Life’s too short to even care at all Ooh
I’m losing my mind losing my mind losing control
The fishes in the sea they’re staring at me
A wet world aches for a beat of a drum

If I could find a way to see this straight
I’d run away
To some fortune that I
Should have found by now
I’m waiting for this Cough Syrup to come down, come down

Life’s too short to even care at all
I’m coming up now coming up now out of the blue
These zombies in the park are looking for my heart
A dark world aches for a splash of the sun
-Young the Giant, “Cough Syrup” 2011

The last couple of years have challenged the American spirit in ways most of us have never would have imagined. The pain and suffering out there across America is palpable and real, leaving many of us reaching for more than cough syrup. For once perhaps the drama of the political rhetoric of our leaders does not even begin to address the depth and severity of the pain, insecurity and despair that many citizens feel across our land.  Regardless of the prescriptions and solutions they offer to what ails us, to restore life I am no longer waiting for their cough syrup to come down.

Around me I have witnessed the supreme and strong, falling down, hopefully only intermittently, but still not sure. Yet, in the souls of many of my fellow Americans, however wounded or uncertain they may be, I see the ‘eye of the tiger’ looking only for a basis to rise again or maybe I am just looking in the mirror.  In the words of Vince Lombardi:

“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.”

Or in the words of Rocky Balboa:

“It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep – moving – forward.”

-From Rocky Balboa (2007)

Or in the words of film industry legend, Mary Pickford:

“If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

Knock me down enough I say and all you are doing is training me in how to get up more proficiently. Let us give praise and thanks to those who have knocked us down for they will only make our victory even sweeter, in the end. This is the character of our people. It is written into the American DNA, yours and mine.  Rest assured, the final bell has not yet rung, we will be prepared to rise and do battle in 2012. A little angel is gonna whisper in your ear: “get up you sonofabitch cause Mickey loves you”.

Cut me Mick I ain’t done fightin’ yet. This is not a time for platitudes or making cliched resolutions to toast at midnight but rather a calling to be resolute in all that we do.   To all of you I hope and pray you find your splash of the sun in 2012. May you basque in it for the remainder of your days.  It’s time we stop waiting for the cough syrup to come down. If we have to, maybe the answer is that we make our own.

I never thought that the day would come that I would even remotely consider quoting, listening to or making statements in support of Miley Cyrus ‘art form’ and that is itself not my being dismissive. I simply did not think she had anything of import to speak to my generation. Miley Cyrus’ latest creation is a rather effective pairing of a remix of her 2010 song Liberty Walk with footage from the Occupy Wall Street protests.  It makes a statement.

I am not saying that Miley Cyrus’ Rock Mafia will replace my affinity for rock legends like Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Queen or the Smashing Pumpkins anytime soon.  Hannah Montana, however, brought her Party in the USA straight to the OWS movement with the opening statement on her video that: “This is Dedicated to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in.”    Sure I noticed that the teen idol was  adorable, insightful and funny playing Justin Bieber while hosting  Saturday Night Live, but as a middle aged man though I did notice she seems to be growing into a rather fine looking young woman, it did not occur to me that she would be capable of this type of artistic expression. Nevertheless, from a civic minded perspective, her exhibition of a social conscience  at a time where far too many are afraid to undermine their stature with the powerful, in any way, is refreshing.

I am not sure whether to be surprised that many mainstream media analysts have offered their hip, snarky critique aimed at dismissing the relevance of Miley Cyrus’ latest creation. As some mainstream media pundits ponder the sincerity of the ’slick corporate pop star’s’ controversial expression of solidarity with the Occupy movement, most failed to comprehend that the uprising in this country has been brewing for some time and that Cyrus has been in tune with it as this song was written a year for the uprising at Zuccotti Park. The simple lyrics to Liberty Walk very much match the bubbling soul of a nation that was rising to the surface despite efforts to snuff it out.   The Occupy movement did not rise up in a vacuum. In the Post 9/11 world as rather clearly laid out in the Zeitgeist movie,  the culture of distraction has been intentionally ratcheted up in high gear in America for the sole purpose of holding back the inevitable, stifling dissent with the hope of turning more of the dumb down masses into obedient sheeple, even as the Zeitgeist was shifting in America.

Ms. Cyrus deserves credit for standing on the right side of human history, regardless of what you think of her art form and regardless of the contempt for my . As was stated in the comments section on a rather odd, strangely Propanda’ish piece in the Village Voice:

“I’m no Miley Cyrus fan, but to my mind it’s a bit elitist to even criticize this video.”

I concur with that statement. Accordingly, I give her credit for taking a stand. Notably, as stated by one thoughtful individual who commented on the Village Voice piece:

“The only thing I’d like to question here is the move to examine the song via Cyrus’s possible sincerity, because ultimately, I think the question is besides the point, and would guess that 95% of that co-option of dissent was totally sincere; as was, say, the Third Eye Blind song ['If there ever was a time'] and Jay-Z’s Occupy All Streets t shirts. And while Miley Cyrus may not personally profit from this song, it remains opportunistic when considered structurally, as an attempt (albeit totally sincere) by—whatever you want to call it: the culture industry, the 1%, Disney, etc.—to enter a space from which it had been deliberately excluded.’

So many mainstream artists, who are well paid contributors to the culture of distraction, have literally NOTHING of import to say. And that says more about where those selfish whores stand. Obviously they want to continue to get paid.  I do, however, expect more critical analysis from the Village Voice than to dismiss her as an artistic simpleton whose creations in this case were likely motivated by rather  ‘vague, ill informed leftist beliefs.’  Norman Mailer would have wiped his rear end with that piece of mainstream propaganda and told the writer to go f$#!k yourself, likely right to his face.  My critics be damned, even the Young Manhattanites. If most of the people who read this page truly understood how deeply corrupt the unholy alliance is between Wall Street and Government, there would be people hanging in the streets of Lower Manhattan and Police would be storming the Capitol in Washington, D.C. with riot gear to rip the immoral charlatans from their smug indifferent perches of power where they piss all over the hopes and dreams of the American people.

Too many Illuminati Artists dare not criticize the very corporate elites who enable or fund their continued existence with their elaborate networks.  The rise of the Police State is the civil rights issue of our time but some folks like Jay Z have nothing to say because he is an insider with the very people that this movement attacks.   He is too freaking busy gettin paid to say jack shit.  So even as she brings her Party in the USA to the Occupy Movement, Miley may wish to note that while many have their hands up, it is not because “a Jay Z song is on.”  Miley Cyrus may be opportunistic but she may also have bigger balls than a whole class of Illuminati Artists who linger in silence. TUPAC would never have been as silent as Jay Z which tells you all you need to know about the dark agenda of the forces pulling the strings behind the scenes.

ABBA -The Winner Takes it All (1980)

The history books are written by the winners. In the words of Swedish pop band, ABBA, ‘the Winner takes it all, the loser standing small, beside the victory, that’s [our] destiny.’  The relative triviality of the loser’s pain and suffering is often long forgotten. But it truly need not be that way.  With the Madoff Crime Family again in the headlines these days, what may be a worthwhile endeavor is to gather a petition of Madoff’s Victims worldwide to petition the institutions that benefited from donations made by one of the largest philanthropic frauds in American history —Jeffry Picower, the largest Madoff beneficiary. The petition should request that they strip his name as their donor of record and that  whatever that they have named in his honor should be appropriately renamed for the interests of those defrauded as well as for the integrity of said institution’s brand going forward and their ability to raise funds in the future . For example:

MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory

should be renamed to:

The Madoff/Picower Fraud Survivors Institute for Learning and Memory

Picower’s name should be removed from any institution that carries his name honoring his philanthropy. Too much of American philanthropy often comes in one name at the expense of those who have had their legacy taken from them. The Madoff Survivors have had their legacy taken from them while Mr. Picower has not.

Critical to the American Restoration movement is that  we discredit the legacy of those who have been honored for their philanthropic deeds with funds fraudulently obtained. In those cases it can be presumed that their generosity was not purely or honorably motivated but instead part of a fraudulent overall branding mechanism, the extension of their  philanthropic brand masking their covert criminal wealth redistribution schemes. America must cleanse itself and conduct an internal accounting or philanthropic colonic to liberate and detoxify ourselves from the stench of a legacy built on a cesspool of corruption or a mountain of crappola.

It matters not now that Mr. Picower was found dead and seemed to have curiously drowned in his own pool at his estate in Palm Beach, that his lawyer William Zabel of Schulte, Roth & Zabel, “who has has spent his career striking complex deals for wealthy families in sticky situations” according to the NY Times, negotiated a $7.2 Billion extraction from Mr. Picower’s widow in the form of a civil forfeiture to the U.S. Department of Justice.  Likewise that Mrs. Barbara Picower was rather graciously left with $200 million and her Palm Beach home so she could continue her ‘philanthropic works’ at this point is troubling but I will also concede it is no long relevant to the legacy of the Picower name.

This is a movement which may and ought to have legs.  Let us discredit those previously honored. The legacy of Jeffry Picower is an objective fraud so let us begin with him.  Despite the best public relations efforts of William Zabel and Picower’s widow, the   Department of Justice settlement has not cleared the Picower name as intended in the eyes of most American citizens.

And I don’t want to be how they want me to be
I don’t want to be how they want me to be
You don’t want me to be how they want me to be
I don’t want me to be how they want me to be
-Best Coast, ‘How They Want Me to Be’ (2011)

In recent months, I have been listening to a group called Best Coast. I am hardly one of their earliest fans. Truth is that I had become weary of the American music scene over the last decade, or at least that being proffered by the Illuminati controlled music business which has served as the culture of distraction as our people have descended into the economic abyss. What was once a vibrant hip hop movement that dared ask questions about the course of humanity, the elevation of the righteous, the empowerment of and elevation of the humane and decent rather than the satanic, was hijacked by the hip-pop movement. The music no longer matches the times as it once did in other era’s like the 1960’s.  It seeks to mask the pain of the present human condition, not to soothe it but to disable the creativity and evolution of the human spirit.

Best Coast has an addictive sound that is so present day but yet makes me teary eyed for the alternative music scene of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and for the experiences that I had during America’s last great decade before George W. Bush became President and all hell broke loose in America. Best Coast brings back my nostalgia for that bygone era of musical creativity where we could sit back and listen to talented folksy artists who weaved poetically a portrait of the American experience that was like a veritable slice of modern day Americana or a Norman Rockwell painting. When I listened to the lyrical poetry of California based singer Beth Cosentino on ‘When I’m with You’ the vibe was reminiscent of what seemed like a lazy mexican summer in the go go 1990’s, driving to the beach in East Hampton, New York with my own little Go-Go by my side. Her smiling face framed by her golden locks, Persol sunglasses and pearly white grin is forever etched in the historical files of my life, forever ‘wishing I was [her] boyfriend.’ “I wish [s]he was my [girlfriend] I wish [s]he was my [girlfriend] I’d love her to the very end But instead [she's] just a friend.”

Many will recall that period before innocence was lost. The darkness which the mainstream illuminati controlled music industry brought over our land through the endless marketing of and control of the airwaves with music devoid of any soul, cultural insight or humanistic reflection masked our descent and the camouflaged for many what was truly happening in America. The emotional and intellectual bankruptcy of this so called ‘artistry’ only served to shield the people from the similar hollowing out of America’s soul at a higher level.

If the Cranberries, the Breeders and the Pixies had children who grew up at the beach they would be Best Coast. Their sound is classic yet original with a melodic wizardry that never grows old and seems otherwise timeless. I am no music critic, nor do I mean to suggest that there are not many talented in America’s music scene today, but that maybe perhaps we might need to evolve past the glorification of hip-pop mogul Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye et al etc. and look to the voices and sounds of the truly independent artists who seek less to whittle down  American consciousness as they attempt to ‘Run This Town’ and likely run you down for the sole purpose of fattening of their own bank accounts and inspiring you to pledge your allegiance to their cult of greed and indifference and  get ‘all black everything, black cards, black cars, black clothes’.  F$%@k that!

Best Coast and the rise of alternative and indie artists like Jenny Electrik (Facebook Page, Green Bus Tour), who I discovered through my nephew,  is what makes me hopeful about the American music scene, so hopeful that maybe I too can inspire you to seek out the positive independent voices in contemporary music, use your disposable income on iTunes wisely and get off the crack idol worship of Satan’s children that has for too long now been  force fed into our stream of consciousness. Get off ‘The Feed’

“The people who [are] trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. Why should I ?”     –Bob Marley

Don’t you know
They’re talkin’ bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don’t you know
They’re talkin’ about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

While they’re standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Don’t you know
They’re talkin’ bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what’s theirs

Don’t you know
You better run, run, run, run, run,
run, run, run, run, run, run, run
Oh I said you better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run,
run, run, run, run, run

Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ bout a revolution
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ bout a revolution
Talkin’ bout a revolution

You are on your way to work and encounter crowds. Or maybe you cannot get to the Equinox Fitness Club or New York Sports Club on Wall Street to do a class or lift weights because of the combination of post 9/11 security around the NYSE and the Occupy Wall Street movement. What do you encounter? A seemingly incoherent, unkempt mob stationed in a park, filling the sidewalk and marching down the street.  Many look disheveled. Quite a few are younger than you. Some have a trendy pair of blue jeans and hip t-shirts and have an Apple MacBook or an iPhone so you mistakenly conclude that they are all a bunch of trendy hipsters or trustafarian’s; and mutter to yourself, “as if there is a difference.”  Those lazy kids should be looking for work you think to yourself.  As reported in Reuters, One Wall Street banker described the protesters as “a bunch of whiny people who are lazy or incompetent and have nothing to do with their time” and even other smug bastards on Facebook laugh at the revolution.   But then you remember, maybe they down sized some good folks at your company recently and your buddy down the street lost his home to foreclosure and you have not seen or heard from him since. You begin to wonder how many pay checks you could live without before you are down there on the street with them, maybe permanently. Am I right? And then there are those pesky Vietnam Veterans who maybe look to you like they need a shower or more because they stepped out of some 1960’s protest and landed in 2011.

How many times have you thought to yourself your countrymen had become misguided, apathetic, complacent and otherwise consumed with irrelevant and bad pop culture?  Have you ever wondered why the people with their mixed messages seem confused, disorganized and incoherent to you? It is all by design. The Media is owned and controlled by the very same folks who created this unsustainable growing inequality in America. They created a “Culture of Distraction” to manipulate the minds of American citizens, turning them into mush. They have turned “the Sheeple” into consuming automatons, transfixed with the culture of celebrity and listening to music devoid of any value or soul. Today’s pop and hip-pop music is as barren as ever.  What was once the hip-hop movement which spoke to elevating our culture and empowering the people and another wise positive  forces for the course of humanity,was co-opted and bastardized into as hip-pop turning listeners away from righteous choices towards conspicuous consumption and crass materialism.  People have turned away from holistic values or any appreciation we are all connected whether we like it or not on this planet.  The godless have truly taken over. As you enable one way of life you collapse another. As stated by writer Katelyn Bald:  “It is precisely this kind of apathetic complacency which gave way to the deconstruction of our middle class.” Consider the following rant by George Carlin:

The era of disenlightenment is upon us but let us hope nevertheless that the people who truly need to join this Occupy Wall Street movement are not too busy watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey, American Idol or reading celebrity news and Entertainment Television to recognize the revolution brewing in the land.

Still now you have those contributing to the creation of false narratives, ‘Fluffing’ for the Kleptocracy or at least the continuance thereof; folks like Rush Limbaugh, Eric Cantor, Herman Cain, Peter King and Rich Lowry.  They stand in front of the cameras with their crisp blue suit and American flag pin prominently on display and like Benedict Arnold’s, all of them, they take positions against the best interests of their people and postulate that the protests are Un-American and an attack on Capitalism without any sort of acknowledgement that the ‘Social Contract’ is broken.  The hypocrisy extends to Tea Party Republicans who argue that the protesters are ‘ growing mobs seeking to divide a country.’ New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg adds that what they are doing is  “trying to destroy the jobs of working people in this city.”

The foregoing folks argue, in effect,  that any attack on the existing system which has taken a Democratic Capitalist Society and turned it into a rigged game serving the interests of a handful of gluttonous insiders feeding on America’s economic carcass like kleptocratic uber vultures dining at the Staten Island dump is somehow an attack on the foundation of Capitalism itself and anti-business. Nothing could be further from the truth.  This is, however, an effective rubric for masking or insulating from critique the corrupted element within an otherwise legitimate system. Distrust of The Federal Reserve System also runs deep in America. One need only read the book  End The Fed by Ron Paul or listen to this incredible rant by an Occupy Wall Street protester Chris Savvinidis. There is and shall always be a place in this world for responsible capitalism, one that does not rape and pillage humanity.   They have in effect created a veritable or functioning Kleptocracy allowing this group to self deal themselves the nation’s wealth, using the U.S. Treasury as their personal piggy bank and your pension funds and retirement savings as a midnight snack.  As stated by Chris Savvinidis in response to critics who argue that critique of the existing system is anti-capitalism:

“If you’re asking me if I want to end the current system, I do, because that’s crony capitalism. It’s not real capitalism. Government’s hiding behind the name capitalism. What we have in this country are corporations who lobby in millions and millions of dollars to politicians and buy their votes for the highest bids…and Washington no longer speaks for us, they speak for all the big corporations and whoever has the most money.”

As I have stated before and must continue to repeat until it is quoted on every blog in the land:

“A society which is efficient for a few but grossly inequitable for many is not sustainable. It is not anti-business or Un-American to be humanist. A fair society is one which does not penalize success but it is also one that does not impede the progress of a majority of its citizens to fortify the extreme gluttony of a few. Civility, equity and compassion for your fellow citizen are not Un-American ideals.”

Why have these so called defenders or Liberty fight for the Liberty of 1% at  the expense of the other 99%? The existing social order with them as the guardians of the security of the Plutocracy has made them quite comfortable.  In a truly new world order by the people, there is no role for them. You see this little revolution is inconvenient for the Plutocrats and those who safeguard their interests. In their world, it is inefficient to strive for greater equity in society. Well let me tell you, this needs to get worse before it will get better. The Plutocracy and its way of  thinking must come to an end by any means necessary. Take a look at the following speech by Elizabeth Warren who is running to replace Koch-sucker Scott Brown in the U.S. Senate:

Some of you even decide in what they assume is a creative stylish play on words to pen “(un)Occupy Wall Street” blogs because they are inconvenienced getting to the gym on their lunch hour. The problem is that at least one in particular came across as a shallow attempt at intellectualism written by  a frat boy who is still employed and could not get to the gym to do some curls on time on his lunch hour as his country was collapsing around him.  Pobrecito! The real challenge is for the rest of us who are not occupying Wall Street daily is to use our voices to effect change wherever we can.  We need to emphasize that it is not anti-business to be humanist. Capitalism is not what is under attack. This is the narrative that criminal element that took over the free market uses to discredit the merits of the protest and deflect criticism of a rigged system.

Many folks do not understand how we are all connected in this system until one of the links on the fence breaks in their own front yard. So how is your fence doing?

Don’t blame your countrymen for finally waking up from the nightmare of the obliterated middle class.  The revolution may be inconvenient for many who are still employed, have a roof over their head, food in the fridge and some seemingly sound investments, but know that what is happening is necessary if America is to have any chance of surviving. We need this re-birth; A Cool Revolution and a new age of Wisdom. Know, accept and realize, in earnest, that America is simply not sustainable in its present form. Why the hell do you think the uber elite have been fortifying their positions in recent years?  Why do you think that the politicians have been doing the same thing? They knew that this day was coming. They had to know. Are you kidding me? Do you really believe otherwise? They know what America’s balance sheet truly looks like. You cannot drain all the water from a pool (i.e., the American Dream) and expect people to dive in without breaking their necks. Too many already have. And for this reason and many others, this is ‘Why the Elites Are in Trouble.’

The middle class should not be reduced to begging for Philanthropy.  As one who supports the charitable mission of  those entities who provide vital services and those that support such entities, despite the importance of philanthropy, I do believe, sincerely that if you reduce a society to begging the 1% to trickle down on the rest of us the proverbial 99%, your society is essentially doomed.

WARNING: To those who disparage, undermine or malign this movement in an effort to insulate the criminal class, be forewarned, the  defense of indefensible greed and corruption committed against the interests of the Citizens of the United States of America is not only criminal, but may in fact be treasonous.

HELPFUL LINKS

Occupy Wall Street Movement

-Occupy Wall Street
-Occupy Together
-Occupy Youtoube: Anonymous documents what the media blacks out.
-AnonOps Communicati0ns
-Anonymous Occupy Youtoube blog
-Global Revolution
-Adbusters
-OWS on Facebook
-OWS Livestream
-WaVe Movement (Facebook Page)
-Think Progress: The 99 Percent Movement
-Fair News & Opinion Portals: Truthout, Truthdig, Common Dreams, Think Progress, Mother Jones, The Nation, Media Watch, Media Matters, Countdown with Keith Olberman, The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur
-Paul Krugman: Panic of the Plutocrats, Fear the Oligarchs, not the Protesters, The Social Contract
-Cenk Uygur: “Washington is infested”
-Glenn Greenwald, “With Liberty & Justice for Some”

Key Editorial Perspective
-CBS News Coverage
-Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize Winning Economist with the NY Times
-Naomi Klein:  ”This is not the time  to be looking for ways to dismiss a nascent movement against the power of capital, but to do the opposite: find ways to embrace it, support it and help it grow into its enormous potential. With so much at stake, cynicism is a luxury we simply cannot afford.” read more about what the author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” had to say at Moveon.org, Rachel Maddow Show and on Huffington Post
-NY Times, Protesters Against Wall Street: “It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That’s the job of the nation’s leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies. Because they have not, the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself. It is also the first line of defense against a return to the Wall Street ways that plunged the nation into an economic crisis from which it has yet to emerge.”
-‘A New Shift in Power’: Documentary entitled “Nobody Can Predict the Moment of Revolution”Offers an Intimate Look at Occupy Wall Street
-Elizabeth Warren: “The People on Wall Street Broke this Country”: Elizabeth Warren is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She served as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is running for the U.S. Senate against Scott Brown. See also the Brad Blog for Elizabeth Warren’s commentary on ‘Debt Crisis’ & ‘Class Warfare’ and Vanity Fair: The Woman Who Knew Too Much.
-Chris Hedges, Truthdig: Why the Elites Are in Trouble / Truthout: Why the Elites are in Trouble
-Truthout News Analysis (Dean Baker): When Being Rich Makes Us Poor, People Should Occupy Wall Street
-New York Observer: Jesse LaGreca Continues to Destroy Media Bias of Occupy Wall Street on ABC’s This Week.
-Firedoglake, Kevin Gosztola: Why Establishment Media & Power Elite Loathe Occupy Wall Street
-Raw Story (Kate Wickman): WATCH: ‘I Am Not Moving’ compares Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street
-The Guardian, Occupy Wall Street: if banks are too big to fail, are people too small to matter?

Rebuild America: The Solution? Or one of them?

-Building America’s Future
-Our Future
-Rebuild the American Dream
-RAI
-Fareed’s Take: Obama should declare a jobs emergency
-Van Jones on Rebuilding the American Dream (see also: Van Jones)

Inequality in America: Basis for Revolt

-Inequality.org: The Program on Inequality and the Common Good focuses on the dangers that growing inequality pose for U.S. democracy, economic health and civic life. It is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies and based in Boston, MA
-The United States of Inequality
-Who Rules America?
-Vanity Fair by Joseph E. Stiglitz: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%
-The Economist: The rich, the poor and the growing gap between them
-PBS, In Perspective: Tricia Rose on America’s growing inequality
-Robert Reich: Growing Inequality Is The Central Problem Of Our Age
-The Nation magazine:  Inequality in America
-The Nation Magazine by Robert Reich: Unjust Spoils
-Mother Jones: It’s the Inequality, Stupid

The American  System

-Nouriel Roubini: Marx was right about self-destruction of capitalism
-Vice Chairman of China’s CIC Says It’s Become Harder to Defend the U.S. Model
-Inside Job (trailer)
-Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (trailer)
-Zeitgeist (movie)
-Zeitgeist Addendum

The Danger

-The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (book) by Naomi Wolf
-The End of America (Trailer)
-“The End of America” Full Length HQ Film
-Bloomberg: Jobs crisis could spark riots here
-Kent State Massacre (Video): Could this happen in NYC? Will history repeat itself?

The Uprising

-Occupy Wall Street
-Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan: must-see site of the demonstrations
-In Protest the Power of Place (NY Times): As stated by Joe Mercurio on Facebook: “Just for background. Zuccotti Park, ironically formerly called Liberty Plaza Park was equally ironically renamed after John Zuccotti (Weil Gotshal & Manges) who was a deputy mayor under a Republican mayor of New York and company chairman of the owners Brookfield Office Properties on whose board the girlfriend of the current Republican mayor serves.”
-Global mass protests 15th October 2011
-Chris Hedges: [The Criminal Class that has seized power is scared but the]  Occupy Wall Street is ‘where the hope of America lies’
-My Great Depression (video)
-Nader, Ron Paul, Kucinich Speak to Occupy Wall Street
-The Huffington Post – Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Arrests 700 Protesters On Brooklyn Bridge
-The Guardian: Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination: The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future
-Truthout: Wall Street Occupation Live Stream
-Occupy Wall St, SlutWalk, Hot Chicks, Van Jones by Zennie Abraham
-RT: Open-ended Wall Street occupation
-NPR by Joel Rose:  Wall Street Protests Stretch On, Reasons Vary
-Gothamist: Anonymous’s Occupation Of Wall Street
-UPI: Wall Street protesters morale ‘high’
-Michael Moore: The media ignores Wall Street occupation
-The Guardian, Occupy Wall Street: inquiries launched as new pepper-spray video emerges: NYPD officer Anthony Bologna faces two investigations as video emerges of a second pepper-spray incident
-NY Daily News: Pepper-spray videos spark furor as NYPD launches probe of Wall Street protest incidents
-Salon: Jon Stewart on the Wall Street pepper-spray attack
-Occupy Wall Street: ‘Pepper-spray’ officer named in Bush protest claim
-The Huffington Post: Anthony Bologna, NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Protester, Had Role In 2004 Incidents
-JP Morgan gave NYPD $4.6 million to strengthen security
-Truthout: Got Class Warfare? Occupy Wall Street Now!
-Greg Palast | Uber-Vultures: The Billionaires Who Would Pick Our President
-Trumka: AFL-CIO Will Support Occupy Wall St. Protest ‘In Every Way’ It Can

POLICE ACTION vs. OCCUPY WALL STREET: Evidence of Police Brutality: Premeditated and Orchestrated Assaults on Peaceful Protesters

-MSNBC on NYPD: Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street Lawrence O’Donnell with “The Last Word”
-Keith Olbermann: “Police brutality” at Occupy Wall Street
-Shameful Police Action & Brutality at Occupy Wall Street
-BRAVE Occupy Wall Street Protester Speaks Out
-NYPD Violently Elbow Peaceful Female OccupyWallStreet Protestor Knocking Her To The Ground
-NYPD Caught On Camera Punching OccupyWallStreet Protestor In The Face
-NYPD officers give peaceful protester a concussion during OCCUPY WALL STREET
-Cops turn Violent: NYPD drag girl across the street at OccupyWallStreet
-Anonymous WARNING to NYPD
-Police Brutality? Like 100 NYPD Cops Slam Some 100 Year-Old Asian Man To The Concrete And Arrest
-Occupy Wall Street Brutality
-“I CAN’T BREATHE!” – Police Shoving at 10:30AM at Liberty Plaza Occupy Wall Street
-Police Arrest Protester for Drawing with Sidewalk Chalk @ Occupy Wall Street 9/19/11
-‘Occupy Wall Street’ – Young man brutally knocked down and arrested for talking to an officer
-NYC Citibank Occupation Arrests Customers for Closing their accounts.

SILENCING THE TRUTH

-THE SILENCING OF BANK WHISTLEBLOWERS:  Occupy Wall Street Sept 17: Protester speaks out
-Florida Congressman Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street
-Florida congressman Alan Grayson laughs in Ben Bernanke’s face
-Eliot Spitzer on Occupy Wall Street and fraudulent banking activities (on Olbermann’s show)
-OccupyWallStreet talks to Fox News & Crushes Them
-CNN Wants This Video Banned SEE WHY
-Nader, Ron Paul, Kucinich Speak to Occupy Wall Street – Original

Freedom to Fascism

-OccupyWallStreet George Carlin - Spreading The Truth!
-Charlie Chaplin
The Whole World Is Watching – Charlie Chaplin on Occupy Wall Street: Let Us All Unite!
Charlie Chaplin Speech – Occupy Wall Street! (Inception Soundtrack); see also United We Rise
-Aaron Russo: See Aaron Russo Memorial and Freedom to Fascism (Aaron’s last film)
-Anonymous Group: “We are Anonymous.  We are Legion.  We do not forgive.  We do not forget.  Expect us.” Yale Law refers to the group as an ‘Internet Subculture’. See: AnonNews.org, Why We Protest, AnonOps Communicati0ns
-Anonymous Educational Series: Freedom to Fascism (part 1)
-Anonymous Educational Series: Freedom to Fascism (part 2)
-Anonymous: Message to Ron Paul

View of the Chrysler Building & Grand Central Station from Cipriani 42nd Street Photo Credit: Chris London's Blackberry Bold

Looks like the stars were aligned just right tonight in the heart of New York City at Cipriani 42nd Street for the NYU Langone Medical Center’s Violet Ball where $9.7 million was raised by the city’s leading philanthropists for one of the most critically important institutions in this town, still “a helluva town” indeed.  NYU Langone is a special a place that many of my friends and family have turned to in a time of crisis and received truly “world class” medical care. So seeing this institution on sure footing is one that comforts a great many New Yorkers.

This was truly a historic evening. I feel honored to have been afforded a window to document a good part of it. The 2011 Violet Ball honored Trustee Fiona Druckenmiller and her husband Stanley Druckenmiller for their exemplary commitment and devotion to NYU Langone Medical Center and celebrated the Medical Center’s longstanding tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. The Druckenmiller leadership gift to the Neuroscience Institute and their commitment to clinical and research excellence in this field form the blueprint for a truly remarkable future in neuroscience (ok, some of that was from the press release but I verified it and its all true).

The 2011 Violet Ball was the highest single dinner fundraiser that I have covered for any institution in New York City since I started documenting philanthropy in NYC shortly after 9/11. I do not believe there has ever been a night of this level of fundraising for a single institution, medical or otherwise in the history of New York City. Aside obviously from the Robin Hood Foundation which targets poverty in New York City by finding and funding the best and most effective programs and partnering with them to maximize results, making them in effect a venture capital enterprise or feeder fund for the treatment of the things that ail or plague our perfectly imperfect society.

This is noteworthy because at a time where many may be inclined to level critique on the gilded classes I have over the last few years watched one man, an Italian-American I can proudly say, working in a rather resilient fashion, change the face of how charity works in this town. And as a Spanish/Italian American that makes me especially proud to be perfectly honest. Generations of New Yorkers will have Ken Langone to thank, to thank that he spent his golden years as a prolific fundraiser rather than relaxing or chilling on a lounge chair on a secluded Island drinking Mai Tai’s. The man with the heart of a lion is virtually unstoppable and I can only hope that for our sake he keeps going like the Philanthropic energy bunny that he is. As a former close female friend and confidante stated to me when she read my text message of this blog: “ I love Ken Langone, the man has big cajones and is truly a class act.”

Speaking of health, I am writing this blog on my blackberry from in front of my locker at Equinox where I am about to do some “preventative care.”

All the professional photos (or at least the ones I took with my Nikon) will be on Manhattan Society.com tomorrow but the best photo may have been taken with my blackberry outside Cipriani 42nd Street.  Yes, for it truly was a Violet Night thanks to Philanthropists Ken Langone and Stanley & Fiona Druckenmiller, even if the sky looked more periwinkle, close enough I say, close enough.

God bless them and New York City! Still a helluva town indeed.

Credit this report as from the heart and the photo as well as the rather quick prose to my Blackberry Bold. The things you have to do when you are a publisher, writer, photographer who has to work a day job to do the thing he loves to do at night –Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Philanthropy. C’est la vie.

**A Special Thanks to Eileen Sullivan at Rubenstein Associates, Inc. for helping me expand my understanding of the world of philanthropy in New York City.

The Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, in New York City. Photo by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Dec. 2, 2007

The Bloomberg follies continue. On the heels of the administration’s bungling of the Snowstorm of 2010, the questionable appointment of Cathie Black to New York City Schools Chancellor, replacing Joel Klein,  the subsequent removal of Ms. Black and the installation of deputy mayor, Dennis Walcott, Bloomberg was not done.

In  an effort perhaps to dig himself out of a Cathie “Black-hole” and bolster his own legacy, the Mayor now seems equally committed to is enhancing the legacy of those helped dig the hole for his third term shoveling dirt over the will of the people. The Queensboro Bridge often referred to as the 59th Street Bridge by many life long Bridge & Tunnel New Yorkers like myself, has been renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, after former three term Mayor and outspoken Bloomberg loyalist, Ed Koch.

At a ceremony signing the renaming legislation into law on Monday, the Mayor praised Ed Koch as the quintessential New Yorker, and stated as follows:

“He’s tough, outspoken and passionate about our city. It was his resiliency that made Ed Koch such a great Mayor. And it was under his leadership that New York City rebounded from the depths of fiscal crisis in the 1970s.” said Mayor Bloomberg.”

See also: Ed Koch and The Rebuilding of New York City

An acquaintance stated a view with which I concur:

“I am not against memorials just don’t think we should memorialize bridges until people have been dead for at least 20 years. It took us 50 years to build a National WW II Memorial for Pete’s sake.”

Unless I am mistaken, Edward I. Koch is very much still alive.  And while he may certainly otherwise be a decent human being and an interesting New York character, the timing of Bloomberg’s re-naming the Queensboro Bridge reeks of political patronage. And I say this with all due respect as someone who has not contempt or distaste for either Koch or Mike Bloomberg.

To quote Bugs Bunny, this is not about “dog piling on the rabbit” and joining the chorus of critics like Crains who have referenced Bloomberg’s Third Term Blues or The New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica who stated that “Bloomberg’s third term a Dud” and accuses him of ‘wandering through his third term as Cathie Black hiring backfires.’

The timing of the memorialization of the Queensboro Bridge simply illustrates how out of touch are both men with the citizens of the wider metropolitan area. If you know anything at all about Queens, you will know that nobody living there will ever refer to this as ‘The KOCH’.  To date nobody I know or grew up with even refers to the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Triborough Bridge after the late Senator of New York. But maybe in time more folks will.  The late U.S. Senator and former United States attorney general in his brother  John F. Kennedy’s administration, at least earned it with historic work during the Civil Rights era, profound visionary speeches, a revolutionary spirit and paid a very dear price with his life for ‘Speaking Truth to Power’, when even few will today.  Hell, you even “tweak” power now and it makes you an outcast.  Furthermore,  quite notably the memorialization of that bridge was done four decades since his passing,  not while he was still alive.

The Koch or KOCH-iuzsko

At this juncture it is hard to see how political patronage is even necessary, useful or constructive. Nevertheless, Mayor Bloomberg may have instead and more wisely chosen to attach Koch’s name to a tired old bridge which has been in the headlines in recent years, like  the Kociuzsko Bridge and renamed it the KOCH-iuszko or simply shortened it to the Koch, because at least then in a dumb down society, one that no longer has any appreciation for history or tradition, would ever have known the difference or its roots to the Polish-Lithuanian volunteer who was a General in the Revolutionary War.

Mayor Mike, you see while I still do love you on many levels and appreciate very much what you bring to the table for the city, specifically your most charitable nature, administrative expertise,  doing this on the heels of Cathie Black fiasco, you exhibit to the masses in the boroughs that are not on the Upper East Side that maybe you don’t get it, them or REAL New Yorkers, outside your enclave of elites.  And even so, I am still pulling for your Mayor Mike because we are living in surreal times and to rip you to shreds while we are mired in some of the worst economic times in American history will not put people back to work, help them pay their rent, avoid the growing homelessness problem or put food on the table

So, Mayor Mike, how about the Giuliani Expressway? Why? Because without the support and endorsement of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, shortly after 9/11 you might never have been have been on the fast track to Mayor, your candidacy derailed by Mark Green of all people and New York City might no longer be worth living in, unless you were in a Brownstone on 79th Street that is.  Now that type of patronage makes more sense. To honor Koch before Giuliani may be kind as he is getting on in years but it is less symbolic of your comprehension of the roots of transformation of New York City or the recognition that memorials are best made once folks are long deceased and viewed in the proper historical context.

Bloomberg Legacy: Is There Anything Left in the Tank?

Finally, on the often discussed  Presidential candidacy of the Medford, Massachusetts product who seems to have the perfect resume to steward America in these times, while I would still never count him out, despite the mediocre field of Republican candidates poised to challenge President Obama, it is truly now hard to see a legitimate path for Bloomberg to the White House.  From humble beginnings in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael R.  Bloomberg has grown to become a titan of Wall Street,  Billionaire CEO of Bloomberg LP,  a historical philanthropist, the first and still only Mayor  elected in Post 9/11 New York City and a respected world figure.  In the end, whether his legacy has him mired in the muck of local politics or he somehow rises above it all in a broad brush stroke is yet to be determined.

When Mortimer Zuckerman wrote about ‘The End of American Optimism’ in August of 2010, it captivated the essence of what I feel is happening in America right now. And while standing in briefly last week  for my brother and one of the best event photographers in New York City, Gregory Partanio, during cocktail hour at the Sing For Hope Gala at 583 Park Avenue and photographing one of my favorite singers in Tony Bennett, I got to thinking about whether it is in fact the end of The Good Life.  For one, I know that I will never be able again to sit at the Windows on the World at the World Trade Center sipping a glass of Opus 1 looking out over the glory of Manhattan from the highest point in the metropolis listening to the sounds of Bennett, Frank Sinatra or even Bobby Short.

Whether the American Empire is truly entering a period of decline merely a decade or so after some rather optimistic Conservatives formed the Project For the New American Century (”PNAC”)  while envisioning an American leadership position for the next 100 years,  is to me still a tad unclear. While I am a realist, I remain unwilling to throw in the towel. Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the exact opposite feeling that many of us had after the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and for that matter the ‘Hope’ that Obama projected in his campaign in 2008. Two years into Obama’s Presidency and there is a lingering economic insecurity that has afflicted many of my fellow citizens with that infamous Italian disease known as “defunsalo” and for many reasons, it feels so different this time, like it may in fact be a permanent state of life for many of us in the Post-American World. As  aptly surmised again more recently by Zuckerman, ‘America’s Supreme Confidence Has Become a Malaise‘.

Furthermore, if rumors are to be believed our President and Congress might themselves look to follow Argentina’s lead and nationalize private pensions, another phrase for seize or otherwise get their hands on our individual retirement accounts; right after they eliminate their tax preferred status and continue in their war on capitalism or at least the effort to send a scare down the spine of every last investor, entrepreneur, small business owner or capitalist left standing in America  (See: Larry Kudlow, “Obama Declares War on Investors, Entrepreneurs, Businesses and More”).  On Wall Street, it has been postured that Money Never Sleeps even when the Stock Exchange is closed. But, the current administration may, however, actually be trying to give money a rest.  Should we continue down this path my fear is that America will no longer be the land of opportunity it once was but it will become a land where the middle class or what remains of it will be enslaved to pay the interest on our national debt from the crumbs of their minimum wage jobs, if we even have jobs.

“I have a big American flag on my house and people think I’m Robert E. Lee.”

-Jon Loew, Founder of Fuel For Truth

We have lost focus on the essence of what is most critical to the continued vitality of our Democracy: capitalism, free enterprise and individual liberty.  A new progressive fascism has seemingly led or contributed to a subtle unwinding of the American Nationalist spirit and pride; a disregard in some cases blatant and in other cases subtle.  The idea of America and Americanism itself is not merely under attack; but rather it is being diffused, dismantled, discarded, submerged and pushed aside at every turn by those whom you most expect would be its greatest defenders, given that some of them actually still wear the American Flag Lapel Pin and apparently still have Presidential aspirations. While I do not expect leaders like Mayor Mike Bloomberg or President Obama to make false appeals to our nationalistic pride, maybe they might at least have a degree of respect for the symbols of American exceptionalism, preeminence and ingenuity or those things that so many of us have profound reverence. A new progressive fascism demands not merely tolerance but rather subservience to the aims of multi-culturalism fueled by an under current of anti-Americanism that has a contempt for symbols or sources of American historical pride and glory.

You will forgive me if this former liberal elitist (and Registered Democrat) has come to see the actions of the current administration and a President with no former business experience or perhaps little or any college coursework in Economics 101 under a slightly different microscope. Upon closer examination what one will see is a well orchestrated if not systematic broadside against America’s Judeo-Christian institutions, pillars of the American business community including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while a more lax and passive accommodation of the forces of Islamic collectivism and the agenda of political Islamists is more than tolerated or encouraged, but passionately insisted upon with tremendous chutzpah. In some parts of America even the mere display of the American Flag by our citizens is considered intolerant.

In an environment increasingly hostile to the symbols of Americana while tolerant of those of a growing Islamicana consider that some of America’s greatest citizens and builders of this country in Italian-Americans who celebrated in grand style Columbus Day now find the holiday and the legacy of Christopher Columbus under attack by a group calling upon Americans to ‘Reconsider Columbus Day’.  Similarly, the Twin Towers Alliance which remains the conscience and soul of the metropolis serves as  a reminder that even the most significant political leader in New York, one with in depth business experience, will exert political pressure to come to the aid of  the Cordoba Initiative’s effort to build a mega mosque at Ground Zero, ignoring common sense and what transpired there on 9/11,  focus on abolishing consumption of sugary drinks and banning smoking in Times Square and in all parks, plaza’s and beaches and outdoor spaces, but will  not engage in the fight for America to restore itself by rebuilding  modern, stronger and New Twin Towers For A New America. Have some of our so called “leaders” forgotten what country we are in or is their moral posturing in pursuit of an entirely different dividend?  Seriously, what the  phuck is going on here?

Manufacturing is gone. Outsourcing has and continues to be all the rage. All we seem to be doing is exporting jobs and importing unskilled workers across the Rio Grande and  Muslims empowered with a radical, totalitarian ideology of Islamic Supremacism antithetical to the existing framework of American society.   When will we come to terms and recognize that this ideology and its leadership is hell bent on the destruction of American Society?  The bottom line: Islam is at War with the United States and we need to recognize that.  I am hardly Bill the Butcher guarding the mainland for the natives but this is really sort of getting ridiculous that defending any aspect of our culture or limiting immigration, given that so many of our own citizen are already out of work, is considered a radical idea as is wearing or pledging allegiance to the flag. Seriously, what the  phuck is going on here?

Given the state of the American Economy relative to our Chinese counterparts and the lack of meaningful answers or approaches by our politicians, both Democrats and Republican’s, many of whom are far too busy feeding at the trough of internationalists themselves to be concerned about the plight of the average American citizen even while they focus primarily on enabling massive media manipulation and distraction to confuse the masses and diffuse the brewing revolution, MY PLAN IS AS FOLLOWS:

I am buying a bicycle, flying to Shanghai, opening a “hole in the wall” American food joint, will personally make deliveries and stuff American Food Menu’s under Chinese people’s doors to grow my enterprise. Eventually…… I hope to live the Chinese version of the American dream…… My lack of Chinese language skills is hardly relevant. I will learn enough to speak in broken Chinenglish. That plan worked here for so many Chinese so I can expect it will work similarly for me over there.

"American Gothic" by artist Grant Wood

This past weekend as has been customary for me for the last several years I have stayed in my beloved metropolis to celebrate Independence Day. After the mass exodus of vacationers heads off to the Hamptons and points along Route 27 on the East End of Long Island, including Shelter Island, and others to Summer vacation destinations in the New York region and vicinity: Bedford, Catskills, Finger Lakes, Historic Hudson River Towns, Woodstock, Saratoga, Lake Placid, Litchfield, Ct., Jersey Shore, the veritable solitude of city life and long strolls in Central Park is refreshing.  While there is so much to love in all parts of New York City and New York State, my jaunts have been more local to barbecues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Douglaston, Queens.

Current economic conditions have led to a retro Americana like movement with our people staying closer to home and spending their disposable income and vacation funds in and around the United States in a more traditional and humble manner.  The way I see some of my friends spending time with family in places like Historic Cornwall on the Hudson River and Warwick in Orange County, reminds me of a bygone era when the comfort of family was more relished than glamourous options and opportunities elsewhere. Even many of those who are not staying entirely local head to points further north and south, including the Berkshires, Newport (Rhode Island), Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard (Massachusetts),  Block Island and the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland. It reminds me that the Northeast United States is one of the most under rated places in the world to spend the Summer, a number of these places readily accessible and only a boat ride or water taxi away from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and that includes a short ferry ride to Staten Island. The only sadness for me and my friends and family further South is that from reports online there has been  decline of vacationers along the beaches in the Gulf Coast region due to BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The East End of Long Island is still, however, a huge draw, and those that I know are heading out that way in these curious, if not introspective times are doing their socializing more intimately, around the homestead, with a bit less glitz and glam (or so they tell me). I have also been inspired to look inward and socialize more intimately with close friends and family.  Enjoying some cold Iced Tea and a barbecue in my brothers backyard in Douglaston has thus far been the highlight of my summer. Those who publish magazines highlighting the social whirl, however, have patrons and sponsors to feed, entertain and publicize in  these summer months and hence their festivities may sometimes rankle the ire of those who see the commercialism around the nightlife industry as a tad to crass for their community. Some, however, would rather  “Live and Die” in the Hamptons at any cost and while there are so many beautiful spots on the East End, all you need is a day in Sagaponack while drinking some Wolffer Estate Vineyards Rose to understand the addiction.

On Saturday, July 3rd Christopher Koulouris, the Editor of Scallywag & Vagabond, texted and then called me while he was out on the East End of Long Island with a rather startling report. The Scallywag left Brooklyn and went to the Hamptons to cover some events, including a Bridgehampton Pop-Up Art Party with the final destination to be the Social Life Magazine party hosted by Publisher Justin Mitchell and Editor Devorah Rose at the Social Life Estate to celebrate the July Cover Model Kelly Killoren Bensimon from the Real Housewives of New York City who reportedly attended  the party with Jill Zarin.  Mr. Koulouris and his friends were apparently greeted by a scene out of “Annie Get Your Gun.”

Christopher Koulouris: Christopher where are you? I arrived here at the Social Life Estate only to be confronted by a mad woman wielding a shotgun, what in the bloody hell is going on?

Christopher London: …….Jesus, you’re kidding right?

Christopher Koulouris: I am serious man. There is a woman here with a shotgun.

Christopher London: I am here in Manhattan bro. I never made the trip out East. Don’t ya know how wonderful Manhattan is when everyone leaves…even when it’s nearly 100 degrees? Look at the bright side. The Second Amendment is alive and well, even in the Hamptons, an enclave of neo liberal elitism.

Christopher Koulouris: This is crazy man. Why does this happen?

Christopher London: As anyone who has covered or visited the Hamptons for years or read Steven Gaines book, Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons, knows there has been a long history of uneasy blending of old society and new money.  The locals, whether it be those who have lived and worked there year around or those who have lived there seasonally for generations have a rather contentious relationship both non home owners (seasonal renters) who “Summer in the Hamptons” with their families and at times a borderline hostile relationship with the “Other Half Who Hamptons” (which author Jasmin Rosemberg has written about). This other half run and join share houses. Many locals will tell you it is the big parties of these philistines that disturb the peace and calm in their local community. In fairness to local homeowners on the East End, many who live year round, they often have to deal with having 100-200 or more cars parked around the streets leading to their property, late night noise and drunken people stumbling out in the middle of the night heading off to the clubs. Over the years I have attended a number of these huge Hamptons House parties, run by club owners and other private citizens on the East End of Long Island. On a few occasions I have pulled up in car only to be greeted by a hostile neighbor telling me not park my car near their property line. So while I have witnessed anger and certainly recognize the reasons therefore, I have never had a shotgun aimed in my direction. [In terms of full disclosure, I only got about half way through this historical analysis before Christopher Koulouris cut me off]

Christopher K: Staring down the barrel of a shotgun is just too high a cover charge if you ask me. Thanks for the historical dissertation but I got to go.

All I could think was maybe the lady was there guarding Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Social Life Magazine’s July 4^th Cover Model? Apparently the pitchfork wielding crowd may have put down their pitch fork for a more efficient killing device or at least one which is more effective at getting the attention of and driving away urban philistines. One might wish to keep in mind that these philistines, however, do have an economic impact on the local economy. Many a shop owner, Realtor and restaurant owner who make a living off the summer influx to the East End would clearly not want to discourage return visits from those who vacation and spend money here, and this says nothing of the First Amendment related issues surrounding the right to assemble peacefully, which gives me pause if a fine was issued to the proprietors of the Social Life Estate rather than a simple arrest of a woman wielding a shotgun.

For more on the party at the Social Life Estate, see:

-Devorah Rose, Kelly Bensimon, Jill Zarin and the lady on the front lawn with a shotgun.

-Social Life Magazine July 4th Party (photos)

-Radaronline: Frenemies Kelly Bensimon and Jill Zarin get cozy at the Social Life Magazine party at The Social Life Estate.

Epilogue: What would be most critical to know is (a) how the shotgun wielding woman was handled by local police, whether she was a homeowner in the area (or not), the use of deadly force in defense of property is illegal in New York State and that even assumes she was truly defending her property rather than defending her preference for more peace and quiet and that ain’t exactly self defense (b) administering fines for peaceful gatherings may be one way to raise revenue and insure that gatherings disperse but whether it is right is another thing, especially if such fines are administered selectively against a certain class of people exclusively.