I AM THE 47%

Hey Mitt!  We are legion.

ABOUT ROMNEY'S 47%

From Tax Foundation.

From Real Clear Politics.

The charts speak for themselves.  Thanks to Paul (A.) for the link to the top chart.

ROMNEY SECRET VIDEO (NOT SECRET ANY MORE)

David Corn at Mother Jones:

During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama. He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don't assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care of them. Fielding a question from a donor about how he could triumph in November, Romney replied:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

Romney speaks freely amongst his own kind what they want to hear, but I'm not sure if he really believes what he's saying.  The video should hurt Romney badly, but who knows?  At least, he's gonna have some 'splainin' to do.  Romney's talking about me.  

FEAST OF HILDEGAARD VON BINGEN

Hildegard von bingen- "O vis aeternitatis" - Artist: Sequentia

O vis Aeternitatis
 
Power of Eternity
you who ordered all things in your heart,
through your Word all things are created just as you willed,
and your very Word
calls forth flesh
in the shape
which was drawn from Adam.
Power of Eternity
Power of Eternity.

Collect of the Day: Hildegard, 1179

God of all times and seasons: Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation, and show forth your glory not only with our lips but in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

HAPPY NEW YEAR OCCUPY!

Last night I watched the film "Margin Call" quite by accident, without a plan to coordinate with the 1st anniversary of Qccupy Wall Street.  My friends, there's monkey business going on on Wall Street just in case you don't know, and I'm sad to say that a good many people I talk to do not know.  I learned nothing really new from the movie, but it was still a shocker.  Real people make decisions to screw other real people, and when the house of cards is about to crash down, real people do what they must to save their asses at the expense of other real people.

Not a few of those who survived the fall of the house of cards, the survival of the fittest of the buyers and sellers of the junk mortgage bundles, often came out of the crash with huge salaries and bonuses paid for by you and me with our tax money.  Shocking, incredible?  Yes, but that's the way it went.   

From the film review in the New York Times:

If no one in this world is patently evil, no one is innocent either. A young risk analyst named Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) may be as close as the movie comes to a hero, but it is also possible to see what happens to him as a parable of how the system corrupts and exploits its most decent and honest minions. Working late one night Peter (who we later learn has a Ph.D. in physics) glimpses a sign of the apocalypse lurking in a mathematical model. Recent volatility in the market is threatening the stability of the mortgage-based securities that have been generating most of the company’s profits, and the resulting losses are likely to swallow this bank and make trillions of dollars vanish into thin air.

What follows Peter's discovery seems inevitable.

The most chilling and most believable aspect of “Margin Call” is how calmly and swiftly its drama of damage control unfolds. A scapegoat must be found, and a survival plan worked out. The consequences are acknowledged — those we are living with now — and then coldly accepted in the name of a vaporous greater good. “We have no choice.” “There is no choice.” “It’s not like we have a choice.” These phrases are uttered again and again, by people who truly believe what they are saying.

So, on it goes, business as usual, with not much evidence of change even as the major recession has not yet run its course.

Some say Occupy Wall Street is weakened or even dying.  Occupy (or something like it) is not dead. Don't forget that throughout the world, there are many more have-nots than there are haves.  The movement to bring about a greater measure of equality, the struggle of the have-nots and those who sympathize with them to stand against the haves will continue.  Movements can take decades to produce results. Yes, it's discouraging that change does not come more quickly.  Most people in the US are not yet ready to take real risks to bring about change, but it's a mistake to think the movement is dead.

Dozens of arrests were reported on Monday, the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, as protesters converged near the New York Stock Exchange and tried to block access to the exchange.

Police officers and protesters squared off at various points on the blocks near the Stock Exchange. At various points protesters tried to block sidewalks leading to the Stock Exchange, but were dispersed by the police. Officers had set up barricades on several streets leading to the exchange and were asking identification from workers seeking to gain access.

 Why are people being arrested?  Why are people walking on public streets required to show IDs?

NAG, NAG, NAG

Fellas, I know some of you Mr Fix-its get right to the job, and I don't mean you.  I do the job myself if I can.  In fact, I am generally the handyperson around the house, but I live the message on the sign if the job is beyond me.

TEACHING SCIENCE IN LOUISIANA

See A Doonesbury Retrospective.

The successful defense last week of a three-year-old Louisiana law is casting a spotlight on how conservative groups are seeking to circumvent a federal ban on the teaching of creationism in public schools.

The Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teaching contrary to science on the grounds it promotes critical thinking, is increasingly serving as an inspiration to religious conservatives in other states. Its defenders decry the “censorship” of nonscientific ideas and advocate allowing teachers to teach “both sides” on certain scientific theories.
....

With the law intact, Louisiana is the state that has gone the furthest in approving legislation that opens the door to allowing alternatives to science taught in its schools

 The text of the Louisiana Science Education Act. 

At least, Louisiana teachers are not forced to teach non-science.  

DIAMOND JUBILEE - ELIZABETH II (MORPH SEQUENCE)

My brother-in-law sent me the link to the video, which I think is a rather nicely done tribute to the Queen in honor of her Diamond Jubilee.

WEEKLY REMINDER

I'm late this week. Sorry.

HOLY CROSS DAY

Luiz Coelho, Jr., who painted this crucifix, was ordained a deacon last week in the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil.

Luis' crucifix is truly fine devotional art.  Luis also wrote the lovely icon of the Madonna and Child titled "Lady Enthroned" pictured on my sidebar, which is in a place of honor in my house.  I've lost touch with Luis and knew of no way to communicate with him to ask his permission to use the picture of the cross, which was included in today's Morning Prayer at The Daily Office West.   I hope he doesn't mind.

Collect of the Day: Holy Cross Day 

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Prayer for Mission

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

UPDATE: I'd forgotten that Luis is a Facebook friend, so I've written to him to ask permission after the fact.

UPDATE 2: Luis said it was fine for me to use the icon.