Mood:  sharp

What Antifa Is, What It Isn’t, and Why It Matters

To understand why Antifa has become a popular bogeyman for some public officials, it is critical to understand what the group is, what it isn't, and why it matters.
 https://warontherocks.com/2020/06/what-antifa-is-what-it-isnt-and-why-it-matters/

Reposted here - http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2020/10/439599.shtml

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As senior citizen Martin Gugino was lying in his hospital bed, suffering from a subdural hematoma, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to suggest that Gugino "could be an ANTIFA provocateur."

One day earlier, two Buffalo, New York, police officers shoved Gugino, leaving him bleeding from his ear. What led the president to believe that Gugino — a 75-year-old and lifelong peace activist — was a member of Antifa, a highly decentralized movement of anti-racists who seek to combat neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and far-right extremists whom Antifa's followers consider "fascist"?

A week and a half before the incident involving Gugino, in the midst of the protests convulsing the country after the murder of George Floyd, Trump announced on Twitter that "The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization."

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General William Barr claimed that so-called far-left extremists groups were to blame for the violence at the demonstrations, accusing Antifa of "domestic terrorism" while presenting no evidence. A recent review of those individuals arrested on federal charges shows no links to Antifa. While this finding may change as investigations progress, the lack of an Antifa "terrorism" connection comes as little surprise to terrorism analysts who have been tracking domestic terrorism threats, including neo-Nazi groups such as the Atomwaffen Division and the Rise Above Movement.

So, why are the Trump administration and the attorney general so obsessed with Antifa?

The Antifa label has become a political cudgel wielded by politicians who are more intent on demonizing political opponents and framing terrorism as a partisan issue than on countering the most dangerous groups operating on U.S. soil. After all, Atomwaffen has murdered several American citizens and had its members arrested with bomb-making materials, while Antifa has smashed store windows and engaged in street brawls.

To understand why Antifa has become a popular bogeyman for some public officials, it is critical to understand what the group is, what it isn't, and why it matters.

To do so, we draw on interviews that one of us conducted with a handful of activists who identified themselves as anti-fascists or anarchists, along with studies and documents written by activists and supporters. Given Antifa's atomized, amorphous structure, our respondents' comments should not be interpreted as representing the anti-fascist or anarchist position. In fact, there is no single anti-fascist or anarchist position — a point that was made to us early on by a long-time activist who identifies as an anarchist anti-racist:

One thing I want to be clear on is when I'm speaking it's never from a position, like, "This is the anarchist platform." Anarchism allows for absolute personal freedom ... There's no anarchist spokesperson who's gonna be like, "This is the anarchist platform on this issue," because it's so broad.

What Is Antifa?

Contrary to how it is often portrayed in the media, Antifa — short for anti-fascist — is not a single organization. Rather, it is a loose network of groups and individuals who coordinate their anti-racist activism on an ad hoc basis in different areas both within and outside the United States.

Antifa has no centralized leadership structure or formalized membership. In the United States, some anti-fascist groups share ideas by participating in the Torch Network, which evolved out of the old Anti-Racist Action Network. But, neither the Torch Network nor popular anarchist websites such as It's Going Down and CrimethInc. exert any command and control over local activists. Instead, like-minded supporters coordinate autonomously — typically in small, tight-knit groups — with other activists they know and trust. Internal decision-making is based on group consensus and direct democracy. Activists communicate face to face and through social media and encrypted apps like Signal. These and other operational security practices are meant to protect activists from unwanted attention by the police and white supremacists.

Such secrecy complicates efforts to estimate the size of the Antifa movement in the United States. Just as supporters do not become "card-carrying" members, local groups do not publicize their numbers. In some cities — such as Berkeley, California, and Portland, Oregon — local chapters are active and well organized. Nationally, however, the movement is small and dispersed. According to Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a historical and comparative study of the movement based on his interviews with 61 anti-fascists in North America and Europe, Antifa has about "five to 15 members" in most American cities where it operates. Given the movement's small size, Bray is skeptical about Antifa's ability to direct the nation-wide protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have erupted across the United States in recent weeks:

If antifa on its own could orchestrate a national campaign of burning down police stations and burning down malls, they would have done it years ago ... They agree with these kinds of actions. But the number of people involved is so small.

Despite the small size of the Antifa movement, its members do not follow a single ideology. Anti-fascists express political beliefs commonly associated with the far-left end of the political spectrum. Such beliefs include different varieties of anarchism, communism, and socialism. Historically, anti-fascism has been associated with the larger anarchist movement. More recently, many key organizers behind the Anti-Racist Action Network and other groups have drawn on anarchist ideas in coordinating their activism. Even today, many anti-fascists follow anarchist principles.

Such overlap makes it difficult to distinguish anarchism from anti-fascism. Yet, they are not identical. One important difference can be found between their views on the state. Anarchists believe that governments throughout the world repress their citizens through authoritarian laws, institutions, and practices. For human beings to be truly free, they maintain, existing governments must be replaced by local, voluntary associations that organize social and economic life through direct democracy and mutual aid.

Many anti-fascists do not share such strong anti-statist views, even if they are deeply skeptical of law enforcement and security agencies. Anti-racists who identify with Antifa would like to see major police reforms, but they do not necessarily wish to abolish all government institutions. Nor do they share anarchists' faith in running contemporary societies and economies entirely through local voluntary associations and networks. These "liberal anti-fascists" want to combat white supremacism using the institutions of democratic states and societies, including progressive political parties and independent news media. They downplay ideology and focus on their practical mission: stopping white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and other racists from organizing and propagating their views in public. As one activist explained to us in an interview, "Anyone ... who is against Nazis or against fascism is anti-fascist. Many, many people are anti-fascists." In other words, Antifa is as complex and diverse as the like-minded individuals who coordinate in small local groups under its collective banner.

Finally, anti-fascists do not practice a single protest tactic. Activists' "repertoires of contention" include a mix of violent and non-violent practices. As Bray describes in his book, parts of which read like a "how-to" manual on anti-fascist activism, supporters create websites, write articles, post videos, distribute leaflets, and organize public events. They expose and intimidate white supremacists by "doxxing" them, publishing their private information on the Internet in order to embarrass them, build support against them, and — whenever possible — get them fired from their jobs. At protests, some anti-racists, taking a page from their anarchist counterparts, form "black blocs," especially when they expect to scuffle with the police or confront white supremacists. In these formations, protestors wear black clothes and masks to create a more intimidating presence and make it harder for the police to identify individuals for arrest and prosecution.

In the United States, anti-racists have organized under the Antifa banner for over a decade. The oldest existing American anti-racist group, Rose City Antifa, was founded in Portland in 2007 after local anti-racists shut down Hammerfest, the skinhead music festival. However, the larger movement traces its lineage — and name — back to anti-fascist groups that battled Adolf Hitler's Brownshirts in Germany, Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts in Italy, and fascist groups in other European countries in the 1930s. Fifty years later, the movement experienced a resurgence as punk music fans and other anti-racists fought to counter the neo-Nazi skinhead movement in Europe and the United States.

An important feature of the anti-fascist movement's history remains relevant today. Antifa exists in symbiosis with the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other racists it confronts. The movement's presence and level of activism tend to rise and fall with the fortunes of its far-right opponents. The rise of the white nationalist "alt-right" movement and the election of Trump in 2016 energized anti-fascists in the United States.

In the year after Trump's election, Antifa's activism spiked.

First came the violent demonstrations immediately before and during Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. Alongside larger, mostly peaceful protests, an anti-fascist black bloc smashed storefront windows, vandalized ATMs, and set a limousine on fire. The following month, Antifa activists and other protesters spray-painted graffiti, broke windows, and threw Molotov cocktails during a demonstration at the University of California, Berkeley, to prevent the alt-right provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, from speaking. Then, in August 2017, anti-fascists fought white supremacists and neo-Nazis at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ended in tragedy when a white supremacist drove his car into a group of anti-racist protesters, killing one and injuring more than 30 others.

The intensity of these "direct actions" reflects many Antifa supporters' belief that Trump is a fascist demagogue who threatens the existence of America's pluralistic, multi-racial democracy. This factor helps explain why such Antifa supporters are so quick to label the president's "Make America Great Again" supporters as fascists — and why Trump is so quick to label Antifa as a terrorist organization.

Antifa's Views on Violence

Much of Antifa's activism relies on non-violent tactics such as community organizing, letter-writing campaigns, and doxxing. But, some supporters — especially those who hold anarchist views — also engage in physical violence. This approach includes spontaneous violence against property and the physical assault of people, like "punching a Nazi in the face," which happened to another alt-right figure, Richard Spencer, during the Trump inauguration protests.

Antifa activists believe that violence and confrontation are necessary to prevent white supremacists and other "fash" from organizing public events where they could spread their beliefs and recruit new supporters. They also believe it works, citing examples like Spencer's announcement that "Antifa is winning" after activists fought his supporters during a speech he gave in March 2018 at Michigan State University. Lamenting anti-fascists' willingness "to go further than anyone else ... [with] violence, intimidating, and general nastiness," Spencer announced that he was suspending his public speaking engagements at public universities.

Anti-fascists celebrate such announcements as proof that they are taking the "fun out of fascism." And, they dismiss critics' concerns that they are blocking Spencer's and other opponents' right to free speech by countering that neo-Nazis and white supremacists are not interested in free speech. Instead, they are interested in accumulating power in order to build a white ethno-state. The only way to prevent the rise of fascism, anti-fascists insist, is to stop white supremacists from spreading their views — by force if necessary. "The point ... is not to give them a platform," explains another Antifa activist. "You don't give fascism a platform because once you give it a platform, it becomes normalized ... Sometimes you have to use direct action to stop it because protesting, signs, yelling is not going to do anything. You have to make them afraid."

Is Antifa a Terrorist Organization?

Given its use of violent tactics and desire to scare white nationalists, should Antifa be labeled a terrorist organization? Consistent with the U.S. State Department's definition of terrorism, does Antifa engage in premeditated violence against specific targets in order to coerce or terrorize a wider audience, typically a government or society, in pursuit of some political goal?

The short answer is "No." As we have discussed, Antifa is not a single organization. If Antifa is not an organization, then it cannot be a terrorist organization — nor would designating it as one have much effect. In accordance with the movement's lack of centralized authority, there is no single Antifa position regarding political violence. For every Antifa activist or group that supports violence, others do not, seeing it as counter-productive and even illegitimate. "Not all Antifa groups are pro-violence," explains an Antifa activist we interviewed. He elaborated:

A lot of times these groups get labeled as gangs or terrorists. Terrorism. It's so easy to throw that word around. Say that word and then all of a sudden that person, that group, that movement is now demonized in the public's eyes because they are supposedly creating terror.

Of course, individuals and groups that lack centralization and formal organization can and do carry out terrorist attacks. One historical example is particularly relevant to our discussion. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, violent anarchists, acting alone and in small groups, carried out terrorist bombings and assassinations in Europe and the United States. While most activists in the larger anarchist movement did not engage in political violence — and some of the terrorists labelled "anarchists" were not, in fact, anarchists — this "first wave" of modern terrorism sealed anarchism's association with terrorism in the public mind. One legacy of this association concerns facile attempts to demonize anarchists and anti-fascists as terrorists without considering the facts involved in specific incidents. Rather than simply labeling Antifa as a "terrorist organization" to score points with certain constituencies, a better approach might be to consider whether individuals and small groups have conducted terrorism in the name of Antifa.

Contemporary anti-fascists clearly seek to intimidate their "fascist" adversaries by doxxing them and physically confronting them at protests. However, shoving white nationalists to the ground, punching them in the face, or hitting them with sticks does not constitute the level of violence typically associated with terrorism. If it does, then we must ask whether the targets of these efforts, who often give as violently as they get, are also engaged in terrorism.

These physical confrontations are better understood as spontaneous clashes between Antifa supporters and their white supremacist rivals, including the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Bois. When they spiral out of control, these brawls can quickly deteriorate into melees or riots. But, these incidents are not pre-planned terrorist attacks instigated by one actor against another. Nor do these clashes spark fear and dread in a wider audience beyond the immediate victims of the violence. Trump and his supporters do not likely feel "terrorized" by these street clashes. In fact, the president has willingly exploited this low-level violence to rally his supporters and raise funds for his re-election campaign.

However, not all anti-fascist violence is limited to batons and fisticuffs. On occasion, Antifa supporters have escalated their violence — particularly in Europe, where anarchists and anti-fascists tend to be more aggressive. In Greece, supporters from the local anti-fascist movement shot and killed two members from the far-right Golden Dawn party in retaliation against the murder of a popular anti-fascist rapper.

Fortunately, the Antifa movement in the United States has been less violent than its European counterpart. Yet, there are examples of American anti-fascists escalating their violence beyond shoving and fistfights. Last July, Willem Van Spronsen attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma, Washington, with a rifle and incendiary devices. Before he could cause much damage, the 68-year-old man was shot and killed by the police. After his death, a manifesto was posted in Van Spronsen's name on It's Going Down and other anarchist websites. In his manifesto, Van Spronsen identified himself as an Antifa supporter ("I am antifa"), railed against the Trump administration's policy of detaining illegal immigrants ("fascist hooligans preying on vulnerable people in our streets"), and called for violent resistance against the government ("I strongly encourage comrades and incoming comrades to arm themselves. We are now responsible for defending people from the predatory state").

These examples illustrate how Antifa's violence could escalate to terrorism or guerrilla warfare if it is channeled into a more organized, sustained, and bloody campaign. If anti-fascists started bombing buildings with explosives or gunning down Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and white supremacists in the streets, it would make sense to consider such incidents terrorism. But that's not what we are seeing — at least so far. Though sucker-punching someone in the face is certainly violent, it's not terrorism.

Interestingly, any push to terrorism among Antifa supporters would likely be met by opposition from within the movement. Many activists who accept the moral necessity of violence against what they see as an inherently violent "fascist" state balk at the prospect of indiscriminate violence against innocent civilians. A veteran anarchist and Antifa supporter, whom we interviewed, drew a sharp distinction between legitimate and illegitimate violence:

There's extremists that think, "Okay, if I go bomb something, that's legitimate." That to me is insane because it doesn't accomplish anything and it always harms innocent people ... You want to use violence to push back against violence being perpetrated against you. So the more the state pushes against you, you have the right to push back.

When asked to clarify what sort of extremists he had in mind, he mentioned the so-called "Cleveland Five," who reportedly plotted to blow up a bridge in Detroit during the Occupy movement. While noting that the plot itself was "pushed" along by the FBI's use of a confidential informant, our interviewee stressed that, had the bombing succeeded, the resulting violence would have been unacceptable: "That's not legitimate. That's not smart. That's not valid ... wanting violence for violence's sake is evil."

It is hard to imagine this and other activists remaining enthusiastic anti-fascists if the movement were to engage in widespread, indiscriminate violence against their fellow citizens. Escalating to such violence would likely weaken Antifa as erstwhile supporters decide the movement has gone too far. Yet, short of this violent trajectory, it is hard to imagine classifying Antifa — with any degree of accuracy — as a terrorist organization.

Why Does It Matter?

Few believe that Trump will actually move forward with designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. For starters, there have been few recorded incidents of actual violence linked to the movement aside from vandalism and fistfights. By that metric, any neighborhood gang would similarly qualify as a domestic terrorism threat. Though the United States does not have a domestic terrorism law, there is an underlying statute that the president could use to sanction Antifa. Trump could conceivably create a new executive order to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist group, which has never happened before in the history of the country. However, if Trump is serious about designating a domestic terrorist group for the first time, there is a litany of groups, as previously mentioned, that would make more sense than Antifa.

In all likelihood, just as he did after threatening to designate Mexican drug-trafficking cartels as terrorist organizations in November 2019, Trump will relent on Antifa as the protests ebb and the movement becomes a less controversial issue for his base ahead of the November 2020 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Trump's suggestion that Martin Gugino, the Catholic social justice advocate from Buffalo, is an Antifa activist has been linked to Russian disinformation. Yet even more concerning than the president tweeting conspiracy theories that could have their origins in Russian disinformation campaigns is his continued politicization of terrorism.

Trump damages the legitimacy of American democracy when he insists that his political opponents are terrorists when they are not. However distasteful Antifa's activism is, spontaneous street brawls are not the same as terrorism. Today the president willingly applies this label to Antifa. What is to prevent him from doing the same in the future to other activist groups that protest against him and his supporters, such as Black Lives Matter?

Policymakers must decide which terrorism threats are the most serious and, carefully prioritize them for designation based on facts — not politics. In the case of Antifa, the facts suggest that anti-fascism is not a clear and present terrorist threat in the United States, no matter how much the president may wish otherwise.



Michael Kenney is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Colin P. Clarke is a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center and an associate fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague.

 https://warontherocks.com/2020/06/what-antifa-is-what-it-isnt-and-why-it-matters/

Posted by Joe Anybody at 1:14 PM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 31 October 2020 1:16 PM PDT

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Mood:  irritated

A reply I sent to an email I recieved that mentioned windows broken and a statue toppled in Portland by protesters. 

(windows broken statue toppled)

(the guy who gave up)

Posted by Joe Anybody at 11:44 AM PDT

Updated: Monday, 12 October 2020 11:53 AM PDT

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Mood:  don't ask

                                     *******

I wanna subscribe to Chandler's You Tube Channel! Click Here
or paste:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSOeQauM6Y0UM4OT4lQwdIA?view_as=subscriber

Posted by Joe Anybody at 1:06 PM PDT

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Mood:  a-ok

We use this sentence very often in our life. How can we use it less?

This is worth listening to. There are afew tips and insight on what is important in our life and what do we pend our time doing.

A zen perspective--> https://youtu.be/vmwf-9w1O9A

Posted by Joe Anybody at 9:53 AM PDT

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Mood:  chillin'

Save this link here -->

 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. Woke up around 7:30 AM - thats too early - so I took a nap at noon - Back up relaxing in the back yard listening to music and looking at the one (lone) male duck (again) he follows his female buddy so closly that it seems odd to find him swimming in the pool alone

2. Got all my supplies purchased from the store for the cmping trip, another friend will be going with us - plenty of room up there to keep our social distance

3. Listened to Dragnet on Old Time Radio - Youtube) - 30 min program

4. Paid some bills and stared at my budget for what seemed like endless minutes

5. Went through an old box of tapes that I had lost track of...it had over 150 Grateful Dead cassets in it ..WOW...nice find - blew off the dust and repacked them - Not loosing track of these.... this time

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1. Planning on camping at Shady Grove for the NEXT 3 nights and getting the cabin roof and door put on - Gonna have to look over my notes and some YouTube videos  how to do it - in order to be refreshed and confident. Lee is going with me we are driving in his truck full of supplies  

2. Wondering if I will be able to post to my 555 Social DIstancing blog when Im off grid m-th? I can get a cell signal in certain areas on my property ...its more of the uploading to the internet with my cell phone that might be cumbersome...we will find out tomorrow,

3. The Art Museum posts the info on the news ...that they are closed for a few months and are giving the staff a chance to use up their sick /vacation hours here is the article https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2020/04/portland-art-museum-puts-staff-on-unpaid-leave-hopes-to-reopen-this-summer.html

4. First watch this 4 min video that is pertiant to our time at hand then check out Micky Hart _{one of the drummers} from the Grateful Dead https://youtu.be/ngr11ygtXC8  ...announces ‘Shakedown Stream’ Archive Concert Webcasts  --- Here is that new streaming website link

5. Still Positive Thoughts !! And waiting for the curve to flatten - We are in this together

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. Camping Time at Shady Grove

2. Picture of a weed / COVID19 T-shirt my friend sent me

3. Relaxing on the wall

4. Art Museum Grand Ballroom - view from a boom-lift near the ceiling looking down

5. my Tent at Shady Grove - ran the picture thru a software manipulation

Posted by Joe Anybody at 4:35 PM PDT

Updated: Sunday, 12 April 2020 11:38 PM PDT

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Mood:  suave

Save this link here -->

 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. Got up early - evryone is still asleep here at my house, I made some coffee working on this 555 Blog (It takes a good ammount of time daily to do all this blogy blog blog stuff every day by golly - hmmmmm!?)

2. Worked on my website for the Shady Grove Newsletter - If you already have the link WELL then you can see the newsletter --> E-mail me for the link - I kind of try to keep it realitivly current and updated      _{PLEASE KEEP IT PRIVATE} 

3. Been cloudy all day (Saturday) - so far I have been staying inside w/ random walks to the backyard - its 54 degrees and cloudy at noon in Portland - I seen some patches of sunhine around 4PM- Both ducks were back today. We didnt see the female for one day

4. Watched this 12 minute ^{COVID info} YouTube video on how to make a homemade mask and Why its important when going out in public - Good Info - Good Ideas #MASKup

5.  I finally uploaded my taxes (I am getting a refund thank goodness) It took a bit of navigating online and waiting on HOLD for 35 minutes (_HELP) for an HR Block rep tell me how to get out of the free version and move to the version I needed (93$) - Once I got the advise it was a peice of cake and its now done

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1. COVID Peak Level ? Are we reaching it ? ^{["...At the national level we seem to be pretty much close to the peak"].}  The news says we might be getting close

2. Around 5 or 6 years ago a published a STREET GARBAGE blog - nothing too exciting, and actually kinda gross and disgusting. Damn city life and people who could care less created some visuals for me to document. Kind of fun n interesting to look back on it. Just so you know things in these areas have not not improved in 2020 LOL THEY ARE WORSE!!  - Oh well ^(sigh) Shady Grove is trash free http://www.joeanybody.com/streetgarbage

3. I watch this guys YouTube channel from Russia - he is usually doing Off Grid stuff and Survial Bushcraft type stuff - Check out his latest 11 minute video with over 5K views titled: Covid-19 In Russia | How It Really Is

4. Can you believe this crap: The title should be SICK & TWISTED MONEY WASTED ON USA HATE POLICY The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Trump administration wasted nearly $70 million over a period of five months to jail fewer than 70 people at a tent city in Tornillo, Texas last year, including shelling out over $5 million for hundreds of thousands of meals that were never actually ordered because there were no detainees. We know mass detention has always been cruel and unnecessary—and as the report also shows, a complete waste of your money and mine. LINK

5. The beans for beef scenario is, it seems, upon us. If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef.  With one dietary change, the U.S. could almost meet greenhouse-gas emission goals. LINK

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. A cart left on a street corner, This picture is from my STREET GARBAGE blog 2014

2. Uncle Sam wraps his loving arms around Cuba

3. A drive to Goldendale - Columbia Gorge

4. Oh Starsky.... where have you gone?

5. Oregon Country Fair - picture of a metal plate with a nice message

Posted by Joe Anybody at 9:37 AM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 3 October 2020 1:19 PM PDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Save this link here -->

 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. Sunshine - Sitting in the sun all day - I set up a cot in the back yard and took a short nap - Wow with my eyes closed .... it fealt like I was suntanning at the beach 

2. Raked up another batch of Maganolia leaves from the front yard. Looks better. I also just like yesterday, sat in the sun and listened to lots of music through out the day

3. I listened (you can find this link for the program below under my 5 Ideas set ) to the Ralph Nader radio show on Health Care for All #singlepayer

4. Filed Lees Taxes w/ H&R Block - and started on mine 

5. I got new today from my job --> I can use my 500-ish hours of sick pay and vacation hours that I have saved up, to keep a paycheck coming till August - thats a big relief due to the Museum being closed most likely into Fall - Im glad they are letting me (us) use all those sick pay hours I saved up - Another deep breath .... as the thoughts of a long summer vacation slowly seeps into my bloodstream.

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1.  The Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Recorded in Jan 2020 this is sooooo aplicable today Holy Cow Ralph when is Congress gonna wake up and give us Mediacare for all (health care topic radio program) https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/the-king-of-everything/

2.  Oh say its not so (Feb news story) --> The Horn of Africa, one of the world's most impoverished regions, is being ransacked by billions of tiny invaders.

3. Bob Dylan's New ^{17-Minute Long} Number One Hit : "Murder Most Foul"

4.  The Shortwave Report is worth listening to (as I have mentioned before) - Here is the latest link 4/10/20 to this anti-war World News independent broadcast using only solar power to produce it - from California (off grid) http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2020/04/438428.shtml

5. Im kinda getting use to (SIP) sitting around the house all day  --> and  keeping track of what all is going on around here during the day and putting my 2 cents into everything.

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. Tax paper insanity

2.  No Borders No Nations - I like the concept

3.  Capitalism banner

4.  Relaxing at the Beach

5. Fencing at the Oregon Country Fair  #woodart

Posted by Joe Anybody at 6:34 PM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 3 October 2020 1:21 PM PDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Save this link here -->

 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. SIP - in my backyard and my front yard for most of the daylight hours

2. Listened to lots of music (Jazz and the Greatful Dead) 

3. Read some news articles and and watched [my] daily video on the virus pandimic - looking for good news

4. Watched for the return of the mother duck - to the pool - the male duck was alone today? We are all worried now!

5. Went on a drive to get a dryer hose for FREE on Craigslsist but somebody already got it. Oh well it was a nice sunny morning drive, good to get out and see some scenery

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1. Was thinking I would buy about 60$ of canned soups and stews and other type of canned vegetables and beans for a sad rainy day in the future JUST IN CASE. I have nothing stockpiled 

2. I started wearing a light face covering mask when I go out in public - just started doing it today

3.  Doing lots of (random) short meditaion / deep breaths - feels good and peaceful when ever I do this. Usually... I dont do this for very long but I like the results

4. Planning a trip to Shady Grove on Lee's (next) 2 days off (This Monday & Tuesday) - we are both getting excited

5. Was thinking about cleaning the pool then I dismissed the idea when I thought of the duck(s) - If the ducks leave I am 1/2 tempted to paint it and fill it for these SIP times

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. Vote for Nobody T shirt - The 2 party system has ruined Democrarcy

2. My icy drink is beside the bike sign [that somehow ended up in my backyard]

3. My FREE pallet of cable and heavy wire for rigging - Im gonna rig up a zip line or some tree to tree rigging with all this heavy duty stuff - Good tow chains for hauling old RVs through the shady trees 

4. Daydreaming SG / Jug style

5.Picture of my favorite coffee mug that just recently fell and cracked - This picture is from a previous family reunion. 

Posted by Joe Anybody at 6:17 PM PDT

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Mood:  lazy

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 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. Figured out the washing maching problem - If I set it and leave it, it will work fine, if I touch the dial or mess with the settings once it has started it glitches and so do I (LOL) - I do nothing and its fixed. So I washed another 5 loads of everything I could find

2. I spent endless seeming hours outside (all day) - mostly n the sunshine - listening to Mt Hood Jazz 89.1 FM (radio streaming link)

3. Assitsed Stephan in clearing my side desk for this big fish 50 gallon tank he installing in my room - Today Steph cleaned the tank really good outside n the front yard and the tank is now in my room (big plans he has)

4. Drove 10 miles this afternoon to get my 2 big bags of sawdust [FREE] from my woodworking cabinet making / connection for using on my compost system(s) and for sprinkling on the trails out at Shady Grove - This guy has an endless supply of sawdust for me - heck I could go into the compost cover-up supply business

5. Folding tons of clothes in the evening - listened to OPB radio world news & old time radio programs on the computer and then fell asleep watching old B/W TV shows on YouTube --> like Charlie Chan and Dragnet

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1.  https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/people-often-think-their-gut-s-not-ideal-pandemic-n1179926 Pandemic decision-making: Why Humans aren't wired to understand the coronavirus

2. The curve seems to be getting flatter - so I hear - no large events till end of summer .... that is the rumble I hear in the news chatter, i wonder if that applies to Portland and my job 

3. Around noon I get a notification to check out the news on the COVID from the video news site "DW" - here is the 14 min YouTube video link (info on strict quarantines and threats to Democracy in Germany and Europe and other UK countires) (Also some Conspiracy Theorie info on the new 5G transmissions is at end of clip #Anti5G ) -->  https://youtu.be/uDTEscXp1Po

4. Doing random moments of quite meditation and relaxation to ease the stress and wash away the anxity - need to perfect my zen patience tollerance thresholds and just go with the flow 

5. The ducks have both been stopping in and out throughout the day but I also noticed less little birds lately ove the past few days - who knows why - I do have a couple wood peckers knocking away on the telephone pole.

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. Picture of a cherry tree in bloom in the back yard - you can see a squirrel is in the middle of my picture - probably eyeing my bird feeder

2. Picture of a big 2 foot by 3 foot drain in my back yard - works perfect with the washer. The drain probably is there due to the pool in the back yard.

3. Wind chimes I made that took me a few hours to construct (it) was more detailed and intricate than I imagined even with these Simple Instructions I found here

4. The ready to go - empty fish tank in my room (stay tuned)

5. A bird bath I got of Craigslist for FREE - It is big beautiful and heavy (it has a small leak) I will fix that - I do like it in my front yard but I bet I drag it up to Shady Grove

Posted by Joe Anybody at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 April 2020 12:50 PM PDT

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Mood:  not sure

Save this link here -->

 http://zebra3report.tripod.com/zebra3report

ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CLICK ON ANY DAY OF THE CALENDAR TO READ THAT DAYS REPORT FOR MY 5-5-5 BLOG

5 Things I did that day

1. Got up around 10 AM read some news articles -&- checked my email 

2. Sat around in the back yard - seemed like all day - the sun was nice- I moved inside once the sun went down around 7:30

3. Organized some of my file drawers inside my room - found some old good stuff

4. Listened to some old time radio - this one wasnt to bad 30 mins on YouTube

"The Spencer Brothers" • Classic Western Tale • SUSPENSE   ^{https://youtu.be/UAL9UBwOllk}

5. Day dreaming of going to Shady Grove - but things still on hold for various reason(s) - Hope to get up there next week [if not sooner]

5 Ideas & reoccurring thoughts of mine

1. GITMO is still open with 45 people still locked up with no rights given to them and torture tactic being used and allowed due to no oversight, lies and loopholes. This is insane https://mailchi.mp/closeguantanamo/coronavirus-and-guantanamo

The home page for this group who is working hard for human rights at GITMO is here https://www.closeguantanamo.org/

2. The washing machie worked for about a dozen loads and now it seems it is locked in constant draining (damn) - might as well as take a look deeper to isolate the problem - (Im not doing anything else cant hurt to pretend to be a washer repair guy for a while) 

3. I raked up a bunch of the slippery leaves and flowers from the Magnolia tree - in front of the house and on the porch, it looks much better now (LOL at least for a while till the wind blows)

4. I'm hearing and reading things of hope for May 1st regarding the virus / economy

5. This stay at home is teaching us all how to be patient and at peace with ourselves, when confined and doing nothing day after day. 

5 Pictures of things I have seen or want to pass along to others

1. This picture is: the outside urinal that drains into the compost bin. It drains into Picture #two  - I made this little private area in the back corner of the yard, right by the pool pump equipment. I ran a gutter down sout into the compost bin which is 2 feet way, The other end of that gutter I put a funnel for the user to access as seen in this picture. When done using the homemade urinal, the user takes the spray bottle to spritz a couple sprays of Vinegar water into the funnel which kills the smell. This little system (off grid style) of mine as been going for over 2 years and is not smelly or gross in the slightest bit, with this urinal style set up... I have saved 1,000 of gallons of water (LOL) - dont tell my neighbors

2. The humanure compost bin - This is a two bin sytem....The bin on the left was used for 1 year and now is no longer getting any new product ((beside the feed from the urinal by way of the gutter / funnel set up)) - This bin on the left, sits covered in straw for one year - the contents will break down to composted dirt. (wow) to use around the flower beds, the bin on the right is the one in use now - after one year of dumping buckets into it (the one on the right) (from the compsot toilet set up we have) this bin will then sit for one year with no new product and it will be covered in straw as well. This (off grid) humanure system has worked fine for two years so far... it has no odor no flies no stinking smells at all. There must of been over 10,000 flushes saved by using this system. This bucket system is a simple toilet seat on a bucket - use it for going #1 and #2 then cover up your business by using cups of sawdust. You do this till the bucket is full after a couple weeks - when full you dump it into the outside bin and cover with straw. The bucket in use (with the seat on it) covered in sawdust DOES NOT SMELL - its amazing and hard to belive. We have been doing this for about 2 years now. I do still have my regular toile. 

3. A free work light that was found on my walk yesterday - this baby works fine!

4. My morning coffee and toast and toasted in the backyard around 11AM

5. These sticks will bloom beautifull red / orange flowers in summer, The bees and hummingbirds and butterflies love it. It is in the back yard and looks like its just some sticks now - LOL ...years ago I ripped a bunch of these bush (sticks) out when cleaning & weeding up .... not knowing it was a beautiful bush (yikes)

Posted by Joe Anybody at 8:46 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 7 April 2020 10:45 PM PDT

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