Good Morning. Caucus99. Let' take it one day at a time. All will be good. That's the way I survive. I am offering you a Smörgåsbord this morning. Hmm... salmon ...scambled eggs ... caviar...

Today I am going to be traveling so I will not be able to respond to comments on this thread until late today. This will be a truly Open Thread. But while you are contemplating what you want to post, I am going to post a little music courtesy of one of my favorite song writers/musicians, Darrell Scott. While many of you may have never heard of Darrell Scott, I suspect some of you are familiar with his songs.

Good morning 99percenters!
Morning news dump and music by Arlo Guthrie.

20,000+ Police March In Force Against G7 Protests in Germany
Though more than 20,000 police officers were deployed to keep voice of the people away from powerful leaders, the critiques offered by demonstrators appear highlighted by the enormous efforts made to silence them

Good morning 99percenters!
Morning news dump and music by Hot Tuna.

As Crucial Vote Nears, How Many Dems Will Stand Against Destructive TPP?
As progressive opposition to Fast Track intensifies, Leader Pelosi is conspicuously absent from the fight,' says CREDO Action

With proponents expressing increasing confidence that they have the bipartisan support to pass Fast Track in the House—and Republicans pushing to hold a vote as early as next week and certainly by the end of the month—progressive groups are dialing up the pressure on key lawmakers whose influence they see as critical in the fight over corporate-friendly trade deals.

As many of you already know, I enjoy watching birds come to my bird feeders. I maintain two hanging seed feeders, two pole feeders, and one hummingbird feeder. My two hanging feeders are suspended from the eaves of my house. To fill them, I must lower them to the ground via the lines that suspend them. Generally, these feeders are relatively secure from the squirrels. For a squirrel to raid either of them, it must make a major leap from a nearby tree.

My Weird High School.

I attended High School from 1968-1972 in a small town (about 30,000) in northern Illinois. The Dennis Hastert incident brought this to mind as the school I went to is only about 40 or 50 miles from Yorkville.

Good Morning 99percenters!
Morning news dump and music from REO Speedwagon.

This Saturday morning Open Thread slot is open if someone would like to fill it.

Current NSA Officials Admit Agency Is Drowning In TOO MUCH Info
The Problem Isn’t Too Little Spying … It’s Too Much

Former top NSA officials have repeatedly said that the NSA is collecting TOO MUCH information on Americans to be able to stop terror attacks.

It's Friday!

I have to admit, I have been having difficulty knowing which day of the week I occupy. Leaving the work force is both liberating and disorienting.

Today is one of those special Fridays, the eagle flies today.

Prior to my recent hiatus, I had been posting a series of diaries on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the Wednesday Open Thread. I had intended to post at least one more diary in that series, and will do so as a stand alone diary later this week. Instead I am going to keep this week's Open Thread relatively light as you will read below.

Blog participation and the 90-9-1 rule. -OR- How I learned to quit worrying and embrace the participation inequality.

This isn't my first time for this rodeo. About 10 years ago I created and ran a blog/forum for the Home Owners Association that I lived in. I was the Association President at the time and if you've ever lived in a Association and involved in the politics then you are well aware of what I call the "big fish in a little pond" syndrome and the "I, me, mine" factor. Those darling human traits certainly were not only expressed in the politics but also spilled over into the blog/forum as well as I had to deal with an over abundance of city folks transplanted to the country life that had a hard time making that adjustment. It was then that I researched and became aware of the community participation ratio and learned to quit worrying and embrace the participation inequality.

Summary: In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.

Source