All Entries in the "social issues" Category

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).

Occupy Chicago after arrests: we will re-occupy

“Bring five friends with you next time,” announced Ashley Bohrer, 23, beaming with pride at Occupy Chicago’s Monday afternoon General Assembly (GA), “and have them bring five friends with them!” This is how Occupy Chicago (or perhaps better recognized by its Twitter hashtag #OccupyChi) is growing through social networking – both in person and via digital media. Bohrer, a graduate student at DePaul University working on a Ph.D. in philosophy, has been with the occupation since nearly the beginning.

“I’m upset. I’m angry. I have a personal story—like most of the people here—it’s different but I have massive student debt. I have a job but I live below a living salary.” Bohrer is animated and articulate as our conversation is interrupted numerous times by others seeking interviews, other activists sharing updates about their committee work, and people stopping by thanking her and Occupy Chicago for their presence.

Full Story Here: Occupy Chicago after arrests: we will re-occupy / Waging Nonviolence – People-Powered News and Analysis.

Occupy Wall Street Planning A National Convention, Releases Potential Demands

While an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Occupy Wall Street protesters flooded into Times Square on Saturday, there was still a regular New York general assembly at 7 p.m. During that meeting, according to sources who contacted The Huffington Post, the Zuccotti Park General Assembly — though at a reduced presence due to the Times Square march — approved the formation of a new working group.

This “Demands Working Group” then immediately “established a website and fairly educated/articulated list of solutions.” A separate group out of Zuccotti Park has also been working on a list of possible proposals, but a member of the Education and Empowerment Working Group said he suspects the Demands Working Group’s list will become the national platform.

They’ve posted the list online but they’ve also made this announcement under the radar — a national convention to be held July 4, 2012:

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street Planning A National Convention, Releases Potential Demands.

The Legitimate Gripes of the Other 99 Percent

Amid the Cacophony of Protest Emerges a Coherent Set of Valid Complaints

The Occupy Wall Street protests spreading Arab Spring-style across the land are an inspiring display of civic engagement, finally giving popular voice to the entirely valid complaints of ordinary Americans frustrated as their quality of life stagnates or declines while the prosperity of the superwealthy metastasizes beyond all proportion. Like any major rally, these have also attracted elements reminiscent of the extreme Tea Party variety (the guy wielding an “Osama bin Bernanke” poster). But there’s no question that the bottom 99 percent have something to complain about and that this movement is giving voice to their valid grievances.

“No job, no healthcare, no savings, no retirement fund,” reads the sign held up by an unemployed and disabled art teacher from Rochester, New York, on the “We Are the 99 Percent” Tumblr blog that chronicles these voices. Scroll through the hundreds of photos on the blog and a coherent set of legitimate gripes emerges from the tapestry of words and faces: accelerating income inequality, shrinking income mobility, a tax code that favors the wealthy, a democracy corrupted by money, and a government unwilling or unable to protect the middle class even as it bails out Wall Street.

These are the concerns of the vast majority of Americans. They demand our attention and deserve Washington’s immediate action.

Full Story Here: The Legitimate Gripes of the Other 99 Percent.

No Federal Help For Virginia Town After 3 Disasters

Residents of this rural community just outside Richmond know they may be lucky, seeing as how no one died in the earthquake, hurricane and tornado that have hit back-to-back-to-back in the past few months. That doesn’t mean they aren’t bitter: “Louisa cares: Because the feds don’t,” read Friday’s headline atop the local newspaper.

The federal government has refused to help foot the $18 million tab for the damage from the disaster trifecta, most of which was caused by the earthquake, leaving people to host fundraisers and help out neighbors because few homes and businesses had insurance. But they say they can’t do it alone.

Many look at how bad things could have been and note no one was killed in any of the disasters that began when the 5.8-magnitude earthquake began in Louisa County on Aug. 23 and rumbled all along the East Coast. The hurricane and tornado were far less destructive – the former bringing mostly heavy rain and wind gusts, the latter damaging only a plantation home dating to the 18th century. Still, they hope they’re in the clear for a while.

Full Story Here: No Federal Help For Virginia Town After 3 Disasters.

The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America

Robert Reich :-:

A fundamental war has been waged in this nation since its founding, between progressive forces pushing us forward and regressive forces pulling us backward.

We are going to battle once again.

Progressives believe in openness, equal opportunity, and tolerance. Progressives assume we’re all in it together: We all benefit from public investments in schools and health care and infrastructure. And we all do better with strong safety nets, reasonable constraints on Wall Street and big business, and a truly progressive tax system. Progressives worry when the rich and privileged become powerful enough to undermine democracy.

Regressives take the opposite positions.

Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and the other tribunes of today’s Republican right aren’t really conservatives. Their goal isn’t to conserve what we have. It’s to take us backwards.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich (The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America).

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:

Full Story Here: Sarah van Gelder: 10 Ways to Support the Occupy Movement.

Occupy Wall Street Has Already Won

Eliot Spitzer :-:

How the movement has already shaken up American politics, and where it should go from here.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street’s Victory: It has shaken up American politics. Here’s what it should do next. – Slate Magazine.

The Global 99 Percent March In Hundreds Of Cities Worldwide For Social And Economic Justice

Ever since protesters inspired by the Arab Spring took over Zuccotti Park in New York City to protest Wall Street’s greed, people nationwide have been inspired to take part in their own protests and occupations, taking aim at corporate greed and economic injustice. Thus, the 99 Percent Movement was born, aimed at seeking social justice for the bottom 99 percent of Americans and taking aim the greed of the top one percent.

Today, this movement went global as there were planned demonstrations in in 951 cities in 82 countries. The protests, which were built partly on the foundation of demonstrations in Spain that began on May 15th, included hundreds of thousands of people worldwide taking part in protests and occupations. Although their causes varied — they ranged from everything from protests against European austerity programs to Japanese nuclear power regimes — their demand had one global aim: to seek justice for the vast majority of the world’s population being left out of the dominant global economic and political systems.

ThinkProgress has assembled a collage of photos from these demonstrations taking place across the world:

Full Story Here: PHOTOS: The Global 99 Percent March In Hundreds Of Cities Worldwide For Social And Economic Justice | ThinkProgress.

Why the Elites Are in Trouble

Chris Hedges :-:

Ketchup, a petite 22-year-old from Chicago with wavy red hair and glasses with bright red frames, arrived in Zuccotti Park in New York on Sept. 17. She had a tent, a rolling suitcase, 40 dollars’ worth of food, the graphic version of Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” and a sleeping bag. She had no return ticket, no idea what she was undertaking, and no acquaintances among the stragglers who joined her that afternoon to begin the Wall Street occupation. She decided to go to New York after reading the Canadian magazine Adbusters, which called for the occupation, although she noted that when she got to the park Adbusters had no discernable presence.

The lords of finance in the looming towers surrounding the park, who toy with money and lives, who make the political class, the press and the judiciary jump at their demands, who destroy the ecosystem for profit and drain the U.S. Treasury to gamble and speculate, took little notice of Ketchup or any of the other scruffy activists on the street below them. The elites consider everyone outside their sphere marginal or invisible. And what significance could an artist who paid her bills by working as a waitress have for the powerful? What could she and the others in Zuccotti Park do to them? What threat can the weak pose to the strong? Those who worship money believe their buckets of cash, like the $4.6 million JPMorgan Chase gave a few days ago to the New York City Police Foundation, can buy them perpetual power and security. Masters all, kneeling before the idols of the marketplace, blinded by their self-importance, impervious to human suffering, bloated from unchecked greed and privilege, they were about to be taught a lesson in the folly of hubris.

Even now, three weeks later, elites, and their mouthpieces in the press, continue to puzzle over what people like Ketchup want. Where is the list of demands? Why don’t they present us with specific goals? Why can’t they articulate an agenda?

Full Story Here: Why the Elites Are in Trouble | Common Dreams.

Panic of the Plutocrats

Paul Krugman :-:

It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.

And this reaction tells you something important — namely, that the extremists threatening American values are what F.D.R. called “economic royalists,” not the people camping in Zuccotti Park.

Consider first how Republican politicians have portrayed the modest-sized if growing demonstrations, which have involved some confrontations with the police — confrontations that seem to have involved a lot of police overreaction — but nothing one could call a riot. And there has in fact been nothing so far to match the behavior of Tea Party crowds in the summer of 2009.

Full Story Here: Panic of the Plutocrats – NYTimes.com.

Top 5 Reasons Why The OWS Protests Embody Values Of The Real Boston Tea Party

In recent years, the Boston Tea Party has been associated with a right-wing movement that supports policies favoring powerful corporations and the wealthy. As ThinkProgress has reported, lobbyists and Republican front groups have driven the current manifestation of the Tea Party to push for giveaways to oil companies and big businesses.

However, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations picking up momentum across the country better embody the values of the original Boston Tea Party. In the late 18th century, the British government became deeply entwined with the interests of the East India Trading Company, a massive conglomerate that counted British aristocracy as shareholders. Americans, upset with a government that used the colonies to enrich the East India Trading Company, donned Native American costumes and boarded the ships belonging to the company and destroyed the company’s tea. In the last two weeks, as protesters have gathered from New York to Los Angeles to protest corporate domination over American politics, a true Tea Party movement may be brewing:

Full Story Here: Top 5 Reasons Why The Occupy Wall Street Protests Embody Values Of The Real Boston Tea Party | ThinkProgress.

Occupy Wall Street: Why So Many Demands for Demands?

Everybody has a piece of advice for the protesters at Occupy Wall Street. They should put their clothes on. They should stop raising their fists. They should fact-check their handwritten signs. They should appoint leaders who can give pithy quotes to reporters. They should get with an electoral program. Nicholas Kristof even offered to help them out with a neat list of demands, in case those holding signs saying “We Are the 99%” just needed to have the unfairness of the carried interest rule explained to them.

Indeed, their failure to present demands is the most frequently heard criticism of the OWS protesters, not just in the mainstream press but from veteran leftists as well. What do these wan, angry young people want, anyway?

If you spend an hour or two down at Liberty Plaza, as I did with my 8-year-old daughter this past weekend, it’s clear enough. She got the point, at least: especially from the signs that read, “You should teach your kids to share,” and, “Give my mom her money back!! A single working mom…not fair!”

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street: Why So Many Demands for Demands? | The Nation.

Occupy Wall Street movement is twice as popular as the Tea Party: Time poll

In the protest movement popularity contest, Occupy Wall Street is whupping the Tea Party.

The demonstrations against big banks has a 54% favorability rating compared to the conservative group’s 27%, according to a new Time magazine poll.

A sizable number – 23% – said they didn’t know enough about the Wall St. protesters to make a decision.

In contrast, 23% said they had a negative opinion of Occupy Wall Street compared to 65% who said the Tea Party’s influence has been negative or negligible.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street movement is twice as popular as the Tea Party: Time poll.

Six Demands to Make of Wall Street

 Bernie Sanders :-:

The Occupy Wall Street protests are shining a national spotlight on the most powerful, dangerous, and secretive economic and political force in America.

If this country is to break out of the horrendous recession and create the millions of jobs we desperately need, if we are going to create a modicum of financial stability for the future, there is no question but that the American people are going to have to take a very hard look at Wall Street and demand fundamental reforms.  I hope these protests are the beginning of that process.

Let us never forget that as a result of the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street, this country was plunged into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  Millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes, and life savings as the middle class underwent an unprecedented collapse.  Sadly, despite all the suffering caused by Wall Street, there is no reason to believe that the major financial institutions have changed their ways, or that future financial disasters and bailouts will not happen again.

Full Story Here: Six Demands to Make of Wall Street | Common Dreams.

Chris Hedges Slaps Down Kevin O’Leary on Occupy Wall Street

10/10/11 Disgusting, classless, conservative windbag O’Leary is put in his place after hurling a baseless insult.

Check out O’Leary’s mutual funds if you really want to see what a loser is. See this Time article from 2009: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1921635,00.html

Full Story Here: Chris Hedges Slaps Down Kevin O’Leary on Occupy Wall Street – YouTube.

Bill Maher “This Idea That We Can All Be Rich Is One Of The Stupidest Things!”

October 11, 2011 MSNBC

Full Story Here: Bill Maher “This Idea That We Can All Be Rich Is One Of The Stupidest Things!” – YouTube.

Of 400 Richest Americans, Only 8 Say They’re Willing to Pay More Taxes

The 400 wealthiest people in America were asked if they’d be willing to pay more taxes. How many said they would pay more taxes? That’s right: 2 percent

When Warren Buffett called on the U.S. government in August to “stop coddling the super-rich,” he pointed out that he pays less of of his income in taxes than his secretary does. He said the rich should pay higher taxes for the sake of “shared sacrifice,” and suggested that most of his wealthy friends “wouldn’t mind being told to pay more.”

To test that notion, Salon launched the  Patriotic Billionaire Challenge. We put the question to every member of the “Forbes 400″ list, all of them with a net worth of at least $1 billion: “Are you, like Warren Buffet, willing to pay higher taxes?”

The results are in. Of 400 billionaires, only eight (including Buffet) say they are willing to pay more.  Three others indicated opposition; one said maybe.

But most declined to comment at all. Oprah Winfrey, who endorsed Obama in 2008, did not respond. Nor did liberal media mogul Ted Turner. Prominent Democratic Party donors from Hollywood such as Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Barry Diller did not express a view. Philanthropists Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg — whom we queried repeatedly — refused to comment on Buffett’s argument, even as it became a central part of Washington’s political conversation.

Full Story Here: Of 400 Richest Americans, Only 8 Say They’re Willing to Pay More Taxes | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet.

Why Danes Are So Much Happier Than Americans

Danish happiness has been attributed to their legendary income equality — but there’s more to it than that.

Americans may be deeply divided about what ails our country, but there’s no denying we’re a nation of unhappy campers.

Danes, on the other hand, consistently rank as some of the happiest people in the world, a fact attributed at least in part to Denmark’s legendary income equality and strong social safety net.

Forbes recently cited another possible factor; the Danes’ “high levels of trust.” They trust each other, they trust ‘outsiders,’ they even trust their government. 90% of Danes vote. Tea party types dismiss Denmark as a hotbed of socialism, but really, they’re just practicing a more enlightened kind of capitalism.

In fact, as Richard Wilkinson, a British professor of social epidemiology, recently stated on PBS NewsHour, “if you want to live the American dream, you should move to Finland or Denmark, which have much higher social mobility.”

Full Story Here: Why Danes Are So Much Happier Than Americans | Food | AlterNet.

Why the Elites Are in Trouble

Chris Hedges :-:

Ketchup, a petite 22-year-old from Chicago with wavy red hair and glasses with bright red frames, arrived in Zuccotti Park in New York on Sept. 17. She had a tent, a rolling suitcase, 40 dollars’ worth of food, the graphic version of Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” and a sleeping bag. She had no return ticket, no idea what she was undertaking, and no acquaintances among the stragglers who joined her that afternoon to begin the Wall Street occupation. She decided to go to New York after reading the Canadian magazine Adbusters, which called for the occupation, although she noted that when she got to the park Adbusters had no discernable presence.

The lords of finance in the looming towers surrounding the park, who toy with money and lives, who make the political class, the press and the judiciary jump at their demands, who destroy the ecosystem for profit and drain the U.S. Treasury to gamble and speculate, took little notice of Ketchup or any of the other scruffy activists on the street below them. The elites consider everyone outside their sphere marginal or invisible. And what significance could an artist who paid her bills by working as a waitress have for the powerful? What could she and the others in Zuccotti Park do to them? What threat can the weak pose to the strong? Those who worship money believe their buckets of cash, like the $4.6 million JPMorgan Chase gave* to the New York City Police Foundation, can buy them perpetual power and security. Masters all, kneeling before the idols of the marketplace, blinded by their self-importance, impervious to human suffering, bloated from unchecked greed and privilege, they were about to be taught a lesson in the folly of hubris.

Full Story Here: Chris Hedges: Why the Elites Are in Trouble – Chris Hedges’ Columns – Truthdig.

Think Occupy Wall St. is a Phase? You Don’t Get It

Douglas Rushkoff :-:

Like the spokesmen for Arab dictators feigning bewilderment over protesters’ demands, mainstream television news reporters finally training their attention on the growing Occupy Wall Street protest movement seem determined to cast it as the random, silly blather of an ungrateful and lazy generation of weirdos. They couldn’t be more wrong and, as time will tell, may eventually be forced to accept the inevitability of their own obsolescence.

Consider how CNN anchor Erin Burnett, covered the goings on at Zuccotti Park downtown, where the protesters are encamped, in a segment called “Seriously?!” “What are they protesting?” she asked, “nobody seems to know.” Like Jay Leno testing random mall patrons on American History, the main objective seemed to be to prove that the protesters didn’t, for example, know that the U.S. government has been reimbursed for the bank bailouts. It was condescending and reductionist.

More predictably perhaps, a Fox News reporter appears flummoxed in this outtake from “On the Record,” in which the respondent refuses to explain how he wants the protests to “end.” Transcending the shallow partisan politics of the moment, the protester explains “As far as seeing it end, I wouldn’t like to see it end. I would like to see the conversation continue.”

Full Story Here: Think Occupy Wall St. is a Phase? You Don’t Get It | Common Dreams.

Clergy Members March Alongside “Occupy Wall Street” Protesters

The “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators who have been camping in Lower Manhattan for more than three weeks to protest the country’s economic inequality are once again marching to Washington Square Park today, and members of the clergy are joining them in solidarity.

The group is retracting the same path from Zuccotti Park to Greenwich Village that it took yesterday.

Police say there were no arrests yesterday, compared to the past two Saturdays, when hundreds of protesters were arrested.

While the demonstrators do not have a common set of goals, individual protesters say they have their own reasons for being part of the ongoing movement.

“Well, I’m down here because Wall Street’s been bailed out, and the American people have been sold out,” said one protester. “I’m a former United States Marine…. I love the country, I love the people, but the government is criminal.”

Full Story Here: Clergy Members March Alongside “Occupy Wall Street” Protesters – NY1.com.

Protesters Against Wall Street

NY Times Editorial :-:

As the Occupy Wall Street protests spread from Lower Manhattan to Washington and other cities, the chattering classes keep complaining that the marchers lack a clear message and specific policy prescriptions. The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.

At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity.

The jobless rate for college graduates under age 25 has averaged 9.6 percent over the past year; for young high school graduates, the average is 21.6 percent. Those figures do not reflect graduates who are working but in low-paying jobs that do not even require diplomas. Such poor prospects in the early years of a career portend a lifetime of diminished prospects and lower earnings — the very definition of downward mobility.

Full Story Here: Protesters Against Wall Street – NYTimes.com.

Protesters prepare to dig in for winter

The cold is coming — and they know it.

As the Occupy Wall Street protesters head into their fourth week, the camp is preparing to dig in for the long haul. Saturday, thoughts were turning to basic human needs and ways to plan and strategize for the challenges ahead.

At Saturday’s 9 a.m. coordination meeting, representatives on the numerous task forces dealt with the need for more donations of sleeping bags, ground pads and shoes. Right now there’s an oversupply of socks, T-shirts and thermal blankets.

“The cold is definitely a concern for all of us,” Olivia Nole-Malpezzi, 18, of Rochester said later. “We definitely need to prepare for the winter, mentally and physically. Donations are everything to us.”

Full Story Here: Protesters prepare to dig in for winter.

Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now

by Naomi Klein :-:

I was honored to be invited to speak at Occupy Wall Street on Thursday night. Since amplification is (disgracefully) banned, and everything I say will have to be repeated by hundreds of people so others can hear (a k a “the human microphone”), what I actually say at Liberty Plaza will have to be very short. With that in mind, here is the longer, uncut version of the speech.

I love you.

And I didn’t just say that so that hundreds of you would shout “I love you” back, though that is obviously a bonus feature of the human microphone. Say unto others what you would have them say unto you, only way louder.

Yesterday, one of the speakers at the labor rally said: “We found each other.” That sentiment captures the beauty of what is being created here. A wide-open space (as well as an idea so big it can’t be contained by any space) for all the people who want a better world to find each other. We are so grateful.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now | Common Dreams.

We, the 99 Percent, Demand the End of the Wars Now

After ten years of war, now is a perfect time to act to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Friends Committee on National Legislation has set up a toll-free number for us to call Congress: 1-877-429-0678. A Congressional “supercommittee” is charged with coming up with $1.5 trillion in reduced debt over ten years, and the wars and the bloated Pentagon budget dangle before the supercommittee like overripe fruit.

A recent CBS poll shows how far out of step with the 99 percent the Pentagon’s plans are. Sixty-two percent want US troops out within two years.

But the Pentagon wants to stay for at least 13 more years<.

totally unacceptable.” More protests and more phone calls will get more members of Congress talking like that.

Full Story Here: We, the 99 Percent, Demand the End of the Wars Now | Truthout.

Protests Against Wall Street Spread Across US

Protests against Wall Street entered their 18th day Tuesday as demonstrators across the country show their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed by marching on Federal Reserve banks and camping out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine.

Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week as more groups hold organizational meetings and air their concerns on websites and through streaming video.

In Manhattan on Monday, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange clutching fistfuls of fake money. In Chicago, demonstrators pounded drums in the city’s financial district. Others pitched tents or waved protest signs at passing cars in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., and Los Angeles.

Full Story Here: Protests Against Wall Street Spread Across US | Common Dreams.

Whatever happened to civics?

I’m a teacher. I don’t formally teach social studies, or political science, or history, or government. But in order for my students to understand what I do teach—cultural anthropology and women’s studies—they have to have a basic understanding of how political systems work—especially ours—and need to know the basics about legislation, politics, civil rights and social change and how they are affected by political and social systems.

They don’t.

I teach college students at a working class state university. My entry level classes have students who are fresh out of mostly public high schools. Last week, once again, as I do each semester, I faced the challenge of explaining not only why they should vote, but what that vote means to them, in real life terms, and how their activism, or lack of it, will affect their lives, now and in the future.

I’m in New York. Not one student could name both of our U.S. senators. Only one student could name their Congressperson. None had a clue about their state assembly persons or senators.

Full Story Here: Daily Kos: Whatever happened to civics?.

Occupy Wall Street

The Atlantic |

In New York City’s Financial District, hundreds of activists have been converging on Lower Manhattan over the past two weeks, protesting as part of an “Occupy Wall Street” movement. The protests are largely rallies against the influence of corporate money in politics, but participants’ grievances also include frustrations with corporate greed, anger at financial and social inequality, and several other issues. Nearly 80 people were arrested last weekend in a series of incidents with the New York police as the protesters attempted to march uptown. Most are now camped out in nearby Zucotti Park. Demonstrations also took place yesterday in San Francisco, and an “Occupy Boston” protest is planned for tonight, September 30. Collected here are a handful of images of the protesters occupying Wall Street from the past two weeks. [35 photos]

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street – Alan Taylor – In Focus – The Atlantic.

Woodard: The Real U.S. Map, a Country of Regions

In 2008, with the U.S. divided between red states and blue states, then-candidate Barack Obama called for unity over division, a common shout-out among politicians and others determined to preserve America’s under- siege, allegedly shared values. Yet such calls ignore the fact that there are no shared “American values.” We’ve always been divided. And not truly along state lines.

America’s most essential and abiding divisions stem from the fact that the U.S. is a federation composed of the whole or parts of 11 disparate regional cultures — each exhibiting conflicting agendas and the characteristics of nationhood — and which respect neither state nor international boundaries, bleeding over the borders of Canada and Mexico as readily as they divide California, Texas, Illinois or Pennsylvania. The differences between them shaped the scope and nature of the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and, most tragically, the Civil War. Since 1960, the fault lines between these nations have been growing wider, fueling culture wars, constitutional struggles and those ever- present pleas for unity.

These “nations” have been with us all along.

Full Story Here: Woodard: The Real U.S. Map, a Country of Regions – Bloomberg.

Bill Maher with Van Jones About our “Occuby Wall Street”

Great comments from Van Jones saying about how proud we are of us on “Occupy Wall Street”… and that we all should support them..

Broadcast on 9-30-2011

We are anonymous

We are legion

We do not forgive

We do not forget

Expect us

Full Story Here: Real Time with.Bill Maher 2011.09.30 with Van Jones About our “Occuby Wall Street” – YouTube.

Something’s Happening on Wall Street

[video]

a glimpse into the growth and power of Occupy Wall Street.

Full Story Here: Something’s Happening on Wall Street – YouTube.

700 arrested at Brooklyn Bridge protest

More than 700 protesters demonstrating against corporate greed, global warming and social inequality, among other grievances, were arrested Saturday after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours in a tense confrontation with police.

The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan’s Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, police said.

The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

Full Story Here: 700 arrested at Brooklyn Bridge protest – CBS News.

Occupy Wall Street movement receiving mail and supplies from supporters across the U.S.

Twice a day, the Occupy Wall Street movement gets mail – so much the protesters had to designate an official “mailman.”

Well-wishers and kindred spirits from across the country have been sending cardboard boxes bearing food, medical supplies, clothes and blankets to the masses who have camped out near Ground Zero since Sept. 14.

“I want to thank you for the many sacrifices you are making to better this nation,” read a note that Janet Bauer of Elk Grove Village, Ill., wrote to accompany her care package. She also threw in $30 in cash. “I’m a 51-year-old permanently disabled person who is unable to join you – but know my heart and hopes are with you.”

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street movement receiving mail and supplies from supporters across the U.S..

Unions Promise Support As #OccupyWallStreet Enters Third Week

There had been rumor on Friday that the band Radiohead would be dropping by the #OccupyWallStreet encampment.

They had just been on the Colbert Report, and their fan base is huge among the very demographic of younger people drawn to the protests now beginning their third week.

And so more people came than organizers expected. Loads of people!  Except, alas, for Radio Head. The band had reportedly called to express support that led some to conclude that they were on the way.

Full Story Here: Unions Promise Support As #OccupyWallStreet Enters Third Week | Common Dreams.

More Than 500 Arrested in Wall Street Protest

Police reopened the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening after more than 500 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested for blocking traffic lanes and attempting an unauthorized march across the span.

The arrests took place when a large group of marchers, participating in a second week of protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement, broke off from others on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway and headed across the Brooklyn-bound lanes.

“More than 500 were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge late this afternoon after multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway,” a police spokesman said.

Full Story Here: More Than 500 Arrested in Wall Street Protest | Common Dreams.

“Occupy Maine” Rally Coinciding with Nationwide Protests

The “Occupy Wall Street” protests have spread to cities across America.

Beyond the main demonstration around Wall Street in New York City, rallies against the über-rich have occurred in large cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. In New England, “Occupy Wall Street”-styled protests are scheduled for today in Burlington, Providence and Hartford. In Boston, there was a “Take Back Boston” demonstration yesterday and another event is planned for this afternoon.

In Maine, activists are meeting right now (event is from 11am-2pm) in Portland’s Monument Square, as we have been reporting on the Exception.

Will you be attending the rally in Maine or one of the coinciding protests? Share your take on the events in our comments section below.

Full Story Here: “Occupy Maine” Rally Coinciding with Nationwide Protests | The Exception Magazine.

UPDATE: Cops Accused Of Trapping Wall Street Protesters On Brooklyn Bridge For Mass Arrests

We’re seeing reports on Twitter that protesters from Occupy Wall Street have marched down to the Brooklyn Bridge, and hundreds of people have begun to stream into traffic lanes, completely stopping traffic on the bridge. According to NY Times reporter Brian Stelter on the scene, “Scratch that: a LARGE # of protesters are in lanes of traffic. Traffic out of Manhattan is now completely stopped.” [Watch live video stream below]

Gawker’s Adrian Chen, who is also down there, wrote, “Shit, they’re shutting down the brooklyn bridge,” and also tweeted a picture of the Brooklyn-bound lane completely blocked. We’ll update as we hear more about what’s going on by the bridge.

Update 4:26 p.m.: Police have no arrived on the scene and have started arresting protesters en masse: “Police going to make mass arrest on Brooklyn bridge,” tweeted Jeff Rae. According to @jopauca, “Two white shirts just beat someone. Someone has video.” There are also reports that police have blockaded both sides of the bridge now and taken out the nets.

You can watch a live video stream of what’s going on below:

Full Story Here: UPDATE: Cops Accused Of Trapping Wall Street Protesters On Brooklyn Bridge For Mass Arrests: Gothamist.

What the Media Aren’t Telling You About American Protests

I AM LATELY REMINDED OF AN ASSIGNMENT when my metro editor sent me to cover a “gentle protest” over the Gulf War of the 1990s in Jackson, Mich. (Don’t remember that war – or what it was about? That’s OK – because it was probably “security” and “oil,” and George W. ultimately righted his dad’s failure to see that war action through to its completion: killing Saddam Hussein, or at least dismantling his government. But I digress.)

It was an after-hours event, likely on a weekend (as that was my beat). And when I arrived at the designated time, well after sundown, I found one lone woman walking the length of a wall at an armory or similar government-type outpost with, not a flashlight, but a real, flickering candle. Back and forth, in the dark, trudging in the snow.

No one else had shown up – except me, that is. The place was deserted and, as I recall, not on a busy road. I actually had to drive by twice before I even saw her candle and a small chair she set up for herself when she got tired. It occurred to me that, if I walked away, it would have been the same as if she’d never been there at all. Yet, incontrovertibly, there she was: protesting a war that, at the time, no one was particularly riled up about. It wasn’t a story, really.

Full Story Here: What the Media Aren’t Telling You About American Protests – Lisa Romero – Open Salon.

24 Arrested As Protesters Pack Financial District

Foreclosed Families, Supporters March To Bank Of America

A group called Occupy Boston took over Dewey Square in Boston Friday night holding a 60s-style sit in.

“It doesn’t look like the politicians are serving the people any more,” said John, a protestor who would only give his first name. “They’re serving people with money.”This is part of nationwide movement that began with a large protest last week on Wall Street.”We’re talking about government reform. We’re talking about finance reform,” said Nadeem Mazen, from Occupy Boston. “And we’re opening up a national dialogue as part of a really big issue that’s on so many people’s minds.”

Full Story Here: 24 Arrested As Protesters Pack Financial District – Most Popular News Story – WCVB Boston.

Mexican Trucks Could Compromise U.S. Safety

October will likely mark the start of Mexican trucks gaining full access to U.S. roadways. This influx of trucks could potentially bring new dangers to U.S. citizens and U.S. drivers, while costing the United States even more jobs.

Although the provision to give Mexican truckers access to U.S. roadways has been included in NAFTA since it was signed in 1994, the U.S. has not honored this part of the agreement so far for numerous reasons. One of the major reasons is that suppliers choose which shipping company to use based almost entirely by price, and the addition of Mexican trucking companies to the U.S. market will almost certainly drive down wages and profits for American trucking companies. With a finite amount of freight to be hauled, the Mexican trucks could also put some companies completely out of business.

But beyond the job concerns, the addition of new trucks raises safety and law enforcement issues. Taxpayer money from the Highway Trust Fund will be used to pay for electronic on-board recorders for Mexican trucks. According to Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood, it became clear during negotiations that if the U.S. wanted to ensure regulatory compliance it would have to pay for it itself. These on-board recorders along with other measures to ensure compliance with U.S. laws will be expensive. A report by the Congressional Research Service showed that these costs would outweigh any cost savings U.S. businesses receive as a product of using Mexican truckers.

Full Story Here: Mexican Trucks Could Compromise U.S. Safety | Economy In Crisis.

You Can Get Laid Without Being a Jerk

There are a lot of ways to be a jerk when you’re trying to get laid. Emily Heist Moss writes a letter to her brother about how to make hook-up culture be about pleasure and consent, instead of “scoring.”

A letter to my brother, and all his college friends,

College is awesome, right? No parents, no curfew, no rules, and there are girls everywhere. It is an alcohol-fueled, school-spirit-enhanced buffet of ladies, and it’s hard not to want to sample everything on the menu. So you should! Seriously, I’m not going to rain on what could potentially be a literal parade, so just be safe and have fun.

You’re waiting for the “but,” because I’m your nagging big sister and that’s what I do. Here it is: Be safe, have fun, but don’t be a manipulative, coercive asshole about it. There’s story after story about on-campus sexual assaults, astoundingly high rates of date-rape, and even more terrifying estimates of unreported incidents. I’m not worried you’ll be that guy, but there are still dozens of tempting and legal ways to be a douche when you’re trying to get some action. Forgoing these “techniques” requires recalibrating your hook-up goals to emphasize consent, respect, and yes, pleasure, instead of “scoring.”

Full Story Here: You Can Get Laid Without Being a Jerk — The Good Men Project.

Occupy Wall Street: “It Is a Revolution”

Since Sep. 17, hundreds of demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street movement have transformed the quiet Zucotti Park in lower Manhattan from a place where Wall Street traders once relaxed during lunch breaks into a demonstration camp.

Participants from all over the United States have joined the movement that criticises the injustices of the capitalist system and calls for greater democracy and individual freedom.

Their base is right in front of the aptly named Liberty Plaza, former headquarters of NASDAQ and current office of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

“This is a democratic awakening,” Cornel West, a prominent activist and Princeton professor, told journalists prior to speaking before nearly 2,000 protestors at Occupy Wall Street’s General Assembly on Tuesday.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street: “It Is a Revolution” | Common Dreams.

The Moral Question

Robert Reich :-:

We dodged another shut-down bullet, but the next temporary bill to keep the government going will run out November 18. House Republicans want more budget cuts as their price for another stopgap spending bill.

Among other items, Republicans are demanding major cuts in a nutrition program for low-income women and children. The appropriation bill the House passed June 16 would deny benefits to more than 700,000 eligible low-income women and young children next year.

What kind of country are we living in?

More than one in three families with young children is now living in poverty (37 percent, to be exact) according to a recent analysis of Census data by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies. That’s the highest percent on record. The Agriculture Department says nearly one in four young children (23.6) lives in a family that had difficulty affording sufficient food at some point last year.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich (The Moral Question).

The Best Among Us

By Chris Hedges

There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history. Either you obstruct, in the only form left to us, which is civil disobedience, the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy. Either you are a rebel or a slave.

To be declared innocent in a country where the rule of law means nothing, where we have undergone a corporate coup, where the poor and working men and women are reduced to joblessness and hunger, where war, financial speculation and internal surveillance are the only real business of the state, where even habeas corpus no longer exists, where you, as a citizen, are nothing more than a commodity to corporate systems of power, one to be used and discarded, is to be complicit in this radical evil. To stand on the sidelines and say “I am innocent” is to bear the mark of Cain; it is to do nothing to reach out and help the weak, the oppressed and the suffering, to save the planet. To be innocent in times like these is to be a criminal. Ask Tim DeChristopher.

Full Story Here: Chris Hedges: The Best Among Us – Chris Hedges’ Columns – Truthdig.

October2011 protest, one week and counting

“October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.”

These words describe the mission behind a “Human Needs, Not Corporate Greed” protest beginning October 6th in Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza. One week from today, I will be participating in this protest with a small group of students and faculty from Tulane’s School of Social Work.

I have joined several committees and coalition meetings since starting my Master’s program one month ago, but this will be my first “hands-on” experience as a social worker in training. While my knowledge of protests until now has involved little more than taking pictures from the sidelines, I feel both fortunate and excited about being involved in this experience. Our group has the opportunity to represent our school and mission as social workers, while also gaining new insights from the many leaders and organizations who will also be involved in the event nationwide.

Below are 15 core issues that ultimately represent the “October2011” vision toward creating a peaceful, just and sustainable world:

Full Story Here: October2011 protest, one week and counting | Scholars and Rogues.

Wall Street Protests: Which Side Are You On?

The crisis of American democracy did not start with the financial collapse. For at least 30 years, the system has been rigged by the wealthy to acquire more wealth and privilege.

Wall Street has long been the home of the biggest threat to American Democracy. Now it has become home to what may be our best hope for rescuing it.

For everyone who loves this country, for everyone whose heart is breaking for the growing ranks of the poor, for everyone who is seething at the unopposed demolition of America’s working and middle class: the time has come to get off the fence.

A new generation has gone to the scene of the crimes committed against our future. The time has come for all people of good will to give our full-throated backing to the young people of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The young heroes on Wall Street today baffle the world because they have issued no demands. The villains of Wall Street had their demands — insisting upon a massive bailout for themselves in 2008, while they pocketed million dollar bonuses. The Wall Street protesters are not seeking a bailout for themselves; they are working to bail out democracy.

Full Story Here: Wall Street Protests: Which Side Are You On? | Economy | AlterNet.

‘Occupy Wall Street’ Fighting Bankster Greed and the Surveillance State

Over a week in, and despite mass arrests, the protesters are still camped out around the corner from Wall Street, and the Internet is watching.

The crackdown on the Wall Street protesters this weekend seems to have backfired. The campsite-cum-experiment in radical democracy is still there, holding general assemblies just shouting distance from Goldman Sachs and the Wall St

reet bull. It even appears to be growing.

The complaints that the media has ignored the sustained protest seem to be resonating—the park has cameras aplenty today, and food trucks line one side of the plaza. (Local eateries have been taking out-of-town orders for protesters.) Tourists seem to be catching on that this is something, as they snap pictures of protest signs.

While even theoretically like-minded folks had been a bit dismissive of the Wall Street occupation before Saturday, the heavy-handed moves by police to control a small march have brought worldwide attention to Zuccotti Park, formerly Liberty Plaza. The Guardian has broken stories ahead of the New York media, outing the police officer caught on tape pepper-spraying penned-up protesters as the same officer named in a wrongful arrest lawsuit from 2004′s Republican National Convention protests.

Full Story Here: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Fighting Bankster Greed and the Surveillance State | | AlterNet.

Vast Majority Of Americans Favor Buffett Rule’s Millionaire Tax: Poll

Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they support President Barack Obama’s proposal to tax households making $1 million or more at the same or higher rate as middle-class households, according to a recent poll from website Daily Kos.

The poll found two-thirds of Republicans also support the so-called “Buffett Rule” –- named after famed investor Warren Buffett, who proposed increasing taxes on wealthy in a recent op-ed in The New York Times. But the measure faces stiff opposition. After Obama unveiled the Buffett rule earlier this month as part of a proposal to cut the national deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, Republican leaders derided the plan as “class warfare.”

The report’s findings parallel the results of a Gallup poll released earlier this month, which found that two-thirds of Americans favor boosting taxes on households earning more than $200,000 per year.

One demographic is even more supportive of the Buffett rule than the national average. The under-30 set is overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal, according to millennial advocacy group, Our Time. A Facebook survey of its members found that 80 percent support the measure.

Full Story Here: Vast Majority Of Americans Favor Buffett Rule’s Millionaire Tax: Poll.

Occupy Wall Street Day 8: 100+ Arrested for Peaceful, Legal Protest; Nets & Pepper Spray Used.

7:57 PM – Occupy Wall Street marchers have started off for One Police Plaza. NYPD are following with arrest net.

7:30 PM – Dark now.  Above Lady Liberty (name unknown) wrapped in an American Flag and Betsy Ross wig makes impassioned appeal to NYPD officers, “We’re fighting for you pension, we’er fighting for your social security, we’re fighting for you children and your children’s children.  We’re fighting for liberty.  We’re peaceful.”

7:00 PM – General Assembly decides half of Liberty Plaza protesters to remain and keep the occupation. The of 1/2 of the protesters will be marching to One Police Plaza to demand information and medical care for those arrested.

6:00 PM – 2000 occupiers remain in Liberty Plaza.  They are being surrounded with NYPD fencing.  Many more protesters have evacuated.  

4:25 PM – 60 plus protesters arrested at Union Square many pepper sprayed.  Details as they become available.  Orange nets used.

Live Feed at link:

Full Story Here: OpEdNews – Article: Occupy Wall Street Day 8: 100+ Arrested for Peaceful, Legal Protest; Nets & Pepper Spray Used..

How Do You Say ‘Economic Security’?

IN the face of nothing but bad economic news, Americans often take heart in remembering that we have been here before — during the Great Depression, when conditions were far worse than they are today — and we survived.

But there is a crucial difference between then and now: the words that our political leaders use to talk about our problems have changed. Where politicians once drew on a morally resonant language of people, family and shared social concern, they now deploy the cold technical idiom of budgetary accounting.

This is more than a superficial difference in rhetoric. It threatens to deprive us of the intellectual resources needed to address today’s problems.

Turn back the clock to June 1934. Millions of Americans are out of work, losing their homes and facing more of the same. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responds by creating the Committee on Economic Security. To Congress, he stresses that he places “the security of the men, women and children of the nation first.” All Americans, he emphasizes, “want decent homes to live in; they want to locate them where they can engage in productive work; and they want some safeguard against misfortunes which cannot be wholly eliminated in this man-made world of ours.”

Full Story Here: How Do You Say ‘Economic Security’? – NYTimes.com.

Class Warfare My Ass

I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.

- George Bernard Shaw

I have been saying this for years upon years, but it bears repeating: the most awesome, fearsome, and effective weapon in the arsenal of the modern Republican Party is their total, utter and complete lack of shame.

That weapon – the ability to say or do anything, literally anything, even as it flies in the face of on-the-record comments made just the day before, or contradicts thousands of votes cast in congresses past – is the equivalent of a battlefield-deployed tactical nuclear weapon. It clears the field, but good, and if everything is ashes in the aftermath, so be it. So long as effective spin makes the news cycle, it’s a victory for them, and screw the people who get hurt.

The GOP wins when that is the contest, and that is all they care about…and the awful irony comes when the very people getting screwed are up on their feet cheering after the deal goes down, because “their team” won the day.

Full Story Here: Class Warfare My Ass | Truthout.

Reality? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reality

Imagine you were handed a map, and on that map, right where the Western Hemisphere was supposed to be, you saw a sharp jagged line and a caption that read, “Here, there be dragons.”

Probably, you wouldn’t want to use that particular document to circumnavigate the globe.

Yet that’s precisely the kind of flat-Earth nonsense we are using to steer our ship of state, and you hear nary a whimper from the media, or either political party.

Exhibit A has to be almost anything Rick Perry says.

The Recovery Act created zero jobs? A lie. It created and preserved jobs.

The science on global warming is not settled? Wrong. Nearly every scientific organization says that climate change is a fact and that humans are causing it. Yet the press and people like Perry still raise long discredited denier talking points to refute this consensus. Like vampires, these non-facts refuse to die, and when they show signs of dying, the press administers CPR.

Full Story Here: Reality? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reality | Common Dreams.

Elizabeth Warren rebuts ‘class warfare’ charges

This video of Elizabeth Warren at a campaign stop in Massachusetts has been making the rounds. In it, the Senate candidate discusses the meaning of so-called “class warfare” and speaks lucidly and eloquently to the sort of Rand-ian, “I am an island” Libertarian rhetoric that is so prevalent among tea party members and others on the right.

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” Warren says in the clip, “Nobody.” She shoots down the notion that the wealthy owe nothing back to society by pointing out that entrepreneurs and business owners rely on a vast array of public services and that part of the “social contract” is giving back to the society that has given them so much.

Watch the video, embedded via YouTube, below:

Full Story Here: WATCH: Elizabeth Warren rebuts ‘class warfare’ charges  | Raw Replay.

Hartmann: Have the psychopaths taken over America?

So In the aftermath of Troy Davis’s execution – it’s time for the United States to do some soul searching. Every nation is in constant change – as Grace Slick said, “Life is change” – and our culture changed for the more compassionate and better with the New Deal, and changed again for the more brutal and selfish with the Reagan Revolution. So what’s next? Will we become a nation of people who genuinely care for each other, and builds institutions to respect and help each other – or a brutal, libertarian nation where it’s “every man for himself,” the country is run by psychopaths, and as Ron Paul implied, we’re all free to die like dogs in the gutter? The choice is ours – and the coming election will have a lot to do with determining that future.

Full Story Here: Hartmann: Have the psychopaths taken over America? – YouTube.

Obama to offer states freedom from No Child Left Behind law

President Obama this morning unveiled major changes in the way public schools are evaluated, scrapping an essential element of President George W. Bush’s signature education program in favor of letting states come up with their own plans.

Bush had good intentions with his No Child Left Behind plan of 2002, Obama told a crowd of educators and students, but it ended up inspiring states to lower their standards and schools to “teach to the test.”

“Accountability is the right goal,” Obama said, “but experience has taught us that in its implementation No Child Left Behind is … hurting instead of helping.”

Full Story Here: Obama to offer states freedom from No Child Left Behind law – latimes.com.

It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It

$250 billion reduction in Medicare spending on the provider side, and $330 billion in immediate spending cuts over the next decade, the president wants an end to the Bush tax cuts on the rich, and a millionaire’s tax called “the Buffett Rule,” after bilionaire investor Warren Buffett. The White House hasn’t released details on the exact mechanism of the Buffet Rule, but it would exist to ensure that high-income individuals pay a higher marginal rate than the middle class. Together, the tax increases would raise $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

Not only is this good policy – it begins to correct tax imbalances that hugely benefit the wealthy – but it’s good politics. It provides a stark contrast to the Republican message of tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for the poor and spending cuts for everyone else, particularly those that rely on government programs: students, children, seniors and the unemployed.

In response, Republicans have brushed off their old rhetorical standby: “class warfare.” “Class warfare will simply divide this country more. It will attack job creators, divide people and it doesn’t grow the economy,” Rep. Paul Ryan said last night on FOX News Sunday. “Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics.”

Full Story Here: It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It | The Nation.

Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times | | AlterNet

The underground economy isn’t just drugs and sex work.

The United States continues to suffer from mass unemployment. People have had to adjust their lifestyles to the new reality—fewer jobs, lower wages, mortgages to pay that are now more than their homes are worth. Millions have dropped out of the job hunt and are trying to find other ways to sustain their families.

That’s where the underground economy comes in. Also called the shadow or informal economy, it’s not just illegal activity like selling drugs or doing sex work. It’s all sorts of work that doesn’t get regulated by the government or reported to the IRS, and it’s a far bigger part of the economy than most of us are aware—in 2009, economics professor Friedrich Schneider estimated that it was nearly 8 percent of the US GDP, somewhere around $1 trillion. (That makes the shadow GDP bigger than the entire GDP of Turkey or Austria.) Schneider doesn’t include illegal activities in his count– he studies legal production of goods and services that are outside of tax and labor laws. And that shadow economy is growing as regular jobs continue to be hard to come by—Schneider estimated 5 percent in ’09 alone.

Full Story Here: Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times | | AlterNet.

It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It

Last night, the White House released details of President Obama’s plan for deficit reduction: in addition to a $250 billion reduction in Medicare spending on the provider side, and $330 billion in immediate spending cuts over the next decade, the president wants an end to the Bush tax cuts on the rich, and a millionaire’s tax called “the Buffett Rule,” after bilionaire investor Warren Buffett. The White House hasn’t released details on the exact mechanism of the Buffet Rule, but it would exist to ensure that high-income individuals pay a higher marginal rate than the middle class. Together, the tax increases would raise $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

Not only is this good policy – it begins to correct tax imbalances that hugely benefit the wealthy – but it’s good politics. It provides a stark contrast to the Republican message of tax cuts for the rich, tax increases for the poor and spending cuts for everyone else, particularly those that rely on government programs: students, children, seniors and the unemployed.

In response, Republicans have brushed off their old rhetorical standby: “class warfare.” “Class warfare will simply divide this country more. It will attack job creators, divide people and it doesn’t grow the economy,” Rep. Paul Ryan said last night on FOX News Sunday. “Class warfare may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics.

Full Story Here: It’s Not ‘Class Warfare’ When the Rich Do It | The Nation.

US Day of Rage – Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement

The October2011 Movement is planning an occupation and nonviolent resistance actions in Washington, DC starting on October 6, 2011. This date marks the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the first week of the new federal budget which provides unlimited funding for war, tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for human services.

Thousands of people have pledged to gather in Freedom Plaza beginning on that day to nonviolently disrupt the disloyal, incompetent, and corrupt special interests which have usurped our nation’s civil and military power, spawning a host of threats to our liberty, lives and national security.

The October2011 Movement protests corporatism and militarism because they prevent solutions to our current crises which would create a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world from being implemented. Instead concentrated corporate interests rule our elections and political process so that wealth continues to be funneled to the top 1%.

Full Story Here: US Day of Rage – Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement #oct6 #occupyDC.

Make the Rich Pay for Deficits

Thousands Cheer Bernie Sanders’s Appeal to Obama, Super-Committee:

John Nichols :-:

Declaring that “Social Security is the most successful government program in our nation’s history,” and decrying threats to Medicare and Medicaid that would punish Americans who did not cause the current economic crisis, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders brought thousands of progressives from across the Midwest to their feet Saturday, as they cheered his message to President Obama and the Congressional “super-committee”: “We can deal with deficit reduction in a way that is fair and responsible.”

“Instead of balancing the budget on the backs of working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the most vulnerable,” Sanders said, “it is time to ask the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations in this country to pay their fair share.”

In several speeches to crowds numbers in the thousands who gathered for Fighting BobFest events in Madison, Wisconsin, Sanders continues to spell out the progressive economic agenda that argues against cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to balance budgets and address deficits and for tax policies that end special breaks for the wealthy and multinational corporations that offshore jobs from the United States.

Full Story Here: Thousands Cheer Bernie Sanders’s Appeal to Obama, Super-Committee: Make the Rich Pay for Deficits | The Nation.

Why There Are Protests On Wall Street: Their Actions Impoverished More Than 60 Million People

Today, over a thousand demonstrators began protests as a part of a campaign they are calling “Occupy Wall Street.” The protesters intend to engage in long-term civil disobedience to draw attention to Wall Street’s misdeeds and call for structural economic reforms. RT America covered the start of the campaign. Watch it:

As demonstrators converged on Wall Street — with police blocking them from reaching the New York Stock Exchange — much of the news media paid little attention to the protests. Meanwhile, much of the conservative punditry has taken to mocking the demonstrations, with conservative Twitter users lambasting the “hippies” in New York City. CNN contributor and RedState blogger Erick Erickson labeled the protesters as “profoundly dumb.”

Certainly, debates about the tactics and strategy behind an anti-Wall Street campaign are warranted. But in a country where much of the populist energy has been absorbed by a movement that compared expanding access to private insurance to “death panels,” it’s worth reviewing why Americans and others should be protesting against Wall Street.

Full Story Here: Why There Are Protests On Wall Street: Their Actions Impoverished More Than 60 Million People | ThinkProgress.

LIVE FEED: http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

States Struggle For Money, Political Will To Fix America’s Failing Roads

The Hoover Dam, one of the world’s great engineering feats, is marred by roads with traffic so jammed along the Nevada-Arizona border that it tells a different story about the political will to maintain 21st century infrastructure.

The road leading to the dam cannot accommodate the torrent of tourists and spills them into the overwhelmed little town of Boulder City. Nevada lawmakers are trying to find a private company to build a $400 million bypass because the state can’t afford it.

The phrase “you can’t get there from here” is increasingly apt nearly everywhere one turns. America’s roads, highways, bridges and transit systems are falling apart. Even those not in disrepair are often so crowded that a horse and buggy might seem faster. Cities and suburbs are outgrowing their infrastructure far faster than local governments can find the money to fix them.

Full Story Here: States Struggle For Money, Political Will To Fix America’s Failing Roads.

Poll: Majority Of Americans Are Pro-Choice, Despite GOP Push To Ban Abortion

A new CNN poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Americans still believe in a woman’s right to choose, with 78 percent of respondents saying that they want abortion to remain legal under any circumstances or under certain circumstances. Just 21 percent said they would support outlawing abortion under all circumstances. The numbers are almost unchanged from a year ago — despite the concerted efforts of conservatives to severely restrict access to abortion on the state level. Seventy-seven percent of Americans identified themselves as pro-choice in in 2009 and support has remained consistent over the last five years.

Full Story Here: Poll: Majority Of Americans Are Pro-Choice, Despite GOP Push To Ban Abortion | ThinkProgress.

It’s a Long Way from Bunker Hill

Michael Moore :-:

Last night, on the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Wall Street Heist of 2008, I spoke at Bunker Hill Community College in the Charlestown section of Boston. It is not, to say the least, a wealthy neighborhood. It is roughscrabble and working class, a place where there are few magic doors that open to the Promised Land. (If you saw Ben Affleck’s movie, “The Town,” or the exceptional Broadway play this year, “Good People,” then you have an idea of what the area is like.)

The college is, of course, named after one of the first battles of the American Revolution. And Charlestown looks like it could use a new Revolution these days. They, like so many millions in so many towns, have been sealed into a lockout of the American Dream. It is sad and scary to wander through it.

As I waited backstage for the college administrator to introduce me, he launched into something I, in all my years of speaking at hundreds of American colleges, have never witnessed. He began begging the crowd for money. Money for their student body’s “Emergency Fund.” The student body consists of many who are single parents and live below the poverty line. He didn’t ask for tuition money or money for books. He begged the crowd for gas money. Babysitting money. Money to fix a car that’s broken down, or for electricity that’s been turned off. He listed all the things that cause a student to miss a class — or drop out. Students (79% of them) who work near-minimum wage jobs AND try to be full time students at the same time. Community college is the only escape hatch they have, and even that is a crap shoot in this 21st century kleptocracy we live in.

He then told the crowd that he would hand out some envelopes and he asked them to put whatever they could in them.

Full Story Here: It’s a Long Way from Bunker Hill | MichaelMoore.com.

Occupy Wall Street: Thousands to protest in NYC Sept. 17 – Sep. 16, 2011

Egyptians did it for democracy. So did people in Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. Now, activist groups are hoping Americans will launch their own uprising — in the form of thousands of protesters descending on Wall Street this weekend.

Occupy Wall Street is a “leaderless resistance movement” spearheaded by activist magazine Adbusters. Organizers want people to swarm into lower Manhattan on September 17 and set up camp for two months, then “incessantly repeat one simple demand.”

What’s that demand? They haven’t decided yet.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street: Thousands to protest in NYC Sept. 17 – Sep. 16, 2011.

A Political Casualty of 9/11: The Anti-Corporate Globalization Movement

Nine-eleven’s ten-year anniversary is sparking retrospectives ranging from lives lost to a War on Terror launched. But media accounts have omitted an important political casualty: the short-lived “anti-globalization” movement, perhaps the largest American social movement since the civil rights and Vietnam War era.

I watched the massive November 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) from my computer, a high school student with a budding interest in social justice eagerly clicking “refresh” on the brand new Indymedia web site: Teamsters and Turtles, steelworkers and socialists shutting down streets and anarchists smashing Starbucks’ windows. The police conducted mass arrests and unleashed tear gas, but a shocked elite was forced to hunker down in hotel rooms: the summit failed and the march of global capitalism stumbled.

We had no idea it would come to such a quick and sudden end. A rapid-fire series of mass demonstrations forced secretive financial institutions, corporations (and political parties) to make their case to the American people for the first time in a very long time, and there was a sense of incredible optimism and power. Older activists were amazed to see people back in the streets and I felt like it was an incredible time to be a young activist. We expected major social change and so did everyone else.

Full Story Here: A Political Casualty of 9/11: The Anti-Corporate Globalization Movement | Truthout.