There is a movement gathering speed called Occupy Together that is spreading slowly across the USA. With media coverage or social media coverage this could really gather steam! The sister thread to this is Wall Street Sit In.
‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest slowly spreads across the United States
Monday, September 26th, 2011 -- 6:17 pm
Tags: Small groups of demonstrators in major American cities have started their own "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations and organizers are planning further actions in more cities across the United States.
A diverse coalition of people have pledged to occupy Wall Street until something is done about corporate greed and the financial system's undemocratic influence on the U.S. government.
The protesters have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, one block from the Federal Reserve, since Saturday.
"The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99 Percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent," said a statement on the Occupy Wall Street website.
At least 80 to 100 people were arrested over the weekend in the first big crackdown since the demonstration began. Police accused the protesters of blocking traffic and resisting arrest.
Video recordings showed female protesters being rounded up in an orange-colored mesh pen by police and subsequently sprayed with mace, seemingly without any provocation, and other protesters being dragged across the street by police. Another protester said she was arrested for trying to film the demonstration and locked in a police van for over two hours.
The protest spread to other cities over the weekend.
"Corporate interests seem to be controlling both parties,” one protester told LAActivist.com. “The ‘little man,’ the ‘American every man,’ just isn’t getting their voice heard. When you need $35,000 to donate to a campaign to get your voice heard, to have a meeting, that’s not democracy.”
"Occupy Los Angeles" protesters plan to begin a demonstration at City Hall on October 1. The "Occupy Los Angeles" Facebook page had nearly 2,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
Another demonstration popped up in Chicago over the weekend. Around 20 "Occupy Chicago" protesters gathered at Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, on Friday and then marched to the Federal Reserve Bank. Some protesters have remained camped out in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the organizers said the "occupation" had grown from 4 people to about 50.
Other "occupation" protests are being planned for Detroit, Denver, Cleveland, Boston, Phoenix, Seattle, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. The site occupytogether.org has been set up in hopes of coordinating the protests.
Although the New York Times described the protest as a "noble but fractured and airy movement of rightly frustrated young people" whose purpose was "virtually impossible to decipher," the demonstration has attracted some prominent voices in the progressive and liberal community.
Journalist Chris Hedges described the protest as “really where the hope of America lies.”
“The real radicals have seized power,” he asserted, “and they are decimating all impediments to the creation of a neo-feudalistic corporate state, one in which there is a rapacious oligarchic class, a thin managerial elite, and two-thirds of this country live in conditions that increasingly push families to subsistence level.”
MIT professor Noam Chomsky also said he supports the protest.
"Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street -- financial institutions generally -- has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world)," he said. "And should also know that it has been doing so increasingly for over 30 years, as their power in the economy has radically increased, and with it their political power."
Filmmaker Michael Moore and Current TV host Keith Olbermann both separately lamented the lack of substantial news coverage of the event, questioning why same-sized or smaller tea party protests garnered more attention than "Occupy Wall Street."
Even Stephen Colbert chimed in, wondering why his reporters couldn't find the stereotypical "mindless hippie argle-bargle" in the protest.
Interesting, this is the same protest that some of us felt might be "fake". Could be that it's being spread by the same group that Fulford says nuked the dumbs.
If it's real there's more really good news. Aparently the NYPD has joined in solidarity.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/report-100-new-york-police-officers-boycott-in-solidarity-with-wall-street-protesters.html
Wendy
Yes, it appears that this is real and live and by the youth-- the we the people. I bless us all with Love.
My difficulty with Anon was the use of Hitler and Nazi imagry to "spread" their message. It felt disingenous.
Fairy
If it's true, Wendy, that would be a significant victory. I'm waiting in anticipation for confirmation that 100 cops have seen the light.
Occupy Wall Street poster: "Land of the fee, home of the $lave$"
from: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/201192785419837365.html
Behind the scenes of #OccupyWallStreet
Back in the 1960s, a gang of Yippies, a politicised arm of the hippies led by the late Abbie Hoffman, wormed their way into the tour of the New York Stock Exchange. While up on the visitors' gallery, looking down on the trading floors, they threw US legal tender - coins and bills - at the men below who, when they realised what it was, began diving for dollars.
That colourful assault on the money culture took place 40 years ago on August 24, 1967. CNN recently remembered the moment, noting: "Some of the brokers, clerks and stock runners below laughed and waved; others jeered angrily and shook their fists."
The bills barely had time to land on the ground before guards began removing the group from the building, but news photos had been taken and the Stock Exchange "happening" quickly slid into iconic status.
Once outside, the activists formed a circle, holding hands and chanting "Free! Free!" At one point, Hoffman - an old friend of mine - stood in the centre of the circle and lit the edge of a $5 bill while grinning madly, but an NYSE runner grabbed it from him, stamped on it, and said: "You're disgusting."
"Hoffman stood in the centre of the circle and lit the edge of a $5 bill."
What disgusts some, inspires others, and that event is now firmly embedded in the legacy of the US left, which may have changed its character, but not its dislike of America's Mecca of money and symbol of greed.
In the 1920s, the "Street" was bombed by anarchists, but a new non-violent breed today, holding on to the hatred of the wheeling and dealing that drives US capitalism - and perhaps global capitalism - have for the last week staged an encampment a few blocks north of the Exchange as a part of what they call #OccupyWallStreet.
The hashtag is a sign of their reliance on Twitter and other social media to organise a protest modelled after Tahrir Square (and perhaps Madrid's Plaza Del Sol) where activists seized public space to launch a political movement. There is no central command, no orders from above. And you can watch the action online on a live stream.
This is not the usual approach to politics of an electoral kind with its traditional mobilisations and marches by mass organisations. It has attracted a group of wannabe revolutionaries, even as a right wing website called them a "menagerie" and others ridicule their youth, their hair, and their naiveté. It's like a Wall Street Woodstock - so far without the music (but that might be coming) - as a number of celebrities have dropped by to show solidarity.
Had he lived, Abbie Hoffman would have been there to witness the takeover of nearby Zuccotti Park that has become the meeting ground of a growing bottom-up leaderless movement, drawn from several political traditions including libertarians, communists and environmentalists. Abbie now has 901,000 citations on Google.
Like the Egyptian movement they are emulating, there is no one political line or detailed set of demands, but it's not clear if that matters.
Democratic movement
Decisions are made by a "general assembly" in which everyone can have a say. To speak, all you have to do is shout "mic check," and, in call and response style, the activists present repeat your words, as they have been doing with the key ideas being expressed by speakers, so everyone can hear them. Sound systems, amplifiers and Public Address loudspeakers are not permitted by the city's officials.
I observed a spirit of good-natured tolerance in the multi-generational group that numbers between a few hundred and a few thousand. They had hoped for 20,000 but that has not occurred yet, although one New York newspaper reported that, after New York Police arrested 80 marchers, using pepper spray and mace, the size of the protest actually grew.
Activists fear the police are looking for a pretext to shut down this fledging experiment in democracy, as the Wall Street companies want to get rid of people committed to defiance and resistance. At the same time, many of the ordinary cops in blue have been friendly - to the chagrin of their officers in white shirts. Chaz Valenza noted, "Employees and owners of several businesses harboured marchers to save them from arrest. And, a number of sympathetic NYPD officers treated those arrested with respect and extraordinary leeway, some expressing support."
"The police officer told me he was going to cuff me very loosely so it wouldn't hurt," said one woman arrested on Saturday. Waiting in the bus she found the plastic strap cuffs were so loose her hands were not bound and she could freely take one out to use her cell phone.
Valenza offered this "box score" on the protests' tenth day: "OWS Protesters Arrested: 121 - 200 (?); Wall Street Banksters Arrested: 0; People Power Hours since Day 1 (NYC only): 349,000 (an estimate of the amount of time activists invested)."
Critical mass
There is no doubt that Wall Street is a place millions of Americans love to hate, but protests take time to reach a critical mass - as they did in Egypt.
The event has triggered a sizable police presence perhaps because Wall Street, so close to "Ground Zero", is a world financial centre. Ever since 9/11, the place had been militarised with an army of security forces and surveillance cameras.
Curiously, the protest is against Wall Street tactics such as "securitisation" in its trading, even as the area itself is securitised - with no protests allowed at the Stock Exchange, a private company patrolled by New York City police at taxpayer expense.
So much for freedom of speech and assembly, when you want to take on the most powerful plutocrats in the USA.
Yves Smith, who edits NakedCapitalism.com, a leading financial website wrote: "Welcome to the Police State", noting, "I'm beginning to wonder whether the right to assemble is effectively dead in the US. No one who is a wage slave (which is the overwhelming majority of the population) can afford to have an arrest record, even a misdemeanor, in this age of short job tenures and rising use of background checks."
The police like to put up steel pens in the streets to block congregations. They are literally turning Wall street into a walled off area, even as Rupert Murdoch's New York Post headlined it "Fall Street", commenting on the crashing markets.
This Great Wall of New York is nothing new. The first wall on Wall Street was built to keep Indians away. For many years, the area was taken over as a breeding ground by pigs, until a huge fire consumed the neighbourhood in 1832. What a nefarious history.
Freedom of the press is also at risk, as most top media outlets initially ignored, downplayed or scoffed at the protest. It took mass arrests for them to consider it newsworthy. As the website AmpedStatus.com noted, there has also been censorship:
"Twitter blocked #OccupyWallStreet from being featured as a top trending topic on their homepage."
- AmpedStatus.com
"On at least two occasions, Saturday September 17 and again on Thursday night, Twitter blocked #OccupyWallStreet from being featured as a top trending topic on their homepage. On both occasions, #OccupyWallStreet tweets were coming in more frequently than other top trending topics that they were featuring on their homepage. This is blatant political censorship on the part of a company that has recently received a $400 million investment from JP Morgan Chase."
Despite the spotty and often sneering press coverage - there is no Al Jazeera here, as there was in Cairo with around the clock coverage - word of the protest has spread, and will continue to spread. Activists from around the country and the world are arriving at the action - originally called for by the Canadian magazine AdBusters.
These events radicalise participants, and spotlight Wall Street abuses just as they call attention to media complicity and police brutality.
Ten days on, the persistence of the Occupy Wall Street protest is a minor miracle in itself, surprising a cynical media and even activists who weren't sure if they could pull off a sustained attack on financial power. Young people are showing how political they can be - in part, no doubt because so many are out of work and deeply in debt.
What will #OccupyWallStreet accomplish? Its existence is an accomplishment in itself. Writes Nathan Schneider on Reader Supported News: "For many Americans, nonviolent direct actions like this occupation are the best hope for having a political voice, and they deserve to be taken seriously as such."
As for the future, that remains to be seen.
News Dissector and blogger Danny Schechter called for protests in his film Plunder: The Crime Of Our Time, exposing financial crimes on Wall Street. Comments to [email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Add New Com
I clicked on the Livestream hyperlink in the article above, which opens http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution Wow, what an exciting website. Between the videos and the social networking scrolls, there's a lot going on in real time.
The revolution may not be televised, but it sure is being streamed!
Since Occupy Wall Street is turning into a movement of extended duration, I was wondering if the protesters had clear objectives. In other words, how do they know when it's time to go home?
There is a list of proposed demands on this website http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009, which you can vote for to be included in the final draft.
By the looks of the list, this protest (and the sister protests it spawned across the country) could go on a very long time!
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/09/28/2011-09-28_pray_for_snow....
Occupy Wall Street protesters are behaving like a bunch of spoiled brats
Wednesday, September 28th 2011, 4:00 AM
Occupy Wall Street protesters march on Wall Street Monda, as their demonstration continues.
Related News
And for sleet and torrential rains - anything that might convince the precious insufferables who have taken over Wall Street that they have had enough of exercising their First Amendment rights to the inconvenience of tens of thousands of people who actually have to work for a living.
This bunch ought to get down on their knees in thanks that America's capitalist Founding Fathers saw fit to protect the privileges of the dumb and obnoxious along with everyone else.
They should also salute the NYPD and all its officers for paying diligent attention to ensuring that peace and harmony reign in their daze of rage. But no.
Instead, in a disgraceful attempt at intimidation, partisans of Occupy Wall Street, as the micromovement calls itself, posted on the Internet the name, address and telephone number of a ranking cop who dosed a couple of upstarts with pepper spray - along with the same information about the officer's family members.
If the NYPD has made any tactical error in this episode, it was in being too tolerant.
Rather than require protesters to secure a permit to demonstrate - as the NYPD asked of the 10,000 people who massed peacefully outside the United Nations - the department arranged for campout accommodations in Zuccotti Park, which happens to be privately owned, although open to the public.
Police also closed major intersections to traffic, forcing pedestrians to take the long way around. Further, the cops cordoned off the statue of the Wall Street bull, depriving tourists of upclose-and-personal inspections.
On Saturday, these guests of the municipality decided to march north to Union Square. Again, they did so without a permit. Had they asked for one, the NYPD would have secured a parade route that upheld both the right to protest and the public's ability to move.
As it was, the NYPD went with the flow, allowing the parade so long as the walkers did not interfere with sidewalk or street passage. Soon enough, a couple hundred marchers took too much of the real estate and became unruly.
People dodged in and out of traffic, sometimes surrounding cars to halt them. Officers began to break the throng into smaller groups, occasionally using plastic nets. Chaos ensued as the crowd now wailed about being victims of oppression.
Amid arrests, that senior officer was photographed applying pepper spray in a video that is being held up as evidence of a human rights violation worthy of trial in the International Criminal Court. It is conceivable that he could have kept his spray holstered - then again, he was surrounded by chaos. He made a judgment call. The rest is second-guessing.
The right to free speech comes with responsibilities. It does not encompass a right to do just what you want wherever you want, as these juveniles may one day learn.
The “Occupy Together” Model – Best Chance to Mobilize the 99%
I think this is it, folks. This movement, gathering speed, looks to be the best chance we have to take back our countries from the elite. If you’ve been waiting for the Big One before jumping, I think this is the Big One.
About OCCUPY TOGETHER
September 23rd, 2011 · Sam
http://occupytogether.org/2011/09/23/aboutus/
Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, a hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. As we have followed the news on facebook, twitter, and the various live feeds across the internet, we felt compelled to build a site that would help spread the word as more protests organize across the country. We hope to provide people with information about events that are organizing, ongoing, and building across the U.S. as we, the 99%, take action against the greed and corruption of the 1%.
We will try our best to provide you with the most accurate information possible. However, we are just a few volunteers and errors are bound to occur. Please be patient as we get this site off the ground and populated and please contact us if you have any info on new events, corrections, or suggestions for this site. You can contact us at info[at]occupytogether[dot]org.
We will only grow stronger in our solidarity and we will be heard, not just in New York, but in echoes across this nation.
For more information about us, the movement, and answers to questions, please check out our FAQ.
Important note: Occupy Together will never ask for any monetary donations. We suggest that, if you want to donate monetarily, that you visit this site to help those who currently Occupy Wall St.
It's amazing how fast this movement is spreading in just over a week. On the Occupy Together website, if you put your mouse over the Events tab, you can see where other OWS groups are protesting. The movement has also spread to at least two other continents.
Someone suggested on http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution that we write "Occupy Wall Street" on our dollar bills. I think the idea is an excellent way to support the movement because it takes little effort and it preserves anonymity. You could use this same concept to spread awareness about any issue that is important to you, like "End the Fed", "Ban GMOs", "Time to Wake Up!", "We Are One", "United We Stand" -- the possibilities are endless!
It would be interesting to see where those $bills showed up in a week after someone writing on it and buying something! lol Love More and Expect Miracles!
HAHA! That would really crimp the credit card companies if we all started using $bills enmasse and stopped using the "magic" card-- magically you can drain your account with the "magic debit/credit card"...lol
Fairy
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/09/anonymous_outs_nypd_officer_wh.html
The loosely organized hacker collective Anonymous has identified NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna as the man seen pepper-spraying two women unprovoked at the Occupy Wall Street protest over the weekend, but they're not just leaving it at that. The Internet vigilantes, using photographic evidence of Bologna on the scene and a close-up of his badge, wasted no time in putting together a file on the officer, including a possible phone number, addresses, and the names of his family members, warning ominously, "Before you commit atrocities against innocent people, think twice. WE ARE WATCHING!!! Expect Us!"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/anthony-bologna-using-pep_n_985...
Things just keep getting worse for NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, as a second video of the officer using pepper-spray on protestors has surfaced.
Bologna came under fire after pepper-spraying female demonstrators on Sunday at the Occupy Wall Street protests. The incident appears as though Bologna acted unprovoked by the protestors.
The second video released Wednesday is yet another blow to the senior officer, who was identified by the hacker group Anonymous. The group posted Bologna's personal information including a possible phone number, names of relatives, and last known addresses.
It was revealed that Bologna was the subject of civil rights violations during protests at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
NBC News reports that following the leak of Bologna's personal info, police have provided extra security for the Inspector and his family after they received death threats at home.
The NYPD originally told The New York Times that Bologna used the spray "judiciously." But Wednesday's second video has prompted NPYD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to say that the Internal Affairs Bureau would "look into" Bologna's actions. Kelly also said that the incident was being reviewed by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Anthony Bologna Using Pepper Spray In Second Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g-eTi5-qNgA
More videos of interaction between protesters and the police here:
https://occupywallst.org/article/Officer-Bologna/
The gifts of transparency is abusers can no longer hide. The Dark is being integrated into the Light.
Let the Light flow to Light creating space for Love to fill all that is Light.
Fairy
Lawrence O'Donnell on Police Brutality at Occupy Wall Street
from the last word with lawrence o'donnell rewrite 09-26-2011
full clips of the clash between demonstrators at occupy wall street and the police:
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/26/7978720-rewrite-police-vs-p...
apparently, the cop who pepper sprayed the girl in the video is Deputy Inspector Anthony V. Bologna:
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/09/26-1
Lawrence O'Donnell on Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NxPYo4-Aj8
those "peace" officers who stand idly by while innocent people are being mistreated, give their tacit consent to the violence being perpetrated by their fellow cops. they are therefore just as guilty as those who commit these heinous acts.
even if we grant that the "few bad apples" who carry out the clubbing, pepper spraying and roughing up of individuals are not the majority of those who make up the police force, the number of officers who allow this kind of brutality to take place by not stepping in to prevent it, surely are, as this video demonstrates, the vast majority.
it is the responsibility of the police to protect people from those who would cause them harm, but when it is the police who are doing the harming (sanctioned by the state and the courts), where are the people to turn?
calling all cops who still have a conscience and a sense of moral justice...come out, come out wherever you are! protect and serve. stand up for what is right! stand up for the democratic principles which make your nation great! the people demand it, and more importantly, honesty, integrity and a world where all have a right to exist without fear of exploitation, oppression and having their voices and interests silenced demands it!
This is a great piece. It shows that the human spirit cannot be broken and that a growing number, perhaps a majority, of people see our species as one and our problems as connected; very good news!
J
As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe
By NICHOLAS KULISH
MADRID — Hundreds of thousands of disillusioned Indians cheer a rural activist on a hunger strike. Israel reels before the largest street demonstrations in its history. Enraged young people in Spain and Greece take over public squares across their countries.
Their complaints range from corruption to lack of affordable housing and joblessness, common grievances the world over. But from South Asia to the heartland of Europe and now even to Wall Street, these protesters share something else: wariness, even contempt, toward traditional politicians and the democratic political process they preside over.
They are taking to the streets, in part, because they have little faith in the ballot box.
“Our parents are grateful because they’re voting,” said Marta Solanas, 27, referring to older Spaniards’ decades spent under the Franco dictatorship. “We’re the first generation to say that voting is worthless.”
Economics have been one driving force, with growing income inequality, high unemployment and recession-driven cuts in social spending breeding widespread malaise. Alienation runs especially deep in Europe, with boycotts and strikes that, in London and Athens, erupted into violence.
But even in India and Israel, where growth remains robust, protesters say they so distrust their country’s political class and its pandering to established interest groups that they feel only an assault on the system itself can bring about real change.
Young Israeli organizers repeatedly turned out gigantic crowds insisting that their political leaders, regardless of party, had been so thoroughly captured by security concerns, ultra-Orthodox groups and other special interests that they could no longer respond to the country’s middle class.
In the world’s largest democracy, Anna Hazare, an activist, starved himself publicly for 12 days until the Indian Parliament capitulated to some of his central demands on a proposed anticorruption measure to hold public officials accountable. “We elect the people’s representatives so they can solve our problems,” said Sarita Singh, 25, among the thousands who gathered each day at Ramlila Maidan, where monsoon rains turned the grounds to mud but protesters waved Indian flags and sang patriotic songs.
“But that is not actually happening. Corruption is ruling our country.”
Increasingly, citizens of all ages, but particularly the young, are rejecting conventional structures like parties and trade unions in favor of a less hierarchical, more participatory system modeled in many ways on the culture of the Web.
In that sense, the protest movements in democracies are not altogether unlike those that have rocked authoritarian governments this year, toppling longtime leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Protesters have created their own political space online that is chilly, sometimes openly hostile, toward traditional institutions of the elite.
The critical mass of wiki and mapping tools, video and social networking sites, the communal news wire of Twitter and the ease of donations afforded by sites like PayPal makes coalitions of like-minded individuals instantly viable.
“You’re looking at a generation of 20- and 30-year-olds who are used to self-organizing,” said Yochai Benkler, a director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. “They believe life can be more participatory, more decentralized, less dependent on the traditional models of organization, either in the state or the big company. Those were the dominant ways of doing things in the industrial economy, and they aren’t anymore.”
Yonatan Levi, 26, called the tent cities that sprang up in Israel “a beautiful anarchy.” There were leaderless discussion circles like Internet chat rooms, governed, he said, by “emoticon” hand gestures like crossed forearms to signal disagreement with the latest speaker, hands held up and wiggling in the air for agreement — the same hand signs used in public assemblies in Spain. There were free lessons and food, based on the Internet conviction that everything should be available without charge.
Someone had to step in, Mr. Levi said, because “the political system has abandoned its citizens.”
The rising disillusionment comes 20 years after what was celebrated as democratic capitalism’s final victory over communism and dictatorship.
In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, a consensus emerged that liberal economics combined with democratic institutions represented the only path forward. That consensus, championed by scholars like Francis Fukuyama in his book “The End of History and the Last Man,” has been shaken if not broken by a seemingly endless succession of crises — the Asian financial collapse of 1997, the Internet bubble that burst in 2000, the subprime crisis of 2007-8 and the continuing European and American debt crisis — and the seeming inability of policy makers to deal with them or cushion their people from the shocks.
Frustrated voters are not agitating for a dictator to take over. But they say they do not know where to turn at a time when political choices of the cold war era seem hollow. “Even when capitalism fell into its worst crisis since the 1920s there was no viable alternative vision,” said the British left-wing author Owen Jones.
Protests in Britain exploded into lawlessness last month. Rampaging youths smashed store windows and set fires in London and beyond, using communication systems like BlackBerry Messenger to evade the police. They had savvy and technology, Mr. Jones said, but lacked a belief that the political system represented their interests. They also lacked hope.
“The young people who took part in the riots didn’t feel they had a future to risk,” he said.
In Spain, walloped by the developed world’s highest official rate of unemployment, at 21 percent, many have lost the confidence that politicians of any party can find a solution. Their demands are vague, but their cry for help is plaintive and determined. Known as indignados or the outraged, they block traffic, occupy squares and gather for teach-ins.
Ms. Solanas, an unemployed online journalist, was part of the core group of protesters who in May occupied the Puerta del Sol, a public square in Madrid, the capital, touching off a nationwide protest. That night she and some friends started the Twitter account @acampadasol, or “Camp Sol,” which now has nearly 70,000 followers.
While the Spanish and Israeli demonstrations were peaceful, critics have raised concerns over the urge to bypass representative institutions. In India, Mr. Hazare’s crusade to “fast unto death” unless Parliament enacted his anticorruption law struck some supporters as self-sacrifice. Many opponents viewed his tactics as undemocratic blackmail.
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out last month in New Delhi to vent a visceral outrage at the state of Indian politics. One banner read, “If your blood is not boiling now, then your blood is not blood!” The campaign by Mr. Hazare, 74, was intended to force Parliament to consider his anticorruption legislation instead of a weaker alternative put forth by the government.
Parliament unanimously passed a resolution endorsing central pieces of his proposal, and lawmakers are expected to approve an anticorruption measure in the next session. Mr. Hazare’s anticorruption campaign tapped a deep chord with the public precisely because he was not a politician. Many voters feel that Indian democracy, and in particular the major parties, the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have become unresponsive and captive to interest groups. For almost a year, India’s news media and government auditors have exposed tawdry government scandals involving billions of dollars in graft.
Many of the protesters following the man in the white Gandhian cap known as a topi were young and middle class, fashionably dressed and carrying the newest smartphones. Ms. Singh was born in a village and is attending a university in New Delhi. Yet she is anxious about her future and wants to know why her parents go days without power. “We don’t get electricity for 18 hours a day,” she said. “This is corruption. Electricity is our basic need. Where is the money going?”
Responding to shifts in voter needs is supposed to be democracy’s strength. These emerging movements, like many in the past, could end up being absorbed by traditional political parties, just as the Republican Party in the United States is seeking to benefit from the anti-establishment sentiment of Tea Party loyalists. Yet purists involved in many of the movements say they intend to avoid the old political channels.
The political left, which might seem the natural destination for the nascent movements now emerging around the globe, is compromised in the eyes of activists by the neoliberal centrism of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. The old left remains wedded to trade unions even as they represent a smaller and smaller share of the work force. More recently, center-left participation in bailouts for financial institutions alienated former supporters who say the money should have gone to people instead of banks.
The entrenched political players of the post-cold-war old guard are struggling. In Japan, six prime ministers have stepped down in five years, as political paralysis deepens. The two major parties in Germany, the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, have seen tremendous declines in membership as the Greens have made major gains, while Chancellor Angela Merkel has watched her authority erode over unpopular bailouts.
In many European countries the disappointment is twofold: in heavily indebted federal governments pulling back from social spending and in a European Union viewed as distant and undemocratic. Europeans leaders have dictated harsh austerity measures in the name of stability for the euro, the region’s common currency, rubber-stamped by captive and corrupt national politicians, protesters say.
“The biggest crisis is a crisis of legitimacy,” Ms. Solanas said. “We don’t think they are doing anything for us.”
Unlike struggling Europe, Israel’s economy is a story of unusual success. It has grown from a sluggish state-dominated system to a market-driven high-tech powerhouse. But with wealth has come inequality. The protest organizers say the same small class of people who profited from government privatizations also dominates the major political parties. The rest of the country has bowed out of politics.
Mr. Levi, born on Degania, Israel’s first kibbutz, said the protests were not acts of anger but of reclamation, of a society hijacked by a class known in Hebrew as “hon veshilton,” meaning a nexus of money and politics. The rise of market forces produced a sense of public disengagement, he said, a feeling that the job of a citizen was limited to occasional trips to the polling places to vote.
“The political system has abandoned its citizens,” Mr. Levi said. “We have lost a sense of responsibility for one another.”
Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Tel Aviv, and Jim Yardley from New Delhi.
I found the "anon" video for outing the NYPD Officer. It feels "really off" I had a severe will chakra reaction. This usually indicates that the Dark is at hand. I am not sure this is authentic to Anon.
I did find this one that I feel is authentic. The former I intuit is not and is the PTB using the cover of anon to create violence--- since the protesters continue to extremely peaceful.
This is the other ANON video that I found that is completely different from the one that is linked above.
A Warning to NYPD - Anonymous Hackers.flv
Noa and All:
I find ANON to be congruent with the Shift that is occuring. Thier motto of not forgiving-- means to me that they intend to bring those who are harming others to justice-- I believe like many they view forgiveness as = to getting away/complicitly allowing injustice to go on.
I am sure the Egyptions are very relieved that the secret police and regular police that are abusive are being removed from power. As many here in the United States will be relieved when the police can no longer abuse their power and get away with it. It happens every day all the time. I am cheered to see so many sectors of Evolution coming together in unity.
It is important we remember what the Dark has done--- forgetting will only ensure they will be able to come back another time and do it again.
I have updated the previous post with the 2 videos in links. The first link is the one I was speaking of, Noa. I apologize I did not attach the link appropriately and it did not appear. I apologize for any confusion I cause.
I bless you with Love!
Fairy
Fairy, I don't know if the video you posted is the one you felt was "off" or the one you intuited as authentic. Either way, I find the one you posted to be rather negative with its threats of retaliation, justifiable or not. Personally, I find Anonymous to be a tad bit too militant for my taste, even though their intentions are good. Their catch phrase, "We will not forget; we will not forgive" doesn't sit well with me.
But like it or not, Anonymous has become associated with Occupy Wall Street. When the 'live' feed of the protest is down on http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution, pre-recorded messages are broadcast. Some of them are Anonymous videos.
In contrast, I find the OWS protesters themselves to be peaceful, inclusively loving, and non-vindictive. They recognize that the police are part of the 99% and repeatedly reach out to them for solidarity. This lady says it very well...
Perhaps there is room within this movement for both strategies.
Union Airline Pilots Occupy Wall Street
Over 700 hundred Continental and United pilots, joined by additional pilots from other Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) carriers, demonstrate in front of Wall Street on September 27, 2011 in New York City.
Hundreds of uniformed pilots, standing in stark contrast to the youthful Occupy Wall Street protesters, staged their own protest outside of Wall Street over the past couple of days, holding signs with the picture of the Hudson river crash asking “What’s a Pilot Worth” and others declaring “Management is Destroying Our Airline.” This comes after pilots at United asked a federal judge to halt the merger with Continental, arguing that the whole thing is proceeding too quickly.
Piloting an airplane may seem like a good line of work, a high-skilled job that places many lives in the hands of a highly skilled worker. The highly-skilled portion of this assumption is true. However, pilots are among the most dismally paid workers in the country – at least when they start flying.
According to FltOps.com first year pilots make as little as $21,600 a year. Some airlines, such as Southwest, pay more than twice that. On average, starting pay for the major airlines is just above $36,000 a year.
Fortunately for pilots, the payscale does climb and it climbs pretty high. Fifth year median pay is close to double what first year pilots earn. Top pay can be much better. The high-end of the salary scale tops out with UPS and FedEx pilots who can earn over $200,000, though most major airlines average closer to $150,000.
Notably, non-unionized JetBlue is one of the lowest paying airlines. Southwest, which is almost entirely unionized, pays its pilots almost as well as UPS and FedEx. Something to think about.
See also: Why I Support the Teachers Unions
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here
I remember, about 30 years ago, when pilots were making $100,000 per year. At the time, that was considerably more than the average Joe was making. The 1978 Deregulation Act began the wage decline. http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~card/papers/airline%20labor%20earnings.pdf
When you think about it, the airline industry's ability to strip pilots of such a high standard of living, over a period of time, is an amazing feat. It goes to show the power corporations have.
I hope the addition of protesting pilots will give more credence to the movement. It will be harder to label it just a hippy, youth, fringe thing now.
I admit I have not read all the responses to this post so please people correct me if this article is wrong. Apparently the protesters are not calling for an end to the Federal Reserve System. I feel so strongly that this system is the root cause of almost all the world's problems that I am now once again questioning whether this protest is a real, spontaneous act of the people or a planned false opposition event, planned by the agents of the FED itself.
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=344285
Wendy
The New York Times finally wrote an article about the hundreds of people that have been gathering in their streets for two weeks to Occupy Wall Street.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/nyregion/wall-street-occupiers-protesting-till-whenever.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
I don't know how you can doubt the authenticity of this movement, Wendy, when it is occurring worldwide, Protesters are being brutalized and arrested by the police on 3 continents. Do you think all that is a setup? If the FEDS or other power entity contrived this event, why is there a media blackout? Watch the live feed on http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution and I think your doubts will dissolve.
The protest began with the simple intention of opening up a dialogue with the PTB -- to discuss the problems and solutions. I agree that the demands are very broad and not clearly defined http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009 This is their biggest criticism and it weakens the cause. However, in their defense I must point out that this event was a rather spontaneous uprising. Considering that much of the structure is being improvised as they go along, it's actually well-organized. And when you consider all the injustices Americans are now facing, it's difficult to narrow down the list to a select few problems. If you think a demand should be added to the list, go to the website and do it!
OWS represents all of us who make up the 99%. They deserve our support, not our criticism. At least they have the courage to do something to fix our broken system.
http://www.nationofchange.org/bernie-sanders-and-keith-olbermann-celebrate-wall-street-protests-1317392475
(I posted this in Coalition of Resistance but I believe it might be more appropriate here)
One of the things I've been hearing about the people gathering on Wall Street is that it is a self-organizing group without an agenda. Some have decried this as a lack. I see it differently. Complex systems evolve new patterns of structure when the the fluctuations within the old structure exceed the capacity of the old structure to contain them. This is called the system's instability threshold. As any complex system exceeds its instability threshold, the old pattern constraining its organization dissipate.
At this point the system moves through a transitional phase which can appear chaotic because the old is disintegrating and the new structure/processes have not yet emerged. But because complex systems are in ongoing exchange of energy and information with their environment and because the morphogenetic seed of the new structures exist within the old structures, they self-organize into a higher order of complexity which can incorporate the dynamics which caused the old structure to break apart.
This is a description of the dynamic mechanism that is taking place in human consciousness within us individually and among us as clustered subsystems of human beings. What is taking place in New York is drawing more and more people and groups; it is spreading through out the nation and around the world. It is an upswelling wave of the inclusive and compassionate human spirit which builds on the Arab Spring, what happened in Madison Wisconsin and all the movements of the 60s & 70s, etc.
We are learning a new language of our common unity and our mutuality together and, we will get much better at being open hearted, integritous, inclusive and wise. Now is the time. Individually and together, we wake up!
I see the basic premise is the same: Unity and Love for All and Resource Based Economy where we are paid to Live and Live well instead of paying to live. This takes on different modalities as all the spectrums of society are attracted to the gathering of chaos from which cohesive and coherent action arises through consensus. So from the many spectrums come the same call to action-- This is the many voices who are all speaking peacefully.
I see the Occupy Together, and the sister movements all across the world a sign of the New Earth begining to organize and bring into form the New Earth. This shift is simple as the changing of the seasons...
It would do us well to remember that this movement that we are seeing began in Tunisia. I bless Africa with Love. Let us all remember. And Send Love to the emerging positive vortex that is developing over Africa. I bless Africa with Love. I bless the Phonecians with Love. Phonecia is now Tunisia.
Fairy
Thanks for your input everyone. I had no problems voting to end the fed at their website here:
http://coupmedia.org/the-sovereign-peoples-movement/4-3-forced-acquisition-of-the-federal-reserve-for-1billion.html
So I hope "end the fed" gets added to the list of demands soon. Oberman and Sanders characterizing this as a re-immergence of the left wing is troublesome though. If it is to succeed, it needs to be filled with people who understand that the left-right divide is false. This can be seen as a media attack on the protest, which would also indicate that the movement is real.
Many of the African movements however were planned CIA events, (info. from Cynthia McKinney and others) especially the opposition to Gadafi in Libya, hence my concern.
Seth explains what happened on Saturday the 24th, which resulted in him and several of his friends getting pepper sprayed by NYPD for no reason.
I wholly support this declaration and I ask you to consider whether it resonates with your heart and, if so, pass it on and, if you are so moved, take action. Now is the time we awaken, together!
Bless you more,
John
organized process through which we are building the capacity to constitute
ourselves in public as autonomous collective forces within and against the
constant crises of our times.
Jeannie
Wall Street protesters dress as zombies in NYC
Text size – +
NEW YORK—Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other issues showed no signs of giving up their campaign on Monday, with organizers urging participants to dress up as corporate zombies and to take part in a rally against police brutality.
The arrests of 700 people on Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend fueled the anger of the protesters camping in a Manhattan park and sparked support elsewhere in the country as the campaign entered its third week Sunday.
Group spokesman Patrick Bruner urged protesters on Monday to dress up as corporate zombies and eat Monopoly money to let financial workers "see us reflecting the metaphor of their actions."
One camper set up a table with tubes of makeup and stacks of fake money and was applying white makeup to the face of a young woman.
As the encampment began waking up Monday morning, several dozen police officers stood in formation across the street.
Organizers said they planned an anti-police brutality protest on the steps of City Hall and a rally in support of union workers outside Sotheby's auction house.
Occupy Wall Street started with fewer than a dozen college students spending days and nights in Zuccotti Park, a plaza near the city's financial center. But a day after Saturday's mass arrests, hundreds of protesters were resolute and like-minded groups in other cities had joined in.
One supporter, William Stack, sent an email to city officials urging that all charges be dropped against those arrested.
"It is not a crime to demand that our money be spent on meeting people's needs, not for massive corporate bailouts," he wrote. "The real criminals are in the boardrooms and executive offices on Wall Street, not the people marching for jobs, health care, and a moratorium on foreclosures."
Police said the department will continue its regular patrols of the area. And "as always, if it is a lawful demonstration, we help facilitate and if they break the law we arrest them," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
A map of the country displayed on the plaza identified 21 places where other protests were organized.
Wall-Street style demonstrations with names like Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Chicago, and Occupy Boston were staged in front of Federal Reserve buildings in those cities. A group in Columbus, Ohio, also marched on the capital city's street. And signs of support were rearing up outside the U.S. In Canada, a Wall Street rally is planned for later this month in Toronto.
"It was chaos here" two weeks ago, said Jackie Fellner, a marketing manager from Westchester County, north of the city.
Campers take turns organizing a "general assembly" on the plaza where they divide tasks among themselves. They have "a protocol for most things," Moyer-Sims said, including a makeshift hospital and getting legal help for people who are arrested. They rally around a website called OccupyWallSt.org, and they even started printing a newspaper -- the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
Police watched Sunday as activists awoke in their makeshift beds. Later, members of the NYPD moved in and ordered some of them to dismantle what police said were "dwellings."
"A dozen officers came walking toward us with NYPD video cameras pointed at us," said John Dennehy, who was back in the park after spending hours in police custody.
He flashed a police desk appearance ticket charging him with disorderly conduct and prohibited use of a roadway. On Saturday, the 29-year-old United Nations employee joined thousands of protesters who tried to cross the bridge after marching through Manhattan's Financial District.
Dennehy and three others had built what they called their "box castle" using cardboard mailing boxes to delineate their space on the plaza. But police told them to remove the structure, they said. Plastic tarps they were using to stay dry in a pouring rain also were not acceptable, they said.
Under clear skies Sunday afternoon, protesters could help themselves to food that unnamed supporters donated to keep the encampment running. Some ate pizza they said was ordered for them by a man in Egypt who phoned a local shop to have the pies delivered.
The campers also have been fueled by encouraging words from well-known figures, the latest actor Alec Baldwin, who posted videos on his Twitter page that had already been widely circulated. One appeared to show police using pepper spray on a group of women, another a young man being tackled to the ground by an officer.
"This is unsettling," Baldwin wrote. "I think the NYPD has a PR problem."
Fellner said she has an issue with "big money dictating which politicians get elected and what programs get funded."
But "we're not here to take down Wall Street," she insisted. "It's not poor against rich."
Still, the protesters chose Wall Street as their physical rallying point, speaking against corporate greed, social inequality, global climate change and other concerns.
Beside the mass arrest Saturday, police arrested about 100 people Sept. 24 when protesters marched to other parts of the city and got into a tense standoff with officers.
Some said protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge were lured onto the roadway by police, or they didn't hear the calls from authorities to head to the pedestrian walkway. Police said no one was tricked into being arrested, and that those in the back of the group who couldn't hear were allowed to leave.
The NYPD released video footage Sunday to back up its stance. In one of the videos, an official uses a bullhorn to warn the crowd. Marchers can be seen chanting, "Take the bridge.
I'm sorry for doubting you, Wendy. I thought you were being overly suspicious of a well-intentioned, grassroots social movement. Apparently, the OWS protest has been originated and funded by globalists to divert our attention away from the Fed. See my post http://www.gatheringspot.net/topic/take-action-now/occupy-wall-street-scam
I personally see this as Soveriegn Individuals coming together to create a coherence. The internet was started by the the so called Powers the Be--- and individuals that are part of the powers that be that are not of the powers that be seeded the technology to We the People.
There are many one ways to coherence--- frequency matching is at hand. What do you wish to raise to?
Take time to truly listen to the movement that is happening all over the world and see the coherence resulting. The New Earth is forming.
I bless you with Love.
Fairy
Thanks for that insight, Fairy. The amount of information available right now, can sometimes be overwhelming to process... leading to confusion.
Your words resonate, to my mind at least, with those of Hathor. By some coincidence
, I happened across this passage again, today. Hathor talks of the New Earth and our ability to jump timelines into our preferred reality.
http://www.gatheringspot.net/topic/insight-community/art-jumping-time-lines
Overload of specifics and details can be quite hypnotic for the left side of the brain. I have been leaning toward the right brain intuitive lately and see a rising worldwide, spontaneous, organic, tea partiers with hippies.
Remember what HH said, as well as ACIM and Law of One, there is only One of us here...
Chris--LOL thank you. --- Fairy
Protesters Target Fed, As Well As Wall Street
Washington’s Blog
October 3, 2011
The protesters are not just targeting Wall Street and the big banks. They’re also railing against the Federal Reserve:
(See this for the background of this image by WilliamBanzai7.)
Go here foe video: http://www.infowars.com/protesters-target-fed-as-well-as-wall-street/
Indeed, at the “Occupy Boston” protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, protesters yelled their derision for the Fed:
Criticism of Fed One of Protester’s Core Platforms
Indeed, as David DeGraw points out, criticism of the Fed is one of the main motivations driving Anonymous to help organize the protests:
Objectively – and without using any hyperbole – it is true that the Federal Reserve is largely responsible for destroying the economy. Indeed, many current and former high-level Fed officials and other top economic officials have slammed the Fed as well.
Jason Hamlin: 7 Core Demands from the Occupy Wall Street Movement
7 Core Demands from the Occupy Wall Street Movement
By Jason Hamlin, GoldStockBull.com, on October 3rd, 2011
http://www.goldstockbull.com/articles/7-demands-from-occupy-wall-street/
After all, the degree to which the politicians have been voting against the will of the people is insulting to the idea of a Democracy or Republic. It is clear to most Americans, if not the full 99%, that the government has been corrupted, bought off and is no longer working in the interest of the people they are supposed to be representing. This is one of main underlying grievances, which manifests in a Congressional approval rate at an all-time low of just 12%. But there are also specific demands that have been well articulated, despite the insistence of the mainstream media to the contrary. I’ve pulled from the various sources and distilled the list to what I believe should be the 7 core demands from the Occupy Wall Street movement:
1) End the Collusion Between Government and Large Corporations/Banks, So That Our Elected Leaders Are Actually Representing the Interests of the People (the 99%) and Not Just Their Rich Donors (the 1%).
This will involve sweeping campaign finance reform that would limit the contributions that come in from for-profit corporations or provide equal public funding for campaign finance. It will also involve limiting the size and scope of corporations, in order to reduce the power of the 1%, reduce monopolies in critical industries and ensure no bank or other corporation is ever “too big to fail.”
We should reverse the effects of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision which essentially said corporations can spend as much as they want on elections. The result is that corporations can pretty much buy elections. Corporations should be highly limited in ability to contribute to political campaigns no matter what the election and no matter what the form of media.
2) Investigate Wall Street and Hold Senior Executives Accountable for the Destruction in Wealth that has Devastated Millions of People.
Financial fraud was very likely committed and those behind the curtain have gotten away with nothing but a slap on the wrist. We must remove the moral hazard that persists in the system and completely restructure the regulatory agencies so that they are no so easily manipulated. One common sense step would be to end the revolving door phenomenon, whereby the regulators quit their government jobs early in order to take jobs with the companies they were supposed to be regulating, resulting in a huge payoff for not enforcing the rules. Likewise, the people tasked at enforcing regulations should not be coming from the industries they will be regulating. The conflict of interest is obvious.
We must also liquidate both the public and private debt that has been growing out of control. Most of this debt was created out of thin air and is owed to banks with interest. The problem is that there is not enough money in existence to every repay the debt. The system was designed this way and serves to concentrate wealth in the hands of the bankers, as the rest of us scramble to pay them back, plus interest. Since the debts can never really be repaid (other than with Ponzi-scheme printing), the loan contracts were never entered into with good faith and the banks offered no consideration, the loan contracts are no valid and the debt must be forgiven and canceled.
3) Return the Power of Coining Money to the U.S. Treasury and Return to Sound Money
The founders understood the dangers of giving a small group of private bankers the authority to print the nation’s currency. The Constitution explicitly states:
Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 5
[Congress shall have Power ... ] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, …;
Art. I Sec. 10 Cl. 1
[No State shall ...] make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; …
The bankers found a way to subvert this law as was meticulously detailed in the book “Creature from Jekyll Island” by Edward Griffin. The top bankers in that day were aware of the power they would acquire as evidenced in this quote from Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild: “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes it’s laws.”
Giving the ability to print unlimited amounts of money out of thin air to private bankers has been the main underlying cause of the boom bust cycles, inflation that has led to the U.S. dollar losing 95% of its value since the Federal Reserve was created, the control the banks now command over government and increasing concentration of the world’s wealth and resources in the hands of fewer and fewer people. When the protests point out the gross imbalances, such as the top 1 percent of Americans possessing a greater collective net worth than the entire bottom 90 percent, their outrage ought to be directed at the head of the banking beast, the Federal Reserve. Accordingly, we should bring the FED under total control of the people, with absolute transparency of all of its actions. Furthermore, we need to return to sound money, whether it is gold or a basket of other finite commodities. This serves to restrain out of control government spending and reduce the hidden tax of inflation on the people. This “hidden tax” affects the poor and middle class the most.
4) Limit the Size, Scope and Power of Banks so that None are Ever Again “Too Big to Fail” and in Need to Taxpayer Bailouts
This means moving ahead with Basel III capital requirements and adopting the Volcker Rule to limit banks’ ability to engage in risky and speculative investments. Whether this is done via HR 1489 (“RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT”) or another way, it must accomplish the main objective stated above.
5) Eliminate “Personhood” Legal Status for Corporations
Revise the interpretation of the famous 1886 case where the U.S. Supreme Court supposedly ruled that corporations are “persons” having the same rights as human beings based on the 14th Amendment, which was intended to protect the rights of former slaves. As most lawyers know, the Supreme Court made no such decision. In the case in question – Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the court itself never rules on personhood. A court reporter by the name of J.C. Bancroft Davis (a former railroad president) snuck that “ruling” into the books.
What most people don’t know is that after the above-mentioned 1886 decision, artificial persons were held to have exactly the same legal rights as we natural folk. (Not to mention the clear advantages corporations enjoy: they can be in several places at once, for instance, and at least in theory they’re immortal.) Up until the New Deal, many laws regulating corporations were struck down under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment–in fact, that clause was invoked far more often on behalf of corporations than former slaves. Although the doctrine of personhood has been weakened since, even now lawyers argue that an attempt to sue a corporation for lying is an unconstitutional infringement on its First Amendment right to free speech. ( Nike v. Kasky.)
6) Repeal the Patriot Act, End the War on Drugs and Protect Civil Liberties
The constitution’s fourth amendment protects people and their property against “unreasonable search and seizure” without “probable cause”. The Patriot Act tossed the probable cause provision out the window. Now, if government agents want to read your mail, listen to your phone conversations, comb through your financial records or worse, they don’t need evidence or a search warrant; they need only say, “It’s for a terrorism investigation.” This draconian law was never about public safety. Americans’ constitutional liberties have been trashed for the war on drugs and war on terrorism.
7) End All Imperial Wars of Aggression, Bring the Troops Home from All Countries, Cut the Military Budget and Limit The Military Role to Protection of the Homeland
The two demands above are the key requests in order to reign in a government that has grown too large, cumbersome, bureaucratic and inefficient to serve the needs of the people.
Parting Shot
This list is obviously not all-inclusive, but I think these demands should be the priority and focus for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Addressing these seven issues will also address many of the other demands that protestors are making regarding healthcare, education, independent media, the environment, equal rights, flash trading, jobs, taxes, term limits, trade agreements, capital punishment, etc. All of these should be on the table and discussed, but we need to first remove the corruption from government and collusion with the corporate world/banks, before we give them additional power or ask them to act on our behalf.
Lastly, we need to consider the complete restructuring of our economic, political and social systems. Our current path is unsustainable and while the steps outlined above would be a giant step in the right direction, we need to start brainstorming new ideas such as The Zeitgeist Movement, The Venus Project and 2012: Time for Change.
If you want to have an immediate impact, please consider moving your money out of the big banks and to a local non-profit credit union. If the giants don’t have funding. They can not win.
But no matter how this movement evolves or where exactly it leads, I believe it is absolutely necessary at this critical juncture in history. I’ve been with you in cyberspace and will be joining you on the ground soon. Godspeed!
Great news. This list looks a lot more focused and concise than the one they posted on the website two weeks ago.
And yet, we sit here discussing the very democracy and coherence in action without ever participating directly in its result. I bless them with Love.
As coherence creates consensus and self organization becomes more embedded in the movement-- change will begin to occur quickly. IMHO
Fairy
I think the same dynamics are in play as what happened with the Tea Party, which bagan as more of an End the Fed protest but got turned into a mainline republican rant. Same may be happening to OWS but they are trying to spin it left.
I found demand number 3 interesting:
A return to the government printing money would mean the elimination of the Fed but the demand then goes on to state that the Fed should be put under control of the people. Sounds like whoever wrote the point really didn't understand what the Fed is or does very well.
I think Alex Jones call for Occupy the Fed may not be a good suggestion. It will divide the protesters into 2 camps. I feel that Alex should be calling for "his troups" to join the OWS group with a massive education plan - leaflets, etc. about the importance of ending the Fed and a return to government control of the financial printing press.
I think the same dynamics are in play as what happened with the Tea Party, which bagan as more of an End the Fed protest but got turned into a mainline republican rant. Same may be happening to OWS but they are trying to spin it left.
I found demand number 3 interesting:
A return to the government printing money would mean the elimination of the Fed but the demand then goes on to state that the Fed should be put under control of the people. Sounds like whoever wrote the point really didn't understand what the Fed is or does very well.
I think Alex Jones call for Occupy the Fed may not be a good suggestion. It will divide the protesters into 2 camps. I feel that Alex should be calling for "his troups" to join the OWS group with a massive education plan - leaflets, etc. about the importance of ending the Fed and a return to government control of the financial printing press.
I think you're right, Wendy, that Alex Jones' efforts will divide the protesters into 2 camps.
I think Max Igan's observations are spot on. We don't need a rebellion, we only need to realize that the system is fictional and stop complying with it.
Duplicate quirk.
It's peculiar that Alex Jones (infowars.com) posted that story about the Boston OWS group targeting the Fed. It was only 3 days ago that he ranted on his radio broadcast about how OWS was initiated and funded by globalists. He made a big stink about how OWS wasn't occcupying the Fed. He said OWS was a staged protest to divert our attention away from the main issue, the Federal Reserve Banksters.
I want to believe that Occupy Wall Street is a grassroots movement with the best of intentions, I want to believe that OWS will help end government corruption. I want to believe that OWS will end the Fed. I want to believe that OWS will help bring about changes that are fair for the good of all. It's a human tendency to see only what supports our beliefs, while turning a blind eye to evidence that contradicts them. That is why I feel that caution and discernment are wise, lest we be so deceived by shiny baubles that we are unaware that the thieves have made off with the rest of our jewels.
Here is why I have concerns about OWS.
1. The Demands. The list of demands that lightwins posted from http://www.goldstockbull.com/articles/7-demands-from-occupy-wall-street/ is very different from the demands listed at http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009. This list differs greatly from those found on http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/. So which set of demands is authentic?
2. Protesting the Fed. Those of you who are informed about who the Fed is and how money is created as debt, know that the Fed is the biggest fish in this economic heist. Actions against the Fed are not included in the 2nd and 3rd list of demands above.
And, something happened tonight that I find disturbing. I was watching the live feed at http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution. Customarily, a General Assembly is called each evening, wherein the occupiers gather to make announcements. This evening, a man was given the opportunity to speak to the group. He made the suggestion that tomorrow, they should go down and occupy the Fed (two blocks from Liberty Square). His words were repeated using the people's mic amongst the crowd. Then, the lady who had been facilitating this portion of the meeting came back and said something like, "We appreciate your input, but you are not staff." In past Assemblies, they have voted on some issues. People have been invited to raise their hands in favor or opposition to a given proposal. Tonight, no vote was called for and the man was dismissed like a child. This is what Democracy looks like!
Then people on the Livestream chat started talking about the Fed. "End the Fed," The Fed is the main culprit, etc. Soon the moderator froze the screen and told everyone to stop chatting about the Fed. He said we were there to support the OWS protesters and if they didn't want to occupy the Fed, we shouldn't be critical of them. (Actually, I only saw 2 comments questioning why the man's idea was shut down. The rest were just general comments about the Fed).
So, use your own instincts. Discern the truth for yourselves. Just remember that looking through rose-colored glasses can be deceiving.
Max Igan - ECETI Interview - July 5th 2011 - 1/4 - YouTube
and what Max says about "the system" at the 8 minute mark in part 3 is spot on!
Max Igan - ECETI Interview - July 5th 2011 - 3/4 - YouTube
the whole interview is excellent!
and Max with Dean Clifford
Max Igan in Conversation with Dean Clifford - 1/4 - YouTube
Max Igan in Conversation with Dean Clifford - 2/4 - YouTube
Max Igan in Conversation with Dean Clifford - 3/4 - YouTube
and this one I haven't seen yet
New World Order Monetary System Video by Max Igan
"Behold the power of the quill and ink."
Beautiful! Thank you Ffg.
Occupy Wall Street Too Big to Ignore October 9, 2011
We are the Other 99%-- The Veterens Speak Up
From the Daily Kos October 6 2011:
Signs of the Times: Occupy Nashville