Occupy Wall Street Morphs For Humanity

The Occupy Movement is not only NOT dead, it has morphed into a viable delivery system for help to people. But, know Occupy is not about handing out silver spoons to any and all who seek help. The movement very appropriately recommends people seek help via ‘assistance’ agencies.
Nov 13 2012

However you feel about Occupy Wall Street, you can’t deny the good-hearted mensch-ness of this idea. Some of those nice protesters have created the Rolling Jubilee, a program that will buy distressed debt (medical bills, student loans, etc.) and FORGIVE it. This. Just. Rocks.

Mischa NachtigalMore from Mischa »

Note: If you have a lot of debt, you shouldn’t just default and expect this to save you. They are choosing people at random for this program. If you have a real problem with debt, you should talk to a professional counselor. Here are some resources at the Department of Justice and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

ORIGINAL: By the Rolling Jubilee. Found on How To Sharpen Pencils. If you want to know more about this and how it works, read this article on Slate. If you think this is a good idea and have a few bucks to spare, consider donating to the cause.

Much more on How To Sharpen Pencils Dot Tumblir Dot Com

12 Ways to Tell Occupy Wall St from the Tea Party (Doug’s Dozen VIDEO)

by: DOUGMOLITOR

NOVEMBER 23, 2011 10:41 PM

Fox News’s Megyn Kelly thinks cops pepper-spraying unresisting prisoners isn’t so bad, because after all, it’s “a food product, essentially.”

My advice to Megyn would be first, to spell her name with a normal vowel.  Megyn Price gets a pass because she’s funny, humane, and sexy.  Megyn Kelly is no funnier than she is humane, which is to say not at all.  

My second bit of advice would be not to eat out for a while.  Definitely not at any restaurant where the waiters aren’t her fellow one-percenters.  Look, personally I love the snotty cheerleader act, but I can see where it might wear thin with less-masochistic personalities, even in ordinary circumstances.

And these are exceptionally emotional times.  As might be expected in a country whose populace is just becoming aware that their local peace officers can be turned into corporate goons who cheerfully gas grandmas and pregant women.  

Even if her favorite eatery does not give Megan (see? I’m helping her get over herself) a painful lesson in just how bad that nasty tongue of hers can burn, she may find herself ingesting any number of unsavory “food products” without knowing it.

And then there’s her partner in crimes against humanity, Bill O’Wrongly (I’m pretty sure I have that name right…anyway, who bothers to fact-check anymore?)  Bill, taking time off from his usual job of making viewers less informed than they were before they turned on his show, was the soul of fairness:

“I don’t think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police.”

Well, you didn’t exactly need slo-mo to analyze that play. Office Pike (there’s a Dickensian name for a thug cop, isn’t it?) waddled down the line of unresisting students and carefully sprayed an agonizing, blistering bio-weapon all over them.

Exactly what extenuating circumstance does Bill imagine might excuse this calm, deliberate sadism?

The only conceivable explanation is, that it was the end of a long Laurel-and-Hardy style confrontation, where the protesters kicked him in the shin, ripped his tie, then set fire to his car, while he stood patiently absorbing the indignities, then cocked his hat forward and proceeded to take his turn.  Until that tape shows up, we’ll just have to imagine the hilarity that preceded, and justified, the chemical torture.

Of course, had the police looked cross-eyed at a Tea Party protest, we might have heard a different tune coming out of Billo.  But that’s because there are BIG DIFFERENCES between Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party.  I can think of a Dozen right off.

.

See more Doug’s Dozen lists at www.dougsdozen.com.

And watch Doug’s Dozen videos on FunnyOrDie.  

60 Minutes Reveals Congressional Privilege But ‘Missed The Mark’

Cross Posted from http://www.Addictinginfo.org

’60 Minutes’ Hit On Boehner, Pelosi Falls Short

As city officials all across the nation embark on dismantling Occupy Wall Street protest encampments,  a central grievance of the OWS was broadcast last evening ’60 Minutes’.

The main issue is the potential ‘privilege’ by members of Congress.  While the 60 minutes segment focused on House Speaker Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, HUFFINGTON POST POLITICS, Ryan Grim writes that ’60 Minutes’ was off-the-mark.

A “60 Minutes” investigation of stock trading by members of Congress singled out House Speaker John Boehner and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi as having personally profited from investments into companies whose interests were before Congress. The investigation makes a strong case that members of Congress have the ability to profit in the market from non-public information, but in the cases of Boehner and Pelosi the claims made by “60 Minutes” fall short under scrutiny.

The Grim article states how 60 Minutes portrayed the possibility that both members of Congress benefited from “non-public” information.  If Grim is correct, 60 Minutes producers may have uncovered a serious problem about ‘insider trading’ and how the information privilege may benefit members of Congress.  Grim may have also uncovered serious flaws in the 60 Minutes segment.

Grim writes…. (summaries from 60 Minutes and responses from Boehner and Pelosi spokespeople):

Boehner

The CBS News program flagged Boehner (R-Ohio) for buying health insurance stocks shortly before the public health insurance option was killed as part of health care reform….

A Boehner spokesperson issued the following response to Huffingtion Post.

“The idea that the Republican Leader in the House opposed the ‘public option’ — policy favored by the left of the left — for personal profit is, frankly, stupid,” a GOP aide, who didn’t want to be quoted criticizing CBS, said

Pelosi

“60 Minutes” charges Pelosi with purchasing 5,000 shares of Visa stock as part of an exclusive initial public offering and implies that her financial connection to the credit card industry had something to do with the halting of credit card industry reform……

A Pelosi spokesperson issued the following response to Huffingtion Post.

“Tonight’s report failed to note that the legislation in question in this story was reported out of the Judiciary Committee on October 3, 2008 — the day the House was consumed in passing TARP and also the last day the House was in session before the November election,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said. “It failed to note than in September 2008, the House passed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. In the next Congress, the House and Senate passed and President Obama signed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights and the Dodd-Frank legislation, which included a stronger, more direct approach to addressing swipe fees.”

Spokespeople have to do their jobs even when required to mislead.  I remember many times as a nervous Bush Administration spokesperson went before camera to refute the 2007 Recession. We know that result (admission of the recession in December 2008, after the 2008 Election), but in the case of Boehner and Pelosi their spokespeople may have accurately explained away the 60 Minutes segment ’targets.’

The revelations about the prospect of insider information, and how Congress have exemption for scrutiny is a topic of concern. It is of special interest during a period of social unrest and factual reporting related to the growing income gap and the refusals by Congress to consider taxing the ‘rich’ at a slightly higher than current rate. These are the sorts of inequities which are driving divides between the privileged and those of us who are in the middle class.

The 60 Minutes broadcast may have been flawed in its direct focus on Congressional House leaders.  Do all members of Congress via the course of their work have access to information that provides opportunity for financial again in the equities markets?  One would think so.

The article ends as follows…..

Operatives on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, pointed out to The Huffington Post that Majority Leader Cantor (R-Va.) had dodged the “60 Minutes” bullet. The segment did not mention Cantor, who made several trades in 2005 that have come under scrutiny.

In March 2005, he bought stock in Merck and Encore Medical Corporation. In July, the GOP House passed medical liability reform, which Democrats at the time charged was a gift to Merck, which was under fire for its drug Vioxx, as well as other device makers.

CBS may have pulled its punch because producers worried about access: “60 Minutes” is working on a profile of the Virginia Republican and was with him over the past weekend, and Lesley Stahl will visit him Monday on the Hill, according to a source familiar with the arrangements.

CBS did not respond to requests for comment.

If 60 Minutes has ‘the scoop’ on information that Cantor may have benefited from his position in Congress, how did he draw a ‘pass’ from the broadcast? Is the renowned investigative broadcast team doing itself and the public a disservice?

Who are we to question the veracity and thoroughness of 60 Minutes?  Well, we are citizens who want to see it done right. We want information as accurately and thoroughly as possible. If Boehner and Pelosi are not guilty of benefiting from ‘insider information, 60 Minutes should run a corrective comment related to November 13, broadcast.  If there is a factual prospect that congressional representative have opportunities to advance themselves regarding equities investments, the public should know of the privilege; and it should be stopped.

Grim wrote a statement early in his article that is absolutely cogent to the topic.

But by swinging and missing at Boehner and Pelosi, “60 Minutes” undermined its case.

Despite the prospect of an ‘undermine’ by 60 Minutes, producers said the investigation  should continue.

Wonder if 60 Minutes producers and management will tell the public why they avoided comment about Cantor.   If for sake of an future news story, their is something hypocritical about their  decision to furlough mention of the House Majority Leader.

These are the sorts of greedy failings in people that has parks in the U.S. full of people under the auspices of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Occupy Wall Street Gets a Grassroots Boost..DEMS WAKE-up!

I am extremely pleased to see that a Director and a small team of OWS supporters   have taken a major step in sharing the OWS message.

Tea Party vs Occupy Wall Street Who derives benefit?

A little something off  FaceBook.

No accompanying words necessary.

Tea Party vs Occupy Wall Street Who derives benefit?

A little something off  FaceBook.

No accompanying words necessary.

Occupy Wall Street: Growing to Order?

A group of activists hold a strategy meeting

I wrote earlier about Occupy Wall Street and potential donors.

MSNBC.com is reporting $300,000 in donations and food stuffs housed in a storage space in Manhattan. Verena Dobnik, MSNBC Correspondent, asks a relevant question.

Could this be the peak for loosely organized protesters, united less by a common cause than by revulsion to what they consider unbridled corporate greed? Or are they just getting started?

May I opine? OWS is not at its peak. It has room for growth and it factually has not spread as far as it will spread worldwide. Dobnik asks the question based on the following.

There are signs of confidence, but also signs of tension among the demonstrators at Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the movement that began a month ago Monday. They have trouble agreeing on things like whether someone can bring in a sleeping bag, and show little sign of uniting on any policy issues. Some protesters eventually want the movement to rally around a goal, while others insist that isn’t the point.

An astute observation for sure, but an observation that is endemic in just about any movement that has ‘grassroots.’ Unlike the Tea Party with adroit organization ’men’ like Dick Armey, the OWS has no ordained or anointed leader or leadership team. It also does not seem to have coordinated ’uber’ wealthy donation ’clubs’ to fund their movement. Dobnik’s question is relevant because OWS will have to, if for no other reason size alone, develop some form of organization. Large movements of very intelligent, independent thinking and professional (career) deprived young people will shatter solidarity if the organization cannot issue ‘attainable’ goals and measure results towards those goals. The need for organization and clearly stated goals can be debated all winter, but fact is, group dynamics will start to manifest in any group of 4 or more people.

All groups go through stages of development. Yes, I know you already know about the stages of development , but for sake of opining, I must list them here. 1.) Forming, 2.) Storming, 3.) Norming and 4.) Performing.

The sooner OWS moves through some of the early stages the more effective it will become.

Forming: The OWS is barley into Forming as it isn’t widespread internationally.  If some degree of Forming does not give way to ‘Storming’ with an ‘eye’ on ‘Norming’ and ‘Performing’, the movement will suffer.

Dobnik, if the writer is correct on their examples is reflecting early ‘Storming.’ In a way, that is good because that stage needs to pass before the group stars to ‘Norm’ into a complete viable social movement. The example from Dobnik is very basic interaction among protesters. can you imagine the ‘Forming’ and ‘Storming’ among those who sit in Assembly Meetings as pictured above.\

Want another example from Dobnik’s article….

“We’re moving fast, without a hierarchical structure and lots of gears turning,” said Justin Strekal, a college student and political organizer who traveled from Cleveland to New York to help. “… Egos are clashing, but this is participatory democracy in a little park.”

There is real danger in not moving through the stages effectively. Some form of organization is a must to get to the Performing Stage.

Women’ Suffrage, the Anti-Viet Nam War Movement and the Civil Rights Movement benefited from organization.

If you read the article you will see signs of complete brilliance by unnamed coalition group leaders (who are not leaders)….

The United Federation of Teachers Uni0n has donated the storage space for OWS and they use a bank that is 100% union owned.

Order is coming to OWS, and it is necessary. They have yet to see the full measure of resistance and counter-measures from the Right. Order brought-on via organization will help to build barriers against a seasoned and ‘moneyed’ Right-wing. One last point.

A key victory for OWS would help with support from those who are ‘on the fence’ and just watching the movement.

What do you want?

“We know your grievances but what do you want that can be fixed, now.”

That is the mindset of some who are just sitting back. How about whether OWS wants to support a political candidate as a potential third political party? (Probably not a good idea, but none-the-less a point that might help some understand what they are doing. Or, better yet. let the administration know how it can best align with the movement.)

As stated above, give someone an idea of a measurable  accomplishment or focus on where you are heading  and ‘people will follow’.

Occupy Wall Street Hits Major International Capitals…and Moves Into Time Square (LIVE STREAM)

THIS PAST SATURDAY…..

NYC Times Square, Police at Ready!!!!!

OWS Live Stream…activity in Time Square…..

Gothamist.com is reporting

Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters have now begun filing into Times Square for a massiveOccupation Party, in part to celebrate the spreading of OWS across the globe today. The police have begun setting up barricades to keep the protesters within certain areas, and portions of the sidewalks have become almost impassable.

Despite what looms as potential for violence or brutality, Gothamist is reporting that the mod among the protesters is joyous.  The OWS is celebrating a day when OWS saw simultaneous  groups protest in major international capitals .

While he protesters march and chant, apparently tourists are watching  from behind police barricades.

OWS

According to James Thilman, our reporter at the scene, there are sporatic eruptions of extended cheering between chants: the usuals, such as “banks got bailed out, we got sold out. Whose street our streets,” and, “we are unstoppable, another world is possible.” Police are keeping people-particularly bewildered tourists—on the sidewalks moving, while protesters are confined to large areas in the center of the square, with limited entrances to barricaded area. There are lots of people with tambourines and other instruments, and the crowd continues to grow ever larger.

NYC Police use Horse against proteseters. Did some of Mubarak’s thugs do same?

Time Square Updates:

Update 6:35 p.m.: Reports are coming in that police have started arresting rowdy protesters. There have been reports of mounted policemen pushing back and forth with boxed in protesters—and it seems at least one man ascended a traffic light to flash the peace sign (and now is doing a “mic check”).

Update 6:45 p.m.: NewYorkist tweets that he’s seen, “At least two large NYPD trucks moved into Bway, coming north of 46th full if barticafes. Currently placing them in pedestrian plaza.” With the square packed in as it is already, and more and more people joining in on the occupation, it’s hard to imagine the police barricades, which are keeping people on the sidewalks and in designated areas, lasting through the whole evening. However, it seems to be working thus far: police have just started letting traffic come through 7th Avenue.

In addition, it was announced on the microphone that horse cops and riot police have lined up, and the NYPD are ”asking everyone to exit east on 46th. Including those on the sidewalk.” According to The Nation publisher Peter Rothberg, “WNBC reporting 10,000-20,000 in Times Sq.”

Update 7:02 p.m.: NYCLU clarifies a bit on how the police are trying to control the square: “lots of riot police, everyone’s barricaded, people are allowed out of area, but not into the area.” Some protesters believe the police are preparing to make mass arrests now that protesters have been completely barricaded in.

Update 7:15 p.m.: The city has now officially decided to close southbound 7th Avenue between West 57th and West 46th streets because of the protesters: “Expect traffic delays and changing traffic patterns in the area.” Police are not letting anyone back into Times Square, while making more room for vehicles. Michael Moore is still inside the barricades though. Tonight’s General Assembly is scheduled for 10 p.m. at Washington Square Park.

@Jopauca tweets, “A fuckload of police in riot gear just arrived with helmets, batons, and zipties.” Newyorkist estimates there are at least 40 of them lined up now. Things seem to be getting more aggressive and tense by the minute.

Hundreds of people have sat down in front of the ABC building chanting, “Whose Square? OUR Square!”

Update 7:30 p.m.: @Jopauca tweets, “Cop just told me to beat it if i wanna get home safe.” The infamous orange nets have been taken out.

Cops are doing whatever they can to move people out of the square—46th street has now been locked down. People are only being allowed to exit as cops take over the street.

And according to Nation published Peter Rothberg, police have given protesters their last chance to leave peaceably: “According to multiple sources, all #OWS protesters in Times Square now face arrest if they don’t immediately proceed out of the area.”

Update 7:45 p.m.: While most people are slowly streaming out, the remaining protesters who are not walking toward Washington Square Park are standing their ground, reciting the 1st amendment while cops push in around them. The Daily News reports, “NYPD saying someone is going to get hurt if 46th St. isn’t cleared.”

And like clockwork, it seems to have begun, according to @Jopauca: “Cops are shoving the fuck out of the crowd now. Everyone is filming and photographing.”

Update 7:50 p.m.: According to @HyunINC, “They just announced that there’s an afterparty with food and @TalibKweli at Washington Sq Park.”

Police have started arresting protesters. According to GottaLaff, “Older man dragged across street, put in paddy wagon. Others put in wagon too.”

Update 8:00 p.m.: Below (LINKED), check out some video taken from above earlier this evening when protesters first started packing into Times Square.

Update 8:10 p.m.: According to James at the scene, things are getting worse between the few remaining protesters (approximately 150-300) and riot police: “Getting super confrontational. Police say “step back!” protesters chant “you step back!! You step back!!”"

Update 8:20 p.m.: According to the NYCLU, the arrests of protesters continues, although there are no exact figures yet how many so far: “lots of arrests, wagon full of folk…another wagon showed up, preparing for more arrests? yep, more arrests.” However, there is also a report that two NYPD officers transported to hospitals with minor injuries.’

According to our reporter on the scene Nicole Woszczyna, protesters are pleading with cops to join them, and not to make them disperse: “crowds chanting to nypd ‘were doing this for you’ and ‘love us back.’”

MORE UPDATES to follow during the evening…..

Occupy Wall Street, Class Warfare, and Russell Simmons

October 15, 2011

By  The Pardu

I find the recent flaps about class warfare typically convenient. Warfare in this context is nothing more that Right-Wing word-smithing for effect.  The very people (in congress and Right-Wing paid pundits) who preach that mantra are using it for purpose of induction. Induction into beliefs that help the Right indoctrinate people via ‘catchy slogans”. ‘Socialism’, death-panels, Momma grizzley’ moral majority, welfare (to denote poor black people), mainstream media, Obamacare, …just to give a few examples.

Class Warfare.  ”It is only class warfare when the rich are challenged”.  Anyone who grew up in a humble middle to lower economic class households know, class divides. We knew where we were from and our place as that place relates to the ‘well-off’ (the HAVES).  We knew that those were neighborhoods (regardless of race) in which we were not welcome. We knew the kids who carried themselves as if they were from another planet.  We knew that those kids who were from Planet X that dared try to hang out with us would be seriously reprimanded by their parents or friends.

Class Warfare meant nothing and it means nothing, more than a ploy. Class Divides (or as I call class-ism) is at the root of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS)movement.  The Divide is so extreme that it is too late to stop the OWS. In fact, as we all see the movement grows and it grows on a daily basis.  That grwoth is contributing to another phenomena.

The New ‘rich’ who have gained celebrity via talent or special circumstance via their appeal to audiences are responding differently than their ‘old money,’ wealthy brethren.  A prime example is a New Yorker who benefited form recognizing the growth of a new musical genre, Russell Simmons, who has visited Zuccotti Park fifteen (15) times.  

Simmons is not visiting the park for purpose of advancing his mogul status or to sell any of his numerous corparate products or services. Simmons of the ‘new rich,’ was not raised such that class divides were part of his psyche.  His celebrity forces him out of mainstream interaction simply because of people who worship fame. Yet, he keeps coming to the park.

Simmons could have visited once and moved on.  Au contrar! Mr. Simmons has helped with OWS more than many realize.  Not only does the movement spread to more people via Simmon’s notoriety, he is actively involved in the movement via his spirit and his tangible  assets.

Spirit?  Warren Buffet, Starbucks CEO-Howard Schultz, and Simmons were people who spoke out about unfair tax codes well before OWS.  Those individuals will lay no claim to the early growth of the movement but I posit that their speaking out may have given hope to the those who conceived OWS. Hope that not all of the nations ‘uber rich’ were distant figures riding tsunami like waves of class division.   Simmons spoke specifically about the fact the he queried his office staff; and found that the majority of those employees literally paid more taxes than did he.  He spoke out!

Tangible assets?  I have posted below a couple of tweets from Simmons.

On Thursday night Simmons posted from his page, “Dear @MikeBloomberg pls do not throw out protesters at Zuccotti Park. I will pay for clean-up to avoid confrontation #OWS.” He followed up with another tweet to New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, “Dear mike I have long supported u and u have been good mayor, don’t take me to jail tomorrow I’m not 22 I don’t wanna go  but I will.”

Another…..

Simmons Tweet

Simmons Tweet 

I heard Simmons on a cable news network say to an interviewer, I am a 100% (er).  He is a 1 per center who will not become part of an establishment that is dramatically growing away from the 99 per cent who live normal lives. Yes, he owns a Simmons credit card operation which means he is in someway involved in banking/lending of something in between. He has made himself part of the 99 percent by his refusal to become part of the stratospheric 1 per cent who hold the nations wealth.

Instead of putting signs in windows to mock the protesters or blaring contempt for the protesters,he joins them.

Of course there are other well known people who have joined the protests.  Micheal Moore, Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover (In Los Angeles), Kanye West, Matt Damon, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Cornel West to name a few.  But no to date as visible and supportive (Intangibly ad tangibly) as Simmons.

I have never been and am still not fond of the hip-hop genre. Thus, my affinity for Simmons was at the level of nil.  A funny thing happened this afternoon.  A cap that I was wearing blew off my head, As I picked up the cap and looked at the protruding label (brand label), I saw the name Russell Simmons on the label…and I smiled.

Occupy Wall Street Protests: The Mystery Of The Missing Middle Age Masses

This post cross posted from the http://www.Addictinginfo.org website

October 2, 2011

By Justin “Filthy Liberal Scum” Rosario

As I ran about taking photographs and video of the Occupy Wall Street march on Saturday, I noticed something odd; I was not well-represented.

I am a 38 year old, college educated parent of two. While I am currently a stay at home dad, I’ve worked full-time since I was 22. I was mostly alone at the protest. There was a dearth of people my age. I would say I felt old since the overwhelming majority of the protesters were college age 20 somethings but there was no shortage of 60 plus hippie types. What was missing was everything in between those two extremes: Middle Aged Middle Class types.

Really? The Granny Brigade can show up but my graduating class is nowhere to be found? REALLY?

And this is a strange thing to me. We’re the ones hit the hardest by Wall Street scumbaggery. Yes, the college students have no prospects and they’re burdened with debt before they even start. Yes, the older crowd has probably lost a good chunk of their retirement savings. For the most part, though, neither group was raked over the coals as badly as my particular cohort. We’ve lost our careers, our mortgages are in default, we have no medical insurance, our unemployment insurance is running out and there are no jobs paying enough to support our families.

So where the hell were we? They’ve taken our jobs. They’ve taken our children’s future. They’re trying to take our retirement. They’ve taken our homes (all too often illegally). And they’ve given themselves nice, fat bonuses and a pat on the back for it.

We, the Middle Aged and Middle Class should be swarming Wall St. like piranha. But we’re not. Maybe we’re too busy looking for another job that doesn’t exist. Maybe we’re too busy watchingJersey Shore. Maybe we’re afraid of being arrested. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t know how to protest anymore. Maybe we never learned how. Maybe we’re so beaten down by thirty years of “trickle down” and false prosperity built on the back on unsustainable credit that we’re afraid of upsetting the apple cart even when the cart is parked on our throat.

It’s kind of embarrassing to be harangued by both kids and their grandparents, don’t you agree?

Feel free to tell me what a terrible person I am on Facebook here (public) or here (not so public) or follow me on Twitter @FilthyLbrlScum.  Share and Tweet the love.