Yesterday's Drama

March 29, 2012

Dear Sheriff _______,

My name is Faith Louise, and I'm a resident at _______ Apartments. This afternoon I witnessed (both heard and saw), through an already open window, a relatively short stand-off involving two Officers of your department against an unidentified man. This occurred in the parking lot.

The longer I watched, the more impressed I was with your Officers. Both had their guns drawn. Although he had been ordered, many times, to put his hands in the air (which is what originally drew me to the window), the unidentified man continued to take small steps in different directions, wave his arms to the sides, move his arms in front of him, and one time, if I remember correctly, he also turned his back on the officers, moving his arms around while staying in the same general location. The Officer in front of him was additionally having to deal with someone off to his right, to whom he kept saying things like, "Get back!" and "Stay out of this!" (This may have been the woman who left in her car a few moments later, forcing your Officer to forward his position a bit). Both Officers remained rock steady. They did not appear to be the least bit disconcerted by the man's continuing movements and his refusal to obey their order. They were alert, authoritative, and extremely patient.

Eventually, the man reached his hands in the air, put his hands on top of his head when told, and cooperated with being handcuffed behind his back. (By now, more Officers had arrived). Watching this, I was additionally impressed that the Officers treated the unidentified man with the utmost civility. Of course, I could no longer hear what was being said, but there was absolutely no roughness. I expected a little bit of roughness when he was turned around and cuffed; I probably wouldn't have been so nice after his continued refusal to cooperate, which surely indicated to the Officers that he very well could be a danger to them.

I'm sure this was routine for your Officers. But it was not routine for me. Since Police Officers so frequently receive bad press about how they treat suspects and about how they conduct themselves, in general, during an encounter, I wanted to let you know that the professionalism I observed in your Officers was exemplary. I have always been thankful that I live in _________ County. I actually felt pride while watching this little drama.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Faith Louise

_______________________________________________________________________

March 30, 2012

Hi Ms. Louise,

All feedback about how we're doing is helpful.  And it's very nice to have such detail about some good work by our deputies.  Thank you so much for taking the time to write.  I'll ensure the involved deputies and their supervisors are appraised of your observations.

Regards

___________________
Sheriff

_________  County

_______________________________________________________________________

(I didn't think to grab my camera until almost the end.)

(There were 5 police cars by the time it was over.)

Blindfolds Provided: The Occupy Movement

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln

Yes, it's time for my High Horse. This won't be a short post; I researched well.

Until November 17, I knew nothing about the Occupy Movement except that it was in cities all over America, started with Occupy Wall Street, and was a messy protest. That's it.

Then I was caught in downtown Portland at the end of a small riot, and I found myself moved along with the glut of protestors who were chanting "We. Are. the 99%." I came face to face, toe to toe with police in full riot gear. Now I wanted to know more.

I was meeting my niece that night, so I asked her what it was all about. She told me about the traditional solid economy, through history, as being 80/20: 80% of the people had 20% of the money, and 20% of the people had 80% of the money. But now the division was 1/99.

Based on her explanation, the protests made no sense to me. Who is going to pay for cleaning up the parks, with their devastation and litter and human feces? Who is going to pay for the revenue loss of all the small privately owned shops in the Protest Zone, some of which had already been forced out of business? Who is going to pay for the additional police presence, the extra work of city officials? It certainly isn't going to be the 1%. It will be the taxpayers. It will be the 99%. Then my niece said something very wise: "If they want to make a stand and make a difference, they should do it without leaving a footprint. THAT would make an impact." It certainly would.

Later I thought, if the economy is so bad, how can thousands of the 99% take 2-3 months off work (so far) to protest? It isn't the 1% they're hurting.

So I began to research. And wow, were my eyes opened. The 99% don't have a clue of the origin or implications of their protests. Nor it's end design. I'm going to lay out my research next. Try to follow, because it is convoluted!

The original call to Occupy Wall Street was made in a blog post by a Canadian magazine called Adbusters. Adbusters is not-for-profit, anti-advertisement, anti-consumerism, and pro-environment. They have often been accused of being anti-capitalism and of antisemitism.

This is the original Adbusters post, dated July 13, 2011, that began the Occupy Wall Street movement. Their subtitle is "A shift in revolutionary tactics: are YOU ready for a Tahrir moment?" They called for 20,000 people to Occupy Wall Street on September 17, 2011. "The spirit of this fresh tactic...a fusion of Tahrir and the acampadas of Spain..."

The protest received additional attention when the internet group Anonymous encouraged followers to take part in the protests, calling protesters to "flood lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, and Occupy Wall Street." They promoted the protest with a poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull.

What is Anonymous? Anonymous is an internet hacking collective initiating active civil disobedience. They categorize themselves as hedonistic and uninhibited. A primary self-description will send chills down the backs of born-again Christians: "We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

Okay. What's a Tahrir moment?

Tahrir Square is a major public square in Cairo, Egypt. It was in Tahrir Square that the Egyptians revolted, on January 25, 2011, against then-president Hasni Mubarak. The protest, known as the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, lasted 18 days. In February, the Egyptian Armed Forces succeeded in removing Mubarak from office. Mubarak turned all his power over to the Egyptian Armed Forces. Just think about that for a minute.

Now let's go a step further. The "Tahrir moment" was a very small part of large movement known as the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave in the Arab world that began in December of 2010. Per Wikipedia,  there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt (Tahrir Square); a civil war in Libya resulting in the fall of its government; civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen, the latter resulting in the resignation of Yemeni Prime Minister; major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman; and minor protests in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Western Sahara. Clashes at the borders of Israel (emphasis mine) in May 2011 were also inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Their major slogan is "The People want to bring down the regime." Reflect on this information for a moment.

Take note: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel addressed the Knesset during the Tahrir Square protest, saying that history would prove him right: the Arab Spring would result in an Islamic, anti-Western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli and anti-democratic wave.

Next. What are the acampadas of Spain?

The word 'acampadas' simply means camping, but it's a reference to what is known as the 2011 Spanish Protests, the 15-M Movement, or the Indignants Movement. I won't go into great detail here, but it's a social economic protest about the high level of unemployment, and it is self-described as being inspired by the protests in Egypt and Tunisia (i.e., the Arab Spring).

Let's go back to Adbusters' original blog post for a minute. I read 7 very long pages of comments, dated from July 14 to July 29, 2011. Here are samples of the comments in chronological order. (Keep in mind that the original Adbusters post was made on July 13).

**"I suggest we demand the end of Capitalism, we all realize this is the over arching problem. If we are going to camp and demand change, why not demand real change. If we only demand change on a surface level we will be back where Egypt is now, again taking up the fight in Tahrir (liberty) square because their demand was not radical enough."

**" 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.' THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787."

**"Demand all new money be 'New Money.'"

**"I would suggest you use the advice given to Diogenes by the Oracle of Delphi: 'Falsify the Currency.'"

**"We either abolish the Federal Reserve and all its secrecy or we have done NOTHING."

**"... this pamphlet, created by Egyptian activists and entitled "How to Protest Intelligently" could provide a guide for our tactics and demands. Creating a similar document specific to this event is something we are working on."

**"Anything less than an anti-capitalist message is doomed to become a spectacle reminiscent of the new left of the 1960's."

**"...in Solidarity, please consider this a tactical request."

**" Solidarity alert, Comrade. Come on in!"

**" The Occupation Needs YOU!"

**"Expect us. Anonymous."

The comments included many calls for tactical assistance and references to Arab Spring through admirable mentions of Egypt and Tahrir Square. One comment, which was supported by others, was to drag the CEOs out into the streets, submit them to a trial by the people whereby they would be found guilty. (Can anyone say "French Revolution" and "guillotine"?).

(Photo property of KOIN Local 6, Portland, Oregon)

Now I want to talk about the Occupy Wall Street website. Their logo is a raised fist, and they describe themselves as follows: "Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring (emphasis mine) tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society. The only Solution is World Revolution."

The whole world? I thought this was just America. Naive, naive. Occupied:

Australia: Canberra, Wollongong, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, smaller towns around the country
Belgium: Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven.
Canada: Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal
Colombia: Universities
Cyprus: Nicosia
France: Paris, Nantes, Lyon, Grenoble, Perpignan
Germany: Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg
Hong Kong
Israel: Tel Aviv
Italy: Rome
Malaysia: Dataran, Penang, Kelantan
Mexico: Mexico City
Mongolia
New Zealand: Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Pomare
Norway: Oslo, Bergen
Republic of Ireland: Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Letterkenny, Athlone
South Korea: Seoul
Switzerland: Zurich
United Kingdom: London, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton, Bath, Bradford, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Plymouth, Exeter, Norwich, Belfast, Glasgow, Leicester
United States: Here we go! State (yes, all 50!), then number of cities Occupied.
Arizona 6
Alaska 7
Arizona 6
Arkansas 4
California 56
Colorado 7
Connecticut 4
Delaware 1
Florida 15
Georgia 8
Hawaii 5
Idaho 4
Illinois 10
Indiana 8
Iowa 6
Kansas 5
Kentucky 6
Louisiana 3
Maine 4
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 13
Michigan 9
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 2
Missouri 5
Montana 6
Nebraska 2
Nevada 3
New Hampshire 2
New Jersey 6
New Mexico 5
Ney York 13
North Carolina 10
North Dakota 2
Ohio 10
Oklahoma 3
Oregon 9
Pennsylvania 13
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 4
Tennessee 7
Texas 18
Utah 5
Vermont 3
Virginia 7
Washington 23
West Virginia 7
Wisconsin 3
Wyoming 3
Puerto Rico 1
Washington, D.C.

And of course, Spain and all the Arab countries mentioned above.

So, like little lemmings, we have allowed ourselves to be manipulated and ultimately duped by Adbusters (anti-capitalists and anti-semites), Anonymous (hedonists who describe themselves as "Legion"), and the Arab Spring (revolution of the Arab world).

And the Occupy Movement is global.

Christians, brush up on your knowledge of the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Antichrist, the Apocalypse, and the Second Coming of Christ to rule the Millennium. Tell your family and friends about the salvation of Jesus through His death, resurrection, and ascension.

And Christians, if you're not already on your knees in prayer, the time is now. The showdown between the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael approaches.

My High Horse

Sometime this week, when I have the mental and emotional energy, I'm going to get on my high horse about the Occupy movement. I accidentally got caught in a demonstration at Occupy Portland last Thursday, and the experience resulted in my doing a little research. I was shocked and dismayed and terribly alarmed. So be forewarned!

Occupy Portland

11/17/2011

Wrappy Sandals

Either Pair!

Designer Unknown

My Arizona

 Copyright 2011, 2010 Reed Morgan

Day 25 - Outer Banks

"A picture of a beach."

"Outer Banks"

This is an as-yet unquilted wall hanging

of a trip I took to North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The photo transfers of the lighthouse and the beach

are pictures I took there,

and the shells in the tulle at the bottom

are shells I picked up at that beach.

Day 17 - Last Summer

"A picture of last summer."

My grand-nephew/godson, my niece,

and my grand-niece.

Spring Gardens

My niece took me to a large commercial spring garden last Sunday, and it was a paradise. We had a delightful day, being together and taking photographs and just enjoying more and more beauty that God created for us.

Mother, I thought of you all day, wishing you could see these gardens. You always wanted to go to them. But I know you are seeing such beauty, and better, in Heaven. Heaven is the true paradise.

Mommy, I remember you.

God's Creation