I am outraged at what the Federal Government is doing. Closing our National Parks is absurd and is hurting
all of us here in the Eastern Sierra. Our businesses are hurting. The Eastern Sierra is a Tourist-Based economy
and by the feds closing the parks, the lively-hood of our friends, neighbors and families are in jeopardy.
WE need the funds that come into our communities through these parks:
Yosemite National Park
Devils’ Postpile National Monument
Death Valley National Monument
Sequoia National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
I am proposing an OCCUPY YOSEMITE MOMENT on Friday, October 4, 2013.
Please join us. We are all meeting at Tioga Mobile Mart on Hwy 120 @ 1:00 PM on Friday
then driving into the park to Tuolumne Meadows, parking our cars along the road and taking
our beach chairs into the meadow and having a “sit-down” in protest of what the federal
government is doing to us.
Tell the folks at the gate that you are going to Merced or Oakhurst or the Bay Area.
They cannot take away our access to our national parks which are on public lands.
They can’t use this as a bargaining chip. Isn’t that against the law?
Stacey Powells, Mammoth Lakes
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well what happened. did you get arrested, maced in the face, hauled off and put in a cage with the bad bears?
SW, Update? See it hit LA times etc,
Not True, CHINa is the single largest manufacturing economy in the world, and if you haven’t noticed there is major Economic Collapse that is about to Happen 🙂
One of our favorite places to visit is San Francisco. The last several times we were there we noticed how many freighters loaded with goods were coming into the harbor on their way to Oakland v. the amount of ships leaving the bay.
Just a rough estimate and non-empirical study:
10 ships coming into port for each 1 ship leaving.
Might as well accept it America. Every economic giant has its day in the sun and each and every country gives way to another sooner or later.
No matter how hard and fast one may wave the flag or bomb other countries.
Good way to guesstimate is price of cargo containers here.
It’s not the country or the people who have caused this decline — it’s big corporations who see that they can make more money using cheap overseas labor in countries that have no environmental laws to prevent them from just dumping their toxic waste anywhere they want. Every time you use your cell phone or watch your TV or drive your car, there are people working and living in horrible, toxic squalor that made that possible.
And those same corporations are responsible for you having to work 2 or 3 or 4 jobs just to survive.
Welcome to America — land of the free…
“Then the rest of the country can get on with the job of building a 21st Century powerhouse.”
I think you mean 21’st Century service economy that provides services for a few million millionaires. The largest industry in the U.S. is the service industry. The rest of the jobs have gone overseas and will never come back. Our tech sector is mostly imported labor.
Unless you are a genius with a PhD — you are hamberger on soggy toast.
Not true. The US is still the single largest manufacturing economy in the world, and while you apparently have not noticed, production is onshoring again. This year production began in Detroit (of all places) on fully American made flat screen TVs. Apple is moving some PC production to the US and Motorola just announced the production of new cell phones in the US.
Those few small examples are about as telling as looking out your window to check the state of Global Warming.
Only about 8% of Americans are employed in durable goods manufacturing. The vast majority of Americans are employed doing some form of service. The problem with my argument is the variability in defining “service”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#GDP_by_industry
No offense Ken, but I’ve always viewed statistics as something anyone can manipulate to try a prove a point.
If statistics were entirely accurate – then sitting in the first two rows of a strip club causes baldness.
– Groucho Marx
That’s something I have no knowledge of but the image is indeed funny.
I hope people don’t do this. First of all, let’s wait and see if they actually harass people for stopping along the open road. If so, then let’s complain to the superintendent. IF we do a major sit in, this well publicized, it will be met with a force of rangers (who are some pretty nasty LEO’s) and will possibly lead to the roads being closed which would hurt Mono County much more then the park being technically closed.
Certainly people can hike in the park..they aren’t barricading the JMT or the PCT. Park at Tioga Pass and start hiking from there. Works for me.
Don’t forget that what the Republicans are fighting for is that people not be able to buy health insurance. From private insurers. And because the ACA had mandatory funding built into the original legislation, it isn’t even shut down with the rest of the government. Defunding it means that lower income people won’t get their subsidies to make policies affordable, but the rest of the law will still be in effect.
It really seems like a temper tantrum. They don’t have the votes to repeal the law in both houses of congress. Even if they did, President Obama will be able to veto the bill for the next three years. I was always told that if you didn’t like a law you should change it. Since they can’t do that, they are saying that they will only allow some of the laws of this country to be in effect and enforced. Or that none of them will. That is a violation of the separation of powers in the constitution.
I am pretty sure that anyone who has had a civics class knows more about how our government is supposed to work than the people in congress. And most first graders are more mature.
Temper tantrum is an understatement. Older whites in this country, particularly older white males feel like they are losing control and being marginalized. To a degree they are and that is a good thing. The nation is changing and they are not. This is their push back. It is not a winnable situation for them and they understand it. White male social hegemony is over and not a day too soon, but the TP isn’t hearing any of it. Soon enough they will be too enfeebled in their walkers with their oxygen hoses coming out of their noses and weekly visits to the doctor to be a political force. Then the rest of the country can get on with the job of building a 21st Century powerhouse.
after having been to Yosemite national park 12 months ago we were looking forward to takibg iur girls there while staying in Mammoth mountain. absolutely appaled that the government can shut such a beautiful lovely natural public place. disgusting!!
Sorry Stacey I will be working both jobs that day and drinking beer and walking my dog afterwards.
“Have fun with your foozball.”
And just what, exactly, is this sit-in supposed to produce? Keep in mind that the Rangers at the Park entrance are not the ones who caused this mess, so don’t take it out on them. Lying to them is dishonest and makes their jobs harder. I think that anyone considering joining in on this event would be better off calling, non-stop, and berating his/her Congressional representatives. Emailing would be even better. I don’t think there are too many citizens who disagree with your disgust Congress’s inaction that has caused the Park shutdown.
chris,
One purpose of peaceful protest is to affect the publics thinking and build movement for social change. Sort of what congress is doing, exept Stacey is not doing it on my dime.
Maybe she just wants to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I’m all for writing letters, but this form of protest was also included in the First Amendment for a reason, it has changed this country and the world for the better.
All you are doing is setting up an issue inside the park where our unpaid LE’s are put at risk with this, it is not helping..at all! Go to Sacramento, go to Congress sit in there…we protect our park, please don’t make it worse by trying to do this..
cindy, how does peaceably assembling put anyone at risk or “make it worse”? Why should Stacey go to Washington if she can make her point better here.
Once again, Jon Stewart gives a cogent exposition of a topic that eludes the rest of the cable news channels. The “March of Dumbs”/
http://www.hulu.com/watch/540169
You have too much time on your hands. You need to get a job and have some real worries!
I wonder how many of these folks can even name their reps let alone the branches of government. Dont forget that Harry Reid[do you know who he is?] refused to even talk to the other side….and hasnt in 5 yrs. They dont care about any of us. Term Limits is the only answer. Self preservation is all they care about. And Im talking about BOTH parties.
Nonsense!
http://www.examiner.com/article/boehner-told-reid-to-go-f-himself-twice-heat-of-fiscal-cliff-debate
January 2, 2013
If they ever make a television movie about the ‘fiscal cliff of 2012’, Republican Speaker John Boehner of Ohio may have the most dramatic line in the movie when he says to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada: “Go f— yourself!” Not once – but twice. The extremely heated exchange, which hasn’t been reported on until Wednesday morning by the
“Death Valley National Monument” Death Valley has been a “National Park” sense 1994 with the passage of the “Desert Protection Act” it was changed then. Back when congress could get bills passed.
Tell it to Reid!!!!
Tell it to Fox News and Limbaugh!!!
All waters and rivers of different lands and climes have their ultimate meeting point in the ocean. So, too the different viewpoints of society, the variety of different economic theories and attainment means to benefit mankind itself. There is no point in dissension-creating discussions on different ideologies. Nothing positive comes from trying to convert all men of different temperaments and likings into one common ideology and behavior. The contemporary history of both East and West clearly shows us this.
I don’t think this is a good time for reactionary politics.
Gay people must be accepted for what they are.
Women’s rights must be appreciated.
There are many other ways to solving disputes rather than a rush to war.
The country is a melting pot of races and creeds – not just white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant Christians.
Non-white Americans must not be deprived of the same education and employment opportunities as whites.
Non-white Americans should not be deprived of adequate healthcare.
The death penalty only results in another dead person.
Embryonic stem cell research cures disease.
Global warming can be scientifically proven.
Machine guns are not necessary to protect one’s home.
The Bill of Rights implies a separation of church and state.
Social Security provides a safety net for the nation’s growing poor and needy.
Welfare is a safety net which provides for the needs of the rapidly growing poor.
Well, yeah, because Fox News DID order the shutdown…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak4hcTCJ_Ok
Perfect Tea Party moniker here…complete with the typo!
The fact that the TP House and Boehner are the 100% undeniable culprits in this shutdown, yet the likes/dislikes here lean in the opposite direction, speaks volumes about the level of ignorance in our society today.
Pathetic…
New polls show 72% of those questioned do not approve of shutting down the government over the Affordable Health Care Act. Good point about
the TP and Boehner. They could quit gnawing on Obamacare and do their jobs – run the government. The AHCA is law and was found constitutional
by the Supreme Court. Millions of people are trying to sign up for health insurance. It brings to mind a Don Henley song – “Get Over It”.
Benett Kessler
Don’t tell that to Conservative King-Pin, Sean Hannity.
He loves the idea.
See “Where Some Get their BS from”
Thanks Benett. I think this is, or at least should be, a particularly important teaching moment for the public, who need to understand understand the truth that it’s not that “the whole government that stinks” and that congressional ineffectiveness in recent years is almost entirely attributable to the Right side of the aisle’s intransigence.
This simple confirmation of the yearly continuing funding of the government as it’s ALREADY RUNNING is supposed to be more or less perfunctory…AND the Democrats actually came down the the Republican’s budget number to boot.
However, the TP has a hold of Boehner, and so he will not allow any version of the funding bill to be brought to the floor that does not contain SEPARATE tack-on legislation repealing or delaying the ACA. The votes are there!
This is essentially the same as if the Democrats refused to pass the same funding legislation without, say, a separate tack-on that outlawed the sale of all handguns…or increased capital gains tax from 15% to 25%. Point being, those would be totally unrelated issues that have nothing to do with the simple continuing funding bill in consideration, and which we can all agree should be considered and debated in their own universe…not furthered/passed through the extortive measure of refusing the fund the ENTIRE REST OF THE GOVERNMENT as it already exists.
This is anything but partisan politics as usual. It is, quite literally, domestic terrorism by an extreme minority of the congress…elected by an even more extreme and finite minority of (deluded) American’s. This is the perversion of our system through hostage-holding and every American should be outraged at the TP/and Boehner. None of us has an excuse to fall victim to the false equivalency trap on this one…it’s as cut and dry as they come.
The GOP is scared —-less of the far-right (As they should be).
The rabid Tea Party lunatics are completely polarizing their own party.
This is what happens when ideology butts heads with common sense and common needs.
We can all sit back and watch the GOP lose election after national election (there are more non-rich than filthy rich in America).
And quite frankly, this is not such a good thing insofar as the Checks and Balances thing.
It’s ok for Obama to make changes to the law and delay the employer mandate, but since it is the law and the Supreme Court has found it constitutional people should get over it and not try to delay the individual mandate or stop the tax increase on medical devices. That might be deacribed as hypocritical.
Btw, a Democrat party controlled government made Manzanar the law and a Democrat controlled Supreme Court found it constitutional. Just saying that “law of the land” and “Supreme Court” justification is just a tad weak, but if it’s all you got…
Tell it to Boehner.
Stacey, it is well within your First Amendment rights to have a peaceful assembly on public land, but the Feds will have their own interpretation of your actions. I highly suggest you talk to someone experienced in this type of gathering and do research first. Rainbow Gatherings have had much experience on federal public land and previous Occupy assemblies would also have experienced advice givers. Talk to someone who has actual legal knowledge and not just some random bliss ninny.
I personally would not outright lie to anyone at the gate about where I was going. Tell them the truth or tell them nothing. At least be vague enough about it where it doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass. Since you had the courage to speak your mind and sign your name, you could be one that is considered an organizer or leader and may be the focus of the Feds attention if something goes wrong. You might end up sitting with furloughed employees who support you, but still get caught up in legal troubles.
So cover your ass, speak your truth, peacefully gather, and change the name to something more fun than Occupy. Don’t forget the frisbees.
$1,000,000,000,000 to 6,000,000,000,000 USD Iraq/Afghanistan
Go Stacey Go! I love the smell of Pepper Spray in the morning.
you stated that you “need” the tourists for the economy and that businesses are hurting….
don’t you see how your crippled by the government? What are you trying to solve with a sit-in of Yosemite?
The occupy movement is about getting people together to start a new way of thinking, lets not view this as a problem but as an oppurnitity to make our community on the east side more Resistant!! there are cities across our country in transition why not join them in the greatest protest of them all…not needing the system!!?