Monday, October 31, 2011

Risky, hopeful, ambitious, unlikely, fascinating: A General Strike in Oakland

By Jack Brummet, #OWS Editor

On October 26, the following was passed by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly:

"We as fellow occupiers of Oscar Grant Plaza propose that on Wednesday November 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%."

"We propose a city wide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city."



"All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them."

"While we are calling for a general strike, we are also calling for much more. People who organize out of their neighborhoods, schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self organize in a way that allows them to participate in shutting down the city in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of."

"The whole world is watching Oakland. Let’s show them what is possible."

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Image: Rick Perry is on fire, but not in the good way

illustration by Jack Brummet

click to enlarge
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The Jolly Green Giant Statue

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-
Share Alike 3.0 Unported

"The Valley of the Jolly [ho ho ho] Green Giant" is the Minnesota River valley around Le Sueur. In the city of Blue Earth, stands a statue of the Jolly Green Giant.  In 1978, Blue Earth paid $43,000 to build the 55 feet fiberglass statue of the Jolly Green Giant at the point where the east and west  sections of Interstate 90 linked up (I-90 runs from Seattle to the East Coast, and is the longest four lane highway in the United States).   It is one of the largest statues in the U.S.



Visitors can have their photo taken standing directly under the Green Giant. Blue Earth still has a canning plant formerly owned by Green Giant that continues to can corn and peas each summer.
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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Christ of the Ozarks

By Jack Brummet, Arts and Travel Editor


Gerald L. K. Smith, the man behind the Christ of the Ozarks, was an organizer for Huey P. Long's Share Our Wealth movement[1] and led it for a short time after Long was assassinated in 1935.   After stepping away from politics and activism, he retired to Eureka Springs, Arkansas,  and bought an old mansion and some property, where he hoped to build a religious theme park called "Sacred Projects". Sacred Projects never actually got off the ground, but Smith did commission the centerpiece--a gigantic statue of Jesus that was finished in 1966. It is called "Christ of the Ozarks."

He also completed a 4,000-seat amphitheater that is the site of outdoor performances of "The Great Passion Play", patterned after the one performed in Germany. The play runs five nights a week from the end of April through the end of October.

The statue is more than 67 feet tall--making it one of the tallest statues in the North America. It is the work of Emmet Sullivan, who also worked on the nearby Dinosaur World.

One art critic said it was looked like "a milk carton with a tennis ball stuffed on its top," and locals refer to it as "Our Milk Carton With Arms".

[1] Huey (a/k/a 'The Kingfish") Long's  story is a fascinating one.   Many writers and novelists have tackled the Huey Long story over the years.  The most memorable work is the novel All The Kings Men, by Robert Penn Warren (who claims it wasn't about Long at all).  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long).


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You have the right to remain silent. . .or #OccupyWallStreet

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Handle With Care, a WPA safe driving poster from 1943

By Jack Brummet, Arts Editor

This excellent silkscreen poster was created by the Missouri W.P.A. Art Project in 1943 to promote safe driving.  I like the austere but stylized traffic signal and steering wheel, and, of course, the rocking primary colors.  It is in the collection of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. and is reproduced by permission. . .because we, the people, paid for it.

click to enlarge
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Touchdown Jesus!

By Jack Brummet, Arts and Travel Editor

click to enlarge - This image is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic
license. Attribution: Morhange

The King of Kings statue, more often called The Touchdown Jesus (because his arm gesture is similar to a football referee's sign for a TD), was a 62-foot tall fiberglass statue of Jesus near Interstate 75 at the Solid Rock Church--a 4000+ member Christian megachurch near Monroe, Ohio.

In June, 2010, the statue was hit by lightning and burned down to its skeletal metal framework. The church said they would rebuild it, using fireproof material. As a curious side note, PETA offered to pay for its reconstruction via an 'anonymous Christian donor'. . .if they are allowed to promote veganism at the church. I am guessing the Solid Rock Church declined this generous offer.
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#OccupyWallStreet No. 9: Take Out The Trash

click to enlarge 
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

A.T.I.T Occupy Posters










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Oakland: A disproportionate response

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor

Re-occupy Oakland?  Yes, there are Molotov cocktails on the poster. No, we don't advocate violence in OWS. . .but we also know that is where this all leads, if the police, tactical squads, SWAT teams, and God forbid, the National Guard, insist on using violence against peaceful protestors.   Passive resistance, unfortunately, only lasts so long when faced with a disproportionate response like we saw in Oakland yesterday.

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The truth about the English language

Source: unknown.  Submitted by our frequent contributor Jeff Clinton. . .

click to enlarge
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Middle finger of the day No. 21 ("the women can do it too y'all, part II).

by Mona Goldwater, Nonverbal Communications Editor


I am doing several fingers of the day right now.  I have let the reader submissions pile up, and I am about forty fingers behind. . .


Evaneline Lily

Elizabeth Hurley









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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Middle finger of the day No. 20 ("the girls can do it too y'all").

By Mona Goldwater, Handsign and Gesture Editor

More reader submissions. . .obscure and famous.   I am going to post a few Middle Finger of The Days because I have let them submissions pile up.  Thanks everyone, and keep sending 'em in. . . .

wedding day


Heidi Klum

Jessica Simpson



Kirsten Dunst

Kirstie Ailey


Lindsay Lohann

Cougs














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