Protesters head towards site of NATO negotiations in Chicago, veterans to return medals

housands of protesters marched in a sweltering Chicago today from downtown Chicago to near the site of the NATO summit at McCormick Place to call for an end to the NATO war machine.

The Coalition Against NATO-G8, which has spearheaded the march and protests, calls for an end to NATO’s war agenda.  The group expected at least 10,000 to join the march.

The final number in the march may well double that, and some protesters report that the police numbers seem to equal the number of protesters.

Veterans have returned their medals at the end of the march, throwing them to the ground, and giving powerful reasons, as @OccupyChicago is documenting:

Full Story Here: Shut Down the War Marchine!: Thousands in Anti-NATO Rally | Common Dreams.

Touted as a “day without the 99 percent,” and modeled in part on massive immigration reform protests in 2006, Occupy groups in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago and more than 100 other cities will join forces with immigrant rights groups and labor unions. Organizers expect tens of thousands of supporters to swarm the streets in those cities on the anniversary of the traditional labor movement holiday.

“No work, no school … don’t bank, don’t buy,” posters for the day that have been circulating around New York say. But activists are mixed on whether they expect the day of action to result in large-scale walk-offs from work, and one of the most controversial actions, a proposal to block traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge, was called off over the weekend.

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street May Day ‘General Strike’ Planned With Unions, Immigrant Groups.

Declaring Tuesday, International Workers’ Day, “a holiday for the 99%,” Occupy is calling for a general strike – no work, no school, no shopping – to “unite against a system which does not work for us (and) begin to build the world we want to see.” Many activities here, here and here; Pete Seeger sings L’Internationale to fire you up.

Full Story Here: May Day For the 99%: Resistance Is Fertile | Common Dreams.

Now that corporations have begun to cut their ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, citizens have a right and a responsibility to demand that elected state representatives and state senators do the same.

John Nichols

Full Story Here: Sign Up | The Nation.

Angry at the Wall Street banks that were at the center of the financial meltdown, Americans have spent the last six months moving their money to credit unions and community banks in unprecedented numbers. More than 650,000 people moved to credit unions in one month last year, and 5.6 million Americans switched banks in the last three months.

Religious organizations have been at the forefront of movements to get consumers to move their money. The New Bottom Line, a coalition of faith groups, pledged to move $1 billion this year, and before Thanksgiving, churches moved $55 million away from Wall Street banks with pledges to remove as much as $100 million more. This week, churches in San Francisco announced they were moving another $10 million, Faith in Public Life reports:

Full Story Here: Move Your Money: San Francisco Churches Move $10 Million From Wells Fargo | ThinkProgress.

An alliance of Occupy groups, environmental and food justice organizations have called for a global day of action on February 27 to resist corporate control of our food system and to work towards a healthy food supply for all.

Occupy Our Food Supply is a call facilitated by Rainforest Action Network and is supported by over 60 Occupy groups and over 30 organizations including Family Farm Defenders, National Family Farms Coalition and Pesticide Action Network.

Ashley Schaeffer, Rainforest Agribusiness campaigner with Rainforest Action Network says of the day of action:

Full Story Here: Global Day of Action: Occupy Our Food Supply | Common Dreams.

The international private prison corporation, GEO Group, Inc., was targeted today by the hacktivist group Anonymous.

Anonymous used the takeover of GEO’s website to post a statement saying its hack was part of the group’s “ongoing efforts to dismantle the prison industrial complex.” 

The Associated Press reports:

Earlier Friday, Anonymous claimed credit for defacing the website of a Dayton, Ohio-based chapter of Infragard, a public-private partnership for critical infrastructure protection sponsored by the FBI. The group’s site was replaced by a video of Coolio’s 1995 rap hit, “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

The FBI declined to comment on that attack.

Anonymous, an amorphous collection of activists and Internet mischief-makers, has increasingly focused its energy on military, police and security companies in recent months. Among its most spectacular coups: The interception of a conference call between FBI and Scotland Yard cyber-investigators working to track them down.

Full Story Here: ‘Anonymous’ Targets Private Prison System in Latest Hack | Common Dreams.

The 99% Spring

DATE: February 15, 2012
TO: America
RE: The 99% Spring

Things should never have reached this point.

Every day, the American Dream seems a little farther away. More of our grandparents are being thrown from their homes. Our mothers and fathers can’t retire because their pension funds tanked. Our brothers and sisters are burdened by student loan debt. For our children, budget cuts have resulted in crumbling schools, skyrocketing class sizes, and teachers being denied the supports they need to do their best. Our friends and family are being denied collective bargaining rights in their workplaces and are falling further and further behind. Our neighbors are being poisoned by pollution in our air and water.

The numbers are staggering: in recent years, millions of jobs have been destroyed, homes foreclosed, and an unconscionable number of children live in poverty.

Full Story Here: April 9-15, 2012 — 100,000 Americans Will Train for Non-Violent Direct Action | Common Dreams.

The ragtag Occupy Wall Street encampments that sprang up in scores of cities last fall, thrusting “We are the 99 percent” into the vernacular, have largely been dismantled, with a new wave of crackdowns and evictions in the past week. Since the violent clashes last month in Oakland, Calif., headlines about Occupy have dwindled, too.

Far from dissipating, groups around the country say they are preparing for a new phase of larger marches and strikes this spring that they hope will rebuild momentum and cast an even brighter glare on inequality and corporate greed. But this transition is filled with potential pitfalls and uncertainties: without the visible camps or clear goals, can Occupy become a lasting force for change? Will disruptive protests do more to galvanize or alienate the public?

Though still loosely organized, the movement is putting down roots in many cities. Activists in Chicago and Des Moines have rented offices, a significant change for groups accustomed to holding open-air assemblies or huddling in tents in bad weather.

Full Story Here: Occupy Movement Regroups, Laying Plans for the Next Phase – NYTimes.com.

Late last month, President Obama issued a new rule requiring health insurance companies to cover contraception with no co-pay. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he will do everything and anything to overturn this decision. Almost all women — including 89% of Catholics — want to make their own decisions regarding contraception. Nevertheless, you can count on the fact that your member of Congress will be hearing from a vocal minority. This is just too important to sit on the sidelines.

Full Story Here: TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress not to block affordable access to contraception for all women | ThinkProgress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On December 30th, in 1936 — 75 years ago today — hundreds of workers at the General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, took over the facilities and occupied them for 44 days. My uncle was one of them.

The workers couldn’t take the abuse from the corporation any longer. Their working conditions, the slave wages, no vacation, no health care, no overtime — it was do as you’re told or get tossed onto the curb.

So on the day before New Year’s Eve, emboldened by the recent re-election of Franklin Roosevelt, they sat down on the job and refused to leave.

They began their Occupation in the dead of winter. GM cut off the heat and water to the buildings. The police tried to raid the factories several times, to no avail. Even the National Guard was called in.

But the workers held their ground, and after 44 days, the corporation gave in and recognized the UAW as the representative of the workers. It was a monumental historical moment as no other major company had ever been brought to its knees by their employees. Workers were given a raise to a dollar an hour — and successful strikes and occupations spread like wildfire across the country. Finally, the working class would be able to do things like own their own homes, send their children to college, have time off and see a doctor without having to worry about paying. In Flint, Michigan, on this day in 1936, the middle class was born.

But 75 years later, the owners and elites have regained all power and control.

Full Story Here: Let’s Double Our Efforts to Raise a Ruckus | Truthout.

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

“Whose park? Our park!”

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

(CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST OCCUPY UPDATES)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When they arrived, they found the doors locked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It doesn’t matter who I am
Or what my story is
I know right from wrong.

Occupy the world.

#QWS

It’s time for the Great Boycott of Big Food Inc.

“I have not spoken to one farmer who doesn’t understand the message of Occupy Wall Street, the message that so many people keep saying is nebulous. It’s very clear. Because of business and corporate participation in agriculture, farmers are losing their livelihoods…  And if it goes on like this, all we’re going to have to eat in this country is unregulated, imported, genetically modified produce. That’s not a healthy food system.”  Jim Gerritsen, a Maine organic farmer.

“A Farmer Speaks to Wall Street,” The New York Times, December 5, 2011

For the first time since the late-1960s, the American elite and their indentured politicians are losing legitimacy, part of a deepening global crisis that is simultaneously political, economic, and ecological. In the powerful wake of the 2011 Arab Spring, the European Summer of the Indignados (the indignant ones), and the Occupy Wall Street movement, rebellion is in the air. As protestors in New York put it “The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Full Story Here: Put the Fat Cats on a Diet: Stop Buying Tainted Food From Billion Dollar Corporations | Common Dreams.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The food is being donated by restaurants and individual supporters.

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

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

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

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

[CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST OCCUPY WALL STREET UPDATES]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

animated video at link below:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Full Story Here: 99 Percent Movement | ThinkProgress.

There was a massive police crackdown in New York City last night. Shortly after midnight – hundreds of riot-clad NYPD officers surrounded Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan – and passed out flyers warning the occupying patriots to leave the park immediately or face arrest. Five hours later – the park was completely cleared – and as many as 200 people were arrested – and for the first time in nearly two months Zuccotti Park wasn’t home of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Everything in the park – from tents – to the makeshift kitchen – to the entire library collection of over 5,000 books was destroyed and tossed into nearby sanitation trucks. During the raid – police blocked all roads into Zuccotti Park in an effort to prevent journalists from witnessing what was happening. But according to reports from journalists who were already inside the park – police beat people with batons – sprayed tear gas – and even used sound cannons to disperse the crowd. After 5 a.m. – hundreds of people roamed the streets of New York’s financial district trying to figure out what happened and what to do next.

Eventually – the Occupy Wall Street patriots sent up camp in nearby Foley Square. There, the Occupy Press Team released a statement saying, “Such a movement cannot be evicted. Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces – our spaces – and, physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas. Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people – all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power. You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”

Get ready for a turbulent day in the Big Apple.

Full Story Here: You Cannot Evict an Idea… | Thom Hartmann – News & info from the #1 progressive radio show.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can we organize to actively move our money from the corporations that control our political systems, and invest in more just and sustainable economies?

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country organized to move their money from predatory big banks to smaller local banks and credit unions. After 650,000 Americans joined credit unions during the month of October alone—more than in all of 2010 combined—even more people organized to make November 5 the beginning of a collective blow to the corporate financial institutions that crashed our economy.

Is there a move-your-money equivalent for corporate power? Can we organize to actively—and sustainably—move our money from the corporations that control our political systems to sustain their greed, and invest in more just and sustainable economies?

Yes.

A few Americans have chosen to live full-time at occupations—enjoying the free food, medical care and childcare in the “ideal” society created by the Occupy movement—but most of us are still living and working in a capitalist society, where we need to buy things. What we buy, and more importantly, where we buy it, could be a collective, quiet revolution that begins to fight corporate control and infiltrates our broken economic system with the beginnings of a new, conscientious economy oriented around economic justice.

Full Story Here: Beyond the Banks: 3 More Ways to Move Your Money Away from Corporations | | AlterNet.

Full Story Here: We are Radicals – YouTube.

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

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

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

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

According to the Credit Union National Association – or CUNA – more than 650,000 people have moved their money into local credit unions across the nation in just the last 4 weeks – coinciding with the rise of Occupy Wall Street – and Bank of America’s decision to set up a $5 debit card fee…a decision the bank has since backed down from.

More people fled the big banks and joined credit unions in the last month – than they did through the entire year of 2010.

If Congress doesn’t want to do its job and end too big to fail banksters – then the people will just starve the banksters themselves. Move your money!

Full Story Here: Occupy Wall Street is bringing down the big banks.. | Thom Hartmann – News & info from the #1 progressive radio show.

Kristen Christian didn’t know she was tapping into a wellspring of consumer discontent. She just knew she was fed up with her “too big to fail” bank’s treatment of its customers. So she created a Facebook event called Bank Transfer Day and invited 500 of her contacts to move their money to credit unions. The response went viral.

Within weeks, Bank Transfer Day swelled to nearly 70,000 participants. Credit Union Times reported that several large credit unions were experiencing record account openings and funds transfers. Kristen’s event had given thousands of unhappy bank customers a solution, and a day of action: November 5th, 2011.

Despite all the ruckus, 70,000 is only a fraction of the big banks’ customer base. Many people have been with the same bank for most of their adult lives, and aren’t likely to move their savings without a few good reasons, of which “my bank is evil” may not be the most convincing.

Full Story Here: Shareable: Six Reasons to Move Your Money for Bank Transfer Day.

The big banks may have dropped the debit card fees, but the credit unions are the ones picking up the business.

Long touted by consumer groups as a more consumer-friendly option than large commercial banks, the nation’s not-for-profit credit unions saw a significant jump in new members and deposits last month as momentum in the Occupation Wall Street campaign has increased, and many of the big banks rescinded, debit card fees.

The credit unions pulled in some 650,000 new customers since September 29, when Bank of America announced it would add a $5-a-month debit card fee, an industry trade group reported. Deposits from new customers surged to $4.5 billion, according to the survey released Thursday of 5,000 credit unions by the Credit Union National Association.

The deposits from these new customers were about as much as credit unions’ get from their entire base of existing customers in a typical month.

Full Story Here: Credit Union Business Grows as Consumers Sour on Banks | Common Dreams.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the tactics the 99 Percenters are using to take back the country from the 1 percent is to move their money from big banks to credit unions, community banks, and other smaller financial unions that aren’t gambling with our nation’s future.

Now, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) reports that a whopping 650,000 Americans have joined credit unions since Sept. 29 — the date that Bank of America announced it would start charging a $5 monthly debit fee, a move it backed down on this week.

To put that in perspective, there were only 600,000 new members for credit unions in all of 2010. “These results indicate that consumers are clearly making a smarter choice by moving to credit unions where, on average, they will save about $70 a year in fewer or no fees, lower rates on loans and higher return on savings,” said CUNA President Bill Cheney.

Full Story Here: 650,000 Americans Joined Credit Unions Last Month — More Than In All Of 2010 Combined | ThinkProgress.

The crowd of about 200 boisterously and continuously chanted, “Arrest George Bush” before convening an impromptu General Assembly at the foot of the Goldman Sachs building, which is just blocks from Zuccotti Park.

When the bulk of the protesters decided to return to Zuccotti Park, a heavy police presence escorted someone out of the building. Ryan Devereaux, of Democracy Now, was able to confirm that GW was indeed within the building as protesters screamed for his arrest:

NYPD told us step back, five cars-two NYPD, three unmarked-sped out Goldman. I asked senior white shirt if it was Bush, he said “Yeah.” #OWS

A producer for Keith Olbermann’s show was on scene, and was also able to confirm that our nation’s 43rd president was indeed meeting with Goldman Sachs executives at its headquarters for a “tribute” event. Did you catch that? A tribute.

I wonder why.

Full Story Here: Daily Kos: CONFIRMED: #OWS Surrounded Goldman Sachs HQ Chanting “Arrest George Bush” w/ GW Inside.

Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of Oakland yesterday to participate in Occupy Oakland’s call for a general strike. Banks, businesses and schools across the city shutdown – with about one-fifth of the city’s teachers skipping school to participate in the strike – the first of its kind in a major city in 65 years. As evening fell, roughly ten thousand patriots marched to the Port of Oakland. The peaceful crowd blocked all the entrances – and then mounted containers, cranes, and trucks – forcing the nation’s fifth busiest port and a major entry point for imported Asian-manufactured goods to shut down for the night.

But after the crowd dispersed and went home – the streets of Oakland were again turned into a warzone as a small group of protestors set a fire in the middle of the street. After midnight – tear gas canisters and flash bangs were deployed by police to disperse the crowds – putting a tumultuous cap on a peaceful day of action. Seattle, New York, and Washington, DC – as well as several other cities – held solidarity marches with Occupy Oakland as well yesterday.

America is beginning to look like Europe, with young people in open revolt against a system that only benefits the top 1 percent.

Full Story Here: Revolt against a system that only benefits the top 1 percent… | Thom Hartmann – News & info from the #1 progressive radio show.

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

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

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

The details are familiar to many by now.

On October 10, hundreds of members of Occupy Oakland descended on downtown to take over Frank Ogawa Plaza. Twelve days later, occupiers marched through the city in their first action. Then, in the pre-dawn hours of October 25, Oakland police—aided by officers from seventeen other agencies—raided the camp, employing tear gas and flash-bang grenades. That afternoon a protest rally and march was held, leading to a violent nighttime confrontation with the police in which Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran, was hit in the head with a projectile and suffered a skull fracture. The following night an overflow crowd filled the plaza, with nearly 1,500 voting to hold a general strike on November 2. In the words of a widely circulated flyer, “All banks and corporations must close down for the day or we will march on them.”

To review: in less than two weeks, Occupy Oakland went from its first public action to calling for a city-wide general strike. That’s one hell of an escalation. In my previous life as a community organizer, our campaigns were launched with the understanding that they would be long, drawn-out affairs—weeks of door-knocking, the initial meeting, our first collective action—with the butcher paper taped to the walls measuring the progression in months.

So what accounts for the breathtaking speed of the events in Oakland? The sketchy record of the Oakland Police certainly deserves some credit, especially with the injured Olsen and the video footage showing an officer tossing a flash-bang grenade into a crowd of people trying to help him. And then there’s Mayor Jean Quan, who has also been a key if unwitting ally. Absent during the raid, she has attempted to explain her shifting positions with remarkable incoherence, and was recently booed when attempting to speak at a general assembly. At meetings of Occupy Oakland, many of the people I spoke with watched the unfolding occupation with sympathy—but just watched. It took the raid, the images of tear gas clouds and a bloodied Scott Olsen to get them into the streets. As Saul Alinsky wrote, all action is in the reaction. A former organizer, Quan will not soon forget that axiom.

Full Story Here: Occupy Oakland Calls for a November 2 General Strike | The Nation.

Full Story Here: Hartmann: It’s time to Occupy the Courts – YouTube.

A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order today requiring the state to stop enforcing a hastily drawn up policy that set a curfew for gatherings at Legislative Plaza and resulted in about 50 arrests of Occupy Nashville protesters.

Local attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a lawsuit this morning against Gov. Bill Haslam and other state officials and requested a temporary restraining order to prevent any further arrests. U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger granted the request. The state did not object to the restraining order and agreed to work out its differences with protesters.

After tolerating the protest for three weeks, Haslam approved a crackdown on demonstrators last week, citing safety and sanitation concerns at the plaza. The state instituted a new use policy for Legislative Plaza that included a curfew and permit requirements.

Full Story Here: Federal judge orders TN to stop arresting Occupy Nashville protesters for curfew violation | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.

“The state cannot arbitrarily create restrictive policies just because it does not like how people are using a public space,” said ACLU-TN Legal Director Tricia Herzfeld. “Today’s decision is the first step in restoring demonstrators’ free speech rights.”

The protesters had been camped at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville to protest the economic and political consolidation of power since October 9.

Full Story Here: Judge blocks restrictions on ‘Occupy Nashville’ protest | The Raw Story.

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.

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.

Dear Bill Keller,

I was surprised and pleased to see that on your recent trip to India, you made time to talk with the social activist Anna Hazare–or at least, with a member of his team, since the great man himself, “exhausted by his latest hunger strike and weary of the media melodramas that have bedeviled his team,” had just “announced that he had taken an indefinite ‘vow of silence.’”

Obviously you didn’t think much of this as a tactic for activism, but you went ahead and talked to his associate, a woman, “Kiran Bedi, who battled for reforms as India’s first policewoman before joining Hazare.”

Despite this conversation, and despite the name of Hazare’s organization, Team Anna, you came away from this encounter with the impression that the movement is dependent on the personal charismatic leadership of Mr. Hazare. You also noted approvingly that Hazare is “always very explicit about his objectives”–he makes specific, winnable demands.

Full Story Here: Never Underestimate the Value of Just Showing Up | Common Dreams.

To protest the behavior of big banks, thousands have pledged to switch to small credit unions on November 5. Follow these steps to simplify the process.

Bank Transfer Day is gaining some serious steam. Although it’s not technically affiliated with Occupy, it’s being embraced by the movement and is the first specific call to action since the Occupy protests began.

The description and goal of Bank Transfer Day is straightforward: If you currently have checking and savings accounts (deposit accounts) with a big bank, the organizers encourage you to remove all of your funds, close your accounts, and place your money in a new deposit account with a not-for-profit credit union. The organizers ask that you do this by November 5. And since November 5 is a Saturday, you should definitely do it before November 5 since many big banks aren’t open on weekends.

Full Story Here: How to Switch Banks on Bank Transfer Day — YES! Magazine.

“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.

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].

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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

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

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

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

Protesters inspired by the growing ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement in the U.S have today taken over the City of London.

Thousands have descended on the area known as the Square Mile – under the banner ‘Occupy the Stock Exchange’ – for a ‘peaceful protest’ against the global financial system.

They had planned to take Paternoster Square, where the Stock Exchange is located, but police cordoned off the area prior to the protest.

A notice was put up stating the square is private property and access would be restricted. Police sources said a High Court injunction had been taken out to prevent members of the public from accessing the square.

Full Story Here: Global protests: Occupy the London Stock Exchange takes over the City | Mail Online.

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.

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.

Individuals arrested were facing likely charges of “unlawful conduct on public land,” according to The Denver Post. Several others were being charged with assault and impeding traffic.

The video below shows the scene from the early hours of Friday morning.

Full Story Here: Police stage mass eviction of ‘Occupy Denver’ activists; 23 arrested | The Raw Story.

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.

As ThinkProgress reported earlier this week, former Polish anti-Soviet activist, union leader, and president Lech Wałęsa announced that he supports the occupation of Wall Street by demonstrators upset about economic injustice.

Now, Wałęsa has announced that he will be joining the protests in New York city in person:

Solidarity hero Lech Walesa [sic] is flying to New York to show his support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. “How could I not respond,” Walesa told a Polish newspaper Wednesday. “The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand.”

Full Story Here: Activist Who Reagan Called ‘One Of The World’s Greatest Labor Leaders’ Coming To Support Occupy Wall Street | ThinkProgress.

Full Story Here: Oct. 15 Global Protests Now Planned In 951 Cities And 82 Countries | ThinkProgress.

Full Story Here: Keiser Report: Pirates & Protesters (E197) – YouTube.

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.

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.

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.

As hundreds of people remain encamped on Wall Street in New York City, and thousands of people across the country are taking part in a 99 Percent Movement aimed at battling economic inequality spurred on by enormous income gains by the richest one percent of Americans.

One of the financial institutions being targeted by protesters is foreclosure mill and government bailout recipient Bank of America (BOA). In Boston, thousands of people marched against BOA’s greed and in Los Angeles, numerous people were arrested while staging a sit-in at a local branch.

While many Americans may feel powerless against this banking behemoth, the truth is that Americans have a simple way to protest its greed and corporate malfeasance: simply move your money out of the bank to one of its competitors, such as a local credit union. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) recently encouraged Americans to do just that.

Full Story Here: The Top Five Reasons To Move Your Money From Bank Of America | ThinkProgress.

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.

NNU is pressing for a financial transaction tax (FTT) which was in effect in the US from 1914 to 1966. Proponents, including NNU, say hundreds of billions of dollars could be raised annually through even a modest tax rate on financial market trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives, credit default swaps, and similar financial transactions and used to help rebuild America.

In June, NNU members, joined by labor and community activists, rallied in support of such a tax on Wall Street across from the New York Stock Exchange, and outside the U.S. headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

More than a dozen countries now collect revenue from financial transactions. Britain alone raises billions every year just with a tax on stock trades. The French and Brazilian parliaments this year endorsed such an FTT, as did the European Parliament, with the EU now considering adoption.

Full Story Here: Nurses to Join March on Wall Street October 5;  Demand Wall Street Transaction Tax – an “FTT” | National Nurses United.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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..

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.

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.