All Entries in the "social issues" Category

Occupying Corporations: How to Cut Corporate Power | Common Dreams

“Corporations are people, my friend.” Mitt Romney at Iowa State Fair

Corporations are obviously not people.  But Romney is accurate in the sense that corporations have hijacked most of the rights of people while evading the responsibilities. An important part of the social justice agenda is democratizing corporations.  This means we must radically change the laws so people can be in charge of corporations.  We must strip them of corporate personhood and cut them down to size so democracy can work.  People are taking action so democracy can regulate the size, scope and actions of corporations.

One of the most basic roles of society is to protect the people from harm.  The massive size of many international corporations makes democratic control over them nearly impossible.

Corporate crime is widespread.  The New York Times, ProPublica and others have revealed Wall Street giants like JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have been charged with fraud many times only to get off by paying hundreds of millions.  Professors at University of Virginia have documented hundreds of corporations which have been found guilty or pled guilty in federal courts.

Full Story Here: Occupying Corporations: How to Cut Corporate Power | Common Dreams.

Big News on Bank Transfers

The Occupy effect? In the last 3 months, Americans switched banks at three times the normal rate.

Two summers ago, at the U.S. Social Forum, I attended a panel discussion about ways to expand the use of credit unions as alternatives to the “too big to fail” banks whose risky investments had helped tank the economy. Each of the speakers—people involved in credit union leadership or advocacy—expressed confusion and frustration that they hadn’t already seen a post-crisis shift away from corporate banks and toward credit unions (which have the advantages of being not-for-profit, owned and governed by their depositors, far more likely than big banks to lend to small businesses, and not responsible for any global economic meltdowns).

It seemed that even as Americans were angry with Big Finance, they didn’t make the connection to their personal accounts

Full Story Here: Big News on Bank Transfers by Brooke Jarvis — YES! Magazine.

How Swedes and Norwegians broke the power of the ‘1 percent’ / Waging Nonviolence

While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They “fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.

Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty. When the 1 percent was in charge, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvation. Under the leadership of the working class, however, both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment. Unlike the Norwegians, the Swedes didn’t find oil, but that didn’t stop them from building what the latest CIA World Factbook calls “an enviable standard of living.”

Neither country is a utopia, as readers of the crime novels by Stieg Larsson, Kurt Wallender and Jo Nesbro will know. Critical left-wing authors such as these try to push Sweden and Norway to continue on the path toward more fully just societies. However, as an American activist who first encountered Norway as a student in 1959 and learned some of its language and culture, the achievements I found amazed me. I remember, for example, bicycling for hours through a small

Full Story Here: How Swedes and Norwegians broke the power of the ‘1 percent’ / Waging Nonviolence – People-Powered News and Analysis.

Challenging the Republican’s Five Myths on Inequality

The Republican position on inequality rests on five statements, all false.

Recent comments by Mitt Romney, the probable Republican nominee for President all but guarantee the inequality issue will remain front and center this election year.

When asked whether people who question the current distribution of wealth and power are motivated by “jealousy or fairness” Romney insisted, “I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare.” And in this election year he advised that if we do discuss inequality we do so “in quiet rooms” not in public debates.

A public debate, of course, is inevitable. And welcome. To help that debate along I’ll address the five major statements that comprise the Republican argument on inequality.

1. Income is Not All That Unequal

Full Story Here: Challenging the Republican’s Five Myths on Inequality | On the Commons.

Ten Steps for Radical Revolution in the US

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967

One. Human rights must be taken absolutely seriously. Every single person is entitled to dignity and human rights. No application needed. No exclusions at all. This is our highest priority.

Two. We must radically reinvent contemporary democracy. Current systems are deeply corrupt and not responsive to the needs of people. Representatives chosen by money and influence govern by money and influence. This is unacceptable. Direct democracy by the people is now technologically possible and should be the rule. Communities must be protected whenever they advocate for self-determination, self-development and human rights. Dissent is essential to democracy; we pledge to help it flourish.

Full Story Here: Ten Steps for Radical Revolution in the US | Common Dreams.

War and Being and Nothingness

The best book I’ve read in a very long time is a new one: “The End of War” by John Horgan. Its conclusions will be vigorously resisted by many and yet, in a certain light, considered perfectly obvious to some others. The central conclusion — that ending the institution of war is entirely up to us to choose — was, arguably, reached by (among many others before and since) John Paul Sartre sitting in a café utilizing exactly no research.

Horgan is a writer for “Scientific American,” and approaches the question of whether war can be ended as a scientist. It’s all about research. He concludes that war can be ended, has in various times and places been ended, and is in the process (an entirely reversible process) of being ended on the earth right now.

The war abolitionists of the 1920s Outlawry movement would have loved this book, would have seen it as a proper extension of the ongoing campaign to rid the world of war. But it is a different book from theirs. It does not preach the immorality of war. That idea, although proved truer than ever by the two world wars, failed to prevent the two world wars. When an idea’s time has come and also gone, it becomes necessary to prove to people that the idea wasn’t rendered impossible or naïve by “human nature” or grand forces of history or any other specter. Horgan, in exactly the approach required, preaches the scientific observation of the success (albeit incomplete as yet) of preaching the immorality of war.

The evidence, Horgan argues, shows that war is a cultural contagion, a meme that serves its own ends, not ours (except for certain profiteers perhaps). Wars happen because of their cultural acceptance and are avoided by their cultural rejection. Wars are not created by genes or avoided by eugenics or oxytocin, driven by an ever-present minority of sociopaths or avoided by controlling them, made inevitable by resource scarcity or inequality or prevented by prosperity and shared wealth, or determined by the weaponry available. All such factors, Horgan finds, can play parts in wars, but the decisive factor is a militaristic culture, a culture that glorifies war or even just accepts it, a culture that fails to renounce war as something as barbaric as cannibalism. War spreads as other memes spread, culturally. The abolition of war does the same.

Full Story Here: War and Being and Nothingness.

Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable

7 signs the corporatocracy is losing its legitimacy … and 7 populist tools to help shut it down.

You may remember that there was a time when apartheid in South Africa seemed unstoppable.

Sure, there were international boycotts of South African businesses, banks, and tourist attractions. There were heroic activists in South Africa, who were going to prison and even dying for freedom. But the conventional wisdom remained that these were principled gestures with little chance of upending the entrenched system of white rule.

“Be patient,” activists were told. “Don’t expect too much against powerful interests with a lot of money invested in the status quo.”

With hindsight, though, apartheid’s fall appears inevitable: the legitimacy of the system had already crumbled. It was harming too many for the benefit of too few. South Africa’s freedom fighters would not be silenced, and the global movement supporting them was likewise tenacious and principled.

Full Story Here: OpEdNews – Article: Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable.

Two Years After “Citizens United,” Amending the Constitution is Essential | Center for Media and Democracy

January 21 marks the second anniversary of Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. The Center for Media and Democracy is working with a constellation of groups in support of amending the Constitution to reverse the decision and address the distortion of the democratic process.

The 5-4 Citizens United decision struck down bipartisan clean election laws and declared that Congress could not limit so-called “independent” spending by corporations or others. In the two years since that decision, the 1% have been playing an increasingly outsized role in our elections, holding even greater sway than they had before 2010. Deep-pocketed CEOs and corporations have filtered many millions of dollars through Super PACs like American Action Network and secretly-funded non-profit groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, spending made possible by Citizens United and the district court decision SpeechNow.org v. F.E.C.

Exceptionally Costly, and Exceptionally Unpopular

The first elections after Citizens United were the most expensive in U.S. history, with more spending coming from outside groups than from the candidates themselves. In modern elections, 9 out of 10 races are decided by who raises more campaign cash. Given this reality, it stretches the imagination to believe elected officials won’t be indebted to those deep-pocketed donors who help them get the edge over their opponent.

Full Story Here: Two Years After “Citizens United,” Amending the Constitution is Essential | Center for Media and Democracy.

Homeless Rate Ready To Rise As Stimulus Cash Runs Out: Study

Although the recession has officially been over for two years, the worst may be to come for many people.

Job losses rose during the last few years. So did wages — barely. Foreclosures went up, as did the number of poor people for whom rent eats up at least half the paycheck. And a federal program believed to have made a major difference in keeping homeowners off the streets is due to expire in a few months.

All in all, the conditions are right for national homeless rates to start rising soon, according to a new report that examines many of the large-scale economic factors that force people out of their homes. The report, published Tuesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, suggests that a delayed wave of pain may be coming for low-earning renters and homeowners.

“It takes a while for people to become homeless,” said Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. “They don’t enter the shelter right away.”

Full Story Here: Homeless Rate Ready To Rise As Stimulus Cash Runs Out: Study.

Michigan Democrats Unveil Plan To Finance Free College Tuition By Eliminating Corporate Tax Credits

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) spent his first year in office trading in the welfare of thousands of vulnerable Michiganders in order to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. Hoping to refocus priorities in 2012, the state’s Senate Democrats have released a new plan that puts Michigan students ahead of wealthy corporations.

Under the Michigan 2020 Plan, Michigan’s high school graduates will be eligible for free tuition at one of Michigan’s community colleges or universities, where the median tuition level is currently around $9,575 per year. The program will be funded entirely by eliminating $3.5 billion in tax credits and loopholes and putting that money towards students:

“Study after study after study has emphasized the importance of a highly educated workforce in the economic vitality of any state in the 21st century,” said Senate Democratic leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing.

Full Story Here: Michigan Democrats Unveil Plan To Finance Free College Tuition By Eliminating Corporate Tax Credits | ThinkProgress.

Occupy Wall Street Movement Kicks Off 2012 With Demos

With Occupy the Rose Parade going off without a hitch, the Occupy Wall Street movement kicks off 2012 with a strong number of demonstrations.

Ringing in the New Year, the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, viewed by 47 million Americans across the country, ended with roughly 5000 peaceful Occupy Wall Street movement demonstrators. It was a move negotiated between the City of Pasadena and Occupy the Rose Parade organizers which allowed participants to march in the parade with anti-corporate, anti-wall street banners, countering a parade known for its traditional corporate ties. Occupy protesters from Los Angeles camped along the parade route, hoping cameras would catch a glimpse of their signs while others arrived early for bleacher seats to support Occupy the Rose Parade marchers.

The month of January continues to shape up with hundreds of Occupy protesters from across the country descending on Washington DC forOccupy Congress on January 17, when the House is scheduled to be in session. Some of the movement’s best bloggers, livestreamers and social media geniuses will document this historic gathering. Members of the 112th Congress have shown mixed emotions towards Occupy Wall Street. Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-VA., expressed concern of the “growing mobs that occupy wall street” whereas House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA., said she supports the growing nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement. Whether the Congressional reception to the Occupy Wall Street movement is warm or cold, Occupy protesters have chosen to rally its political voice on Capitol Hill to draw attention that corporate money has corrupted our elected officials.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street Movement Kicks Off 2012 With Demos | Common Dreams.

America Wakes Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship:-:

If you’re part of the one percent, even getting fired comes with a cushion made of eiderdown. GMI, a research company that gets paid to keep an eye on such things, just issued a study headlined, “Twenty-One U.S. CEOs with Golden Parachutes of More than $100 Million.” That’s each

Full Story Here: America Wakes Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters | Common Dreams.

Occupy DC: We’re Not Leaving McPherson Square

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray may have turned up the pressure on the federal government to remove the Occupy DC encampment from McPherson Square, but Occupy DC says their protest isn’t going anywhere.

The protesters issued a media release on Friday with a to-the-point headline: “Occupy DC Is Not Leaving McPherson Square, Will Not Cave to Mayor Gray’s Political Posturing.”

In the release itself, the protesters claim a move to evict them from McPherson Square, where they have been camped since Oct. 1, would be unconstitutional and would cause more problems than it would solve:

Washington, D.C. — Mayor Gray’s call for the National Park Service

Full Story Here: Occupy DC: We’re Not Leaving McPherson Square.

Bill Moyers: Occupy a Cause

What’s the common cause behind Occupy protesters?

The Moyers & Company team visited the Occupy Wall Street site several times between October and December in 2011 — visits that reveal real faces, real people, and a true common cause. In this premiere Bill Moyers Essay, Bill talks about their anger — not at the concept of wealth itself, but at the crony capitalists who resort to tricks, loopholes, and hard, cold cash for politicians to make sure insiders prosper… and then pull up the ladder behind them.

BILL MOYERS: By coincidence I first met with Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson on the very day Occupy Wall Street had sprung up in lower Manhattan. And I wondered, as so many others did, were we seeing the advance guard of a movement by organized people to challenge the power of organized money? Well, it’s still too soon to know. But in the weeks that followed, every time we went down to the encampment, there was no mistaking the message.

LINNEA PALMER PATON: I don’t have thousands of dollars to go buy myself a lobbyist to lobby for my views, but corporations do.

BILL MOYERS: Linnea Palmer Paton is 23 and an Occupy Wall Street Volunteer.

Full Story Here: Bill Moyers: Occupy a Cause | Truthout.

Report: Massive Movement Needed to Fix ‘Perverse Concentration of Wealth’

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. while perpetuating the racial divide

Martin Luther King’s dream of racial equality is far from reality.

Census Bureau figures show the U.S. on track to be a majority minority nation by 2042. But if the trends of the last 30 years continue, according to a new report, the economic racial divide is set to increase.

The non-partisan group United for a Fair Economy’s (UFE) ninth annual MLK Day report, State of the Dream 2012: The Emerging Majority finds that racial economic divide will remain “disastrously large and will threaten the stability of the entire economy.”

While the numbers of people of color in the nation surge, this fact alone is not enough to change the economic reality. From the report:

In the age of mass media and Citizens United, money buys influence, and the national income and wealth will remain over-whelmingly in the hands of Whites – a small group of Whites at that.

Full Story Here: Report: Massive Movement Needed to Fix ‘Perverse Concentration of Wealth’ | Common Dreams.

Is This Land Made for You and Me?

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship:-:

Welcome to BillMoyers.com. Over the next few weeks, on the air and on this website, we’ll be talking a lot about “winner-take-all” politics and how economic inequality – the vast gap between the rich and everyone else– isn’t the result of market forces and Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” It has been deliberately, politically engineered.

But first, as they used to say on radio, a musical interlude. The traveling medicine show known as the race for the Republican presidential nomination has moved on from Iowa and New Hampshire, and all eyes are now on South Carolina. Well, not exactly all. At the moment, our eyes are fixed on some big news from the great state of Oklahoma, home of the legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday will be celebrated later this year.

Woody saw the ravages of the Dust Bowl and the Depression firsthand; his own family came unraveled in the worst hard times. And he wrote tough yet lyrical stories about the men and women who struggled to survive, enduring the indignity of living life at the bone, with nothing to eat and no place to sleep. He traveled from town to town, hitchhiking and stealing rides in railroad boxcars, singing his songs for spare change or a ham sandwich. What professional success he had during his own lifetime, singing in concerts and on the radio, was often undone by politics and the restless urge to keep moving on. “So long, it’s been good to know you,” he sang, and off he would go.

Full Story Here: Is This Land Made for You and Me? | On Democracy | BillMoyers.com.

Cynicism Is for Suckers: How We Can Fight the Greedy Elites That Run Our Lives

2011′s successful protests show how hope can change the system.

My resolution for 2012 is to be naïve — dangerously naïve.

I’m aware that the usual recipe for political effectiveness is just the opposite: to be cynical, calculating, an insider. But if you think, as I do, that we need deep change in this country, then cynicism is a sucker’s bet. Try as hard as you can, you’re never going to be as cynical as the corporations and the harem of politicians they pay for.  It’s like trying to outchant a Buddhist monastery.

Here’s my case in point, one of a thousand stories people working for social change could tell: All last fall, most of the environmental movement, including350.org, the group I helped found, waged a fight against the planned Keystone XL pipeline that would bring some of the dirtiest energy on the planet from Canada through the U.S. to the Gulf Coast. We waged our struggle against building it out in the open, presenting scientific argument, holding demonstrations, and attending hearings.  We sent 1,253 people to jail in the largest civil disobedience action in a generation.  Meanwhile, more than half a million Americans offered public comments against the pipeline, the most on any energy project in the nation’s history.

Full Story Here: Cynicism Is for Suckers: How We Can Fight the Greedy Elites That Run Our Lives | Activism & Vision | AlterNet.

Pension fund divests from Walmart for violating global labor standards

The largest pension fund in the Netherlands has divested itself of all shares in Walmart as a result of the company’s anti-union position and poor labor standards.

According to the Huffington Post, Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds declared earlier this week that it was blacklisting Walmart for its non-compliance with the United Nations’ Global Compact, which “presents a set of core values relating to human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption efforts.”

ABP has been trying for years to convince the retail giant to change its policies. The firm first came to ABP’s attention in 2007, when the fund established a “socially responsible investing” policy and was “struck by the staggering number of lawsuits and National Labor Relations Board complaints” against Walmart.

Full Story Here: Pension fund divests from Walmart for violating global labor standards | The Raw Story.

Breaking Ground for an America Beyond Capitalism

The following is an excerpt from Gar Alperovitz’s America Beyond Capitalism, recently released in paperback updated with a new forward by James Gustave Speth. It is reprinted here with kind permission of the author.

The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. By the end of the twenty-first century it will have the technological capacity to increase the income of all its citizens many times over or to radically reduce work-time and thereby allow a new flowering of democracy, liberty, and personal and community creativity. The new century could be—should be—one of innovation, hope, even excitement.

Few Americans approach the century this way. The future is clouded by problems rather than opportunities; it appears as an era of great political difficulty and danger. At the most obvious level is the threat posed by terrorism and war—and the many challenges to liberty that overly zealous approaches to both have produced. At another level are the growing social, economic, racial, and other difficulties catalogued in the preceding pages. Critically, confidence that the great traditional values at the very heart of the American experience can be sustained has been declining rapidly.

Full Story Here:  Breaking Ground for an America Beyond Capitalism | Common Dreams.

The Delusional Assumptions of Capitalism

One of the more delusional aspects of capitalism is the idea that if one pursues the acquisition of private wealth with abandon, that this is somehow automatically “good” for human society.

The laissez-faire advocate and novelist Ayn Rand wrote that if one does not support this notion that greed is good and pursuing “enlightened self-interest,” (as Adam Smith characterized it), is the highest virtue, then one defaults to supporting a centralized oppressive regime that allows no personal freedom and no private wealth whatsoever. One supports living in darkness and despair or, in a word, Hell. This Manichean thinking is in keeping with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition dating back to the Indus Valley divide between the Vedic traditions and the Zoroastrian belief system of ancient Persia. The notion that the world is characterized by an ongoing “war” between the forces of light and the forces of darkness is at the base of much of so-called western thought.

In The Three Metamorphoses, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that humans are saddled with a heavy burden as children. Using the metaphor of a camel, he describes how we then venture into the wilderness with this burden, whereupon we are attacked by a great dragon. The dragon is covered with hundreds of scales, each scale bearing the words “Thou Shalt.” The human is then transformed into a lion in order to do battle with the dragon. If the lion is victorious in the battle – slaying the dragon “Thou Shalt” – the metaphor then turns to that of a child. The human then becomes what he or she was born to be – “a wheel rolling out of its own center.” One of the scales on the dragon for most of us growing up in the “developed world” is that “thou shalt believe in the war between light and darkness.” And, the societal assumption is that one aspect of this war is the capitalist notion of “enlightened self-interest” versus the evil “socialist” notions of public ownership and oppressive altruism that punishes the productive and rewards the unproductive. This has become conflated with the Judeo-Christian religious structure of “good versus evil” to the point where in some quarters there is no distinction between the secular and religious versions of the myth. To complete the Nietzschean metaphor in this context, most people do not slay the dragon. The result is a societal discourse that is largely delusional and controlled by mythic thinking, catch-phrases, and unquestioned assumptions.

Full Story Here: The Delusional Assumptions of Capitalism | Common Dreams.

Before Midnight, Occupy Wall Street Activists Retake Zuccotti Park

“All week! All year! We’ll still be here!”

“Whose park? Our park!”

The chants went up 10, 20, maybe 100 deep shortly before midnight at Zuccotti Park as Occupy Wall Street activists surprised the New York Police Department and retook the space that was once the homebase for their movement. The barricades surrounding the park went down. They have since been removed. Protesters were allowed to come and go through the park.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST OCCUPY UPDATES)

Earlier, activists danced on the piles of barricades. Some climbed the lattice of metal and hoisted American flags. Others waved signs and banners. The Zuccotti Park Christmas tree was wrapped in an Occupy Wall Street banner. Of course, there were the drums.

Full Story Here: Before Midnight, Occupy Wall Street Activists Retake Zuccotti Park.

The 12 Most Hopeful Trends to Build On in 2012

2011 was full of surprises, many of them the good kind. But which ones will matter in the coming year? Here’s our pick of trends to watch.

Who would have thought that some young people camped out in lower Manhattan with cardboard signs, a few sharpies, some donated pizza, and a bunch of smart phones could change so much?

The viral spread of the Occupy Movement took everyone by surprise. Last summer, politicians and the media were fixated on the debt ceiling, and everyone seemed to forget that we were in the midst of an economic meltdown—everyone except the 99 percent who were experiencing it.

Today, people ranging from Ben Bernake, chair of the
Federal Reserve, to filmmaker Michael Moore are expressing sympathy for the Occupy Movement and concern for those losing homes, retirement savings, access to health care, and hope of ever finding a job.

This uprising is the biggest reason for hope in 2012. The following are 12 ways the Occupy Movement and other major trends of 2011 offer a foundation for a transformative 2012.

Full Story Here: The 12 Most Hopeful Trends to Build On in 2012 by Sarah van Gelder — YES! Magazine.

Study: Bad weather makes voters more liberal

Voters who have experienced severe weather events are more likely to be in favor of environmental legislation — even if it comes at a cost of restricting some individual freedoms, according to a soon-to-be-published study.

In a 2009 Internet survey of about 2,500 Americans, four Hamilton College economists found that weather events like heat waves and drought tended to have the greatest impact on people who aren’t otherwise well-informed about global warming.

“[O]ur results are consistent with the idea that experiencing extreme weather causes individuals to become more aware of the issue of global warming, and increases their perception of the risk of global warming,” authors of the study wrote.

Full Story Here: Study: Bad weather makes voters more liberal | The Raw Story.

Excerpt From the Book This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99%

Introducing the movement that’s shifting our vision of what kind of world is possible—from the new book, “This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement.”

“We fail to understand why we should have to pay the costs of the crisis, while its instigators continue to post record profits. We’re sick and tired of one injustice after another. We want human dignity back again.

This isn’t the kind of world we want to live in, and it’s we who have to decide what world we do want. We know we can change it, and we’re having a great time going about it.”

Something happened in September 2011 so unexpected that no politician or pundit saw it coming.

Inspired by the Arab Spring and uprisings in Europe, sparked by a challenge from Adbusters magazine to show up at Wall Street on September 17 and “bring a tent,” and encouraged by veteran New York activists, a few thousand people gathered in the financial district of New York City. At the end of the day, some of them set up camp in Zuccotti Park and started what became a national—and now international—movement.

Full Story Here: Excerpt From the Book This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement by Sarah van Gelder and the staff of YES! Magazine.

How to argue with right-wing relatives

Responding to common conservative talking points without losing your mind

There comes a time at most large family gatherings when a heated political argument breaks out. And by “heated political argument” what I mean is “someone just repeats something they heard on Hannity’s radio show that you know to be completely untrue.” You may be the lone liberal in a conservative family, or you may have one right-wing uncle in your left-wing family, but this will happen. What to do?

If you have a “smart phone,” just bookmark Snopes now. That’ll take care of the really weird stuff. (Well, not this level of weird, but “I read that airlines don’t pair Christian pilots and co-pilots in case The Rapture happens” weird.)

But a right-wing myth generally lives on forever, no matter how many times it is debunked. You are powerless to prevent its spread. All you can do is perhaps convince one person that one talk radio meme is completely bogus. But you will probably have better luck simply changing the subject. (Suggestions: Whether or not Peyton Manning will be a Colt next season, “American Horror Story,” Jay-Z and Beyonce’s baby.)

Full Story Here: How to argue with right-wing relatives – Fighting – Salon.com.

Law turns kids into commodities

Compared to modern school kids, I was a downright worthless student.

I don’t mean worthless as a pejorative. (My father would have used a more colorful term to characterize my scholarly pursuits.) But worthless as a commodity. Us kids at Montrose Elementary School weren’t making anyone rich. Not like today’s pupils, particularly those in Florida, who’ve become valuable cogs in a burgeoning industry.

Such precious little dummies, these wayward students. Their benighted ways in the classroom have given rise to a recession-proof enterprise. To a no-lose sort of capitalism. Educational entrepreneurs (some backed by Wall Street hedge funds who know a sure thing when they see it) have figured out how to make millions without the usual risks of the marketplace, drilling for profits in the ever lucrative field of school reform.

No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s 2001 education reform package, since embraced by President Obama, may have forced needed attention onto failing schools, but the law also created an extraordinary new industry funded exclusively with public money.

Full Story Here: Law turns kids into commodities – Fred Grimm – MiamiHerald.com.

Another Face of the US Recession: Homeless Children

As her mother sat in a homeless shelter in downtown Miami, talking about her economic struggles and loss of faith in the U.S. political system, 3-year-old Aeisha Touray blurted out what sounded like a new slogan for the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.

“How dare you!” the girl said abruptly as she nudged a toy car across a conference room table at the Chapman Partnership shelter in Miami’s tough and predominantly black Overtown neighborhood.

There was no telling what Aeisha was thinking as her 32-year-old mother, Nairkahe Touray, spoke of how she burned through her savings and wound up living in a car with five of her eight children earlier this year.

Full Story Here: Another Face of the US Recession: Homeless Children | Common Dreams.

It’s time that we valued people over profits, poll results show

The British public want business to put “people before profits” and to see politicians close the gap between rich and poor, according to a new survey.

The findings suggest growingsupport for “responsible capitalism” in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and bankers’ excessive bonuses – and public sympathy with the anti-globalisation protests such as the Occupy London camp outside St Paul’sCathedral.

YouGov, which polled 1,723 people for the Labour-affiliated Fabian Society and the TUC, found that 80 per cent believe the private sector should forgo some profits to meet a wider responsibility to their employees, customers and communities and invest more for the long-term. Only 12 per cent think that maximising profits for shareholders is a company’s top priority.

Full Story Here: It’s time that we valued people over profits, poll results show – UK Politics – UK – The Independent.

Occupy Des Moines Vows To Shut Down Obama Offices

Occupy Des Moines activists on Saturday vowed to shut down President Barack Obama’s campaign offices and set up a camp outside they plan to maintain around the clock.

“We have every intention to keep this place closed down until we are satisfied,” said Frank Cordaro, an activist and founder of the Catholic Worker group in Des Moines.

A handful of activists went to Obama’s nondescript office in a downtown strip mall after larger rallies to mark the three-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. They had hoped to read a statement demanding Obama cut military spending by half and “dismantle our U.S. military empire … so we can create jobs, balance the budget, meet our peoples’ needs here and help the human community to heal our dying planet.”

When they arrived, they found the doors locked.

“You wouldn’t even have known this was a campaign office,” said Julie Brown, an activist who recently moved to Des Moines.

Full Story Here: Occupy Des Moines Vows To Shut Down Obama Offices.

New York Occupy Wall Street Protestors March On After Day of Arrests At Vacant Lot Near Duarte Square

Dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested Saturday after they scaled a chain-link fence or crawled under it to get to an Episcopal church-owned lot they want to use for a new camp site.

Protesters used a wooden ladder to scale the fence or lifted it from below while others cheered them on. A man wearing a Santa suit stood on the ladder among others, as they ignored red “Private Property” signs.

As officers made arrests, protesters shouted obscenities and hollered: “Make them catch you!” The group was inside the lot for a short time before being led out by police in single file through a space in the fence. About 50 people were arrested, police said.

Full Story Here: New York Occupy Wall Street Protestors March On After Day of Arrests At Vacant Lot Near Duarte Square.

Donations to Occupy Wall Street plummet

But the movement still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. We look at its balance sheet

Occupy Wall Street has taken in more than $665,000 in donations since it launched Sept. 17. Here’s the bad news for Occupy: Donations have fallen off a cliff, from a high of around $20,000 per day to a current low of just $98 on Dec. 13. The good news: The movement still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, an impressive sum for an entity that has existed for a mere three months.

That’s according to my analysis of newly available data on the finances of the movement’s New York arm.

The spending data offers a glimpse into what Occupy has been up to and the direction it’s going, even as the mainstream news media turns its attention elsewhere.

Full Story Here: Donations to Occupy Wall Street plummet – Salon.com.

One-Night Stands in Midlife: Just Desserts

My friend Eric recently told me about the stream of women–average age 55–who have been sharing his bed since his divorce. “I’ve never had so many one-night stands in my life,” he said wonderingly.

For someone who came of age in the seventies, that’s a big statement. I’ve been thinking about why (other than his irresistable mojo) so many people are jumping in the sack with Eric.

More magazine would attribute it to the knows-what-she-wants/doesn’t-care-what-you-think attitude women acquire as they take control of their lives, usually in the second half. There’s a lot of truth to this. Just as I no longer worry about female friends stealing my man–having long ago weeded out anyone toxic enough to consider it–I’ve got a better handle on my own needs, and have learned to allow them to carry weight in the decision-making process.

Full Story Here: Deborah Gaines: One-Night Stands in Midlife: Just Desserts.

Super Rich vs. 99%: Class war will explode

Forget politics. The 99%, the Occupy Wall Street movement, is not about politics. But politicians don’t get it yet. The Dems sure don’t. And while Bill O’Reilly says the movement is already dead, insider Frank Luntz thinks OWS is not only very alive, but getting dangerously bigger. In fact, he’s very “scared” for his clients.

Warning: Will somebody please tell Luntz Occupy Wall Street is not about politics? This is class warfare, a revolution about economic inequality, not about political parties, political policies and political solutions … and it’s not going away any time soon.

Luntz is a conservative pollster so he’s making it all about politics. But he’s missing the point, and misleading his clients. Luntz is author of some great books like “Words That Matter” and “What Americans Really Want…Really.” And in my opinion, he’s one of the America’s best behavioral economists.

But his pitch at last week’s Republican Governors Association meeting in Florida suggests he not only doesn’t understand the 99%, he’s misleading 29 state governors with Words That Will Backfire when the occupiers in the encampments see through Luntz’s attempted manipulations.

Full Story Here: Super Rich vs. 99%: Class war will explode – Paul B. Farrell – MarketWatch.

Occupy Wall Street hunger strikes begin as one of the few remaining camps shut down by police

• Occupy Portland camp shut down Saturday night, adding it to the list of major camps to be busted by police
• Occupy LA, Philadelphia shut down earlier this week
• Dead body found at Occupy Denton site in Texas

Some Occupy Wall street protests throughout the country are taking desperate measures to keep the movement alive as only a few camps across the country remain open.

In New York, which was the original birthplace of the movement, protesters have started a hunger strike and hope to move to a different plot of land since they have been barred from Zuccotti Park.

Protesters were planning on taking this extreme stand starting Saturday, the same day when the Occupy Portland camp was broken up by police.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street hunger strikes begin as one of the few remaining camps shut down by police | Mail Online.

The Rebirth of Social Darwinism

Robert Reich :-:

What kind of society, exactly, do modern Republicans want? I’ve been listening to Republican candidates in an effort to discern an overall philosophy, a broadly-shared vision, an ideal picture of America.

They say they want a smaller government but that can’t be it. Most seek a larger national defense and more muscular homeland security. Almost all want to widen the government’s powers of search and surveillance inside the United States – eradicating possible terrorists, expunging undocumented immigrants, “securing” the nation’s borders. They want stiffer criminal sentences, including broader application of the death penalty. Many also want government to intrude on the most intimate aspects of private life.

They call themselves conservatives but that’s not it, either. They don’t want to conserve what we now have. They’d rather take the country backwards – before the 1960s and 1970s, and the Environmental Protection Act, Medicare, and Medicaid; before the New Deal, and its provision for Social Security, unemployment insurance, the forty-hour workweek, and official recognition of trade unions; even before the Progressive Era, and the first national income tax, antitrust laws, and Federal Reserve.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich.

Public sector strike set to be largest for a generation

Up to two million public sector workers are staging a strike over pensions in what is set to be the biggest walkout for a generation.

Schools, hospitals, airports, ports and government offices will be among sites disrupted, as more than 1,000 demonstrations are due across the UK.

It would “achieve nothing”, Downing Street said, calling for more talks.

Unions object to government plans to make their members pay more and work longer to earn their pensions.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Mr Maude branded the action “indefensible and wrong”.

Full Story Here: BBC News – Public sector strike set to be largest for a generation.

Hunger In America, By The Numbers

Last year, 17.2 million households in the United States were food insecure, the highest level on record, as the Great Recession continued to wreak havoc on families across the country. Of those 17.2 million households, 3.9 million included children. On Thanksgiving Day, here’s a look at hunger in America, as millions of Americans struggle to get enough to eat in the wake of the economic crisis:

17.2 million: The number of households that were food insecure in 2010, the highest number on record. They make up 14.5 percent of households, or approximately one in seven.

48.8 million: People who lived in food insecure households last year.

Full Story Here: Hunger In America, By The Numbers | ThinkProgress.

Max Keiser: The 99 percent movement & Wall Street

In this edition of On the Edge, Max Keiser interviews David DeGraw from AmpedStatus.com.

He talks about the 99 percent movement from which the Occupy Wall Street sprung out and comments on its aims and implications.

Full Story Here: The 99 percent movement & Wall Street-On the Edge with Max Keiser-11-25-2011 – YouTube.

We Are the 99.9%

Paul Krugman :-:

“We are the 99 percent” is a great slogan. It correctly defines the issue as being the middle class versus the elite (as opposed to the middle class versus the poor). And it also gets past the common but wrong establishment notion that rising inequality is mainly about the well educated doing better than the less educated; the big winners in this new Gilded Age have been a handful of very wealthy people, not college graduates in general.\

If anything, however, the 99 percent slogan aims too low. A large fraction of the top 1 percent’s gains have actually gone to an even smaller group, the top 0.1 percent — the richest one-thousandth of the population.

And while Democrats, by and large, want that super-elite to make at least some contribution to long-term deficit reduction, Republicans want to cut the super-elite’s taxes even as they slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the name of fiscal discipline.

Full Story Here: We Are the 99.9% – NYTimes.com.

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Plan Feast In Zuccotti Park

Occupy Wall Street protesters plan on marking Thanksgiving with a feast in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan today.

A volunteer with the demonstrators’ public relations group says they will have meals and music for 5,000 people.

The food is being donated by restaurants and individual supporters.

They also say they will be abiding by Department of Health code by wrapping all the plates of food individually.

The music will be acoustic, because protesters do not have a permit for loudspeakers.

There will also be a canned food drive, with donations going to local food banks and pantries.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Plan Feast In Zuccotti Park – NY1.com.

Thom Hartmann: Occupy Wall Street is Bringing Down the Big Banks

You need to know this. Occupy Wall Street is bringing down the big banks. The bank consulting firm “cg42” is projecting that the top 10 mega banks in America could lose $185 billion in deposits through next year as a result of people taking the advice of the 99% Movement and moving their money from banksters on Wall Street to local credit unions on Main Street. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Well Fargo, and Citibank will account for nearly three-quarters of all the losses alone. So far – since the 99% Movement kicked off two months ago– more than 700,000 people have made the switch – depositing their money into local credit unions instead of mega banks. That’s more people making a switch than through all of last year. Time to redefine exactly what “starve the beast” means in the Occupy age.

Who’s screwed? American workers. A new report out of the Commerce Department shows that over the last decade – U.S.-based transnational corporations laid off 864,000 American workers – while hiring more than 1.5 million new Asian workers and hiring nearly 500,000 new workers in Latin America. Also during the last decade – these transnational giants reduced how much money they were investing in the U.S. economy – but increased their investment in foreign economies by 4%. Currently – American corporations pay the second lowest amount in taxes of all the developed nations in the world – and many like General Electric pay absolutely no taxes at all. Yet – they have no interest in keeping all their extra profits right here in America. There used to be a business ethic in our nation that a corporation not only focuses on making a profit – but also serves the community it belongs to. Unfortunately – thanks to thirty years of Reaganomics, Clintonomics, and Bushonomics – and all the tax cuts, deregulation, and so-called Free Trade deals – it’s all about getting as rich as you can – as fast as you can – and to hell with the nation you call home. Can you hear the giant sucking sound that Ross Perot warned us about?

Full Story Here: On the News With Thom Hartmann: Occupy Wall Street is Bringing Down the Big Banks, and More | Truthout.

Lobbying Firm Memo To Advise Wall Street Clients On Occupy Movement (VIDEO)

A lobbying firm has prepared a memo offering advice to its Wall Street clients to help them manage any political fallout from Occupy Wall Street, warning that Republicans may turn on big banks, at least in public, altering the political ground for years to come. It is one of the first clear signs that the movement may be starting to trouble the moneyed elite.

[CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST OCCUPY WALL STREET UPDATES]

The memo, first reported by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, host of the show “Up with Chris Hayes,” was written by the firm Clark, Lytle, Geduldig, Cranford and addressed to one of its Wall Street clients. It runs four pages long and is set to be sent on Thanksgiving.

The first two graphs of the memo, provided by MSNBC to The Huffington Post, express angst over the idea that the movement could mean “more than just short-term discomfort for Wall Street firms” and has “the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

Full Story Here: Lobbying Firm Memo To Advise Wall Street Clients On Occupy Movement (VIDEO).

Former Philadelphia Police Captain Joins Occupy Protesters, Gets Arrested

Former Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis joined Occupy Wall Street protesters on Tuesday.

He was seen holding a sign reading “NYPD Don’t Be Wall Street Mercenaries.”

In a video interview with Livestreamers, he railed against the excessive power of corporate America and the wrongful eviction of protesters from Zuccotti Park. He said if the occupations “continue to grow, you’re going to see a lot more of the FBI.”

Full Story Here: Former Philadelphia Police Captain Joins Occupy Protesters, Gets Arrested | Common Dreams.

99% v 1%: The Data Behind the Occupy Movement

It has been the rallying cry of the Occupy movement for the past two months – but is the US really split 99% v 1%? As poverty and inequality reach record levels, how much richer have the rich got? This animation explains what the key data says about the state of America today

animated video at link below:

Full Story Here: 99% v 1%: The Data Behind the Occupy Movement – Animation | Common Dreams.

Occupy protesters prepare for day of ‘solidarity’ across US

Series of events planned to support evicted Zuccotti Park activists by highlighting growing inequality and need for jobs

Supporters of the Occupy movement are gearing up for a national day of protest and direct action across America, taking in dozens of events from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles.

Thursday has been declared a day of “solidarity” with the Occupy Wall Street activists in New York after their camp in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park was raided and dismantled by police. But it is also aimed at highlighting several of the movement’s broader aims in terms of income inequality and a desperate need for job creation in America’s floundering economy.

The Occupy movement, which began two months ago with the occupation of Zuccotti Park, has since spread to scores of cities and towns across the country, with varying success. It has often rejuvenated left-leaning political activists but also brought down a heavy police response, frequently at the behest of city mayors.

Full Story Here: Occupy protesters prepare for day of ‘solidarity’ across US | World news | guardian.co.uk.

6 Burning Questions About the Violent Crackdowns on Occupations Around the Country

In the aftermath of a city-by-city crackdown featuring hundreds of arrests and evictions of Occupy encampments, plenty of questions demand answers.

Occurring without provocation, the Occupy crackdown gives the appearance of an orchestrated effort to thwart an emerging protest movement. Early morning Tuesday, in New York City, hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, swept down on Zuccotti Park, throwing away private property, restricting press and using aggressive tactics to remove protesters and supporters. Here are some things we’d really like to know.

1. Who convened the mayors call? In an interview with the BBC, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan alluded to her participation in a conference call with leaders of 18 US cities just prior to the raids on encampments across the country. Mayors’ associations do exist, but they do not typically organize police interventions or local decision-making in such detail. Given the abuses of the past, such as the notorious COINTELPRO and other intervention programs that the U.S. government organized during the Vietnam protests, the public has a right to know the details of who organized that call.

Full Story Here: 6 Burning Questions About the Violent Crackdowns on Occupations Around the Country | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

Message to Occupiers: Stay Strong — They Can’t Beat Down Hopes, Dreams and the Fight for a More Humane World

Who knew, or could even imagine, that in such a short time, the Occupy Wall Street movement would inspire a striking transformation of public consciousness, capturing the imagination of the country and the globe, and fundamentally changing the public discourse? And it’s just the beginning.

Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza was recoccupied last night by hundreds of protestors, after a brutal display by the NYPD the night before. Police snuck in under the cover of darkness in the early morning hours Tuesday, and violently cleared the park, destroying everything that had been creatively built over the past two months. It was a sad and infuriating moment; an action that spoke volumes about the fears and pettiness of a mayor and a city that can’t seem to help but be immature and brutal, arbitrary and capricious, and totally lacking in any of the imagination the protestors have in bundles.

This is an opportunity for a transcendent moment. But the billionaire mayor and his advisers and minders have responded in petty ways, cowed perhaps by the ridiculous crap spewed by the idiots who edit the New York Post and the Daily News.

Full Story Here: Message to Occupiers: Stay Strong — They Can’t Beat Down Hopes, Dreams and the Fight for a More Humane World | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

99 Percent Movement

Berkeley Activist Hit By Police Explains How Several UC Regents Profit From Higher Levels Of Student Debt

Earlier today, OccupyCal protesters at the University of California Berkeley staged a mass “teach-in” and protest to stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and to rebuke police brutality. Last week, a video captured police viciously beating peaceful students as they locked arms to protect their encampment on campus.

One of the students hit by the police in the now infamous YouTube video, Honest Chung, addressed a crowd of well over a thousand people around 2:30pm PST. Chung explained the movement’s grievances, and said that the UC Regents, the governing body for the university system, had ordered the crack down. He also noted that several of the UC Regents retain positions at major banks, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The arrangement, Chung said, not only symbolized the larger problems of economic inequality and bank power over society, but places the UC Regents in a position to profit from student debt

Full Story Here: 99 Percent Movement | ThinkProgress.

11 States Seek Relief From ‘No Child’ Provisions, in Return for Raising Standards

Eleven states applied for waivers exempting them from key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law by the federal government’s first deadline, promising in return to adopt higher standards and carry out other elements of the Obama administration’s school improvement agenda, the Department of Education said on Tuesday.

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee asked the department for relief from some No Child provisions, including the requirement that all students be proficient in English and math by 2014. In their applications, the states outlined plans to develop their own locally designed school accountability systems, create new educator-evaluation systems and overhaul their lowest-performing schools, the department said.

President Obama said in announcing the waiver program in September that it was necessary because many states had already adopted new common academic standards and were taking other steps that were in conflict with the requirements of the 2002 No Child law. Since Congress had made little progress in rewriting the law, Mr. Obama said, his administration felt obligated to offer states relief.

Full Story Here: 11 States Seek Relief From ‘No Child’ Provisions, in Return for Raising Standards – NYTimes.com.

Occupy Wall Street Is Not a Spectator Sport: 5 Ways the 99 Percent Can Contribute to the Movement Right Now

How can the rest of the 99 percent demonstrate our outrage? Here are five things we can do, without parking a tent in the street.

Let’s take a look at where we are right now. There is battle royale underway between inhabitants of two entirely different universes over what’s wrong with our nation and what should be fixed.

On the one hand, the entire political establishment, blessed by Wall Street, wants the conversation to be all about debt and “entitlements.” We are told 24/7 that we’re living over our heads, that our social safety net is too expensive, and that we need to cut, cut, cut trillions of dollars from public budgets so we don’t become the next Greece.

In that framework the only question is how much to cut and how much we should sacrifice. The so-called liberal position is that the rich should pay a bit more while the rest of us suffer cuts in education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. (Please note that taxes on Wall Street are not on the table.) The “grand bargain” is all about how much we will have to pay for the economic collapse caused by Wall Street. It’s also a loser because the more we cut, the longer unemployment will last, and the more fiscal distress we’ll face as tax revenues stall.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street Is Not a Spectator Sport: 5 Ways the 99 Percent Can Contribute to the Movement Right Now | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

The New Progressive Movement

OCCUPY WALL STREET and its allied movements around the country are more than a walk in the park. They are most likely the start of a new era in America. Historians have noted that American politics moves in long swings. We are at the end of the 30-year Reagan era, a period that has culminated in soaring income for the top 1 percent and crushing unemployment or income stagnation for much of the rest. The overarching challenge of the coming years is to restore prosperity and power for the 99 percent.

Thirty years ago, a newly elected Ronald Reagan made a fateful judgment: “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” Taxes for the rich were slashed, as were outlays on public services and investments as a share of national income. Only the military and a few big transfer programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits were exempted from the squeeze.

Reagan’s was a fateful misdiagnosis. He completely overlooked the real issue — the rise of global competition in the information age — and fought a bogeyman, the government. Decades on, America pays the price of that misdiagnosis, with a nation singularly unprepared to face the global economic, energy and environmental challenges of our time.

Full Story Here: The New Progressive Movement – NYTimes.com.

Occupy Portland Protesters Face Showdown With Police Over Eviction Order

Anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters flooded a city park area in Portland early Sunday in defiance of an eviction order, and authorities elsewhere stepped up pressure against the demonstrators, arresting nearly two dozen.

Crowds converged on two adjacent downtown Portland parks where protesters are camped after city officials set a midnight Saturday deadline to disperse.

But hours later, the protesters were still there, backed by many supporters who spilled out into the streets next to camp, tying up traffic. They obeyed police orders to clear the street early Sunday.

At one point the numbers swelled to thousands but then started to thin in the early morning hours.

Organizers said they hope enough people will join them to make it difficult if not impossible for police to carry through on any eviction.

Full Story Here: Occupy Portland Protesters Face Showdown With Police Over Eviction Order.

Five Reasons Why Veterans Are Part Of The 99 Percent

The 99 Percent Movement has attracted students, labor unions, unemployed workers, teachers, artists, singers, writers, former real estate brokers, political activists, people who have given up on the traditional political system, and thousands more. But a growing contingent seen at Occupy Wall Street solidarity protests all across the country are veterans.

The signs of a veterans movement are everywhere, from new groups dedicated to supporting veterans in the occupy movement, to thousands of veterans showing up at street actions. And despite condescending rhetoric from the right-wing media, veterans have every reason to be there:

Full Story Here: Five Reasons Why Veterans Are Part Of The 99 Percent | ThinkProgress.

Why Are 99 Percent of Americans Fed Up?

Psychology Today:-:

The American people are fed up with watching passively as their homes are foreclosed; their jobs outsourced; and wars are waged for billions of dollars that could have been used to build our infrastructure at home, create new jobs, and improve our educational system. Many are beginning to see the hypocrisy of politicians who embrace a “culture of life” while supporting pointless, bloody wars; and of politicians who claim to be for human rights while at the same time abridging our rights to privacy, equal protection, due process, and other basic human rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Many Americans are fed up with a government that lies to them; and they are distrustful of the mainstream media to expose those lies.

As a result, thousands are taking to the streets of cities throughout the nation and the world in peaceful protest. At last, the 99 percent is standing up to the 1 percent; and it is reasonable to expect that the latter will eventually have little choice but to take seriously the concerns of the former, if only because politicians need votes and big business needs customers.

Full Story Here: Why Are 99 Percent of Americans Fed Up? A Video Tells All | Psychology Today.

Anti-Wall Street protesters dig in against police

Tensions were rising at anti-Wall Street protests in three western U.S. cities on Friday as demonstrators in Portland, Salt Lake City and Oakland defied orders by police to dismantle their camps.

In Portland, police said they had received reports that protesters were digging a reinforced hole and fashioning make-shift weapons out of wood and nails after Mayor Sam Adams gave them until midnight on Saturday to clear out of two downtown parks.

Police said they believed Occupy Portland organizers had also put out a call for reinforcements from Oakland, Seattle and San Francisco as they prepared for a confrontation.

Full Story Here: Anti-Wall Street protesters dig in against police | Reuters.

Oakland police union calls for end to Occupy camp

Anti-Wall Street protesters in Oakland rejected a call by the California city’s police union on Friday for them to leave their encampment, creating the potential for a showdown.

The police request came one day after a man was shot to death near their protest site. But Occupy Oakland demonstrators said the shooting, which took place at a public transit station at the edge of Frank Ogawa Plaza on Thursday, had nothing to do with their movement.

The Oakland Police Officers Association, in an open letter to the protesters, said that police sympathized with their movement but that the city was in a “state of emergency.”

“You have sent the world a strong message; now it is time to go home. Your leaving today, peacefully, of your own free will, on the 30th day, will send a message to Oakland that you care about our citizens and respect our city,” the union said.

Full Story Here: Oakland police union calls for end to Occupy camp | Reuters.

Deputy tells Occupy Fresno that Penal code trumps 1st Amendment

Joseph Hunter, speaking as a mediator between the protesters and the authorities goes off and tells it how it is.

Full Story Here: We are Radicals – YouTube.

The Globalization of Protest

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Joseph E. Stiglitz :-:

The protest movement that began in Tunisia in January, subsequently spreading to Egypt, and then to Spain, has now become global, with the protests engulfing Wall Street and cities across America. Globalization and modern technology now enables social movements to transcend borders as rapidly as ideas can. And social protest has found fertile ground everywhere: a sense that the “system” has failed, and the conviction that even in a democracy, the electoral process will not set things right – at least not without strong pressure from the street.

In May, I went to the site of the Tunisian protests; in July, I talked to Spain’s indignados; from there, I went to meet the young Egyptian revolutionaries in Cairo’s Tahrir Square; and, a few weeks ago, I talked with Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. There is a common theme, expressed by the OWS movement in a simple phrase: “We are the 99%.”

That slogan echoes the title of an article that I recently published, entitled “Of the 1%, for the 1%, and by the 1%,” describing the enormous increase in inequality in the United States: 1% of the population controls more than 40% of the wealth and receives more than 20% of the income. And those in this rarefied stratum often are rewarded so richly not because they have contributed more to society – bonuses and bailouts neatly gutted that justification for inequality – but because they are, to put it bluntly, successful (and sometimes corrupt) rent-seekers.

Full Story Here: The Globalization of Protest – Joseph E. Stiglitz – Project Syndicate.

Seniors Join Occupy Chicago, Protest Cuts To Medicare, Social Security

More than 1,000 senior citizens and their supporters marched from Chicago’s Federal Plaza to the intersection of Jackson and Clark Street Monday morning to protest proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). At the intersection, more than 40 protesters, 15 of them seniors affiliated with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, stood or sat in the street, arms linked, blocking traffic.

Amid chants demanding that the cuts be forestalled — with suggestions for alternatives, including tax hikes — 43 demonstrators were escorted from the intersection (see video, above) by police and issued citations for pedestrian failure to “exercise due care,” or for blocking traffic. Those cited included four protesters using assisted mobility devices and at least one centenarian.

Judy Moses said she was glad to receive the citation–her second in her quest to maintain funding for programs that benefit seniors, following an arrest for blocking traffic in December at a similar protest.

“When I was younger, I never did protests,” she said. “I was a silent majority. Now, I’m ready to make noise.”

Full Story Here: Seniors Join Occupy Chicago, Protest Cuts To Medicare, Social Security (VIDEO, PHOTOS).

Roger Waters – Occupy

Roger Waters – Occupy

Full Story Here: Roger Waters – Occupy – YouTube.

RAW VIDEO: Chopper footage of 100,000+ Occupy Oakland Takes back Highway

100,000 source ( San Francisco Chronicle): Oakland’s Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan (a capable and politically smart leader in a tough position) got the Occupy Oakland General Strike crowd count massively wrong: it’s not 7,000, but 100,000.

Absolutely enormous crowd hit the street in Oakland in support of Oakland. They took over a highway; there’s got to be a good 100,000 people there.

Full Story Here: RAW VIDEO: Chopper footage of 100,000+ Occupy Oakland Takes back Highway – YouTube.

Why Bank Transfer Day is only the beginning

If the big  banks aren’t scared yet at the power of social-media grass-roots activism, they’re not paying attention

On Oct. 9, Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old art gallery owner in Los Angeles, created a Facebook page urging her friends to move their money out of the big banks on Nov. 5. The suggestion hit a nerve. By Nov. 4, 77,015 “friends” had declared their intention to “attend” Bank Transfer Day.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that 77,015 people will be pulling all their money out of the likes of Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all at once. Saturday is hardly an ideal day to get banking business done, and the process of switching over one’s account to a new bank or credit union is not something that can be accomplished — yet — with a flip of a switch. (Detailed advice on how to change your banking account can be found here.) And of course, clicking your intent to do something on Facebook is a far cry from actually, well, doing it.

It’s also not clear that the big banks will take a big hit from Bank Transfer Day. The usually sensible economics commentator Felix Salmon goes so far as to assert that “the big banks are blithely unconcerned about people withdrawing their funds on Saturday … I’m not kidding myself that doing so is going to harm the big banks at all.”

Full Story Here: Why Bank Transfer Day is only the beginning – Salon.com.

Occupy The Banks, with Matt Taibbi

11-03-11 1b – Occupy The Banks, with Matt Taibbi – Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Full Story Here: 11-03-11 1b – Occupy The Banks, with Matt Taibbi – Countdown with Keith Olbermann – YouTube.

Bill Gates: Ignoring World’s Poor ‘Would Hurt Our Economic Future’

Bill Gates says the world’s developed nations need to ensure that they aid the world’s poor. And the best way to do this, according to the billionaire philanthropist? A tax on financial transactions.

In an interview with BBC News, the Microsoft co-founder, said that while the plight of impoverished people in developed nations may seem like it has little to with the economies of rich countries, it affects everyone.

“Not caring about the instability of these countries really would hurt our economic future quite dramatically, whether it’s unrest, whether it’s disease,” Gates told BBC News. “On the other hand, if you bring these people into the world economy then you get this very positive, virtuous cycle.”

Gates, who made a presentation highlighting the importance of foreign aid at the G20 conference in Cannes Thursday, has outlined several ways to better integrate the globe’s poor into the world economy, the Guardian reports. One of his most popular proposals seems to be the institution of a tax on trades on stocks, bonds and derivatives, also known as the Robin Hood tax.

Full Story Here: Bill Gates: Ignoring World’s Poor ‘Would Hurt Our Economic Future’.

OWS Oakland Takes Over City, Shutting Down One of the Biggest Ports in the Country…But Nightfall Brings More Chaos and Teargas

Calling the protests a “general strike” resulted in an unbelievable amount of media coverage — a victory for the Occupy movement.

As many as 15,000 people participated in actions across Oakland yesterday, with small marches peeling off to protest in front of banks or “occupy” foreclosed homes. There were probably eight to ten times the number of people in the streets of Oakland today as I’d seen during past OWS actions. Police maintained a minimal presence throughout the day. There were a few scattered acts of vandalism — windows were broken at two banks but there was no violence, and the protests were remarkably up-beat throughout the day. But that changed when night fell as the streets of Oakland once again resonated with the sharp cracks of tear gas canisters and “less lethal” projectiles being fired, and flash-bang grenades scattering the crowd.

But first: did a small group of activists manage in just 5 short days of organizing to bring about the first general strike in the United States in generations?

Full Story Here: OWS Oakland Takes Over City, Shutting Down One of the Biggest Ports in the Country…But Nightfall Brings More Chaos and Teargas | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

Is Capitalism Losing the Debate?

A remarkable shift in mass public opinion is occurring right before our eyes. It does not happen often. Normally, only when there is a severe breakdown in public confidence about the future.

Now is such a time.

Millions are demanding clear explanations for the economic turmoil surrounding their lives and rejecting en masse standard platitudes from an increasingly discredited political establishment.

Fox-News pundits, Heritage Foundation business scholars, glib right-wing loud mouths and two-faced politicians from both major parties have been exposed as stand-in ventriloquists for the wealthy – shockingly, all in a few short weeks.

It all began with only a few hundred protestors camped out on Wall Street challenging conceited notions of the one percent.

Full Story Here: Is Capitalism Losing the Debate? | Common Dreams.

What Is Occupy Wall Street About?

f you’re having trouble understanding what is at stake in the “Occupy” protests, here are some numbers that help explain the problem.

Full Story Here: What Is Occupy Wall Street About? – YouTube.

Hartmann: Conversations with Great Minds – David Korten, The Great Turning.

For tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds – Thom is joined by David Korten. David is an economist, author, and former Professor of the Harvard Business School. His political activism has made him a prominent critic of corporate globalization. His 2006 book “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community” argues that the development of empires about 5,000 years ago initiated unequal distribution of power and social benefits to a small portion of the population.

Full Story Here: Hartmann: Conversations with Great Minds – David Korten, The Great Turning. P1 – YouTube.

PArt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoACQjnC1kw

Report: Internet privacy tools ineffective for most people

Research conducted at Carnegie Mellon University has backed up the Federal Trade Commission’s call for a “Do Not Track” registry for Internet users.

The study found that Internet users who want to protect their privacy by preventing advertisers from tracking their online behavior will have difficulty doing so with commonly available “opt-out” tools. It also described the current approach for advertising industry self-regulation as “fundamentally flawed.”

“The status quo clearly is insufficient to empower people to protect their privacy from [online behavioral advertising] companies,” said Lorrie Cranor, director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS). “A lot of effort is being put into creating these tools to help consumers, but it will all be wasted — and people will be left vulnerable — unless a greater emphasis is placed on usability.”

Full Story Here: Report: Internet privacy tools ineffective for most people | The Raw Story.

The Question OWS Hears Most: ‘What’s Your Agenda?’

The “what do you people want” question has featured in media interviews almost to the exclusion of all others.

It’s as if the movement won’t be taken seriously by some, unless and until, it enunciates list of “demands” and defines itself in a way that can allow others, especially a cynical media, to label and pigeonhole it.

Many are just frothing at the mouth for some political positions they can expose as shallow or absurd. Teams of pundits are being primed to go on the attack once they have some bullet points to refute.

(Many police departments don’t need bullet points to go on the attack. They have been having a field day arresting occupiers in many cities, while collecting overtime and readying their own bullets as needed.)

Full Story Here: The Question OWS Hears Most: ‘What’s Your Agenda?’ | Common Dreams.

Frank Rich: The Class War Has Begun

And the very classlessness of our society makes the conflict more volatile, not less.

During the death throes of Herbert Hoover’s presidency in June 1932, desperate bands of men traveled to Washington and set up camp within view of the Capitol. The first contingent journeyed all the way from Portland, Oregon, but others soon converged from all over—alone, in groups, with families—until their main Hooverville on the Anacostia River’s fetid mudflats swelled to a population as high as 20,000. The men, World War I veterans who could not find jobs, became known as the Bonus Army—for the modest government bonus they were owed for their service. Under a law passed in 1924, they had been awarded roughly $1,000 each, to be collected in 1945 or at death, whichever came first. But they didn’t want to wait any longer for their pre–New Deal entitlement—especially given that Congress had bailed out big business with the creation of a Reconstruction Finance Corporation earlier in its session. Father Charles Coughlin, the populist “Radio Priest” who became a phenomenon for railing against “greedy bankers and financiers,” framed Washington’s double standard this way: “If the government can pay $2 billion to the bankers and the railroads, why cannot it pay the $2 billion to the soldiers?”

Full Story Here: Frank Rich on Occupy Wall Street and Class Warfare — New York Magazine.

A Master Class in Occupation

Jon Friesen, 27, tall and lanky with a long, dirty-blond ponytail, a purple scarf and an old green fleece, is sitting on concrete at the edge of Zuccotti Park leading a coordination meeting, a gathering that takes place every morning with representatives of each of Occupy Wall Street’s roughly 40 working groups.

“Our conversation is about what it means to be a movement and what it means to be an organization,” he says to the circle. A heated discussion follows, including a debate over whether the movement should make specific demands.

I find him afterward on a low stone wall surrounding a flowerbed in the park. He decided to come to New York City, he said, from the West Coast for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. He found a ride on Craig’s List while staying at his brother’s home in Champaign, Ill.

Full Story Here: A Master Class in Occupation | Common Dreams.

Bill Moyers on a Democracy in Shambles: “Money First, People Second… If At All”

Keynote Address at Public Citizen’s 40th Anniversary Gala

Video……

Full Story Here: Bill Moyers on a Democracy in Shambles: “Money First, People Second… If At All” | Common Dreams.

THIS IS HUGE! AFL-CIO is urging members to support and JOIN Occupy Wall Street!

How serious are the leaders of my union about supporting Occupy Wall Street? I found the emphatic answer was in my inbox:

Occupy Wall Street protests continue to spread across the country. Outrage against an economy stacked against the 99% is growing. And the media is paying attention. Finally, our national debate has shifted from austerity and cuts to jobs, inequality and our broken economic system.

But Congress still isn’t listening to the 99%. Policies continue to fail the 99% and reward the rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Last Thursday, it happened again: Senate Republicans once again blocked progress for workers with a political maneuver, filibustering the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. It didn’t get a vote at all. Justice for the 99% once again was delayed.

If Congress won’t represent the 99%, then we clearly need to put our anger into action and stand together. Let’s build a movement that is strong enough that our elected officials will have no choice but to start addressing the needs of the 99%.

If you can’t join protesters on the ground, one way to make your voice heard is to send a message of solidarity.

Your message of solidarity—which will be delivered by Working America—will go a long way to energize the protesters who are camping out in the rain and cold. And it only takes a moment to write.

It’s even better if you can join an Occupy event yourself. Since the protests are a truly organic movement, and aren’t organized by the AFL-CIO, we can’t tell you exactly what will be happening when you arrive. But what we can tell you is this: The more people who can stand in solidarity, the better. Once you join your local protest, you can find ways to get involved. Check out this map of protests.

We’ll continue to urge Congress to do what’s right on jobs, despite setbacks and obstacles.

But in addition to directly communicating with Congress, each of us has to do his or her part to change our national conversation if we’re going to move America forward.

One easy but powerful way to do that right now is to show support for activists who are keeping the Occupy movement going.

If you’re able, we hope you’ll also join an Occupy event in your area. And stay tuned for more ways to make your voice heard on and offline in the coming weeks.

Let’s keep standing together—we are the 99%.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

All emphasis and links are from the original.

Full Story Here: Daily Kos: THIS IS HUGE! AFL-CIO is urging members to support and JOIN Occupy Wall Street!.

When Being Rich Makes Us Poor, People Should Occupy Wall Street

Dean Baker : -:

The Very Serious People in Washington are busy trying to find creative ways to cut Social Security and Medicare and take other benefits from middle-class and moderate-income families. The refrain here is that we just can’t afford this level of generosity any more.

There are two parts of this story that should drive the rest of us crazy. And it is difficult to determine which one is the more infuriating.

The first is that we know that many people in this country are fabulously rich. And as Elizabeth Warren beautifully reminded us, none of them did it on their own. But Professor Warren is actually far too generous in her account.

Full Story Here: Dean Baker: When Being Rich Makes Us Poor, People Should Occupy Wall Street.

Who is the 99 Percent?

Barely a month after the first group of protesters set up its encampment in Zuccotti Park in New York City, the phrase “We are the 99 percent” has already become legendary.

Used throughout the U.S., the expression has come to reference people who share what is left of global wealth after corporate CEOs and the “richest one percent” have pocketed the bulk of global output.

But in a country still highly segregated along race, colour and class lines, the words “99 percent” continue to be points of contention for minorities involved in the movement.

According to a new report released earlier this week by the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI), “Jim Crow still exists today in the (U.S.) job market,” with more black and Latino workers relegated to the realm of “second-class workers, over-represented in low-skill, low-wage occupations with limited chances to move up the ladder of opportunity”.

Full Story Here: Who is the 99 Percent? | Common Dreams.

How the Wounding of a Vet Who Dared to Dissent Stirred a New Wave of Dissent

John Nichols :-:

“We Are All Scott Olsen!” was the message of vigils held across the United States Thursday night, held in answer to a call from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Occupy Oakland for “occupations across America and around the world to hold solidarity vigils” recognizing Olsen, the former Marine and Iraq War veteran who activists say “sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head on October 25 with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland protest.

In cities across the United States and around the world, “We Are Scott Olsen” vigils, rallies and marches were held. Thousands attended a candlelight vigil in Oakland. In Las Vegas, an image of Olsen was projected at the site of the Occupy encampment. In New York, Occupy Wall Street activist took to the streets chanting “New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York.” As far away as London, images of Olsen were displayed at gatherings. The buzz about the wounding of the 24-year-old veteran seemed to be everywhere, and was perhaps best summed up by a message from an activist who had protested at Wisconsin’s state Capitol with Olsen in February. It read: “He could be any one of us.”

The Washington-insider website Politico speculated about whether the wounding of Olsen would be the Occupy movement’s “Kent State moment,” a reference to the 1970 killing of four students at an anti-war demonstration in Ohio. No one was killed in Oakland, and Olsen is now expected to recover, although he remains hospilized and is unable to speak. But the images of the young former Marine, standing peacefully in the frontlines of the protest in Oakland — next to a Navy vet holding a “Veterans for Peace” flag — and the images from just moments later of Olsen lying on the ground wounded as medics rush to his aid have both shocked and energized activists, in much the same way that violent responses to civil rights and anti-war demonstrations in the 1960s did — and in much the way that official violence against anti-WTO activists in Seattle in 1999 shifted sentiment in favor of the protests.

Full Story Here: How the Wounding of a Vet Who Dared to Dissent Stirred a New Wave of Dissent | The Nation.

Occupy Wall Street: Many Cities Leaving Protesters Alone

While more U.S. cities are resorting to force to break up the Wall Street protests, many others – Philadelphia, New York, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore., among them – are content to let the demonstrations go on for now.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for example, said Friday that the several hundred protesters sleeping in Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters of the movement that began in mid-September, can stay as long as they obey the law.

“I can’t talk about other cities,” he said. “Our responsibilities are protect your rights and your safety. And I think we’re trying to do that. We’re trying to act responsibly and safely.”

Still, the city made life a lot harder for the demonstrators: Fire authorities seized a dozen cans of gasoline and six generators that powered lights, cooking equipment and computers, saying they were safety hazards.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street: Many Cities Leaving Protesters Alone [LATEST UPDATES].

Scott Olsen ‘cannot talk’ after injury at Occupy Oakland protest

Iraq war veteran is believed to have sustained damage to speech centre of his brain in injury at Occupy protest on Tuesday

Scott Olsen, the Iraq war veteran who was seriously injured by a police projectile during a protest in Oakland, has regained consciousness but “cannot talk”.

Olsen, 24, is communicating with friends and family at his bedside by writing notes, but his injury is believed to have damaged the speech centre of his brain, according to Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq.

Olsen is believed to have been injured by a police projectile. He was hit in the forehead in downtown Oakland on Tuesday evening, after marching with fellow demonstrators to protest the closure of an Occupy Oakland camp in the city.

Full Story Here: Scott Olsen ‘cannot talk’ after injury at Occupy Oakland protest | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Occupy Nashville protesters released after second night of arrests

Tennessee state troopers for the second straight night arrested Wall Street protesters for defying a new nighttime curfew imposed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam in an effort to disband an encampment near the state Capitol.

And for a second time, a Nashville night judge dismissed the protesters’ arrest warrants.

Early Saturday morning, Magistrate Tom Nelson told troopers delivering the protesters to jail that he could “find no authority anywhere for anyone to authorize a curfew anywhere on Legislative Plaza.”

Full Story Here: Occupy Nashville protesters released after second night of arrests | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.

Labor and Occupy Movements Continue to Stand in Solidarity

The union movement didn’t lead the Occupy Wall Street movement that began on Sept. 17 – but it didn’t take long for many union members and local unions to begin happily supporting it. Earlier this month, the head of the “house of labor,” Richard Trumka, blessed it.

During the first action in Manhattan that had significant labor support – a rally in Foley Square and a march past Zuccotti Park to Wall Street on October 5—there were no waves of colorful matching T-shirt clad workers making their presence very obvious. But there were smaller contingents of workers from many unions, and some individual members of unions scattered throughout the large, upbeat and noisy crowd.

One week later, on October 12, 500 purple-shirted members of SEIU Local 32BJ—which represents 60,000 commercial cleaners along the East Coast from D.C. to Boston—marched into Zuccotti Park in solidarity with OWS. On Tuesday, Local 32BJ spokesman Kwame Patterson said that the march had been planned in solidarity with local members in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., whose contracts expired that week.

Full Story Here: Labor and Occupy Movements Continue to Stand in Solidarity – Working In These Times.

Oakland Police Critically Injure Iraq War Vet During Occupy March

The Oakland Police Department fired tear gas on Occupy Oakland demonstrators Tuesday night as they marched through downtown, determined to reclaim the camp that officers destroyed that morning. As the marchers zigged and zagged in search of safe ground, authorities bombarded and barricaded the activists into a drawn-out stalemate that resulted in further arrests.

The local police’s use of force seriously injured an Occupy activist and Iraq War veteran.

Scott Olsen, 24, remains sedated on a respirator, in stable but critical condition at Oakland’s Highland Hospital after being hit in the head with a police projectile.

Olsen’s roommate, Keith Shannon, 24, told The Huffington Post that Olsen is still in the emergency room.

Full Story Here: Oakland Police Critically Injure Iraq War Vet During Occupy March.

The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement

The corporate media may obsess about what Occupy Wall Street is all about, but these images should make it clear.

What are the Occupy Wall Street protesters angry about? The same things we’re all angry about. The only difference is the protestors turned their anger into public action. Occupy Wall Street lit the embers and the sparks are flying. Whether it turns into a genuine populist prairie fire depends on all of us.

Now is not the time for wonky policy solutions, as the media meatheads are calling for. Rather, it’s time to air our grievances as loudly as possible, which is precisely what Wall Street and its minions fear the most. Here’s a brief list of why we should be angry and the charts to back it up.

1. The American Dream is imploding…

Full Story Here: The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

Enough is Enough Rally

Congress I am a personAztec Dancers I am a person!

WHEN: October 29, 2011 • 11:30 AM to Sunrise

WHERE: U.S. Capitol West Front Lawn

WHY: Democracy will not die on our watch

We can do this! Our mission is to keep the mic on and the People’s voices flowing for at least 12 hours, perhaps into the wee hours of the morning and even until dawn on Sunday. Right now we have enough people signed-up for the first 11 hours of the rally. If you join us, we push it past midnight, and if you bring your friends, who knows…

If you’re not the type to grab a microphone, please check the schedule and come out to the US Capitol on Saturday Oct. 29 to support hundreds of everyday Americans from all over the U.S. who have traveled here to share how dysfunction and corruption in Washington have impacted their lives. These personal stories, one after another after another, will announce a year-long Citizens Lobby campaign, and, express our determination to restore self-governance to the People.

We are proud to have a number of well known speakers including Thom Hartmann, Lawrence Lessig, Frances Moore Lappe, and Buddy Roemer to provide context, offer solutions, and make it more likely the People’s voices will be heard. But the real stars of this rally are everyday folks like Deb Gates, a grandmother who drove here from Corvallis, Oregon to add her voice to the chorus of Americans demanding major reforms to combat the corrupting influence of money in politics.

Full Story Here: Enough Is Enough » Enough is Enough Rally.

10 Ways to Support the Occupy Movement

There are many things you can do to be part of this growing movement—and only some of them involve sleeping outside.

The #OccupyWallStreet movement continues to spread with more than 1,500 sites. More and more people are speaking up for a society that works for the 99 percent, not just the 1 percent.

Here are 10 recommendations from the YES! Magazine staff for ways to build the power and momentum of this movement. Only two of them involve sleeping outside:

1. Show up at the occupied space near you.

Use this link to find the Facebook page of an occupation near you. If you can, bring a tent or tarp and sleeping bag, and stay. Or just come for a few hours. Talk to people, participate in a General Assembly, hold a sign, help serve food. Learn about the new world being created in the occupied spaces.

Full Story Here: 10 Ways to Support the Occupy Movement | | AlterNet.

Ohio Can Only Lose by Selling its Roads

Ohio citizens need only look to their neighbors to the west to see evidence of this: since the state of Indiana leased its toll roads in 2006, the price of crossing that state has doubled.

During the last several years, the privatization of toll roads and parking meters in the United States has become an appalling trend. Cities such as Chicago and states such as Indiana have leased away their rights to profits from such devices to foreign-owned companies. Currently, the state of Ohio is poised to follow suit by privatizing their own toll roads.

Ohio Governor John Kasich has proposed a plan to lease the Ohio Turnpike for the next 75 years. The deal would redirect all tolls paid by Ohioans to a third party in exchange for one lump sum to be paid up front to the state. Unfortunately, in most cases of privatization, that initial sum of money almost NEVER makes up for the billions of dollars in income that is eventually lost out on.

This is certainly not a course of action that is going to benefit the people of Ohio either. Privatization of roads and highways is merely a short term solution that will lead to long term losses for everyone. According to a review done by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the deal would likely lead to higher tolls and traffic headaches for communities whose roads would see more toll-dodging truckers.

Full Story Here: Ohio Can Only Lose by Selling its Roads | Economy In Crisis.

“We are the 99 Percent”

This photo and story is not selected because this 29-year old woman’s story is one of the worst stories of suffering. She probably could have written “I am one of the lucky ones.” I have selected this because the ultimate conclusion she draws is reasonable: not selling your soul to the corporate state is likely to put you in debt.

I’m 29 years old. I went to a good state college and got lots of scholarships.

$30,000 in DEBT

I listened to my parents’ advice and followed the American Dream to a Top-5 law school. I got a FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP but still had to pay for rent in NYC, books, non-tuition school expenses, health insurance.

$100,000 in DEBT

I got SICK and had to have surgery to remove a tumor. I had health insurance through work – but it didn’t cover everything.

$120,000 in DEBT

I chose to work as a lawyer for the PEOPLE and not for the CORPORATIONS.

I WILL NEVER be OUT of DEBT.

I played by the rules and succeeded. Because I want to work to make the world a better place, I may never be able to buy a house, support children and pay off my debt.

This is not the future I want: I WANT CHANGE.

I AM the 99%

On the Tumblr site, she adds:

Full Story Here: “We are the 99 Percent” Photo of the Day | The Dissenter.

Rich Getting Richer, More People Poor

Fifty percent of U.S. workers earned less than $26,364 last year, reflecting a growing income gap between the nation’s rich and poor, the government reported yesterday.

There were fewer jobs, and overall pay was trending down – except for the nation’s wealthiest. The number of people making $1 million or more soared by over 18 percent from 2009, the Social Security Administration said, citing payroll data based on W-2 forms submitted by employers to the Internal Revenue Service.

Despite population growth, the number of Americans with jobs fell again last year, with total employment of just under 150.4 million – down from 150.9 million in 2009 and 155.4 million in 2008. In all, there were 5.2 million fewer jobs than in 2007, when the deep recession began, according to the IRS data.

The figures are just one more indication of the toll that the worst downturn since the Great Depression has taken on the U.S. economy. They were published as demonstrations rage on Wall Street and in cities across the nation protesting a widening income gulf between average wage earners and the nation’s wealthiest.

Full Story Here: Government: Rich Getting Richer, More People Poor | Common Dreams.

#OccupyMarines are Preparing to Occupy America Nationwide

United States Marine Corps. Sergeant Shamar Thomas in a spectacular moment defended the protesters of Occupy Wall Street while staring into the faces of thirty NYPD officers, and now countless other Marines have organized in an amazing show of solidarity.

Sgt. Thomas’ gallant actions in standing up for American citizens being brutalized by the police were shown in a video which has gone viral with almost 2 million views. Marines have joined forces with #OccupyMarines in solidarity with the movement not just in New York, but nationwide:

“OccupyMARINES Are Currently Assessing The Current Situation To Ascertain What Is Currently Needed To Support OWS America. We Are Humbled At The Substantial Support OWS America Has Provided And Ask That Everyone Continue As You All Do While We Implement Organization Nationwide. As We All Know, ‘Occupy’ Groups Are Being Established Even Now And Would Like To See This Trend Continue.”

Full Story Here: #OccupyMarines are Preparing to Occupy America Nationwide.

Center for Constitutional Rights Issues Statement of Support for Occupy Wall Street

October 14, 2011, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement in support of the Occupy Wall Street protesters:

The Center for Constitutional Rights stands in full support of the Occupy Wall Street protestors. Your emerging movement represents the growing discontent with ever-increasing disparities among the rich and the poor, and it is an inspiring step towards a true and organic people’s movement demanding the social and economic rights that have long been denied to the majority of this nation. OWS shows the power of dissent, a power and a right that law enforcement has long sought to criminalize and repress.

The Center for Constitutional Rights condemns the brutal and aggressive policing tactics employed by the NYPD and we call on them to cease targeting the OWS participants. Both Brookfield Properties, the private company that owns the space, and the City of New York are obligated to respect the First Amendment rights of the protestors and allow them to stay, free of provocation and violence from the police.

Full Story Here: Center for Constitutional Rights Issues Statement of Support for Occupy Wall Street | Center for Constitutional Rights.

We Are Not Your Human Resources

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about Occupy Wall Street. She said to me “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life”. I told her I feel exactly the same way.

The only difference is that she’s in her early twenties, and I’m in my early fifties.

I’m not sure which is better. She’s had an entire lifetime full of nothing but the downsizing of her country, and the theft of her future. The only two presidents a person her age could have had any mature appreciation of were George W. Bush, the thief and liar, and Barack Obama, another thief and liar. She has never known an America that wasn’t reeling under the assault of Wall Street plutocrats and the kleptocrats they hire to do their bidding in Washington.

Full Story Here: We Are Not Your Human Resources | Common Dreams.

Immortal Technique: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ does not support Obama

Speaking to a “We Are Change” activist at “Occupy Wall Street” this week, political hip-hop artist Immortal Technique threw down the gauntlet to those in the media who characterize the anti-corruption movement as a partisan affair, suggesting that the 99 Percent are willing to “sacrifice” President Barack Obama’s second term if it would send a message powerful enough to spark change.

“I keep telling people, everyone that I meet, that I think this is one of the best expressions of democracy that people have seen in America in the past few decades,” he said. “Unlike the tea party, this is something that’s organic. It’s not corporate funded. It’s not by the Koch brothers. This isn’t a reelection campaign for Obama. We’re willing to put his second term on the altar of democracy and sacrifice it if we need to, to send a message to the rest of the world saying, ‘If you promise us change, and then you deliver nothing but the same, if you do these little superficial changes to pacify the people, to placate people, then you expose yourself.’

“[That's] unlike the tea party, which wasn’t necessarily a repudiation of Obama, but more an addressing of conservative values. Their first targets were conservatives, not Democrats. They wanted to restructure what they thought the Republican party was moving away from, which was social conservatism and the religious right, which they wanted a closer connection to. This is more of an organic, non-corporate, anti-corporate movement. This is something that’s trying to address real issues in the streets.”

Full Story Here: Immortal Technique: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ does not support Obama | The Raw Story.

Hundreds target Wal-Mart chairman outside DC fundraiser – Oct. 20, 2011

A flash mob hit Union Station in Washington DC on October 20, targeting a fundraiser for Conservation International in which Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton was expected to appear. Activists from Respect DC teamed up with a group from Occupy DC in the surprise action.

Full Story Here: Hundreds target Wal-Mart chairman outside DC fundraiser – Oct. 20, 2011 – YouTube.

Robert Reich responds to “How do we Occupy Obama?”

The former Secretary of Labor answered questions for over an hour in Justin Herman Plaza

Full Story Here: Robert Reich responds to “How do we Occupy Obama?” at OccupySF – YouTube.

Naomi Wolf Explains Our Constitutional RIGHT To Peacefully Assemble

October 21, 2011 CURRENT TV Keith Olbermann

Full Story Here: Naomi Wolf Explains Our Constitutional RIGHT To Peacefully Assemble – YouTube.

Lakoff: How Occupy Wall Street’s Moral Vision Can Beat the Disastrous Conservative Worldview

George Lakoff :-:

OWS has a progressive moral vision. They’re protesting the disastrous effects that have come from operating with a conservative moral, economic, and political worldview.

I was asked weeks ago by some in the Occupy Wall Street movement to make suggestions for how to frame the movement. I have hesitated so far, because I think the movement should be framing itself. It’s a general principle: Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends. I have so far hesitated to offer suggestions. But the movement appears to maturing and entering a critical time when small framing errors could have large negative consequences. So I thought it might be helpful to accept the invitation and start a discussion of how the movement might think about framing itself.

About framing: It’s normal. Everybody engages in it all the time. Frames are just structures of thought that we use every day. All words in all languages are defined in terms of frame-circuits in the brain. But, ultimately, framing is about ideas, about how we see the world, which determines how we act.

Full Story Here: Lakoff: How Occupy Wall Street’s Moral Vision Can Beat the Disastrous Conservative Worldview | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet.

Robert Reich: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest is already successful

Former U.S. labor secretary and University of California professor Robert Reich on Wednesday night said the ongoing “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration had already succeeded in changing the political discourse of the United States.

“I actually had, for the first time in years, conversations with people who spontaneously began to talk about income inequality, the concentration of power in this country, the need to do something big,” he said during an appearance on MSNBC.

“I mean the mere fact that we have this occupation of Wall Street movement that is extending around this country is changing the tenor of the conversation in Washington.”

Full Story Here: Robert Reich: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest is already successful | The Raw Story.

How To Frame Yourself: A Framing Memo For Occupy Wall Street

George Lakoff :-:

I was asked weeks ago by some in the Occupy Wall Street movement to make suggestions for how to frame the movement. I have hesitated so far, because I think the movement should be framing itself. It’s a general principle: Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends. I have so far hesitated to offer suggestions. But the movement appears to maturing and entering a critical time when small framing errors could have large negative consequences. So I thought it might be helpful to accept the invitation and start a discussion of how the movement might think about framing itself.

About framing: It’s normal. Everybody engages in it all the time. Frames are just structures of thought that we use every day. All words in all languages are defined in terms of frame-circuits in the brain. But, ultimately, framing is about ideas, about how we see the world, which determines how we act.

In politics, frames are part of competing moral systems that are used in political discourse and in charting political action. In short, framing is a moral enterprise: it says what the character of a movement is. All politics is moral. Political figures and movements always make policy recommendations claiming they are the right things to do. No political figure ever says, do what I say because it’s wrong! Or because it doesn’t matter! Some moral principles or other lie behind every political policy agenda.

Full Story Here: How To Frame Yourself: A Framing Memo For Occupy Wall Street | Common Dreams.

We Are Not Your Human Resources

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about Occupy Wall Street. She said to me “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life”. I told her I feel exactly the same way.

The only difference is that she’s in her early twenties, and I’m in my early fifties.

I’m not sure which is better. She’s had an entire lifetime full of nothing but the downsizing of her country, and the theft of her future. The only two presidents a person her age could have had any mature appreciation of were George W. Bush, the thief and liar, and Barack Obama, another thief and liar. She has never known an America that wasn’t reeling under the assault of Wall Street plutocrats and the kleptocrats they hire to do their bidding in Washington.

On the other hand, people her age could at most have suffered with the pain of being under this siege for a mere five years or so, unless they happen to have been astonishingly attentive and precocious preteens.  My generation, on the other hand, has been living this nightmare for three solid decades now, through Republican abominations and – in many ways, worse – Democratic as well.  We have known indisputably throughout this era that a better country is not just a pretty aspiration or a theoretical proposition.  We know that because we once lived there.  I’m glad I had that experience.  But, that said, carrying around the heartache of observing our national suicide by greed for more than thirty years’ time has also been a painful, soul-numbing burden I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Full Story Here: We Are Not Your Human Resources | Common Dreams.

The Meagerness of the Republican Debates, the Smallness of the President’s Solutions, and the Need for a Progressive Alternative

Robert Reich :-:

Republicans are debating again tomorrow night. And once again, Americans will hear the standard regressive litany: government is bad, Medicare and Medicaid should be cut, “Obamacare” is killing the economy, undocumented immigrants are taking our jobs, the military should get more money, taxes should be lowered on corporations and the rich, and regulations should be gutted.

Four years ago the most widely-watched TV debate among Republican aspirants attracted 3.2 million viewers. This year it’s almost twice that number. And for every viewer assume a multiplier effect as he or she shares what’s heard with friends and family.

Americans are listening more intently this time around because they’re hurting and they want answers. But the answers they’re getting from Republican candidates – tripping over themselves trying to appeal to hard-core regressives – are the wrong ones.

The correct ones aren’t being aired.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich (The Meagerness of the Republican Debates, the Smallness of the President’s Solutions, and the Need for a Progressive Alternative).