Well I did  read the  rest of the New Yorker article mentioned in my first blog. I sort of dislike the term blog... it sounds like fog with a cold..What did I learn  in the end? The reporter  interviewed  many "facilitators" leader -less leaders, of the occupation in  NYC.He also witnessed a lot of the activity he writes about: the Wall St occupiers confronted with a homeless, rage filled man who lives in the park they are occupying, who rightly  tells them they are tourists on his home turf...Sage the homeless guy is also incorporated into their horizontal  decision making process, and he votes and he has a say, since this is the whole point or part of the point of this democratic-  anarchist- socialist- amorphous movement. Reality and the Utopians who are fighting for it are now face to to face.!!Great material here for a play! The thing that struck me was the slightly snide and nasty tone the reporter took towards this  homeless man called Sage... : he implies that Sage is the sort of person who could not get a job even if he wanted to,and that people like him actually wasted a lot of the time of the rest of the real cadre.. real anarchists  etc, who were oh so busy with meetings and voting and elaborate hand motioning.... 

I felt I was witnessing the  rebirth of another form of government, and given a few years.. it too would be rife with charismatic non leader- leaders..It is inevitable.It seems to be an ancient human trait  for some humans to rise above the rest, and of course history bears this out. But how could it be arranged so that it does not  get out of hand?A question many occupiers are also asking.Because we do live in an instantaneous age, as things unfold they are already being written or tweeted or emailed messaged about, perhaps even before the  full scope of the events have naturally evolved...There are the from- the- distance. controller- manipulators, of this uprising, and then there are the front -line soldiers.. many of them women,who are trying to find (and are  finding) new ways to create  real change in the way people  try to get things done,in non hierarchical ways.Collective decision making making makes  me think of an untainted and pure form of Communism.

But what is communism in essence? Maybe thousands of years ago humans needed to share  resources and protect themselves  from saber toothed cats and might have lived in small communes.. Maybe its again a very natural response that humans and other animals have to the problems of food, sex and safety.Maybe on the other hand this new movement is the beginning of a newer- way for humans to operate.Maybe governments as they operate are now obsolete..?. 

Maybe humans interact so fast and so constantly with each other now that no one needs to be in charge any more...It was striking how there were no leaders as such in Libya or Egypt, or if there were they were so assimilated into and so part of the crowds that they flowed back and forth between being decision makers and followers.Also has the age of the macho leader passed?And is it more natural for people to make choices and decisions based on their local needs,while at the same time not loosing their sense of larger community? Now that the world is round and small again maybe politics as we know it has changed forever. Amen to that....;-0.

A purrrfect day today for today... sky rinsed of clouds, not that I dislike clouds but something happens on a clear day.... it unscrambles the mind-fog.. it lifts nipples and toes.... and it  makes the cats wonky for squirrel feinting... they never catch them, especially Alpha who makes a gentle rush.... Zoe has missed one as they say  by the skin of her teeth. Great  expression that... Anyway,I was trying hard to read The Political Scene Pre-Occupied, by  Mattathias Schwartz, on the origins and future of Occupy Wall street in the New Yorker mag.But the catsters were having none of it... they wanted out!For their morning chaperoned walk.Still I have read most of the article... I knew already that  David Graeber was involved and his heavy book has been partially read .Its a HUGE cumbersome red book, and I'm in  a recent studio  frenzy, so Ive given up for now.Painting always wins for me.The consenses is not in on David Graeber yet.The other two will discuss in more depth once I read the full article.I will just skim through things that catch my attention for now.

I didn't know about Kalle Lasn the founder of Adbusters or White, or any of the others,confession: I used to fancy myself as a quasi anarchist in my late teens..True I was also highly romantic, and with a father who was a sculptor I was never part of any class, or social strata, we were always out of the loop...But in art school one cold winter day in Manhatten going to an anarchist meeting soon made me withdraw.What use is the hierachy of meetings to a true anarchist?They were so bloody organized,and cliche cliche they seemed to be fairly Marxist, they were loud and  strident and had a board up with RULES!! Yes, now the OWS people presumably do things by consensus  and in horizontal ways.. but I'm just not someone who likes any sort of  uber-rule, or crowds or group-think activity...I have just never been a political beastie, though both my parents were, they were also virulently anti- apartheid..(I was born in South Africa)I know its foolish to carry on and write this before even finishing the article,therefore I wont go into great details here about the actual  article, but there are two things I would like to note..First,it seems to me that Lasn might have started something wonderful...Well correction he didn't they started in Cairo !And in  Iran...something had to be said about the corruption and the greed and the advantage taking of( world) government's, the congress here, and the way money has all but ruined the democratic process.. We all know this.I'm saying nothing new here.Is a dah !Statement!It says something when the very people who are supposed to protect citizens are  involved in the suppression of these citizens right to speak their minds and to peacefully gather and voice their democratic opinions.However there are always darker sides to even the best people, and Lasn seems to be no exception.Born in Estonia. he grew up during ww2.and lived for awhile in  German Refugee camps, he grew up in Australia. However he did not learn that the 20th  century world view he espouses should have outgrown the anti-Semitic tone he has inserted into his oeuvre.Why is it that there are STILL people who are pinning it once again on the Jews?? With a  great deal of pain I am forced to confront  the thought that it might not end any time soon....How Jews influence foreign policy, and asterisk's next to their names? Shades of black- listing and darker stuff... this IS strange stuff.....More on it later.... this is my First blog,and it was not supposed to be political..!!And I  really am not a political person.... but these are charged times....

I will be posting poems,photos, random thoughts, ramblings around this area, photos of my work, recipes,and more...  welcome to this space....I also might write some  reviews of books, ideas and  etc... yes a nice hodge podge sent into the blue....