Pizza is a Vegetable

Occupy Wall Street, New York. Photo/Joel Sosinksy

By Sister Occupy

FRESNO, CA—Oh, Red, White and Blue, how many ways have you failed us?  Let me recount the links on the chain of contempt:

Let’s start with the fact that you, as a group, have made costly mistakes in judgment and have worked together, Dems and Republicans, hand-in-hand, to pass the cost of those mistakes on to the taxpayer and ensure that no one in office is punished.  Let’s add that you allowed Wall Street to purposefully and systematically target the poor in pushing mortgages on people who you knew could not afford them over the long run. 

Let’s add, also, the fact that the best, most succinct books outlining exactly what happened and who is responsible, are not being released in this country.  You, our officials, have committed huge crimes against the people and then keep making it worse and worse and worse.

You have robbed our school systems and the agencies that protect our air and water, in order to fund wars that the American people do not support.

You have poisoned our food supply.
You have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals.
You have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate.
You have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
You have influenced the courts to allow corporations to have the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
You have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
You continue to determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures your policies have produced and continue to produce.
You have accepted donations for your campaigns from private interests, for whom you blatantly exchange favors.
You continue to order weapons of mass destruction in order to spread that government money around to your friends.
You have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
You purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through control of the media.
You perpetuate colonialism at home and abroad. You have sanctioned the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

Once you realize that every system in America has been corrupted, you have no choice but to join the Occupy movement.  Occupy Wall Street came into my life like a breath of fresh air.  The items on my list above, the ones in italics, were borrowed from the notes of the Occupy NYC General Assembly meeting in September of 2011.

The day congress declared pizza a vegetable, I declared myself a nun.  I donned the habit, and I haven’t take it off.  When people ask me, “Are you a real nun?, I say, “Yes, my dear, just as Corporations are real people and pizza is a real vegetable, I am, a real nun.”

Sister Occupy lives in Merced and is active in the Merced Occupy movement. She would like to answer questions that come up in the Occupy movement. Questions can be sent to anonynun99@gmail.com/    

Michigan Court of Appeals To Citizens:
'Let Them Eat Fonts!'

In another assault on democracy, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that the 225,000 signatures gathered to repeal P.A. 4 should be certified despite the phony font size challenge. But they further ruled that they would poll the entire 28-member Appeals Court to determine if a 7-member panel should be named to make the final decision. The three-member panel who came to this convoluted decision has given new meaning to justice delayed, justice denied, and seemed clearly emboldened by the Wisconsin setback where Governor Walker retained his seat.

Public Act 4 (aka Corporate Act 4) is the draconian, fascist law passed last year that allows the governor to dispatch “Managers” to city, township, and school districts to manage financially distressed areas. The “Manager” is empowered to set aside local elected officials and become the dictator in chief. Furthermore, Emergency Managers can set aside union contracts, dismantle charters, sell public assets and even dissolve cities and townships. On February 29, petitions were delivered to Lansing, MI, with the intent of placing a referendum on the November ballot and there has been obstruction every since, with this being the latest.

Even the pro Governor pro Public Act 4 Detroit Free Press wrote in an editorial: “..when ostensibly nonpartisan judges postpone justice for the sole purpose of advancing their own party's political interests, their actions invite contempt for the entire judicial process.”

Attempts to crush the democratic process from the courts and Governor Rick Snyder's office, as well as the local Emergency Managers offices are driving new forces and awakening ever more citizens to this profound threat to any semblance of democracy. The citizens of Michigan face a defining moment about what a post- industrial Michigan will look like.

As more and more wake up to these dangerous attacks on our democracy and corporate takeovers of our municipalities, we can carve out a path to survive and thrive.

NEWS FLASH: In a new development, the 28-member Court refused to set up a 7-member panel and the referendum is on its way to the ballot (unless the “font police” come up with some more delays!)

Benton Harbor, MI protest against the PGA, Emergency Managers and corporate takeover of the town and lakefront property. Photo/daymonjhartley.com

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