Hi.
Had to share this.
Because we are the 99%.
We want to be the 100%
Humanity united, can never be divided.
Love you all
Calendar
October 15, 2011
A friend posted this quote to Facebook yesterday. I don’t know who it’s from (so I can’t properly attribute it) but I’ve heard a similar sentiment from other similarly inclined folks. She claims it was originally from anarchistnews.org:
Hello. I am dying, inside and out, and I need wildness. I need freedom. I need resolve to this life long battle for acceptance of myself. I need to know the feeling of an unlit night. I need to adventure. I need to return to the place where I was born. To be attached to life at every moment. I need to come alive! I cannot do it without you. So, put down your sign and raze the buildings to the earth with me…the whole world is waiting.
Here’s my response.
Hello. I hear you are dying and this is what I do. I bear witness to you and story for you. I am here to help take away the blindness you have carried for so long. Where you see buildings, I see gray cliffs. Where you see houses, I see short hills. Where you see roads, I see smooth paths. Where you see chains, I see sad decisions by people who are blinded by the decisions of others just as handicapped as them. To be wild, you must be willed. It is not a destination; it is a conversation. If you want this feeling back in your life, you must invite the others back in. Make your cliff into a place the birds want to roost and nest. Make your home a haven to the diverse species of the world. If you want an unlit night, invite your neighbors to turn off their lights and join you in celebration around a fire whether its in a grill or a single candle. Stop thinking that burning down the buildings is anything more than making rubble when the fire you truly need to burn is in your heart. Are you strong enough for that? If you are, then do it. If you are not, seek out others. Together, we are strong. I’m there for you, to bear witness to you and story for you. Hello.
This is, I feel, part of the heart of transitioning. See the world in different way. Take what is around you and make something beautiful. And you’re not alone. There’s always someone out there to help out. Often it’s not easy — or as regular as we’d like — but there’s help. You just have to ask.
Categories: Heart.
October 6, 2011
People are listening. Perhaps it’s time for all of us to speak a little louder and to more people. I’m just saying…
Keith Olbermann Reads the Statement from #OccupyWallStreet
Official Statement from Occupy Wall Street – this statement was voted on and approved by the general assembly of protesters at Liberty Square: Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
Categories: 6th Degree Initiative, Head, Heart.
September 27, 2011
here’s a divinely inspired bit of madness (or perhaps just plain old madness).
THE 250 is a project inspired by the Unitarian Universalist Church and Rob Hopkins Transition 2.0 (which presents Transition as a ‘pattern language’ to be shared as opposed to a set of instructions to be copied).
OUR PROBLEM: We live in a Valley with a population of approximately 2 million people. According to modern sociologists (and summarized brilliantly by Malcolm Gladwell in “The Tipping Point“), it takes about 10% of the population to make a significant cultural change.
Um… eek! I feel like we’re doing very well in Transition SFV but that’s a heck of a steep hill to climb.
OUR ASSETS: The Transition model, a diverse community, incredible media access, and a number of incredible amazing organizations already doing wonderful work to change this culture for the better.
OUR SOLUTION?: To network 250 organizations with 1,000 active members apiece that work in the San Fernando Valley. This is accomplished through a covenant — a group of simple, profound traditions that new members can agree to; this creates an association of organizations that allows for a common language and sharing of goals, information & resources. This model — the covenant — is the foundation of success in the Unitarian church and current global political movements (like the one in Egypt).
250 organizations, 1,000 members — that’s 250,000 people. Imagine running into 1 out of every 10 people you know and finding out they’re engaged in this work.
This project — the 250 –, by the way, has already been started. A group of parents is working on the language of the covenant on Friday at Our Community School in Chatsworth. As we work on it, we’re going to keep inviting more and more people into the dialogue until we all feel like we’ve got something special. Then we’re going to unleash it.
To be clear, this isn’t an everyone-join-Transition project or hierarchical construct. It’s an association by choice, a recognition that a number of us are transitioning out of an unsustainable society in many ways. It’s a chance for us to bring our best to the table.
The organizing cluster around which the participants associate is this image, taken from permaculture principles:
The images mean (from Top, moving clockwise): Care for the Earth, Care for People, Fair Share. I’d love for someone to modify the icons someday, to make it a little more local, but that’s just me. 
P
An organization like Our Community School (for example) would be grouped under Care for People.
It also becomes part of our shared goals. Care for the Earth, Care for People, Fair Share. All linked, all interdependent on each other. This isn’t solely about numbers (though that counts towards a tipping point) — it’s about actively AND EFFICIENTLY networking people so that their work gets easier, not harder and so we can all stand together.
So how does this relate to the topic at hand, to the parklets and Canoga Park?
Well, every movement needs its victories.
We’d like to take our streets back. 
We’re looking at 4 locations — Canoga Park (the Follow Your Heart / Madrid Theater / CP Playhouse corridor), Chatsworth (the Food Truck corridor), Reseda (along Sherman Way) and San Fernando. We believe that within this year we can make a good covenant, get some organizations to sign on in association with it and then transform at least one of those areas (if not more) into our local “3rd Street Promenade” (even if it’s just for one night a week).
Make Covenant –> get a few organizations on board –> transform a street into a pedestrian friendly strip.
By October of next year.
What do you think?
Categories: 6th Degree Initiative, Head, Heart.
May 15, 2011
“You say you’ve got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan” — John Lennon (Revolution)
One of the most frequently asked questions we get in Transition — besides WHAT do we do — is how do we get the message out there?
Simply put, how do you start a “revolution” in the suburbs.
Jeff Vail, over at his blog, used the metaphor of the way bamboo spreads through an underground network, as a metaphor for a non-hierarchical human organization. It works by having small self-identified groups maintaining loose connections with other small groups, trading information, supplies and sometimes manpower to accomplish goals that benefit everyone. (Jeff also had some fascinating insights on a possible future for suburbia). He called this RHIZOME.
So how do you get rhizomal?
Categories: 6th Degree Initiative, Hands, Head.
March 10, 2011
It’s a long hard road, this thing we call change. Transition SFV can instigate a community of place where we help each other and the earth in this time of great upheaval. There is now an obvious need for some drastic economic system changes. Fortunately there are also people who have worked on this for a long time and now offer models for change.
One of the creators of the Euro, Bernard Lietaer has some great insights and answers he spells out in his book, The Future of Money. Here is a link to my blog that directs you to 3 interveiw segments with him from the movie, “2010 Time For Change.” http://fullbloomnow.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/from-rocket-stoves-to-alternative-economy/ The outstanding thing about what he is saying is the Time Exchange that is happening through SFV Transition. Stay tuned as we develop our own version of the beginning of an alternative economy.
Categories: Hands, Head, Skill Nodes.
January 25, 2011
author: Debbie Simpson
It’s hard to believe that 2010 is over. It has been a great year for Transition San Fernando Valley. A big “Thank You” goes out to the Steering
Committee for all of their efforts.
*2010 – Year in Review*
Over the past year, Transition SFV had several events including the C-Realm Salon, The Future is About Resilience, Intro to Transition, Transitioning in Place (2 parts), the Crash Course salon series and a Permaculture movie night. Featured workshops included Mead-Making, Self-Watering Containers, Worm Composting and an Introduction to CA Native Plants. Outreach was conducted at several “green” events in 2010 including the Topanga Earth Day Fair, The Valley Water Expo, and at Burbank Green Alliance’s free screening of “Crude” in September.
Categories: Head.
July 6, 2010
For historical purposes, we’re listing our older events, in the interest of transparency, dialogue and rampant joy! This is the second post in the series.
The Transition SFV was formed at the urging of Bruce Woodside in September 2009 (after a few weeks of e-mailing back and forth). We met every couple of weeks, plotting and planning and laughing and getting to know each other before, slowly, things started to emerge.
From January to March, we came out, ideas ablazing. a total of six meeting were proposed and executed: the C-Realm Salon, Mead-Making, The Future is About Resilience, Intro to Transition, Transitioning in Place part 1 and Transitioning in Place part 2.
Then, hot on its heels came Cycle II and we came out to meet the public — you! And we were very happy to meet you.
Categories: Hands, Head, Heart.
July 6, 2010
For historical purposes, we’re going to start listing our older events, in the interest of transparency, dialogue and… well… fun!
The Transition SFV was formed at the urging of Bruce Woodside in September 2009 (after a few weeks of e-mailing back and forth). We met every couple of weeks, plotting and planning and laughing and getting to know each other before, slowly, things started to emerge…
Categories: Hands, Head, Heart.
March 7, 2010
“The future with less oil could be better than the present, but only if we engage in designing this Transition with creativity and imagination. “
–Rob Hopkins, co-founder,
Transition Network movement
Here’s a dream that Don had, which I’ve embellished a bit with thoughts running through my head because I once had a dream like this too…
*****
The time isn’t now, but it may not be too far from now, and I’m walking through the Valley. Something’s changed. It’s not in the houses, though they’re very different; or in the roads, which lack autos; or in the air, which just feels easier to breathe; or in the sometimes silent, reverent hush that falls over everything. It’s in the people I’m going to visit.
They’re planning on re-developing a piece of land we all know about — a real wreck of a neighborhood that was lost in a quake or abandoned by its tenants or burned in a fire that got out of control. One of the old places that hasn’t been re-done because our time was spent in other places that equally needed attention.