for that money.

So, look, whatever else you do to celebrate this holiday season, please DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE give ANY money to Action for the Common Good. Their so-called Campaign for a Fair Settlement has been enough trouble and now they are growing - joining up with low wage workers, immigrant rights groups, and who knows who else through this new Center for Popular Democracy thing. Well, I can tell you one thing for sure. It's not popular with me.

Grinchily yours,

Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorganChase


PS. Obviously, this isn’t really from JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon. Instead we had some fun thinking about all the problems that Chase is facing right now, much is which is due directly to your work, and thought it would be funny to share what Mr. Dimon might be thinking with you.

Happy holidays from all of us here at Action for the Common Good. – Brian Kettenring, Andrew Friedman, and Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Directors

PPS. If you want to continue to annoy Wall Street CEO’s like Jamie Dimon, you can contribute to Action for the Common Good here: https://acg-fairsettlement.nationbuilder.com/contribute_2013

Shocking Signs of Democracy on the Federal Bench

[Your Humble Scribe has some weird version of Da Flu this week, and is correspondingly not very fun.  So I'm just going to plant the seed on this one, and let you do the research.  "Bear with, Bear with...".]

France-24 this morning, and no doubt all the reliable, dedicated 1st Amendment lovers on your local and Network Stations, report that a Federal Judge described the NSA's information-trawling as unconstitutional, and its scope as "almost Orwellian".

We await President Spineless's decree that all the NSA's highly-paid computer nerds will be transferred to giving us all Health Care....

P.S. Spineless sent me a 3-dimensional Christmas Card this week, signed by his dogs. I'm not kidding.

GunFails: A Nasty Laugh a Minute

I mentioned  "GunFails" the other day, in Celebrating the Right to Bear Arms. It's a wonderful collection of "Firearm Follies", by David Waldman. Today Waldman reports that this has been "Just your basic, routine, 40+ GunFAIL events week".

There are 14 hunting "accidents", and four "accidents" occurring while someone was cleaning a still-loaded gun.

David Waldman has a wonderfully laconic style as he recounts this gruesome madness and mayhem. He tells us,

"Five "home invasion" shootings are among the entries this week, plus one that fell from the owner's pocket and shot his wife, one that shot its brand new owner immediately following its purchase, and one used to shoot yet another suspected "intruder" who turned out to be the gun owner's caretaker who'd come to check on him.
Continuing the Christmas shopping season's hottest trend, another gun carrier has accidentally discharged his weapon while out at the stores, this time shooting himself in the parking lot outside a Lowe's home improvement store in Pocatello, ID."

Then things get nasty.

"The child victims of GunFAIL were mercifully few last week. Just five were found, ages 5, 15, 15, 16 and 17. Many of you have, no doubt, by now become aware of the story of the 3-year-old killed in Indianapolis on Saturday. That particular tragedy does not go unrecognized, but it won't be included until our next installment."

I invite you to contemplate that for a moment. (Making a couple of assumptions here.) Imagine you're the parent of a 3-year-old, the bright-eyed, gurgling, apple of your eye. Your gunloving, right-to-bear-arms-believing spouse causes the "accidental" death of your baby. Do you forgive them? "Understand"? AGREE with them?

Or do you shoot the stupid cretin?

Gawd help us!

David Waldman is to be congratulated on an excellent, useful job.  You can get the details of each incident, well written-up, here.

As I, and no doubt millions of other sane people, have pointed out, you need a test, a license and regular checks, to drive a car, a machine that might, if things go horribly awry, kill someone. In God's chosen country, you can be a felon, an addict, a repeat offender, an idiot or a nutcase, and you can go right ahead and obtain a device whose only purpose is to kill people.

Duh!

One Law For The Poor, None For the Rich

"Teen Kills 4; Judge Lets Him Off Because He is Rich!" from the Daily Kos - read the story here.

.........................................................................

Daily Kos toots its own horn -

“Even CNN says we're awesome”

"This is what CNN said in their post-mortem on filibuster reform:

What was known as the nuclear option yesterday is known as the Reid Rule today. Time will only tell* if the Reid Rule is productive or destructive. But we'll leave that to the historians.

As for how it became the Reid rule, it took a coordinated and sustained effort from an unlikely place—progressive activists on the blogosphere.

Daily Kos was the first group to start organizing for filibuster reform, way back in 2010. People called us crazy when we did.

Well, three years and an astonishing 900,000 actions later, we made filibuster reform the mainstream Democratic policy position—and we won a vote on it on the floor of the United States Senate."

[*FOOTNOTE for CNN: The expression is "only time will tell".  How much are your writers paid?]

.................................

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog, The War On The 60s! - currently scoring record numbers of hits, thankyou very much!

Please enjoy, become a Follower, and see you soon!

[If you enjoy what you read here, have some computer expertise, and would care to volunteer an hour or two of your time to help organize this blog a little better, I'd love to hear from you! E-mail thewaronthe60s@gmail.com]

The birth of the Trendies: boutiques in Carnaby Street, London, in the 1960s; with the Post-War austerity finally over, young people now had massive spending power. (I'm pretty sure the bike in the foreground is a Triumph...)

"The War On The 60s" is the title of a book which I'm proposing to write.  The title is fairly evocative, I hope! - but let me explain a little more.

Ever since the 1960s happened, the “turbulent”, “sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll”, “We don't want your stinking war” decade has had a bad rap. “The War on The 60s” has ranged from verbal propaganda to actions that are not only sinister, but threaten our fundamental principles as a society.

This book I hope will help explain the 60s to the new young idealists, and perhaps remind those who shared the experience, what was so unique, beautiful and valuable about it - so good that it's been under attack ever since.

To those who dislike the 60s, it will help them to see that the period actually represented much of what is best in our humanity, with a magnificent heritage including the environmental movement, our first Black President and our first woman Secretary of State.

Then I hope you'll agree that “It’s time for a new 60s!”

Peace and Love,

Richard Lancaster.

Monsanto are still at it - of course

This just in from SierraRise:

`Senator Blanche Lincoln used to serve as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She was sometimes called "the Senator from Wal-Mart," ^[7] and her other clients have included oil giants Valero and ConocoPhillips, everybody's favorite cable provider Comcast, and credit giant Experian. She's clearly an influential figure in Washington, and now she's ready to cash in for "the world's most evil corporation."'

Yes, she's sold her pathetic, shrivelled soul to Monsanto.

Read on - "It's easy to see why Monsanto was voted the world's most evil corporation for 2013. ^[1] Two examples from just the last 30 days might almost be enough to win the title all on their own.

Last week, 20 environmental activists were brutally assaulted for protesting the biotech giant in Argentina. ^[2] And in the November 5 election, Monsanto broke spending records to defeat a Washington ballot initiative that would simply label genetically engineered food (GMOs). ^{[3, 4]} What are they hiding?

But we've been shining a light on Monsanto's shady activities. Thanks to SierraRise supporters like you, it's not just the Big Ag corporation's products that are potentially toxic, but also their reputation.

Rather than fix these disastrous practices, Monsanto is trying to buy a better image. ^[5]

They recently hired former Senator Blanche Lincoln ^[6] and the high-powered PR firm FleishmanHillard to improve their reputation and help block more labeling initiatives in 2014. Now when you want to know what's in your food, the forces against us will be stronger than before.

This means we need to fight back against the Monsanto agenda harder than ever. Let's start by sending 75,000 letters reminding our government to listen to we the people, not them the corporations and PR firms, and label GMOs now!

Monsanto -- the maker of toxic chemicals like Agent Orange -- is also the largest producer of risky genetically modified seeds. Corn with built-in insecticides? Squash impervious to virus? We have a right to know what we're eating. Many other countries around the world do require GMO labeling -- but Monsanto is bringing in the big guns to make sure they can keep hiding that critical information from our families.

Senator Blanche Lincoln used to serve as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She was sometimes called "the Senator from Wal-Mart," ^[7] and her other clients have included oil giants Valero and ConocoPhillips, everybody's favorite cable provider Comcast, and credit giant Experian. She's clearly an influential figure in Washington, and now she's ready to cash in for "the world's most evil corporation."

Corporations always do this -- why fix a problem if you can pay someone to hide it? That's why so many of us decided to join the SierraRise community. We're sick of corporate lobbyists running the show -- this is a democracy and all of our voices matter. By speaking up now, we can be louder than Senator Lincoln or any other Monsanto lobbyist or executive.

The FDA has the power to enforce labeling and protect our health -- but not if we let Monsanto's lobbyists go unanswered.

We deserve to know what's in our food. Send your letter to the FDA today demanding customer choice -- we need labels on GMO foods!

In it together,

Nathan Empsall
SierraRise Senior Campaigner

P.S. Five signatures are even more powerful than one -- after you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends, family, and colleagues!"

Nelson Mandela

As we duly mourn the South African hero, here's a very pertinent comment from Bill Fletcher, via the excellent organisation for Journalists, Institute for Public Accuracy (http://www.accuracy.org)

`Fletcher is a columnist for BlackCommentator.com and a former president of TransAfrica Forum. He just wrote: "Nelson Mandela will be mourned and celebrated. But something else will happen. There will soon, probably very soon, be efforts to reinterpret his life. I do not mean leaving things out, as happened in the otherwise excellent film just released about his life. Rather, as we have experienced here in the USA with great leaders like King and Malcolm, there will be efforts to convert Mandela into a very safe character in order to advance the ends of the global elite. We will, for instance, not hear much about Mandela’s refusal to renounce armed struggle against apartheid, even though such a renunciation could have resulted in his release much earlier. We will not hear much about his expressions of gratitude to the Cuban people for their consistent support to the people of Angola, Namibia and South Africa who were fighting the South African apartheid regime. We will not hear about Mandela’s consistent, unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s struggle for national liberation."'

 

I write at some length about the "cleaning" of Martin Luther King's image in my Book Proposal, "The War On The 60s".

Incidentally, this Blog scored a new record number of hits yesterday: 256.  And we're already at 173 today! Thanks, everyone!

Celebrating the Right to Bear Arms

1. FLOWOOD, MS, 11/24/13: Churchgoers got quite a scare at Pinelake Church in Rankin County Sunday morning. Flowood Police say a man's gun accidentally discharged as he was sitting down. Officers took Joseph Edgar Ray into custody. He was in possession of a 9mm handgun. According to police, Ray's gun was in his front right pocket and went off as he sat down. He's been charged with Discharging a Firearm in the City. Ray will appear in Flowood Municipal Court Jan. 9. MORE: Authorities tell us Ray has an enhanced carry gun permit, which gives him the right to carry a concealed weapon in public. Pinelake has posted signs prohibiting weapons on church property. The signs are not clearly visible so Ray may not have seen them, officials say. There were no injuries. But one woman was hit on the leg by the bullet after it ricocheted off the floor. [Ed. note: What?]

And this, boys and girls, is just story No. 18 in this week's wonderful crop of "Firearm Follies" collected by a writer called David Waldman under the heading "GunFails", and published by the Daily Kos - enjoy the rest of the madness here, including "the story from Chickamauga, GA, where a man who thought he was shooting at a home intruder killed a wandering, 72-year-old Alzheimer's patient. Or the story from Nashville, TN, where "outlaw country" singer Wayne Mills was shot and killed in a bar fight."

Wall Street Liars in Retreat

The other day I posted "Beating the Wall Street Liars", telling how "Wall Street is trying to marginalize Social Security champions like Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Tom Harkin and Sherrod Brown".

If you signed the Petition, thanks!  If you didn't - you'll have to answer to your grandchildren....

Now, Bold Progressives are reporting:

"You helped attack back against a corporate front group that attacked Elizabeth Warren's economic populism and her progressive ideas on Social Security.

In one day, over 70,000 of us demanded that Third Way disclose its Wall Street donors. Elizabeth Warren joined our pressure campaign, and we generated over 10 major headlines.

Our pressure got Third Way's own co-chair to publicly call their attacks on Warren "outrageous."

And the Wall Street Journal reports, "a spokesman for Third Way...declined to disclose the think tank’s donors." Instead of attacking Warren, they are now playing defense in the media!

We're continuing to shame Third Way with ads, more media outreach, and more grassroots pressure. Can you chip in $3 so we can continue this effective campaign?

Politico summarized yesterday's action-packed events:

It started with an op-ed in Monday’s Wall Street Journal.

Two leaders of the center-left think tank, Third Way, wrote that “economic populism is a dead end for Democrats” [and] liberals like Warren are irresponsible.

A chorus of groups aligned with the liberal wing of the party – from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee to Howard Dean’s Democracy for America and Russ Feingold’s Progressives United – responded by attacking Third Way as a Wall Street-funded front group.

A liberal candidate running in a crowded Democratic primary [for Pennsylvania governor], John Hanger, then joined these groups Wednesday morning in calling on Rep. Allyson Schwartz, the early Democratic frontrunner in the race...to resign as an honorary co-chair of Third Way.

By lunch time, Warren jumped into the fray, [calling out Wall Street's] "financial contributions to think tanks.”

A few hours later, Schwartz condemned the piece for the Journal...“She read the op-ed and thought it was outrageous and strongly disagreed."

Each of the groups involved said this back-and-forth is an opening salvo in a debate among Democrats that will only become louder through 2014 and 2016.

Schwartz’s attempt to distance herself from Third Way emboldened the Progressive Change Campaign Committee to call on the centrist group’s other co-chairs to take public positions.

Chip in $3 so we can keep the pressure on Third Way -- and show the immense popularity of Elizabeth Warren's ideas.

Then, pass this email to others. Thanks for being a bold progressive.

-- Adam Green, PCCC co-founder"

Read The Socialist Pope

Well, I always said that Jesus was a Socialist Hippie -

Alan Grayson e-mailed this:  "It hurts me to say this, but I recognize that I'm not the only one who says things that are worth listening to. So, from time to time, I'm going to turn over this "bully pulpit" to someone else. Today, I turn it over to someone who knows a thing or two about pulpits, Pope Francis. A week ago, he released his first apostolic exhortation, called "The Joy of the Gospel." I respectfully request that you take a few moments to read an excerpt from it, below. I found it fascinating, and I think that you will, too.

No to an economy of exclusion

Just as the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say "thou shalt not" to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a "throw-away" culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society's underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised - they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the "exploited" but the outcast, the "leftovers".

In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people's pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else's responsibility, and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

No to the new idolatry of money

One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Exodus 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise, in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.

While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies, and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.

No to a financial system which rules rather than serves

Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to be viewed with a certain scornful derision. It is seen as counterproductive, too human, because it makes money and power relative. It is felt to be a threat, since it condemns the manipulation and debasement of the person. In effect, ethics leads to a God who calls for a committed response which is outside the categories of the marketplace. When these latter are absolutized, God can only be seen as uncontrollable, unmanageable, even dangerous, since he calls human beings to their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement. Ethics - a non-ideological ethics - would make it possible to bring about balance and a more humane social order. With this in mind, I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity: "Not to share one's wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs". [Saint John Chrysostom, De Lazaro Concio, II, 6: PG 48, 992D.]

A financial reform open to such ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of approach on the part of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and an eye to the future, while not ignoring, of course, the specifics of each case. Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favors human beings.

No to the inequality which spawns violence . . . .

Today's economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric. Inequality eventually engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot and never will be able to resolve. It serves only to offer false hopes to those clamoring for heightened security, even though nowadays we know that weapons and violence, rather than providing solutions, create new and more serious conflicts. Some simply content themselves with blaming the poor and the poorer countries themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted generalizations, they claim that the solution is an "education" that would tranquilize them, making them tame and harmless. All this becomes even more exasperating for the marginalized in the light of the widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries - in their governments, businesses and institutions - whatever the political ideology of their leaders.

To which I simply wish to add:

Amen,

Rep. Alan GraysonP.S. For more on this, please visit us at CongressmanWithGuts.com."

Jailed Whistle-blowers to Edward Snowden: Don't Come Home

Not exactly a surprise, but we need to hear it....

"President Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge of expanded government transparency, yet his administration has charged more Americans with violating the Espionage Act by leaking classified information than all previous administrations combined. Eight people have faced charges since 2008 under the nearly 100-year-old act, including Chelsea Manning, Shamai Leibowitz and Jeffrey Sterling."

see the full article, "Jailed whistle-blowers to Edward Snowden: Don'€™t come home", here.

A Chance to Hear Fritjof Capra

This morning on Pacifica/KPFK, Mitch Jesarich interviewed one of the great thinkers and writers on social and philosophical issues of our lifetime. Fritjof Capra, author of "The Tao of Physics", and inspirer of the fascinating film, "Mindwalk", proposes a whole new way of educating our young people in "systems thinking" - and he's written textbooks to do it.

You can hear the interview on the KPFK Archive, here. (Scroll down to "Letters And Politics")

Beating the Wall Street Liars

From Social Security Works:

"Wall Street is trying to marginalize Social Security champions like Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Tom Harkin and Sherrod Brown, and we need to bolster them.

Third Way -- a Wall Street-funded group that poses as a "progressive" think tank -- blasted Warren and her bold economic agenda in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.

They wrote that Warren's "economic populism [is] disastrous for Democrats," including the growing consensus that we must expand -- not cut -- Social Security.SIGN OUR PETITION WITH PCCC TELLING THIRD WAY: Reveal your Wall Street funders who oppose Elizabeth Warren's popular agenda.

Third Way receives a ton of money from Wall Street, but they don't publicize this on their website or in their attacks on Warren's agenda."

Interesting Source for This Leftish Comment....

We've seen unusual comments from Bloomberg News before; thanks to Eric P for passing on this report on the Banks and their Bailouts:

"This is an unfair and unintended transfer of wealth to bank
shareholders and executives, and it weakens market discipline by
desensitizing banks to risk. In effect, banks are being rewarded for
presenting a threat to the economy."

Full Article here. (No need to suppress your smile at the word "unintended".)

The Truthiness About Oswald

Trouble reading it?  Go here.

Why Gerald Ford, you may ask? Because Ford was the FBI's inside man on the Warren Commission, faithfully reporting each day's information back to his masters, to make sure the correct damage control was applied.

And how were you rewarded... Mr. President?

PS to Rage Against The Kennedy Cover-Up

I just caught up with the BBC Mark Mardell's report from Dallas on the Kennedy Murder Anniversary. His solution to the Coward's Dilemma about whether to tell the truth, was to point to the infamous brick building where Lee Harvey Oswald worked, and say "shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository....

Here's the original Rage Against The Kennedy Cover-Up, in case you missed it:

I wasn't going to talk about the Assassination of JFK - everybody else is doing that.

But I've just watched "France 24" - French TV News - report the old lie, "Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the Texas Book Depository", etc, etc.  For God's sake, when will these cowards who call themselves journalists start telling the truth?

The House Committee on Assassinations - that is to say, The United States Congress, people - found... but let seasoned journalist-investigator Bob Katz tell it:

"The House Select Committee on Assassinations, headed by Robert Blakey, a former Justice Department prosecutor, was a two-year probe that included hundreds of interviews, the discovery of new evidence, scientific tests on new and old evidence, plus the most extensive review of available FBI, CIA, Secret Service and Warren Commission files. The HSCA final report stated bluntly that President Kennedy "probably was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy."

Didn't know that, huh? Not mentioned in your American history textbook? Well, why would that be?"

In order to believe that Oswald acted alone, you have to accept that

"a single bullet, known as "Warren Commission Exhibit 399" , caused all the wounds to the governor and the non-fatal wounds to the president.
"According to the Single Bullet Theory, a three-centimeter (1.2")-long copper-jacketed lead-core 6.5-millimeter rifle bullet fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository passed through President Kennedy’s neck and Governor Connally’s chest and wrist and embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh. If so, this bullet traversed 15 layers of clothing, 7 layers of skin, and approximately 15 inches of tissue, struck a necktie knot, removed 4 inches of rib, and shattered a radius bone. The bullet was mysteriously found on a gurney in the hospital corridor ."*

Is that what the mainstream Press believe?  Gimme a break!

You can read Bob Katz's article, complete with the famous Abraham Zapruder film, here.

*Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-bullet_theory

Sign to overthrow Citizens United

Senator Al Franken says:

"Our new effort to reverse the effects of Citizens United was pretty exciting even back when it was just the seven of us -- me; fellow Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown, Mark Begich, Kay Hagan, and Tom Udall; and Democratic Congressmen Bruce Braley and Gary Peters.

But now, 91,314 supporters have signed up to join us. This thing is starting to take off!

And we’ll really be cooking when we hit 150,000 signers -- something I’m hoping you can help with.

Click here to add your name and help us to stop Citizens United in 2014!

Remember, this is bigger than one election. This is about whether the people will continue to have the final word in our democracy, or whether powerful corporate special interests will be able to buy the government and shut out the voices of middle class Americans.

And this movement has to be bigger than just us elected officials. Reversing the effects of a Supreme Court decision is a serious undertaking, and only a well-organized, super-powerful grassroots effort will get the job done.

Fortunately, we’re well on our way, with 91,314 people already on board.

Be our next signer -- and help us get to 150,000 by December -- by clicking here and adding your name to stop Citizens United!

We’re well on our way. But we have a lot of work left to do. My fellow Democratic Senators and candidates are ready to take this fight to the next level -- and we need you with us."

Today's Fun Link, 11/24/13

Health Care Premiums: A Non-Surprise - fun animation

A Glimpse Into How the Senate Works

This just in from BoldProgressives.org -

"Senate Democrats finally voted to end the filibuster of presidential appointments this week, after years of tolerating Republican obstruction.

As Elizabeth Warren told activists yesterday, Senator Jeff Merkley has been "leading the fight for filibuster reform from the very beginning."

Merkley is up for re-election in 2014. Can you donate $3 to his campaign to ensure Elizabeth Warren continues having this strong ally in the Senate?

It's sometimes been lonely for Sen. Merkley as he tried to convince his colleagues to make the Senate functional again.

The Huffington Post reported a few months ago that at a "closed-door caucus meeting, Merkley was upbraided... for breaking unspoken Senate rules and naming specific senators [who needed pressure] in a conference call with Democratic activists."

The vote this week was a narrow 52 to 48. A few Democrats voted wrong. That means Merkley's months of work, and outside grassroots pressure, were absolutely needed."

[It's up to you whether you want to donate to Merkley, but I thought the peek behind the scenes was salutary....]

A New Thought on Capitalism?

Is this A New Thought on Capitalism?

Maybe just to my tiny brain....

Last Tuesday "Three Studies of Lucian Freud", a triptych painting by the late British artist Francis Bacon, sold at a Christie’s auction in New York City for $142,405,000.

According to this article, which speculates at length about which well-heeled collector may have bought the picture(s), "Bacon pretty openly detested the idea of art selling for exorbitant profits. As he once said, “Prices are so ridiculous that people go to galleries because they are obsessed by the money.”"

Another favorite, and perhaps the most dramatic example of the "profitable painter syndrome", is poor old Vincent Van Gogh, the doomed genius who gave us "Starry Night" and dozens of other masterpieces, including an amazingly penetrating series of self-portraits -

one of the less-known Van Gogh self-portraits, from 1887

As we know, Vincent Van Gogh never sold a single canvas in his tormented lifetime, yet now his paintings change hands for millions of Dollars.

`“Portrait of Dr. Gachet," the most expensive painting by the troubled Dutch artist who was born in 1853 and died in 1890 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was sold at Christie’s New York in 1990 for $82.5 million. Of the artist’s top ten paintings sold at auction, all have cost over $20 million but only one has come up at auction after 2000, according to data from Artnet, which tracks auction results.' - the Wall Street Journal tells us.

(The WSJ article tells how a Van Gogh which has long been thought to be fake, is suddenly not-fake - and therefore worth a fortune.  But that's not what we're talking about.)

Back in the 80s, as I recall it, Tokyo Banks had so much capital washing around that they didn't know where to put it. One of the solutions they found to this "problem", was to sink millions into paintings, which would either hang on the boardroom wall, or more likely, languish in an air-conditioned vault until their price rose enough to bring in the required profit.

Hardly what an artist starving in his garret has in mind as he labors over his hot easel....

I'm sure economists could offer us many ideas about what this means.  If we have an economic system where huge sums of money can be frozen in the form of Art or Jewellery, what does that say about the money ordinary people work all week to earn? Not something I've heard discussed on PBS's spiritual-desert of a program, the "Nightly Business Report".

Here's my tiny contribution to the study - it seems to me that if a tiny handful of the people in the world control the huge preponderance of the planet's wealth, more than they can ever dream of actually consuming, or even seeing, maybe that has something to do with the insanity of chasing prices of masterpieces up and up into the stratosphere, while actual living artists, who would be delighted just to make a living, have to suffer and struggle in the effort to create a little beauty and understanding.

Seems like an argument for 2 or 3 things:

1. Taxes on speculation.

2. Taxes on Art deals, the proceeds from which would go directly to living artists.*

and 3. (Of course) Re-distribution of wealth.

(*I was told decades ago - don't know if it's still true - that in the Netherlands you can be a registered artist and receive a stipend from the Government, in return for which you give the taxman a certain number of Art-pieces a year. It's obviously good for the Artists, but it also works out well for the Government, as they can sell the works later on, and even make a profit on the deal.)

Images I Like, 11/23/13

Socialist Elected

Socialist elected to City Council in Seattle

Kshama Sawant of the Socialist Alternative, has defeated a long-standing Democratic member of the Seattle City Council, Richard Conlin.

Some of her issues: a $15-an-hour minimum wage in Seattle, and a “millionaires’ tax” to pay for better city services.

Sawant is a leading figure in Occupy! Seattle - remember my recent Post, Who Says "Occupy!" Went Away?

Here's a quote from there, just so I can say "told you so" -

"Just like "All the Hippies Became Yuppies", which is one of the crazy-making lies that was never challenged, and which led me to start work on my Book Proposal, "The War On The 60s", we have grown used to hearing claims that "Occupy!" was just a flash in the pan, a movement with no program that vanished into thin air at the first crack of a cop's baton."

The estimable Mitch Jesarich had excellent coverage of the Election and its meaning today in "Letters and Politics", with an interview with the brilliant Nation political writer John Nichols, author of "The "S" Word", a history of Socialism in the USA. (You'd be amazed just how much of the stuff there has been, though you wouldn't think it to hear the mainstream media talk.)

Mitch then played a slightly scratchy interview with Kshama Sawant, followed by one of her election speeches, laying out her proposals for the future. Fascinating stuff. You can hear it on the Archive, here.

Kshama Sawant and Political Tactics

A very interesting article by Dominic Holden of "The Stranger", seemingly a professionally put-together Blog from Seattle, lays out the conventional political wisdom of how Kshama Sawant will inevitably shoot herself in the foot when her abrasive Socialist shit hits the fan of the City Council's cosy, long-established Democratic majority.  

Then he moves on, halfway through the article, to a new approach.  How can you dislike a writer who says "Everything I have written so far is sort of true, but it's also bullshit."?

I love it!  Read on....

"Everything I have written so far is sort of true, but it's also bullshit. That framing is designed to put Sawant on the defensive, and it assumes that Sawant must behave like a "Seattle Nice" politician. It's also questionable to criticize a woman politician for being aggressive—men don't generally get that treatment (McGinn notwithstanding).

"We did not run this campaign to be yet another cog in the machine but with slightly shinier moral credentials," says Sawant. "We are here to make real change happen in a highly unequal society in which a tiny elite holds the power, so clearly you cannot be worried about them being against you, because they are going to be."

If she only holds rallies and refuses to work with her colleagues, yes, that's also a problem. However, she hasn't even been sworn in.

What should be offensive to Seattle is not rough language. It should be offensive if some folks attempt to undermine a candidate—and the voters who elected her—before her first day on the job."

The whole article is here.  It's a goodie....

Today's Interesting Links, 11/21/13

Harry Reid and the Dimmocratic leaders have finally, as Jon Stewart would say, grown a pair!  They can now put reasonable judges on benches with 51 votes in the Senate.

What a concept!  (I believe it's called er..... democracy?)

(The mechanism in question was a party-line vote to change the rule on the filibuster.)

Of course it doesn't apply to that running sore on our society known as the Supreme Court, busy as we speak on their task of selling off more of our election process in 
McCutcheon v. FEC.

..............................................................................................
Senator Elizabeth Warren on the growing Social Security crisis:

"A generation ago, middle class families could put away enough money during their working years to make it through their later years with dignity. But since that time, the retirement landscape has shifted dramatically against our families.

A third of working families on the verge of retirement have no savings of any kind. Another third have total savings less than their annual income. Just as people need to rely more than ever on pensions, employers have replaced guaranteed retirement income with 401(k) plans that leave retirees at the mercy of the market. And 44 million workers don't even have access to that sort of plan.

Add all of this up, and we're left with a retirement crisis – a crisis that is as real and as frightening as any policy problem facing the United States today.

Social Security is incredibly effective, it is incredibly popular, and the calls for strengthening it are growing louder every day. Will you join our national pledge to protect Social Security?"

Who Shot Rock And Roll?

Thanks to my dear friend Rachel for taking me to see the highlights of the Ojai Film Festival - one of the most striking being Who Shot Rock & Roll: The Film, a 37-minute Documentary directed by Steven Kochones and inspired by an exhibition at the Annenberg Space For Photography

"Hear the stories behind rock history’s most enduring images. This film features interviews, photographs and never-before-seen footage spotlighting the work of rock photographers Edward Colver, Henry Diltz, Jill Furmanovsky, Lynn Goldsmith, Bob Gruen, Norman Seeff, Mark Seliger, Guy Webster and, in a special segment, Linda McCartney. Also included are iconic songs by Blondie, The Doors, KISS, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Who and more."

As well as being just plain rockin' fun, the flick illustrates vividly how important is the rock 'n' roll image to the whole liberating cultural phenomenon of loud, sexy music.

You can watch the trailer, courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival, here.

Still haven't had your fill?  Here's a documentary about the exhibition, with some great shots and cool music.

There's also some fairly interesting background to the exhibition in this Huffpost Article.

Your Interesting Links For 11/16/13

Senator Al Franken says:  "A group of Senators and House members are teaming up and renewing our push to overturn the effects of Citizens United as we hit this important election year!

There’s me and Sherrod Brown, of course, plus other pro-democracy Democratic Senators like Mark Begich, Kay Hagan, and Tom Udall -- and a couple of awesome challengers, Bruce Braley from Iowa and Gary Peters from Michigan.

It’s a fantastic team, and there’s only one member missing: You.

Click here to sign on to our brand new effort to stop the effects of Citizens United!

I don’t need to tell you why Citizens United belongs in the Dumpster of Bad Ideas. Unlimited outside special interest spending? Giving big corporations a pass to buy our elections? No disclosure at all? It’s a mess.

Here’s what I do need: for you to tell me you’ll be part of our new effort to stop this.

My colleagues and I are teaming up, like some sort of anti-special-interest Justice League. But we can’t do it if we don’t each bring our most passionate supporters to this new effort.

Click here today, and join me and other Democrats to fight against Citizens United in 2014!

We’ll be in touch with more on our new effort soon. And thanks for being part of this."

PS to Renisha McBride Story - the Real Guilty Men

“Detroit-based activists and community members gathered in front of the police station of nearby suburb Dearborn Heights Thursday evening”

With all the discussion of "Stand Your Ground" laws, which now rule in 30 of these United States, let us not forget that these laws have been strongly promoted by the rich, powerful and secretive A.L.E.C. - the American Legislative Exchange Council (see my earlier posts on A.L.E.C., such as "The Only Way Republicans Can Stay In Congress...").

A.L.E.C. is strongly backed by the Koch Brothers, David and Charles, both in their seventies, two smugly smiling gentlemen whose family corporation, Koch Industries, has estimated annual revenues of 100 billion dollars (Wikipedia article here).

Here's a 2010 article from the "New Yorker" - what could be more respectable? - on "The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama."

And a hard-hitting video from the redoubtable Robert Greenwald, "Koch Brothers Exposed" - here at its full one-hour length -

Progress Toward Justice for Renisha McBride

Exactly a week ago, on the 9th of November, I posted the ugly story of Renisha McBride -

"Fatally shot for being a young black woman - 

Last Saturday, Renisha McBride got stranded after a car accident in a suburban neighborhood in Detroit. Her cellphone battery was dead, so she went to the nearest house and knocked on the door, planning to ask for help. Instead, unprovoked, the owner of the house fatally shot her in the head.¹

It seems like nothing could more blatantly lead to an arrest. But here's the thing: Michigan is one of the 30 states that has a "Stand Your Ground" Law.² Like in the case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin in Florida, gun-owners in Michigan are allowed to "shoot first" if they feel someone poses a threat.

In this case, Renisha's killer is claiming he shot her in the face by accident, because he thought she could be a burglar. He has not been arrested."

Today, I can report this from UltraViolet:

"Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy just announced that the man who shot unarmed teen Renisha McBride as she sought help after a car accident will be charged with murder and possession of an illegal firearm.¹

This quick investigation couldn't have happened without the nearly 60,000 of us who demanded action alongside groups like the Detroit NAACP and Color of Change. Together, we made sure yet another story of the senseless shooting of a black teenager didn't go unnoticed.

But our work isn't done. We know from past cases like Trayvon Martin's that Stand Your Ground laws can lead to killers getting away with the murder if they think someone looks "threatening," and Renisha's killer is claiming "self-defense" even though he shot Renisha through a locked screen door.

Can you thank Prosector Kym Worthy for charging Renisha's murderer and let her know we're counting on her to deliver a strong prosecution to get justice for Renisha and her family?

Click here to sign the letter.

Thanks for getting us a step closer toward justice for Renisha.

--Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Malinda, Adam, and Gabriela, the UltraViolet team

Source:

1. Renisha McBride's alleged shooter to be charged with murder, ABC News, November 15, 2013

Murder charges against the man who killed Renisha McBride, Fox News Detroit, November 15, 2013"


[BLOGGER'S NOTE:  You might well wonder why it's necessary to thank a law officer for doing what they should have done in the first place - the duty of their office. (Remember that the Florida cops in the Trayvon Martin case saw no reason to prosecute Zimmerman when he killed that other young Black person; they might argue that they knew what verdict a Florida jury would bring in - cynical har har.)
I'm guessing that the activists, thinking like politicos, not unreasonably think that our impartial legal system needs to be reminded that we are watching, and the public will reward, not punish, them for boldly doing the right thing.  Ain't life grand?]

Jon Stewart: "Racist Or Not Racist?"

One of the delights of our "public discourse" in the last few decades, has been the way an expression that begins as a joke, turns into a totally "serious" dominant issue of our times.

Lemme 'splain yer: back in the 80s, people would joke about other people getting their knickers in a twist about whether something was "politically correct".  They were referring to the kind of shallow-minded coward who dare not form his* own views, and then debate them in public. Instead, such individuals would only adopt a position if they felt safe, because their stand was "politically correct" and no one in their neighborhood would challenge them.

It was a joke.  Geddit?

Now political correctness is one of the most important factors in any one's life, especially someone in public life - take Rob Ford (idiot) and Anthony Wiener (reasonably able, fairly idealistic Congressman) as recent examples.

Tragically, as has been pointed out, our public life is now often in a place where people are more likely to be turned off by what someone says, (call General Petraeus "General Betray Us") than by what they do (murder hundreds of people, kidnap and torture, set back international relations by decades, and undermine democracy at home and abroad). Take your pick of examples.

(*I know, it would be politically correct to say "his or her"....)

Last night, Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" ran a brilliant skit on the media's shallow-minded adherence to these shibboleths (ain't that a great word?).  Here it is, y'all - "Racist Or Not Racist?" (Click to watch)

Bank Regulation, the True Story

More for Elizabeth Warren devotees:  CNBC stooges try to correct her on Glass-Steagall -

(Cenk Uygur, host of "The Young Turks", knows his stuff, but a sophisticated readership - like wot this Blog has - may not need his explanations of every point made. You can move through the Video by dragging the slider at the bottom.)

Interesting Links For You - Updated 11/15/13

NEW on 11/15/13: "The Insurance Company Bill of Rights" - Republican pro-business skulduggery - again.  Read here.

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11/13/13:  Women's Rights Activists finally go "On Offense". The seeming collapse of public support for the Tea Party after the shutdown debacle, seems to have given liberals some semblance of backbone. They may finally be realizing that if all you ever do is resist the advances of the Right, you are still retreating.

Alan Grayson is one who has always understood this, I think. Now Barbara Boxer and others are getting with it, introducing the Women's Health Protection Act—"historic legislation that aims to end the relentless attacks on women's essential reproductive health by extremist politicians".

Sign on here - they want your support.

....................................................................
11/12/13:  Very interesting article on TomGram, on the disastrous difference for the
Spy-ers, between Omniscient and Omnipotent - the Spy-ees can get them back!

"There’s never been anything quite like it. The slow-tease pulling back of the National Security Agency curtain to reveal the skeletal surveillance structure embedded in our planet (what cheekbones!) has been an epochal event. It’s minimally the political spectacle of 2013, and maybe 2014, too. It’s made a mockery of the 24/7 news cycle and the urge of the media to leave the last big deal for the next big deal as quickly as possible.
It’s visibly changed attitudes around the world toward the U.S. -- strikingly for the worse, even if this hasn’t fully sunk in here yet. Domestically, the inability to put the issue to sleep or tuck it away somewhere or even outlast it has left the Obama administration, Congress, and the intelligence community increasingly at one another’s throats. And somewhere in a system made for leaks, there are young techies inside a surveillance machine so viscerally appalling, so like the worst sci-fi scenarios they read while growing up, that -- no matter the penalties -- one of them, two of them, many of them are likely to become the next Edward Snowden(s)."

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11/9/13:  Fatally shot for being a young black woman - 

Last Saturday, Renisha McBride got stranded after a car accident in a suburban neighborhood in Detroit. Her cellphone battery was dead, so she went to the nearest house and knocked on the door, planning to ask for help. Instead, unprovoked, the owner of the house fatally shot her in the head.¹

It seems like nothing could more blatantly lead to an arrest. But here's the thing: Michigan is one of the 30 states that has a "Stand Your Ground" Law.² Like in the case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin in Florida, gun-owners in Michigan are allowed to "shoot first" if they feel someone poses a threat.

In this case, Renisha's killer is claiming he shot her in the face by accident, because he thought she could be a burglar. He has not been arrested.

You can read more, and sign a Petition for justice, here.

..............................................................................
11/6/13:  Does Lindsey Graham know better than your Doctor?

Danielle and Robb Deaver were "over the moon" about Danielle's pregnancy until her water broke at 22 weeks. They were heartbroken to learn their baby would not develop further or survive, but that heartbreak was compounded when doctors told them they couldn't end their nightmare and induce labor because their state bans abortion after 20 weeks. Doctors had to wait for Danielle to get sick or for the baby to die before they could do anything. When baby Elizabeth was finally born, she survived for only 15 minutes.¹

Senator Lindsey Graham is planning to introduce a national bill this week that criminalizes abortions after 20 weeks.² When politicians introduce these inhumane bans on abortions, they are tying the hands of doctors who want to help couples like the Deavers. Less than 2% of abortions occur after 20 weeks, and many of them are for heartbreaking reasons that no one should ever have to face.³

Texas, North Dakota, and Arkansas have all passed 20-week abortion bans this year, and so has the House in Congress.⁴ If we don't make a stand against Sen. Graham's bill in the Senate, more states will be emboldened to pass these inhumane laws. We have to make sure that conservatives everywhere know we won't stand for this.

Tell the Senate: You have no right to legislate our medical decisions. Enough with the attacks on women. Block Graham’s inhumane and extreme abortion ban bill.

Add your name to the petition.

=========================================
Hi all -

I'm turning over a new leaf - believe that if you can!

I've realized I'm spending too much time and space on this 'ere Blog, on relaying interesting contemporary stuff about issues. (Even though I absolutely love it!) So from now on, I'm going to restrict myself to things that relate to my main theme of "The War On The 60s".

However, since there are so many good things to read, which I love to share with you... I'm going to post just brief links to stuff I want to alert you to, and update it as we go along Life's Merry Way.

For instance, this seems pretty timely - Numero Uno:

How "ObamaCare Cancelled Your Plan" is really an Insurance Co Scam to Rip You Off

Numero Dos:  Former House Speaker Denied a Texas Voter ID

Numero Tres:  you remember how the Romans figured out that the way to keep the ignorant masses quiet was to give them "bread and circuses"? Well, of course the modern equivalent is the quasi-religion of mind-numbing team sports. Read how the NFL rips off Taxpayers here.

What's Wrong With US, 1: Judges and the Filibuster

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Let's Hear it from people's champion Senator Elizabeth Warren - watch the Video here, then read the Daily Kos post here, and sign the Petition at the bottom.  This is a biggie!

Time to force Harry Reid to get his ass in gear.

Spineless politicians (like the Dimmocratic leadership in their normal mode) will say, "If we reform the filibuster for the Republicans, they will use it against us when they have a majority."  I say, fight them now, and beat them, then fight them again later if you have to.  It might even earn you some respect. Duh!

Good article on Politico, if you want more....

Hear Alan Thornhill Free This Friday!

It doesn't seem to be on their website, but Ojai's grooviest Gallery, OVA for Ojai Valley Artists, is having an extra-special "Third Friday" event this week.

They'll be featuring one of the Valley's favorite musicians, guitarist-singer Alan Thornhill.  Free concert-ette, free booze and snacks, good company and Art to peruse - what could be better?

"Third Friday” at OVA arts, 108 N. Signal Street, from 6-8:30 p.m, November 15th. 

Here's Alan singing "The Last Time I Saw Her Face -

Alan's own website is a musical delight; check it out here:  http://alanthornhill.com/music/

Holy Stoners

A holy man of the Temple of Pashupatinath, Kathmandu

Those who are looking for an Intro to the 60s, might like to take a look at my earlier Post,
1967 - A Snapshot.

In that Post I mentioned that "In the 60s, the vast new consumerism produced some good stuff, including the Weekly Color Magazine.  All the major newspapers had them, and they actually included some fine journalism - as well as fascinating portraits of the times.

"... one example - "The Daily Telegraph" - had sent a reporter and photographer out on the Hippie Trail to Kathmandu, or at least India. (Yes, Virginia, in those days people could travel on a shoestring, with a pretty good chance of being attacked by nothing worse than gippy tummy.)

"They had dozens of photographs of individual travellers, with amazing tales of how they travelled, smoked dope, lived rough, communicated with the locals - in a word, lived!"

The reason why the Hippies travelled East, to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan (at that time a peaceful agrarian society whose Muslim tradition of hospitality meant that Western travellers were welcomed and invited into people's homes) and India (apart from fun and frolics), was to look for something more meaningful in life than "a steady job with a pension".

In India in particular, with Hinduism, more than twice as old as Christianity, and Tibet, with Buddhism, they often found what they sought - and lots of thoughtful people are still finding it.

Along the way they found many ancient and exotic traditions - 

Saddhus, holy men who take a vow of poverty...

... and commune deeply with the natural world

As I report in my Book Proposal, "The War On The 60s", somewhere in the mid-60s, "one of my teenage-philosopher friends crossed paths with an old soldier who had served in Egypt before World War 2. `You young lads, you think you’re on to something new,' he chortled. He had discovered the joys of hashish while serving in the British Army on scorching desert patrols and backstreet shakedowns, and had received regular supplies through the mail ever since. His Majesty never had a more devoted servant."

Images I Like, Updated 11/9/13