The History of Ayn Rand's Philosophy

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

The connection between 9/11 and the occupy movement

I've been traveling around the country and interviewing people in the movement about what brings them out of their home, and camping in public space.

The economic issues come up. The political issues come up. But something else also comes up surprisingly often - September 11th, 2001.

I'm not talking about "truthers" who are convinced that 9-11 was an inside job, though there are some who are in the movement.

I'm talking about the fact that 9-11 keeps coming up tangentially in conversations.

"Since 9-11..."
"Ever since the WTC attacks..."
"After 9-11 happened..."

What follows is also similar.

Everybody has noticed that since 9-11 there has been narrowing of political discourse until we are left with nothing but a fear-mongering, crony capitalist middle.

There is a willful ignorance of "radical" ideas such as alternate modes of economy, and the rich and diverse political history of socialism and labor in the USA is all but forgotten entirely.

The fact that our country used the death of their loved ones as an pretext to invade another nation that had nothing to do with the attacks, murdering millions in our name, and all of it, just to line the pockets of the 1% with our tax dollars.

After 9/11 the world really did change, and it changed for the worse. The world became black and white. It became polarized. Things were defined as "with us or with the terrorists."

We became afraid of everything and everyone that was different, who looked different, who acted different, who thought different thoughts. We put trust and faith in a government that then proceeded to rob us blind-- stealing from the taxpayers for war. Stealing from the taxpayers for weapons. Stealing from the taxpayers to bail out the banks. At every turn, they capitalized on our fear to steal even more from us. They passed the USAPATRIOT act and stole our rights from us. They passed bills that made it impossible to declare bankruptcy, unless you're a corporation. They used fear as a cover to restructure our entire legal framework to allow the 1% to steal every last penny in our pockets.

They used fear, racism, xenophobia, classism, and used it to deflect our attention away from the crime that was happening in broad daylight, right in front of us.

It is a coincidence that the occupation in Zucotti Park is directly across the street from the 9/11 memorial, but it's a cosmic coincidence. The fact that this reclamation of humanity exists here is a powerful and poetic symbol of what this movement is.

We are healing the psychic wound that was cut into our collective consciousness ten years ago.

We are human beings who are capable of loving our neighbors again.

The following people are assholes who should lose their next election:

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So H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation act of 2010 would have paid for healthcare for first responders who are dying as a direct result of the fact that they were first responders on 9/11/2001.

"How would they pay for this entitlment?" you might ask. Well, they were going to pay for it by closing the tax loophole that allows billion dollar corporations to avoid paying taxes on income earned in the US by setting up PO boxes in other countries.

This bill was pretty fucking amazing. No fucked-up riders, no blatant gifts to private interests... So there's obviously no way this bill is going to get through congress alive.

First off, the Democrats used a proceedure that required a 2/3rds vote.
Second, our congress is populated with America-hating, heartless assholes who should be shoved in a dark closet, and locked inside without access to light, food, or water.

How many heartless assholes? 159 heartless assholes. That's how many.

These are their names, congressional districts, and party affiliation. Let's be sure that they lose their next election. Democrats who voted Nay are in bold:
Jo Bonner AL-1
Bobby Bright AL-2
Michael Rogers AL-3
Robert Aderholt AL-4
Spencer Bachus AL-6
Trent Franks AZ-2
Jeff Flake AZ-6
Robert Berry AR-1
John Boozman AR-3
Walter Herger CA-2
Daniel Lungren CA-3
Tom McClintock CA-4
Devin Nunes CA-21
Elton Gallegly CA-24
Howard McKeon CA-25
David Dreier CA-26
Edward Royce CA-40
Jerry Lewis CA-41
Gary Miller CA-42
Ken Calvert CA-44
Mary Bono-Mack CA-45
Dana Rohrabacher CA-46
John Campbell CA-48
Darrell Issa CA-49
Brian Bilbray CA-50
Duncan Hunter CA-52
Doug Lamborn CO-5
Mike Coffman CO-6
Michael Castle DE
Jeff Miller FL-1
Ander Crenshaw FL-4
Virginia Brown-Waite FL-5
Clifford Stearns FL-6
John Mica FL-7
Gus Bilirakis FL-9
Adam Putnam FL-12
Vern Buchanan FL-13
Connie Mack FL-14
Bill Posey FL-15
Thomas Rooney FL-16
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen FL-18
Lincoln Diaz-Balart FL-21
Mario Diaz-Balart FL-25
Jack Kingston GA-1
Lynn Westmoreland GA-3
Tom Price GA-6
Paul Broun GA-10
John Gingrey GA-11
Charles Djou HI-1
Michael Simpson ID-2
Peter Roskam IL-6
Melissa Bean IL-8
Judy Biggert IL-13
Timothy Johnson IL-15
Donald Manzullo IL-16
Aaron Schock IL-18
John Shimkus IL-19
Stephen Buyer IN-4
Dan Burton IN-5
Mike Pence IN-6
Thomas Latham IA-4
Steve King IA-5
Lynn Jenkins KS-2
Edward Whitfield KY-1
Geoff Davis KY-4
Harold Rogers KY-5
Steve Scalise LA-1
John Fleming LA-4
Rodney Alexander LA-5
Bill Cassidy LA-6
Charlse Boustany LA-7
Roscoe Bartlett MD-6
Vernon Ehlers MI-3
David Camp MI-4
Frederick Upton MI-6
Michael Rogers MI-8
Thaddeus McCotter MI-11
John Kline MN-2
Erik Paulsen MN-3
Michele Bachmann MN-6
Gregg Harper MS-3
Samuel Graves MO-6
Roy Blunt MO-7
Jo Ann Emmerson MO-8
Blaine Luetkemeyer MO-9
Dennis Rehberg MT
Jefferey Fortenberry NE-1
Lee Terry NE-2
Adrian Smith NE-3
Dean Heller NV-2
Scott Garrett NJ-5
Christopher Lee NY-26
Virginia Foxx NC-5
Howard Coble NC-6
Sue Myrick NC-9
Patrick McHenry NC-10
Jean Scmidt OH-2
Michael Turner OH-3
Jim Jordan OH-4
Robert Latta OH-5
Steve Austria OH-7
John Boehner OH-8
Patrick Tiberi OH-12
Steven LaTourette OH-14
John Sullivan OK-1
Frank Lucas OK-3
Tom Cole OK-4
Mary Fallin OK-5
Greg Walden OR-2
Glenn Thompson PA-5
Jim Gerlach PA-6
William Shuster PA-9
Joseph Pitts PA-16
Todd Platts PA-19
Henry Brown SC-1
Addison Wilson SC-2
James Barrett SC-3
Bob Inglis SC-4
Phil Roe TN-1
John Duncan TN-2
Jim Cooper TN-5
Marsha Blackburn TN-7
Louis Gohmert TX-1
Ted Poe TX-2
Samuel Johnson TX-3
Ralph Hall TX-4
Jeb Hensarling TX-5
Joe Barton TX-6
John Culberson TX-7
Kevin Brady TX-8
Michael McCaul TX-10
K. Conaway TX-11
Kay Granger TX-12
William Thornberry TX-13
Ron Paul TX-14
Randy Neugebauer TX-19
Lamar Smith TX-21
Pete Olson TX-22
Kenny Marchant TX-24
Michael Burgess TX-26
John Carter TX-31
Peter Sessions TX-32
Rob Bishop UT-1
Jason Chaffetz UT-3
Rob Wittman VA-1
J Forbes VA-4
Robert Goodlate VA-6
Eric Cantor VA-7
Frank Wolf VA-10
Doc Hastings WA-4
Cathy McMorris Rodgers WA-5
Dave Reichart WA-8
Shelley Capito WV-2
Ryan Paul WI-1
F. Sensenbrenner WI-5
Thomas Petri WI-6
Cynthia Lummis WY

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Here's the Daily Show segment on the subject:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
I Give Up - 9/11 Responders Bill
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Full information on the voting roll here: GovTrack.us

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Anthony Wiener's speech in full:

Ground Zero Workers hold a Press Conference about Congress's failure to pass the 9-11 healthcare bill

Ralph Nader and Judge Napolitano on C-SPAN

View the entire program here:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/225457

Unfortunately, the C-SPAN isn't allowing this to be embedded, so you have to watch it over on their site.

Have Socialists Taken Over?!

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On in 2001, on 9-11, the WTC was struck by two planes.
Before the buildings came down, the scene was swarming with employed agents of a socialist organization. An organization with their headquarters right in New York City. Was this an international conspiracy by socialists? You’re watching the Punk Patriot.

Are you KIDDING me? Those socialists were all first responders- EMTs, Police, and Fire Fighters. They’re HEROES, remember?
Everybody worshiped and diefed these folks, and I think rightfully so. They were all responding to a higher calling. They were there to save lives.
They get paid the same whether they are pulling injured civilians from the burning rubble of a terrorist attack, or if they are sitting in the station playing cribbage. Why? Because the Fire Department is a socialist organization. YUP! The heroes of 9-11 were all agents of socialism!
It didn’t always used to be this way. Prior to the socialist model for Fire Departments, we used to have private fire companies.
The first Government-Funded Fire department was started in 1898. It was a socialist model that replaced the private fire company model. Under the private model fire companies would compete with one another to be the ones to respond to a fire in order to get payment from fire insurance companies. Now on it’s face, that seems like a good thing, right? They all compete to be first!
That totally ignores human psychology. As so often happens when you start attaching profits to something, these private fire companies became extremely corrupt, and would actively prevent other fire companies from responding to a fire to make sure that their company would be first and only, through activities like sending a person ahead of their pump wagon with a barrel. This "Barrel Sitter" would place his barrel over the fire hydrant, and sit on the barrel to prevent other fire companies from gaining access to it, and thus becoming the first to respond.
While these schmucks fought over profits, fire destroyed homes and took the lives of those trapped by the flames and smoke.
To make matters worse, private fire companies refused to put out fires that affected homes that were too poor to afford fire insurance plaques, despite there being a definite risk to the public safety. Fire has no regard for the income of residents, rich or poor, and will spread from house to house regardless of whether or not the owner has fire insurance.
The socialist model changed all that. Socialism is the model seen in Fire Depts almost everywhere in the United States today.

That's right! Whether they know it or not, your local fire department is filled with Socialists!

Socialism isn’t an international conspiracy-- it’s as American as Apple Pie!

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NEW SHIRT DESIGN: Most Offensive Valentine's Day Gift EVER

One day I had a TERRIBLE IDEA.

I sketched this little cartoon. I was immediately reviled and offended by my own work. But then starting at it, it seemed so cute, and yet at the same time hilariously callous and evil.

Then one day, I mentioned it to a friend, and they immediately demanded that I make this into a T-Shirt. They now have it and love it.

If you have a serious case of anti-social disorder, or something else really wrong upstairs (like both me and my friend), this may be the perfect t-shirt for you.

4 color screen print (white, pink, orange, and black on Sky Blue shirt) shown here on a woman's fitted cut.

CLICK HERE: http://www.etsy.com/listing/50442568/the-most-offensive-valentines-day-shirt?ref=v1_other_2

Where were you on 9-11-01?

I remember waking up, getting ready for English class. It was my second week of my freshman year of college. Before leaving to catch the bus to the other campus, I was checking the primussucks.com bullitan board, as was my habit at the time. There were several posts about the "airline accident" in NYC, and then suddenly, there were posts of a second plane hitting. It was probably a few minutes after 9am. My class didn't start until 10:30am.

I ran downstairs to see what was going on on the news. I sat there watching in disbeleif. I had become friends with the RD of the dorm, and I ran and got her, because I figured she ought to know.

She and I sat there watching transfixed as the towers burned. As the first tower fell, I was in total disbelief. I knew at that time that a steel structure building had never collapsed due to fire. Cookie was concerned that the buildings might burn down, and I mentioned that to her. Time was static, so I don't know how many minutes after that I was proven wrong. I imagined all the people's lives inside being extinguished in a horrible instant, and my could feel my heart, and my soul, fall to the floor with the tower. Felt completely empty.

Cookie, the RD turned to me and said, "I would hate to be president right now." I looked at her, and asked if she was kidding. I looked back at the television and said, looking into the smoke, "for at least a year after something like this, you could pass whatever laws you wanted to. If he wants to the Senate to declare war, he can declare war on whomever he wants. Nobody will question the President during a crisis like this."

Looking back, I don't know why I said that, or how I knew that's what would happen. I'm not a Machiavellian person. It was what little American history I'd studied, probably; knowing how we interned the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Knowing how we had the Red Scare during the 1950s. During the Gulf War I was too young to understand what was going on, but I knew enough by the time Clinton was in office that I was against Clinton bombing Iraqi aspirin factories during the Monica Lewinsky scandal as a distraction. I had followed the 2000 election quite closely as a Senior in high school, watched as it was stolen, and was convinced that G.W. Bush would, like his father before him, declare war on somebody. I even have a letter I was assigned to write myself in High School by myself as a College Sophomore writing to my self as a High School Senior about what the future holds for me. It scares me a little now, but I said in that letter, half joking, "with George W Bush in office, we're sure to be at war with somebody by now, for no good reason." There was an inevitability I felt about it. Perhaps I was just jaded.

Sitting there watching as the remaining tower burned, Cookie looked back at me after my comment with tears and bit of anger in her eyes, visibly upset by what I'd said, and understandably. She said then, what I would come to agree with in the following October, when the congress passed the USAPATRIOT act. She said then, sitting next to me, "I hope you're wrong."

I wish I had been too.

***

Back on the couch, watching the images of the one tower smolder, still feeling raw as I felt the souls of every person in tower two extinguished in an instant, I didn't know what the appropriate thing to do was. Everything felt out of place and inappropriate in light of recent events. At 10:00 or so, I went and got on the bus to go to the Portland campus.

English class was still held, and I thank my professor to this day for not canceling class. His example is exactly what was actually meant when they said, "If we change our ways, the terrorists have won." For an hour and a half, we did grammar and writing style, as if nothing had happened.

I don't think Mr Phillipson realized at the time exactly what was happening or how serious it was, and he apologized the following class period for not having canceled class, but several of us thanked him.

Those of us who came into class, looked around confused about what to do or feel. Then our professor came in, threw his books down on the table, and said, "so, crazy stuff going on huh? Okay, let's do grammar."

At the time it struck me as being cold and detached, but looking back, it was exactly what we needed. It was nice to leave the insanity that was going on outside and focus on "Strunk and White." That class that day was a sort of psychic haven, while people standing outside the classroom door watching the screens, talking to one another about the end of the world.

***

That night, there was a girl in my dorm whom like most kids in my building in the 2nd week of classes, I didn't know, she was on the phone that night in the hallway, calling over and over again, crying, trying to find out if a friend of hers was on one of those four flights.

The phone lines were still all completely jammed as everybody in the USA was calling their loved ones to find out if they were okay. I really wanted for her friend or relative not to have been on one of those planes. It turned out that her friend was indeed on one of those planes. She dropped out of school. I did not see her again after that.

Over the next couple days, as the list of names of those who were in the towers came in, I made a list, and printed it off, and hung it up in the hallway of my dorm outside my room. I made it a point to read every single one and imagine who they were, see in my minds eye the person attached to that name. Something inside of me broke, but for the better. The bubble of security that had come with being an American born in the 1980s, the end of the Cold War nothing but a fuzzy childhood memory, had been not popped but shattered. There was an entire world of people out there, and it mattered what our government did. We could die because people in our government were killing people somewhere else in the world. I hadn't been paying attention in much detail to what my government had been doing. It was time for me to start.

I remember watching over the next few days, as no clear case was built for Osama Bin Laden. They just started repeating that it was suspected to be him, and at some point, it shifted from being suspected to be him, to be unquestionably by him, without any supporting evidence to report confirming this. It was because of this that I became skeptical of the official storyline very early on. There just wasn't any evidence to support what they were saying, or if there was, they certainly weren't presenting it. They were just stating things as fact with no evidence. The Bush administration refused to investigate for nearly two years, despite the pleas of family members who had lost their loved ones. Documents released on the matter were few, and those that were were almost entirely redacted.

It seemed like the talking heads were just making it all up, and just expecting us to believe whatever they said because we were in a state of shock, and they were the NEWS.
I had become too cynical and skeptical to just believe whatever I was told. All I wanted was evidence. Apparently four women who had lost their husbands in the attacks felt the same way. The whole thing reminded me too much of George Orwell's "1984."



Later, on October 26th, 2001, I saw on the crawl at the bottom of the screen that the congress had passed a new "anti-terrorism" bill. I didn't understand the need. Terrorism was illegal already. They didn't need to pass a law against it. I wondered what it could possibly be about. With the help of Jefferson.gov and the New York Center for Constitutional Rights, I started reading through the USAPATRIOT act. Turns out it was something straight out of 1984. At that point, I became more skeptical of the official story. Especially as I then learned from the New York Center for Constitutional Rights that this bill had been prepared and drafted a year prior, but was introduced at the last minute, giving nobody a chance to read it.

And that's really when everything began to change. Our libraries were (and still are) subject to search at any time by federal agents, and librarians who spoke out were slapped with law suits and detaining orders, telling them that they could not speak to anybody not even a lawyer. The librarians started putting up signs saying that federal agents had NOT searched their records yet. Over time those signs disappeared, and the librarians couldn't talk about it, by law.

I checked Jefferson.gov to find out who'd voted against the USAPATRIOT act. Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. They became my heroes, even though I didn't know who they were at the time.

I became urgently interested in foreign affairs, history, and policy. I asked the questions that everybody was discouraged from asking, like, "why do they hate us?" I didn't want to go to the mall or go shopping or go to Disneyland, like Bush advised. I didn't want to "soak up the sun, and tell everyone to lighten up" as Sherly Crow's song, released just barely a year after, suggested. This was serious, and the responsibility was personal.

I researched our CIA's and Military's history in the Middle East and all around the world. It became clear to me through study why the USA was hated. 9-11 was, as Ron Paul said, "blowback."



For me, 9-11 was a wake up call, an alarm going off, calling me to civic responsibility. To personal responsibility. It seemed to me that most of the country hit the snooze button.

Don't forget.

..||..

Richard Gauge

Architect Richard Gage Interviewed on Local CA News about the WTC collapses.