What have we learned in a year of Occupy Wall Street? When Swiffer has 979k likes on Facebook you know people are brainwashed by branding

Yesterday was a day that both started off and ended with brutal arrests. But it's the arrests during the day that proved to be most telling because often they were of people not intending to get arrested. There were those who linked arms or sat in the street in the morning, or refused to leave Zuccotti in the evening, who knew they were risking violent arrest by the NYPD. But many of the journalists and passers by who were arrested during the day paint the picture of why so many people stay away from the Occupy protests in person. Even observers have a way of being manhandled by the NYPD if they get too close. 


What have we learned in a year of Occupy Wall Street?

We have learned the through brute force you can intimidate people into staying home, especially mass showings of brute force over time.

We have learned that we live in a police state.

We have learned that since 9/11 there has been a severe militarization of police under the guise of our fear of terrorism. 

You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist. 

I have noticed all the coverage saying "whatever happened to Occupy?" never seems to find the connection between the squelching of the protests and the unwarranted direct acts of violence towards those who have been trying to protest. 

Sometime during the the George W. Bush administration American's were taught to fear. Over time we have learned not to speak out against the federal government or in this case the powerful people of money who control the government. We expect some shady character coming to question us about our revolution. During the years immediately following 9/11 this was common place. We were traumatized by the attack on our country. And then once again by the force used to silence dissent over the war.The Patriot Act instated, our civil liberties erroded all to to "protect us."

We need to start questioning why something so catastrophic was allowed to happen when we live in the country with the best military surveillance and the most monetary resources available to combat attacks. There are so many people arguing about what really happened and accusing one another of having the Wrong conspiracy theory. There are not enough people accepting that we all know the story we were spoon fed by the 9/11 Commission is watered down and untrue. We have been programmed to believe some things will just never have answers, for instance the conspiracy to assassinate J.F.K. These major catastrophic events lead us to the major ways we respond as a society. Hurricane Katrina made many Americans feel that their government is the problem and that no one is coming to save them. All of these things attribute to our every man for himself philosophy culminating in American society. 

We have an entire economy based around competition. Competition between people working for a similar goal has been a way to fuel progress. But there is no fair competition anymore. People at any level above poor lack a genuine personality. We no longer compete for the best solutions to our hardest struggles like solar energy. Instead we let the competitor with the most money and well established business win hands down through oil subsidies. 

The Occupy camps may be dismantled and people may have gone home to their families. But the Occupy movement lives on in everyone that saw that change is not impossible. We may not want to face the NYPD and our own personal physical arrest. But it's going to take all of us to make change happen. You have to find a way to contribute a small part. Even if it's just talking to a handful of people you know, or writing a letter, or taking a personal stand for what you believe in at your job, or in your home, it will make a difference. If we live to see the future we want instead of the future we're headed for we are all going to have to participate in the change.



This article is a perfect articulation of the police brutality seen yesterday at the protests. 
Support blogger media :)

http://blog.thephoenix.com/BLOGS/phlog/archive/2012/09/18/the-full-story-of-how-a-boston-journalist-got-arrested-on-some-bullshit-at-the-anniversary-of-occupy-wall-street.aspx


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Occupy Wall Street Celebrates A Successful Year and Talks About New Goals ( Live Updates )

Good Morning Wall Street

9:45AM
Even with the massive amount of NYPD checkpoints and the scare tactics used to deter turn out, there are thousands marching on the financial district this morning. For those who watched the movement struggle many times in the last year. It's good to see that some of the Occupiers still have hope and enthusiasm that this can make a difference. 

OWS has just taken an intersection. Arrests probably imminent. 

Tim @ http://www.ustream.tv/timcast

Luke @ http://www.ustream.tv/wearechange

http://www.ustream.tv/occupyeye

As we approach the 10 o'clock hour Occupy Wall Street is planning to converge on a planned location. As the time gets closer some Occupiers run to evade being bothered by police. As the Occupiers enter the first every meeting place of the movement it seems that the NYPD is trying to limit access and deter the protesters. The shear numbers mean that the NYPD is only trying to handle actual provocateurs at the moment. It seems as long as you comply with the "keep it moving" rule you can avoid arrest. The enthusiasm today is a refreshing change. This is one of the first livestreams I have watched that doesn't seem in some way anticlimactic. 

10:00AM
The livestreamers and protestors comment on how many people text them and tweet them wanting to know how many people are at the marches. They have no way of guessing especially with all the different routes that usually divert protesters around traffic and police how many people are around them. They don't want to take a space and risk massive arrests by the NYPD circling around the protesters. The protesters are ,marching on Nassau Street heading towards Broadway to try and take the intersection. But the white shirts and the vans are always imminent nearby. There is a delicate give and take between those who want to provoke police and those who just want to avoid arrest. 

10:10AM
The Occupiers are receiving a megaphone order that if they do not keep moving along they face imminent arrest. If they leave the sidewalk voluntarily they will avoid arrest for disorderly conduct. They are being kettled into the street as if that will save them from arrest. They have dismantled the march once again as I have seen in the past. The NYPD uses its divide and conquer technique to separate the Occupiers and confuse them. Hopefully there will be enough of them that they can continue strong throughout the day. 

Live viewers between the most popular livestreams has been hovering around 2,500 people.  The total count of viewers is approaching 20,000. The numbers are climbing steadily so there is no exact count at the moment. 

10:26AM
There are reports that there have been about 50 arrests today. More have happened since though. It is hard for those on the ground at the protests to know what is really happening around them. The police try and cause as much divide and confusion as possible. The Occupiers discuss the fear and you can see the fear tactics used by the NYPD that are intended to deter average people from attending protests. Multiple journalists have been arrested. We need more pirate media. We need a media revolution in the homes of average Americans. When we turn off our TVs and rely on live coverage of events, bloggers, and social networking. Only then will we have the truth in media we are looking for. The livestreamers try to stay separated so those of us watching at home can see more of what's happening. It is much appreciated guys. 

11:18AM
The protesters are on the move again, this time to Battery Park. I have noticed that there are so many people on the street in NYC usually that sometimes it is hard to make out who is a protester and who is not. I find the red shirts of the Chicago Teachers Union make the crowds more unified and easily identifiable to the photographers. This is the most organized and successful I have seen the Occupiers. It has been a learning year. But there are probably still better ways still we will find to organize massive amounts of people in unity. 

11:28AM
More and more protesters are filing into Battery Park. It seems the groups have stayed together to reconvene as one large group, probably much to the disappointment of the police and their divisive kettling techniques. 

11:56AM 
National Lawyers Guild is confirming 104 arrests so far today. 

1:08Pm 
A large group has now gathered at Zuccotti Park.

1:30PM
At least 7 more arrests made of protesters surrounded by police and swept into a fan. The crowd still grows in numbers as this beautiful day continues. It seems as if the arrests are public displays of force to intimidate those who might not want to face arrest without cause. It seems as though most of the protesters find the benefits of showing solidarity far out way the risks. They have faith in the NLG and know who to call. The twitter feed and facebook have been alive all day with photos, videos, and blogs of the Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. The camp that brought hope to so many is gone but not forgotten.

1:59PM
World Financial Center is reportedly shut down. A march was supposed to take place leaving from Zuccotti Communication is hard with so many protesters and so many police checkpoints. One stream seems as though everyone has stopped marching. On the other side of the group a march has started to leave Zuccotti. It's impossible to know how many protesters there are with so many smaller factions traveling around the city. 

2:08PM 
The groups are trying to figure out if their arrestable or not. There are 1000  in Zuccotti park but they aren't letting more people in and out easily. 

2:18PM
Protesters willing to get arrested are staging a protest at Goldman Sachs. Resisting police warning to get up.  

2:27PM
One of the independent journalist livestreamers was violently arrested by the NYPD. Deliberate scare tactics are being used by the NYPD to intimidate the many protesters who remain. All arrests being photographed and streamed live. The blatant use of force is obvious and intentional. They disregard that none of these charges will stick or be prosecuted because the goal is intimidation and control, and officers face no repercussions for that kind of behavior unless permanent irrefutable damage is done, and then usually a slap on the wrist compared to the penalty an average citizen would face.

The brutality always backfires on the police because instead of intimidated people are passionate about what they have just seen.

Some of the people being singled out and pulled out of the crowd are not actually being arrested.

3:16PM
As the activities of the day continue there is still a ton of enthusiasm. Many protesters repeat the same story. They all hear from their family and friends, isn't Occupy over? Didn't it die last winter? What do you think. Did the movement die or has it only just begun?

I enjoy that the Code Pink girls are wearing wigs that are the same color as my hair. I think I would fit in well with the Code Pink girls.  

 3:43PM 
Clear the sidewalk for pedestrians? huh? Or face arrest. Crowd chants, "we are pedestrians". Not allowing marching on the sidewalk or in the streets. White shirts still using megaphone to announce need for pedestrian sidewalk. At a crowd of walking pedestrians. 

The Lunacy Continues as over a thousand people still protest in NYC. The NYPD humiliates themselves yet again with scare tactics and demands that can not reasonably be met. Making arrests without cause while the shear number of protesters is still controlling the flow of the people. 

I am glad I am doing this today for me. Because I have sat here and watched protests so many times before. And I always forget the details. Today has been such an eventful day but repressed by the police and the media. That is why social media is so necessary. These people on twitter and at the march, and livestreaming today deserve an audience for their hard work in doing what most of us are afraid to do.  Thousands have risked being arrested for no cause at all. The crowd now is swelling out of the NYPDs control. You can feel the excitement. The Occupiers finally got the perfect marching weather. 

Reports over an hour ago of 150 arrests. 4:00PM
The men in White shirts still shout at the crowd that they are blocking pedestrian traffic. 

They are threatening a silent marching crowd with disorderly conduct arrest for being on the sidewalk. Often times when in a crosswalk with a walk sign protesters have been grabbed. 

3000 people still watching live on just the 3 livestreams I have open, and there are many others.  With over 57,000 homes having tuned in today to see the protests streamed live. 

The NYPD are attempting yet again to divide and kettle the crowd.

 5:15PM 
I think that in a lot of ways, fear is winning. We haven't protested even when we've seen injustice. We stay home out of responsibility and fear. Many people warned me of what could happen if I went. That shows that money is winning. People aren't doing enough of the things they can do to help. They just don't think it matters what they have to say. And I think with so many people in the world most of us feel powerless. We can't let them win by following every social norm. In your life, think about where you shop. Think about where you spend your money and what kind of organizations you support. Figure out where your taxes go and figure out what legislation passes in your local government. Find the corruption all around you, it permeates the system.

Over 66,000 people have tuned into the livestreams at this point. Things seemed to have calmed down by now. The oppressive presence of the NYPD has diminished the numbers to only those who are determined to stand firm and risk arrest later on this evening. Separate marches continue around the city and continue to converge on Zuccotti Park. 

7:30PM 
Occupy Wall Street Continues. Surrounded by the NYPD at this point. No one who is still there has any intention of leaving until they are forced. And as soon as it's dark and numbers are at their smallest that is when they will strike and arrest more Occupiers. It is a formula that has been repeated since the night they evicted the occupation from Zuccotti Park

8:43PM 
Livestreamers have predicted that police are getting ready to announce the park is closed despite it being a public park open 24 hours and will forcibly remove the Occupiers from the park. It is a formula that they have seen many time before. 

8:55Pm 
The police have moved into position 2 spotlights the likes of which haven't been seen since the raid of Zuccotti Park.  

A fifth set of spotlights is being erected. It appears they may just keep the Occupiers kettled inside the park and try and arrest them all. It will be a nearly impossible feat since there are still hundreds of protesters inside. The experienced Occupy journalists assume the police will go for the drum circle that has not stopped all day long at OWS. Brookdale Security Guards surround the fences which are still zip tied together. The NYPD may make arrests while causing mass hysteria and threatening arrests for all those who remain. Occupiers agree that there is a way this could be resolved peacefully by the NYPD but that is unlikely to happen. The current scenario will result in a stand off. But how things will progress is still a mystery at this point. 

10:02PM 
A large number of police have filed into the park. 

The police presence alone has cleared a large portion of the park. 

But many remain just outside the fence. And plenty intend to stay until removed by force. This is a 24 hour park that should not be closed. It's an arbitrary rule enforced for the convenience of the corporate owners of the park. 

The police have effectively removed many of the remaining protesters without force. Could the NYPD be learning?


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"How can we stay still and silent?" Happy Birthday Occupy Wall Street

1:24PM
I keep reading articles about how the protesters have kicked off their 1 year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street with multiple arrests. I have watched the youtube videos from the livestreams of these events and they were without provocation. The NYPD are singling out known leaders of the movement and pulling them out of the crowd and arresting them without explanation. Not only that but even with a court order to leave Zuccotti Park open, the NYPD have it heavily guarded and barricaded. 

An entire year of revolution and sometimes it feels a lot like less people care by the day. It is as if the worse and more obvious the atrocities get the more people want to disengage and pretend nothing at all is wrong. My plan to FINALLY get to NYC and actively participate was squashed once again by responsibility. I feel like I must represent a strong group of people too far away and too poor to get to a movement large enough to make a difference. No one is starting a movement in the Republican district of Toms River New Jersey, but one can continue to dream. How must it feel to the people who have been fighting these battles for 10 or 20 years. How can you keep trudging along when even people who should want to help, who you know agree with you, are too afraid of the repercussions to speak out. 

So many people tell me all the time to watch what I say, or only imply I should watch what I say, because they are even too afraid to say that. That is how I know wholeheartedly that there is a problem. The most average people fear that they themselves will be singled out by the police. The Occupy leaders, if there are such a thing, just taught the crowd how to make a peoples wall, being specific about how to protect your thumbs from being broken, which a cheery lovely blond girl saying, "Don't be afraid." Followed by the cutest protester I have ever seen. A little kid, younger than my son (6), lead the crowd in an "All Day All Week Occupy Wall Street". It is the most enthusiastic chant I have seen today. If we succeed, we will succeed for the children. 

3:34PM
Repeat after me:

Corporations can't have me and they can't have my money.

I am the media.

I have personally stopped using corporations except when necessary due to my financial situation, or lack of a local store to shop for that good. But I never pay full price for anything ever. I recommend you stop giving your money to corporations, period. It makes you feel better immediately. One person keeping their money from big banks and corporations doesn't make a big difference because we have so much less than the men of power with wealth. But if every person on our level took their money from Too Big Too Fail banks and stopped spending our hard earned money at corporations there would be a huge impact. This system only continues because we continue to participate. It is difficult to change. But nothing else can stop the path we're on aside from a violent rebellion. I believe the path to peace must start with peace.

It is never too late to change. But it becomes harder by the day. 

7:15PM 
Timcast just came back online. He's participating in a march from 1 Police Plaza. It is so hard to find out what is really going on when you are not at the protests. I feel that they always seem anti climactic without the resources of main stream media and their technology behind the coverage. Imagine if we had chopper images of all of the protests going on around the country. We need pirate media. 

7:32PM
Hundreds are filing into Zuccotti Park. The livestreams keep cutting out. Police are forcing people off of public sidewalks. Specifically the people with cameras. And the people in the park are barricaded in. No one is allowed in the park with bags or chairs. The park is supposed to be completely open to the public. Police deliberately inconvenience the locals and blame the disruptions on the Occupiers. 

Watch Timcast Live @ http://www.ustream.tv/timcast

Watch Luke Live @ http://www.ustream.tv/wearechange 

There is a stand off between an older woman and the NYPD. She claims, "she will not be moved."

The Keep It Moving control method the police are using remind me of being at the mall as a teenager. No standing still allowed. Only shopping. No socializing. Only shopping. 

"The only way to win is to be open and transparent. Communication and open dialog are the most important tools Occupy Wall Street has. In my opinion. " - Luke, We Are Change

A large number of people were not allowed in the park. Despite that there are still a sea of people in Zuccotti Park.

When it's dark at night and there aren't as many cameras that is when the police strike. They are aware of the cameras.

The protesters who all said they were going to bed early for the mornings exciting attempt to disrupt Wall Street were all awake well into the night. The march continued on well past 12am as the enthusiasm in the Occupiers remained empowered by the community of the people.


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Dear Conservative

I have been trying to formulate a way to explain why I can relate to the Democratic platform in theory but not the reality and why I have absolutely no friends who identify as Republican enough to vote for Romney. It probably also has to do with the fact that there are very few well to do people in my age category right now. But there is this imaginary past in the conservative mind where at some point in our history things were better. Which is in fact untrue. There has never been yet an age of utopia. Where everyone was healthy fed and happy.
   

It wasn't utopia. It was the age of consumption. Marketing, advertising, and living on credit have dominated our society since the early 19th century. But in the last 20 years we have reached the pinnacle of our greed. We lived like gluttons of resources under Clinton, all the while thinking it was ok because we had a "surplus" so we didn't need to take personal responsibility for our actions as long as the budget is balanced. As if the budget somehow accurately reflects the good of the common man. During the Bush administration it was drilled into us that spending our money will save the economy. The more we consume the better the GDP. But the reality is that Americans need to be told that the age of fossil fuel gluttony has to end or it may be too late to fix the worlds environment.

Neither Romney or Obama is suggesting an age of conservation because Americans are spoiled brats, and they think we need to be pandered to. So they lie to save themselves and their rich oil and banking friends instead of save us. We can not stay on this path forever. I can understand why people think Obama isn't taking big enough strides towards renewable energy. I can understand that he's a war president who gas presided over the deaths of thousands. BUT How any fool could support Mitt Romney when his platform might as well actually say, "fuck you if you don't make over 1 million dollars a year." It's so far beyond my comprehension that out of 380 facebook friends I don't even have anyone who would Consider Willard "Mitt RMoney" Romney as a leader of "the free world".

As long as money fuels corruption and we all talk about politics in double speak and the language of media manipulation, we will make no progress. These corporations have existed in some form or another for over 100 years. Obviously they didn't and don't have enough regulation. Not to mention there Absolutely should have been a tax on electronic trades. Since they take literally no effort and produce invisible money. Our president and representatives can not possibly consider the good or the will of the American people as long as they have to talk to 100 lobbyists everyday with their hands out, full of cash and agendas from the ultra wealthy. Wall street is the reason we have no jobs. 1000 people in this world have more wealth than 2.4 BILLION people.
 

The money that is hidden in untaxed offshore bank accounts could be used to fix the mess the world and the US is in. Instead it is being used to pad the pockets of the already ultra wealthy. We live in a culture of greed and selfishness. How else could we have an entire party whose platform is that their success is entirely their own and no credit should be given to the society and community that held them up. It doesn't work like that.

My mom has had a small business for 23 and you bet your ass she has brass and works harder than any paper pusher I have ever met. But let me tell you. If you think there is one bit of similarity between some hard working small business owner taking care of her community and a Wall Street business banker creating fake money out of air you are so  sorely mistaken. You will never be one of the people who has power in this world, if you were one you would already know it.

The upper middle class is the only other class other than the 1 percent still getting raises and creating jobs. Because those of us below that point have absolutely no resources and yes I mean money (because money controls the world) left to fight back. Everyone still hanging out on their boat this summer and taking family vacations to the Bahamas don't give a damn about the poor because... "i got mine." If change happens it will be because the privileged in America wake up, they have the resources to exact change. We all can make a difference just by talking honestly and openly with our family and friends and sending letters and taking stances on things that matter to us.

Federal minimum wage is $15,000 a year. It's not a wage any one person can actually live on and feel safe. And if you are trying to support a family get ready for stress related health problems. Except at the bottom you get no paid time off, and at the bottom you don't go to the doctor because you don't have health insurance or the money to pay to go, especially not on top of the days missed pay! I hope you remember every time a line cook makes you an expensive meal... They don't get sick days.

Stop calling greedy sleazy billionaire families who have controlled the world for a century "risk takers". Its a euphemism created by the corporate owned media to make people think there is Anything risky about being rich. Try being poor, now that's risky. “What is riskier than living poor in America? Seriously! What in the world is riskier than being a poor person in America? I live in a neighborhood where people are shot on my street corner. I live in a neighborhood where people have to figure out how to get their kid into school because maybe it will be a good school and maybe it won’t. I am sick of the idea that being wealthy is risky. No. There is a huge safety net that whenever you fail will catch you and catch you and catch you. Being poor is what is risky. We have to create a safety net for poor people. And when we won’t, because they happen to look different from us, it is the pervasive ugliness." - Melissa Harris-Perry

My solution is raise taxes on anyone making more than a million dollars a year, no one needs that much money. Personally I'd go with anything over $200k because that's 5 times as much as my whole family can live on and have every single luxury we want and need. We need to make clear rules for financial transactions and tax electronic transactions. Get Wall Street out of the FED's pocket and create a central bank that is at the hands of its people, like they did in Iceland. We need politicians to start talking honestly with the American people so we can use our brightest minds to find solutions to our problems that don't involve destroying the planet we need to live. College is no longer teaching our future generations to think, even education has been corrupted by the need to make profit. Right now Wall Street has its fingers in everything, our schools, our military, our central bank, our government, and let's not forget the most important, our media. It needs to stop.  And the only thing that can stop it is us.

I reiterate. No matter how rich you might think you are, you aren't one of the people who runs the world. There is a huge gap between the poor and the upper middle class in this country. It would take me and my husband 20 years to make 1 million dollars and at the end we would have nothing left because we spent it all on living. 20 years of my life is not worth a single day of Mitt Romney's or any other corporate CEO. They do not contribute more to the worlds future than any creative mind who works hard every day. He hasn't done any one person any good except for himself and his wealthy billionaire friends. That gap between the upper middle class and the poor is an intentional tool used to divide us. I am your neighbor. They are your rulers. 

Someone as smart and dedicated as you are to education, your future, and the future of those around, should be able to support yourself. Student loans and mortgages right now are a form of debt slavery. We all have so much debt we have to keep working. As long as we're working to pay back our debts most of us don't have time to really investigate the nature of the world and our political state. We are intentionally kept busy with work, a million totally cool technologies, stresses, responsibilities, and reality TV. All designed so we don't start noticing how hard everyone around us has it. If we do speak up about our lack of vacation days, sick days, or health benefits we are told by our own friends and loved ones, "just be thankful you have a job." Is a thankless job hocking retail really something to be thankful for? How can we expect to be happy doing what we know is wrong, and contributing to a society we don't believe in?

Ask your cousins, sister-in-laws, someone in your family has been laid off, or lost their retirement in the recession. Ask them how they feel about the state of economic fairness in the United States. It was the middle class that has lost all their savings and used all of our tax money to bail out the banks. And we still struggle daily while Wall Street reports record profits. The GDP has never been higher, pay attention, that means it obviously does not reflect the economic good of every man. There is almost no safety net left. People you know are hurting, but it's unpleasant to talk about so instead we all discuss the weather, but ya know, not in relation to climate change. Just that we hate the rain and LOVE the extra summer days.

Do you give a damn about the world our children will live in? That the water's polluted, and so is the air. The violent weather is getting stronger. I worry more about the nature of the environment when my son is older than how many dollars he will have. He won't be happy with a million dollars and no health to enjoy it. If we don't protect our children from the toxins that pervade our very existence there will be little hope in the future when everyone is drugged by big pharma for their "genetic" disorders. Many of the health problems you are all experiencing are caused by the chemicals in our food, water, and air. The lack of oversight and science involved in protecting our food and water supply is frightening. All of the people you think are supposed to protect you the FDA, EPA, OSHA, the Supreme Court, etc, are all former employees and profiteers of big business. Oil, pharma, banks, all that money is corroding what we had left to protect us. 

  Do you question why life is not fair?

This is suppose to be the land of the free. Except freedom has not yet been for everyone. There can be no freedom to life, liberty, and happiness while lack of money can deny a person the most basic rights to health, home, and safety. There is no social mobility left in this country. You will make what your father made. I could but I'd rather know my son than work 70 hours a week. Does fairness equate to freedom? There is no grand period of utopia to go back to. There was no time when there wasn't working poor at the bottom supporting everyone else at the top. 

We need to get out of our completely greedy gas guzzling comfort zone. There is a global revolution right now. The wealthy in this country will eventually have no where left to hide. We need to join the rest of the working class of the world. The slaves and the sweatshop workers may be in a different part of the world but they are our brothers and sisters. We have more in common with the working class and working poor of other countries than we will ever have with those who lives the lives of the ultra wealthy. Americans have been spoiled and foolish and too blinded by the smoke and mirrors of our own politics to take action. But I haven't given up yet. 

Quote from an actual Mitt Romney voter (they DO exist, I assure you), 

"Let me just say this world saver, no one is fetting in your way of saving it. So whats your plan earth mother?"

Keep talking until someone listens. 

We can do this together.


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