In Code

==Dec 15 2011==

[[File:Sign tour lovely 001.JPG]][[File:Narcissus.jpg]] [[File:Ricky.jpg]]

"We fail to understand why we should have to pay the cost of the crisis, while its instigators continue to post record profits. We're sick and tired of one injustice after another. We want human dignity back again. This isn't the kind of world we want to live in, and it's we who have to decide what world we do want. We know we can change it and we are having a great time going about it." From #HowToCamp by the Spanish indignados[[File:The sign tour 017.JPG]][[File:Ign tour 009.JPG]]

All is well.

The bank i was at this morning was robbed

and i was unable to withdraw money.

At the border I was turned back

so have hired a boat to take

the sign stateside. [[File:014.JPG]]

Without problems what would a life be?

==Seattle==

I lose contact with the captain of the ship as the west coast is swamped in fog. If the sign goes over board the salt water will ruin her make up and though she can swim she doesn't like to get wet. I leave in darkness and cross the border via an old logging road at dawn.[[File:Sign tour 007.JPG]] The trip is treacherous but the pine beetle infested forest provides cover as i emerge on the I-5 just past Bellingham. At speed I race to Seattle but the the captain fails to show at the appointed time...i spend the afternoon staring forlornly out to sea.

[[File:Sign tour 012.JPG]]

In the evening i walk the shore line for hours looking for any sign of the ship. Finally exhausted i rent a cheap motel room and fall asleep. I dream of rocks, waves and splintered plywood. As night turns to day i hear a soft knock. I open the door and the sign slurs "Good morning." [[File:The sign tour 003.JPG]]

I say, "Where the hell were you? I was worried sick." He explains woozily the ship arrived early and with time to kill he and the Captain went for a beer. Here he met an exotic Brazilian Cherry hardwood and one thing led to another. I scream, "You could have called!" I run into the bathroom, slam the door and sit on the toilet sobbing. After a good cry i go to see the sign but am horrified to see her smoking my cigarettes and drinking my beer.

[[File:The sign tour 001.JPG]]

I am flooded with tears and retreat once again to the can. After what seems like an eternity I open the door a crack and see the sign fast asleep on my side of the bed.

[[File:The sign tour 002.JPG]] I feel disrespected, used and start sobbing loudly. The sign knocks, knocks knocks. I open the door and the sign says, "Don't cry. The captain took some good shots and you can use them for your stupid wiki sign tour page." I slam the door in the signs face but deep down i can hardly wait to see the pictures. Even though she can be an asshole i still love her. [[File:Sign tour 016.JPG]][[File:Sign tour 040.JPG]][[File:Sign tour 021.JPG]][[File:Sign tour 027.JPG]][[File:011.JPG]][[File:Sign tour 032.JPG]]

Occupy the World!!! The sign tells his friend capitalism ain't going nowhere and in fact has no end game. Portland we're coming!

[[File:The sign tour 005.JPG]]

==Portland==

On the ride the sign is hungover and mercifully quiet as we listen to the National Public Radio announce the US troops have left Iraq. Over 4500 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's have been killed and over a million displaced. The war has destroyed that country and cost the American people over 850 billion dollars. But i love Portland and have a friends in the music and muscle business there. I call the record company to discuss the release of my new album and i call the muscle to lay a beating on the sign. The sign over hears the conversation and thinks I'm joking. When we get to the music office the sign sweet talks his way in to a record deal and for some reason my contract is put on hold.[[File:The sign tour 006.JPG]] I'm furious.

Under my breath I whisper "It's not all about u!" The sign just shrugs and keeps talking royalties. I grab her roughly and throw her into the back of the truck. I call the muscle and drive like a madman through downtown Portland. We somehow make it to the park without an accident and i yell at the sign, "You're gonna get it." I see "muscle" and drag the sign into the park. "Muscle" goes to work. [[File:The sign tour 014.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 019.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 018.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 016.JPG]]

The sign begs for mercy and when i ask, "Are you ready to go back to work." He yells, "Occupy Portland!"

[[File:The sign tour 032.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 030.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 010.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 021.JPG]]

[[File:The sign tour 026.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 028.JPG]]

The rally is a great success, the library signs out way too many books, the stamp is a hit and Portland is solid. I hook up with the cool cats and the sign does an interview with a local community radio station.[[File:The sign tour 027.JPG]] The sign is on side, the police are running and Frisco/Oakland '''we're coming...

'''[[File:The sign tour 009.JPG]]

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/12/18/18703038.php

==San Fran==

On the I-5, the sign and table quietly chat as cars, trucks, RV’s, semi’s and the occasional motorcycle pass us by AS THE PLANET BURNS...Why are we in the Middle East again? The sign postulates humanities need to conquer starts with death…while the table comments people are now worried there will be no social network or running water in heaven…or perhaps many dare not consider the inevitable...I take the next exit and the the sign complains in a nasally voice, “I like the high way. ” I ignore her and absorb the desert like terrain, the lived in homes and sturdy fences. The sign annoyingly pipes up again, "You should take a picture of me." I am incredulous but stop none the less.[[File:Sign tour 003.JPG]]

I ask the table to join us and she replies, “What is best...cannot be said". I reply, "We don't want you to talk we just want a picture". He stares quizzically. We travel into the foothills, [[File:Sign tour 002.JPG]] hook up with an enlightened master and end the day pushing books in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

[[File:Sign tour 008.JPG]]The sun never sets on empire.

We sleep in a wheat field and in the morning continue...

In San Fran [[File:Sign tour 028.JPG]]a pig head is on a stick and [[File:Ign tour 016.JPG]] Goofy is bleeding.

[[File:Ign tour 001.JPG]]the sign is the toast of the town...beautiful people, regular people, working people, store people, Occupiers...even the graffiti wants a piece of the magic.[[File:The sign tour 023.JPG]][[File:Ign tour 008.JPG]][[File:The sign tour 042.JPG]][[File:San fran occupiers.JPG]][[File:Tour sign.JPG]] It is only when we hear the the 'po po' announce "No signs on the Bridge” do we relent but of course we take a picture.

[[File:Ign tour 005.JPG]] We've been in town a few hours and the sign is having the time of his life.I call some San Fran Occupiers (SFO's) and arrange a meeting at the Starbucks where the Occupation took place. [[File:Ign tour 015.JPG]] But when we're about to leave the sign doesn't want to go...i am relieved so i head off on my own needing time to myself...but when i arrive at the corporate coffee shop he is already there. "I thought you weren't coming." He replies, "You thought wrong." as he high fives a passer by. I leave in a huff...hit the street, drink, bullshit and play chess with the fellas. This guy beats me badly by pushing the pawns[[File:Ign tour 014.JPG]]. I get drunk and end up in a comedy club yelling "Wake up America...Wake up! I'm from Canada and I've got healthcare." [[File:The sign tour 033.JPG]] Occupy the Streets! hey!hey! no pictures!

==LA==

I call Oakland, they say it's on hold til 2012 and that we should come in the New Year.[[File:The sign tour 015.JPG]] A San Fran Occupier, with a broken leg, is heading to San Diego to help and i give him a ride. He lived at the encampment and i tell him of our Vancouver experience. He's well versed in the inequalities of the system, hooked into the internet, and active. He was arrested 5 times and i encourage him to make his court appearances. In a rare act of kindness the sign jumps in the back to hold down my fellow travelers crutches. "We cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet" is said on our eight hour journey. We discuss nuclear power, dirty oil and traction. He likes the mobile library [[File:Ign tour 007.JPG]]and i drop him off at the LA train station.

[[File:La sign tour 001.JPG]]

I get a room downtown... and learn in exchange for leaving city hall the Occupiers negotiated a hippo from the city zoo which has been under reported.[[File:La sign tour 005.JPG]] The sign says they are barbecuing it on xmas and feeding the homeless which is a small victory for the Occupy movement but i'm not sure about that... of course she loves LA. The Occupation site is well treed[[File:La sign tour 021.JPG]][[File:La sign tour 012.JPG]] but now it is defensively fenced with mesh, concrete and a less lovely sign threatens punishment...the commons is now entwined. As per usual the sign poses with the enforcement bylaw ...[[File:La sign tour 019.JPG]] and the MSM [[File:La sign tour 023.JPG]] Our supply of books is running low but fortunately we find[[File:La sign tour 032.JPG]] a final soldier in the near total infantilization of civilization. Put in a poem [[File:La sign tour 030.JPG]] and we load up[[File:La sign tour 031.JPG]] read a book...read a book...read a book! everyone!!![[File:The sign tour now.JPG]]

==Las Vegas==

In the golden dawn we cruise no where but leave LA early, around noon, to avoid traffic. The sign is going on and on about the oil sands while i drive comfortably in my truck/car...distracted we run low on fuel but amazingly there is a gas station...we arrive in Vegas. The sign excitedly demands a picture with his hero and i oblige .[[File:Sign tour lv 001.JPG]]Though some progressive liberal locals may argue differently [[File:Las vegeas day one 058.JPG]]this city makes no claims...a full on assault of the senses, yes! yes! In my home away from homes[[File:Las vegeas day one 010.JPG]] the Occupiers are still Occupying...[[File:Las vegeas day one 033.JPG]]off strip,[[File:Las vegeas day one 006.JPG]] close to the good music [[File:Las vegeas day one 043.JPG]] a kitchen [[File:Las vegeas day one 008.JPG]]a banking system [[File:Las vegeas day one 056.JPG]]and committed people.[[File:Las vegeas day one 023.JPG]] The sign hooks into the local library... [[File:Las vegeas day one 040.JPG]]chats with the people [[File:Las vegeas day one 031.JPG]] pretends to wash dishes and asks for a day off. [[File:Las vegeas day one 005.JPG]] This ain't a union..."Grapes of Wrath" anyone?

==Day 2 Occupy Vegas==

Hey Hey! My! My! Rock n' Roll will never die...[[File:Protest, hardrock, day 2 029.JPG]]

[[File:Protest, hardrock, day 2 060.JPG]]Occupy!!! Occupy!!! Occupy!!! [[File:Protest, hardrock, day 2 068.JPG]][[File:Protest, hardrock, day 2 076.JPG]] The people are well informed[[File:Protest, hardrock, day 2 070.JPG]] ...books are moving.

==Day 3 Occupy Vegas==

It is what it is

A woman who does not have the right to vote.

A black man who cannot sit at a counter.

A person who works 16 hours a day, six days a week.

The line is drawn and they protest on the street.

 

The atmosphere no longer able to absorb pollution

The banking system rigged, the taxes unfair…

The unions decimated…the middle east a nightmare…

The oceans are dying and no ones reading books.

Merry War on Xmas

http://peopleslovelylibrary.net/index.php/The_Sign_Tour

As the Say In the US

We pretend we live in democracies even though most of us know we live in a form that perverts the content of what it pretends to be. I’ve asked thousands of people if they believe governments­ federal,state, local, ­take better care of human beings or corporations and most everyone laughs.

It’s a stupid and obvious question that is why i am an American.  

When I ask whether governments are more concerned with the natural world or corporations. Often I am met with blank stares.

But for all our private understanding that we live in plutocracies­ governments by, of, and for the wealthy­ or more accurately, kleptocracies ­governments which have as their primary organizing principle theft, from the poor, from the land, from the future but often we publicly speak and act as though we do live in democracies.

As a politically conservative teenager, I liked to laugh at the fact the Politburo of the old Soviet Union was made up of something like 97percent members of the Communist Party. What a joke of a democracy, I thought. Yet how often do we ask ourselves what percentage of the United States House and Senate consists of members of the Capitalist Party?

Who’s the joke on now?

Another phrase for these governments­ which better serve corporations than human beings ­is governments of occupation. What do governments occupy for?

To facilitate resource extraction and maximize production, at the expense of communities and of the natural world.That’s what they do.

So, what does the United States government do?

It facilitates resource extraction and maximizes production at the expense of communities and of the natural world. The United States is functionally and systematically a government of occupation

and capitalism is functionally, systematically, an economics of occupation.

Of course all my indigenous friends say, “What took you so long to figure this one out?”

Here’s another way to say this: we have long been taught that the legal system is set up to protect us. But we have been lied to. It is well established that judicial accountability does not extend to those who kill or maim in the name of business, nor to those who impoverish our land bases.

A few years ago I communicated with a policeman who wanted me to understand that it is the job of police to protect people from sociopaths. I asked why it is they don’t protect us from rich sociopaths.And my African American friends ask why they so rarely protect African Americans from racists and from functional racism. And my women friends ask why they so rarely protect women from misogyny: only six percent of rapists spend even one night in jail.

And I ask why when there is a strike do they protect capitalists from strikers?

Why do they not protect strikers from capitalists? They use their batons or guns on strikers. Why do they not use their batons or guns to force capitalists to come to terms? Why, when there is a meeting of global financiers, do they protect the financiers from the people, and not the other way around?

Why have they not arrested Tony Hayward for murdering humans in the Gulf of Mexico, and for that matter, for murdering the Gulf of Mexico? Where were they when Massey Coal murdered miners, and where are they when Massey Coal murders entire mountains?

Where are they when chemical companies kill so many people, so many children, that an entire region is called Cancer Alley? Why aren’t they doing their jobs?

Of course the answer is that they are doing their jobs, which is to be hired muscle for the rich.

Here are a couple of riddles, not very funny.

Question: what do you get when you cross a long drug habit, a quick temper, and a gun?

Answer: Two life terms for murder, earliest release date, 2026.

Question: what do you get when you cross two nation states, a large corporation, 40 tons of poison, and at least 8000 dead human beings?

Answer: Retirement with fullpay and benefits. Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide, Bhopal.

Or here’s another one:

Question: what do you call someone who conspires to put poison in the subways of Tokyo? Answer: A terrorist, who is put in prison for life.

Question: what do you call someone who conspires to put poison in water supplies in the United States?

Answer: Dick Cheney.

Or an oil and gas man. A fracker. A capitalist.

Or, if the specific poison is cyanide, we call it a transnational gold mining corporation. Just to make sure we get it: what consequence does someone pay for murdering humans and nonhumans in the Gulf of Mexico? Answer: a million dollar a year severance package, and millions of shares of British Petroleum stock.

The guy shouldn’t receive stocks, he should be put in them.

Let’s spin out a fantasy here, where at least some of the police have the courage to recognize they share class interests not with the rich, but with those whose heads they’ve been cracking. Let’s pretend that some of them begin thinking about their legacies. Do they really want for their legacy to be that they were muscle for antidemocratic forces? When their grandchildren ask which side they were on, do they really want to say they were on the side of protecting corporations against human beings?That’s a hell of a legacy, ain’t it?

Of course we can ask these same questions not just of police, but of ourselves. If the police will not do their jobs to stop rich sociopaths,then we are the ones who must do this.

What would happen if we the people were to organize into militias, with or without the assistance of the police, to enforce cancer free zones,oil spill free zones, extinction free zones, home foreclosure free zones ­hell, why don’t we enforce rape free zones?­hunger free zones,economic and political democracy zones? And what if these zones were to extend all across our countries?
Because here’s a question, for all of us, not just the police: if you are going to have a government, and if you’re going to have a government worth a good goddamn, whom should this government serve: corporations or human beings?

Since the legal system won’t hold destructive institutions accountable,the responsibility falls on each of us. This means that all of us who care about the health of the land where we live, for example, must learn to be accountable to this land rather than loyal to political and economic institutions that do not serve us well. The same is true for those who care about democracy, for those who care about communities, for those who care about the future, for those who care about any living being.

And we must act on this loyalty; we must do whatever is necessary to protect our homes and our land bases from those who would destroy them.Only then will mountains and rivers and forests be saved. Only then will toxic dumping be stopped. Only then will we have democratic self-governance. Only then will we have a future. Because allowing destructive economic or political entities to destroy our land bases is not merely unethical and unwise but suicidal.
The Declaration of Independence for what became the United States holds,“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends[Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness], it is the Right of thePeople to alter or abolish it. . . .” It would be more precise, however,to say that it is not the Right of the People, nor even their responsibility, but instead something more like breathing­ something that if we fail to do we die. If we as a People fail to rid our community of destructive institutions, those institutions will destroy our community.

And if we as a community cannot provide meaningful and non destructive ways for people to gain food, clothing, and shelter then we must recognize it’s not just specific destructive institutions but the entire economic system that is pushing the natural world past breaking points.Once we’ve recognized the destructiveness of this economic system we’ve no choice, unless we wish to sign our own and our children’s death warrants, but to fight for all we’re worth and in every way we can to overturn it. There is nothing else to do.

You can ask: by quoting the Declaration of Independence am I calling for a revolution, to which I will respond that this answer should be clear.

You can ask, then, if this means that I am calling for the overthrow of the United States and other governments, to which I will respond that this question comes far, far, far too late. For the governments were long since overthrown, and those who overthrew them are known as ExxonMobil,British Petroleum, Haliburton, Monsanto, ADM, WalMart, Massey Coal,Goldman Sachs, Citibank.

They are the real governors, and the UnitedStates and other governments are wholly-owned subsidiaries, brought toyou by McDonald’s, Pfizer, and Lockheed Martin.

So then you can ask, am I advocating the overthrow of governments that are by, for, and of corporations, am I advocating the overthrow of corporate states, to which I will say, “Hell, yes.”

The Revolutionary Spirit

1.

if injustice creates a trembling indignation

perhaps she has touched you…

give everything yet still you may be unrewarded…

many nights you will feel brave

and many nights you will feel like a coward…

2.

the ogilarchy,

the plutocracy,

the corporate greed

the industrial military

media  complex

3.

prisons for profit,

schools for profit

healthcare for profit,

sports for profit,

a love life for profit

libraries for profit

4.

fuck facebook

mine data my data

i am not data

5.

money money on the wall

you are the fairest of them all

The Resistance

It’s full of good people who have no clue what they are up against.

The students, the unions, the homeless, the disabled, the activist, the environmentalist, the artists and other special interest groups are motivated as their name suggests in their own particular specialness.

This is result of a system in it’s late stage which ensures the consumer will not only consume but more to the point will be immersed in a exchange value equation that does not include the best interest of the many.

To give and expect nothing in return is anti-capitalism. 

Individually we are all in the way of the collective and the collective gets near zero air play while our specialness our differences are overplayed to the place of incessant.

By seeing our self as this way we see the others as different and thus can be violent. The premise being it is harder to be violent to those you know than those you don’t

ie to kill a stranger on a computer screen is different than killing a family member in person  

as otto rank explains in his book on the subject.

That any of the revolution could possibly take place on face book with all it’s gimmicks and tricks leaves one with a feeling of emptiness. Surely the user can see the childishness of plat-formed communications.

That my friends is 100% corporate space…they are taking your social lives and making money and you consent because in your linear world you think it is free.

in the old days they said and knew there were no free lunches…

my my my the dream marches on and they say the planet is burning and the redistribution of resources is being accumulated in the hands of the few.

the 61 richest have more wealth than the bottom 17,000,000 Canadians…this is what i heard and still want to believe is untrue…

This system has become a labyrinth as the court case today was put on hold because the defendant Mat the Hat couldn’t find the court room.

I saw him and he looked tired. He’s been arrested 4 times in the last month and sleeping outside.

His next court appearance is in December.

When i was in my late teen i would drive around my hometown imagining places i could have sex with my first girlfriend and then it would come true.

Like i said she was my first girlfriend.

occupy the world

corporations want to safeguard against risk desperately.     

121211

 

There has been some movement.

I yell and scream in a Richmond bar

we’re closing down the ports and i’m asked to leave by three very busty women.

I do not remember walking home though the next day

when i am putting up flyers and doing a re-con of the bridge I am tired.

I cannot get in touch with the direct action committee and have heard little information.

As usual Vancouver is out of touch.

At best maybe a few hundred will rally at the park

in solidarity with oakland and other long shoremen…

the unions are under siege and i have heard the bulk of goods

will be moving through Mexico where labor is unorganized

The lovely people’s communist library

will be the name of a new bookstore on the DTES.

The unions are under siege and

yet they do not want us calling for a shut down…

this is an indication of how far down the road we are…

there is too much money and the bourgeoisie puts up blocks

easier than can be with committee meetings ad nauseum

where nothing happens as if that was part of the plan

they call themselves NGO’s and other types of culturally controlling behavior so rest assured more people will have to be poor and not influenced most heavily by this posturing where knowledge is all second hand when it comes to human nature…and with a very long self interest lever.

do we need to continuously be in oppressive hierarchies…

and why is their such extremes in wealth…

even in death power is passed on…

it becomes you

121211               

The Rio

Worked the door with a good fellow from Montreal.

Set up the Occupy Vancouver Library and then went outside to have a smoke. The Wilderness group came in and said they wanted the table so i said fine cause they were putting the gig on and moved and mo slept some where and bill came with the tale and we got a good spot

then renee came moved not realizing that the best place to be is at the exit where people talk…the entrance is a mixed bag…exit through the gift shop.

Met a lady who knew Che’s child.

As the story goes

che was in the battle field and a he asked a soldier where his gun was

the soldier replied it was confiscated because he had mishandled it

Che said go to the frontlines and get a gun

a few days later che was in hospital viewing the wounded when he saw the soldier…the coldier said commandeer…

i went to the front lines…

a few hours later the soldier che wote

died happy he had found his courage

who said revolution or die

 

that is another story

 

Last night i think they talked about it being bad in northern alberta for the indians

and green peace said the enviroment is doing poorly which is his business

and naomi klein said she was happy the piple line didn’t get through

and a 10 year old girl sang at the end and i told her not to smoke

and her dad said i should quit to…everyone in the audience except the occupiers looked well rested and content…saving the world is an upper middle class endeavour which is problematic for obvious reasons…

when a white man speaks on behalf of ideas we are all embarrassed.    

overall nothing was accomplished but everyone left not totally satisfied

the agency in egypt was 20,000,000 people between the ages of 19-28.

last night were over fifty

a grey haired revolution…

good!