If You're Not Paying Attention...You Should Be Paying Attention...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/27/1030616/-The-Bill-that-Could-End-All-of-the-Occupy-Protests-?via=recent

...and not just "Occupy Protests"

Get Used to It, Folks: It's not "those kids"...it is us,

like it or not.  If you are observing from afar, safe in your home, and safe in the knowledge that you have yours and that it's just a bit of unpleasant noise going on outside your door, likely caused by some smelly-hippies which probably won't last very long, please think again.  Maybe you should take the time to go visit one of the Occupy locations close to you and talk to some of the dedicated individuals who are putting their bodies on the line defending OUR rights...Check out out these videos on Jessie LaGreca's post (Ministry of Truth) on Daily Kos:

 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/26/1030199/-Shoot-me-with-Rubber-Bullets-and-Tear-Gas,-I-dont-care-anymore,-We-are-NOT-going-away!?via=siderec
 
It's hard to believe this is happening here, right on our doorsteps, in America...but, make no mistake, it is....

How does this one strike you?  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM

Have a Look At Why We Need to Abolish the Federal Reserve

http://www.mind-trek.com/reports/tl17a.htm


Support HR 2990 sponsored by Dennis Kucinich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9IH-XKQpOI

And you've always thought the Fed was a "government" entity.  Sacred.  Untouchable.  And anyone advocating its abolishment was a traitor....well, folks....look again.  It's a huge part --if not the major part--of why we're in the mess we're in, today.

Keep an Eye on Your Rear View Mirror

This article was on Occupy Wall Street Press this morning:  (great site, BTW!!  I read it twice a day (they post new stories twice each day)and they have around 50 reporters out and about.  Take a look at this:

Google: US law enforcement tried to get videos removed from YouTube The technology giant's biannual transparency report reveals a 70% rise in takedown requests from US government or police



Google faced down demands from a US law enforcement agency to take down YouTube videos allegedly showing police brutality earlier this year, figures released for the first time show.

The technology giant's biannual transparency report shows that Google refused the demands from the unnamed authority in the first half of this year.


According to the report, Google separately declined orders by other police authorities to remove videos that allegedly defamed law enforcement officials.


The demands formed part of a 70% rise in takedown requests from the US government or police, and were revealed as part of an effort to highlight online censorship around the world.


Figures revealed for the first time show that the US demanded private information about more than 11,000 Google users between January and June this year, almost equal to the number of requests made by 25 other developed countries, including the UK and Russia.


Governments around the world requested private data about 25,440 people in the first half of this year, with 11,057 of those people in the US.


It is the first time Google has released details about how many of its users are targeted by authorities, as opposed to the number of requests made by countries.


"For the first time, we're not only disclosing the number of requests for user data, but we're showing the number of users or accounts that are specified in those requests too," said Dorothy Chou, a senior policy analyst at Google.


"We believe that providing this level of detail highlights the need to modernize laws like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which regulates government access to user information and was written 25 years ago—long before the average person had ever heard of email."






Brazil made the most content removal requests in the first half of this year, according to the report, followed by Germany, the US and South Korea.

March Against Murder by Spreadsheet

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/26/1029469/-ALL-HANDS:-Need-show-of-force-today-in-NYC-OWS-march-against-Murder-By-Spreadsheet-health-insurers?via=siderec

How Coooool Is This//!! Go, Dennis!

WATCH THIS VIDEO!


http://current.com/groups/news-blog/93510691_occupy-wall-street-and-the-demand-for-demands.htm#addResponse

AND THEN....

SUPPORT HOUSE RESOLUTION 2990 ENTERED BY DENNIS KUCINICH!!!

Bank of America At It Again....or, they never stopped....and never will....

http://seekingalpha.com/article/301260-bank-of-america-dumps-75-trillion-in-derivatives-on-u-s-taxpayers-with-federal-approval

Happened over last weekend...

Here's an explanation:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/23/1029224/-BOA-preparing-to-screw-taxpayers-again?via=recent
One of the best sites for getting information about #OWS:

http://paper.li/occupymanhattan/1317517749

Live According To Your Principles

I was tempted to simply lift this whole piece from Daily Kos and have it here, available for you to peruse.  But, it's far easier to simply share the link and hope you will take the time to read through it.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/24/1029464/-How-to-live-your-life-according-to-your-principles
 

And at this location (below) you'll see videos of this past weekend's events, including 92-year-old Pete Seeger marching and singing down Broadway, Michael Moore, and others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2VK7eqolME&feature=relmfu
Couple more things:  The Real News Network IS the "real" news.  Not MSM (which is --if you think about it, not MSM at all.  Main Stream Media is invalid. It's an oxymoron. Over 60% of U. S. citizens support #OWS!)  So, ignore the misnomer "main stream" media and skip over to some REAL news.  Go to:  http://therealnews.com/t2/

Civil Rights Under Attack

Scary stuff...Did I hear someone say "police state"  or--perhaps more to the point-- "police-nation"?
http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/occupy-wall-street-naomi-wolf-calls-attention-to-the-disturbing-involvement-of-homeland-security-in-her-arrest

And have a look at Michael Moore's take on things:

http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/occupy-wall-street-michael-moore-calls-on-all-americans-to-participate

It's Been an Exciting Week!

For us, it's been an exciting week!  If you missed our "appearance" on Occupy Wall Street, go to http://occupywallst.org/  and read through this wonderful media production on behalf of the Movement! You'll get a sense of who is supporting #OWS.  It's AMAZING! 


If you are standing on the sidelines, wondering whether you're part of the 99% or not, and haven't yet decided whether to support the Movement or not...if you aren't pulling down a million bucks a year, you're part of the 99%, and you need to stand up and be counted.  Join the 99% and learn what you can do to help in your local community.  The Young Turks have started a push for a Constitutional Convention.  Go here to learn what you can do: 


http://www.youtube.com/theyoungturks 
 
While you're there, click on the video of this man, orginator of Poorman's Nation at www.poormansnation.com
 
 

As for readers of this blog, it's been pretty danged quiet as far as comments here.  If I've scared you, I apologize!  But this is real, folks.  It isn't going away anytime soon.  

Vicki of  (http://www.vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/

Jim of Wayfarin' Stranger (http://cumberlandvistas.blogspot.com/)

and Beth of Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl www.blueridgebluecollargirl.wordpress.com have offered encouragement, but I am wondering what the rest of you are thinking...

Finally, if you really want to know what's going on with #OWS worldwide, click here:
http://paper.li/occupymanhattan/1317517749

Go down to the Media section of the "paper" and skip over to the second video.  It's GREAT!! (Actually, they all are "great" so don't fail to stay awhile and enjoy the great reporting.  The "paper" is published every 12 hours and completely refreshed.  They are doing a fantastic job!  And there are other sources as well, that I hope to share with you this coming week.

Day before yesterday we had a mixed bag of weather, alternating from rain drizzles to golden glory.  We had the first fire in the kitchen stove overnight last night. Supposed to have a whiz-banger of a frost tomorrow night. Gotta get my cabbages into the crock so we can have sauerkraut by the end of November!

Thank you #OWS for all the work you are doing, all the great minds, all the techological expertise, all the talent you bring to this movement and for being there for all of us who cannot be there at OWS# except in spirit and solidarity.  

Have a great weekend.  Hope the Family Sleepover there goes well and that it isn't too cold for the little ones!

And we're having our first meeting tomorrow here at the house, of a group who is interested in starting a community association.

Meanwhile, hope you all have gathered your garden stuff and are ready for the drop in temperatures!

See you Monday! 

Fight the criminals with Basics....starting with We the People...

So....now what?

Those of you who support NPR, might want to take a look at this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/20/1028336/-BREAKING:-Host-of-NPR-Music-Show-Fired-for-Participating-in-OWS-Protest-%7C-Time-to-Occupy-NPR!?via=recent

Constitutional Convention is coming.....it's the only way to fight the criminals.

Sounds Like the Birth of a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

beginning July 4, 2012 and lasting through October 2012.  Have a look:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/18/1027740/-Occupy-Wall-Street-National-Convention?via=recent

Stop the War Machines!

http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/45-minute-film-anti-war-assembly-in-trafalgar-square

and here:

http://stopwar.org.uk/

So, who is funding the teaparty? And just who are those Koch brothers?

..those benevolent funders of "Public" Broadcasting...?  Before our adoring eyes,  they cast a few crumbs from their billions into the air, and down upon us all, and we scrabble like children for the candy under the carriage wheels...

 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/15/1026678/-I-dont-remember-anyone-asking-about-who-funded-the-tea-party?via=recent

 
After you've read the above, it might be time to find out (if you don't already know) who these "Koch brothers" and Koch Industries are.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/koch-industries-report-reveals-secret-sins/story?id=14676652

Have you heard of the Keystone pipeline?  And who is funding Herman Cain in a major way?

Why am I not surprised...?

Lansing Michigan Mayor Supports, Even Welcomes, #OWS

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/16/1026963/-Boldest-US-mayor:-Lansing-Mayor-Virg-Bernero-welcomes-Occupy-Lansing-protesters-to-the-Capitol?via=recent

NYPD Uses Horses As Weapons On #OWS Protesters--Video

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/16/1026956/-Protesters-document-NYPD-horses-ramming-in-Times-Sq-make-this-video-viral?via=recent

What Did the Middle Class "tourist" find when he visited #OWS?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/15/1026845/-Middle-Class-Tourist-Visits-OWS,-Debunks-Myths-(with-photos)?via=siderec

The Future is in Your Hands...fight for it!

You need to see this.  If need be, cut and paste. 


http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/wall-street-occupiers-the-future-is-in-your-hands?utm_source=wkly20111014&utm_medium=yesemail&utm_campaign=titleKorten

Your Tax Dollars At Work

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/15/1026847/-On-the-front-lines-in-Times-Square,-NYPD-in-full-fight-mode?via=siderec

Keith Olbermann Shows The Way

And the best part of this whole diary (linked below) is Keith Olbermann's (August 1st) rant replayed on last night's broadcast.  Don't MISS it!  Aired last evening on Current TV KO's Countdown....it's amazing!  And having KOS on, as well, was a bonus!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/14/1026463/-Occupy-Wall-Street-hype:-The-screams-that-caught-my-eye-today-(Updated-injuries-confirmed)?via=mosthotday

We are the 99%.

You Can Help to Build the Power and the Momentum...

10 Ways to Support the Occupy Movement



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


Document Actions Email Print Feed Share by Sarah van Gelder


posted Oct 14, 2011

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.


2. Start your own occupation.


Use this Meetup site. Or call together friends, members of your faith group, school, or community group. Reach out to people from parts of your community you don’t normally work with. Unexpected alliances keep the movement from getting labeled as partisan or representing only some people.


3. Support those who are occupying.


Most sites need food, warm clothes, blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, communications gear, and money. Many need people to do loads of laundry, to help with medical care, to provide legal support, to serve food, and to spread the word. Some people call in pizza orders from nearby vendors. Support the folks at Liberty Square in New York here, or check in with your local occupiers to see what they need.


As we discover a community of people who are experiencing similar hardship, humiliation turns into compassion for others and for ourselves.

4. Speak out. Get into the debates and the teach-ins.


Many occupation sites have workshops and discussions on critical issues of our time. Get into the discussion. Bring your expertise and reading materials to share. YES! Magazine is offering free copies of the current New Livelihood issue to occupied sites (request them by emailing JobsIssue@yesmagazine.org). Bring the discussions to other groups you are part of. Listen to perspectives you haven’t heard before. This process represents a critical, but under-reported side of the movement: People are shifting from being passive, frustrated observers of politics to active, powerful players. Instead of waiting for our leaders to do the right thing, people from all walks of life are becoming leaders. It makes us unstoppable.
5. Share your story.


Post how you’re part of the 99 percent on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or in print. Through this movement, people are discovering others who are also losing jobs and homes, who are overwhelmed by debt or working a dead-end job. Through this sharing, humiliation turns into compassion and self-respect. And it builds understanding of the sources and the impacts of our crisis: A Wall Street system that funnels wealth to the top 1 percent is leaving the rest of us behind. Community plus insight makes us powerful.
6. Be the media.


Show up with your video recorder, camera phone, or laptop and share the stories of the occupation. You can download a selection of posters donated by graphic designers and spread them around. Highlight the human dimension of the protests. It is harder for critics to disparage a movement when people see the faces of those involved.


7. Name the meaning of this moment.


What will make the world better for the 99 percent? How has the power of the 1 percent gotten in the way of your hopes and dreams? Make a sign, write a blog, update your Facebook page, or speak out on the issue that means the most to you. Include the phrase, “I am the 99 percent.”


8. Insist that public officials treat the occupations with respect.


The eviction of the Liberty Square occupation on Wall Street was averted by massive public resistance from those in the square and from others. Other occupations also need support. The 99 percent don’t have the money, political access, and media empires of the 1 percent; the occupations are one of the few ways we are building power. Ask your local officials to respect people's right to assembly.


What Can Stop the One Percent?


Naomi Klein: There’s only one thing that can block the wish list of the one percent, and it’s a very big thing:


the rest of us.


9. Study and teach nonviolent techniques.


There are many examples of outside provocateurs who spark violent incidents that can discredit nonviolent movements such as this. The corporate media is hungry for violent images. (There’s already been an example of an admitted provocateur from the right-wing "American Spectator" who provoked pepper spraying at the National Air & Space Museum). Learn how to lovingly and firmly interrupt and contain violence, and teach what you know. Here are some resources.
10. Be resilient.


This movement is here for the long term. Some efforts may fade because of cold weather or harsh police responses. Others may self-destruct through faulty process or violent outbreaks. The movement may be idealistic, but it won’t be ideal. Don’t get disillusioned; the demand for a society that serves the 99 percent won’t go away. The movement may morph, but it has become unstoppable. Help it evolve.


The genie is out of the bottle. People will no longer accept the systematic transfer of wealth and power from we the people to the 1 percent. In this remarkable, leaderless movement, each one of the 99 percent who gets involved helps shape history.








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bet You Didn't Know This....

So, Obama's poll numbers are lousy and getting worse fast..  Time for him to start or intervene in still ANOTHER WAR...  probably "defending" resources...oil, etc.  Department of "Defense" (misnomber to be sure), says the troops are only there in an "advisory" capacity...and if you believe that....

Jake Tapper of ABC is the source.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/14/1026415/-Breaking:-US-sends-troops-to-Uganda

Iran again? Come on! Get real, Obama!

I hope none of you is gullible enough to take this mythical Iran-thing the administration is trying to cook up as anything but a red herring. 


It is an intentional diversion and we need to see it for what it is.  Redux.   Go to the website below to see the steps the plutocrats will be taking to try to discount, divide and discredit Occupy Wallstreet and the 99%..  Go to the link, read the words and watch the video.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/14/1026239/-Preparing-for-Panicked-Plutocrats-at-Occupy-Wall-Street-Camps?via=recent

Oh...and BTW, I worked hard to put Obama in office.  I rue the day!

OWS GOES GLOBAL ON SATURDAY, OCT 15

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/wallstreet-global-idUSL5E7LD3VU20111014

BLOOMBERG CANCELLED THE EVICTION ...for now....

BLOOMBERG CALLED OFF THE "CLEANING!!!!!" 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/14/1026165/-LIVE:-NYC-Stands-Down,-Cancels-Cleaning-as-Thousands-Crowd-Zuccotti-March!-%7C-LiveBlog-+-LiveStream?via=siderec

Keep in mind that the "esteemed" mayor of New York DID NOT ALLOW THE PROTESTORS TO HAVE PORTO-POTTIES.   OWS has had a working group within the group--a detail--specifically on sanitation, but the CNY would not work with the protesters.  The eviction was a ploy to once-and-for-all kill the movement. The new rules were going to be as follows:  no sanitation facilities; no tents, no tarps, no equipment of any kind and no lying down.

How is that for "freedom of expression?"

240,000 signed an emergency petition last night (as did I) against eviction by Bloomberg.  There were close to 3,500 in the park last night around 3:00 a.m.  ABC covered it.  The phone lines at Bloomberg's office were totally jammed with people trying to call in from all across the country.  Move-On sponsored the petition.  The unions came out in force to protest the eviction, as well.  There's an eviction in Denver; it may be over by now, don't know...

More coming on my blog as I get cranked up this a.m.  Lots going on today.  Lech Walessa is coming from Poland, today. 

Bring Your Dollars Home...

Read why, here:

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/new-livelihoods/how-state-banks-bring-the-money-homeutm_source=oct11&utm_medium=yesemail&utm_content=subs&utm_campaign=StateBanks

Yes, you can hurt them.  Read this article and realize that your community needs your dollars.  Take action if you have your money in one of the six Too-Big-To-Fail banks:  Wells Fargo, Citi Group, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley.  Bring your dollars "home" to your community and put them to work locally.

American Autumn--Occupy Together

 These will definitely get the cobwebs out of your brain this morning:
(put your headset on and turn the volume down before you commit yourself on the first one!)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/13/1025864/--OccupyWallStreet-We-Will-Evolve-We-Must-Evolve-Expect-Us?via=recent


My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters Hit bankers where it hurts

By Matt Taibbi

October 12, 2011 8:00 I've been down to "Occupy Wall Street" twice now, and I love it. The protests building at Liberty Square and spreading over Lower Manhattan are a great thing, the logical answer to the Tea Party and a long-overdue middle finger to the financial elite. The protesters picked the right target and, through their refusal to disband after just one day, the right tactic, showing the public at large that the movement against Wall Street has stamina, resolve and growing popular appeal.


But... there's a but. And for me this is a deeply personal thing, because this issue of how to combat Wall Street corruption has consumed my life for years now, and it's hard for me not to see where Occupy Wall Street could be better and more dangerous. I'm guessing, for instance, that the banks were secretly thrilled in the early going of the protests, sure they'd won round one of the messaging war.

Why? Because after a decade of unparalleled thievery and corruption, with tens of millions entering the ranks of the hungry thanks to artificially inflated commodity prices, and millions more displaced from their homes by corruption in the mortgage markets, the headline from the first week of protests against the financial-services sector was an old cop macing a quartet of college girls.

 That, to me, speaks volumes about the primary challenge of opposing the 50-headed hydra of Wall Street corruption, which is that it's extremely difficult to explain the crimes of the modern financial elite in a simple visual. The essence of this particular sort of oligarchic power is its complexity and day-to-day invisibility: Its worst crimes, from bribery and insider trading and market manipulation, to backroom dominance of government and the usurping of the regulatory structure from within, simply can't be seen by the public or put on TV. There just isn't going to be an iconic "Running Girl" photo with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup or Bank of America – just 62 million Americans with zero or negative net worth, scratching their heads and wondering where the hell all their money went and why their votes seem to count less and less each and every year.


No matter what, I'll be supporting Occupy Wall Street. And I think the movement's basic strategy – to build numbers and stay in the fight, rather than tying itself to any particular set of principles – makes a lot of sense early on. But the time is rapidly approaching when the movement is going to have to offer concrete solutions to the problems posed by Wall Street. To do that, it will need a short but powerful list of demands. There are thousands one could make, but I'd suggest focusing on five:


1. Break up the monopolies. The so-called "Too Big to Fail" financial companies – now sometimes called by the more accurate term "Systemically Dangerous Institutions" – are a direct threat to national security. They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined. There are about 20 such firms in America, and they need to be dismantled; a good start would be to repeal the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and mandate the separation of insurance companies, investment banks and commercial banks.


2. Pay for your own bailouts. A tax of 0.1 percent on all trades of stocks and bonds and a 0.01 percent tax on all trades of derivatives would generate enough revenue to pay us back for the bailouts, and still have plenty left over to fight the deficits the banks claim to be so worried about. It would also deter the endless chase for instant profits through computerized insider-trading schemes like High Frequency Trading, and force Wall Street to go back to the job it's supposed to be doing, i.e., making sober investments in job-creating businesses and watching them grow.


3. No public money for private lobbying. A company that receives a public bailout should not be allowed to use the taxpayer's own money to lobby against him. You can either suck on the public teat or influence the next presidential race, but you can't do both. Butt out for once and let the people choose the next president and Congress.


4. Tax hedge-fund gamblers. For starters, we need an immediate repeal of the preposterous and indefensible carried-interest tax break, which allows hedge-fund titans like Stevie Cohen and John Paulson to pay taxes of only 15 percent on their billions in gambling income, while ordinary Americans pay twice that for teaching kids and putting out fires. I defy any politician to stand up and defend that loophole during an election year.


5. Change the way bankers get paid. We need new laws preventing Wall Street executives from getting bonuses upfront for deals that might blow up in all of our faces later. It should be: You make a deal today, you get company stock you can redeem two or three years from now. That forces everyone to be invested in his own company's long-term health – no more Joe Cassanos pocketing multimillion-dollar bonuses for destroying the AIGs of the world.


To quote the immortal political philosopher Matt Damon from Rounders, "The key to No Limit poker is to put a man to a decision for all his chips." The only reason the Lloyd Blankfeins and Jamie Dimons of the world survive is that they're never forced, by the media or anyone else, to put all their cards on the table. If Occupy Wall Street can do that – if it can speak to the millions of people the banks have driven into foreclosure and joblessness – it has a chance to build a massive grassroots movement. All it has to do is light a match in the right place, and the overwhelming public support for real reform – not later, but right now – will be there in an instant.


This story is from the October 27, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone.










































 
 

  .

Hearing It Makes It All the More Real....

Here is the OWS Declaration in audio.....

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/12/1025465/-A-Message-to-Wall-Street-SentientMind?via=recent

The Girl Who Silenced the World for Five Minutes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0

This presentation was in April of this year...but it is still powerful, maybe more so today...

Arrogance Compounded

Good Morning, everyone!  Have a look at this video....it will definitely wake you up, if you've been sleeping...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/12/1025488/-Powerful-Vid-Going-Viral-+3,000-views-in-past-hour-middle-of-the-night-I-AM-NOT-MOVING?via=recent

And, just to keep you amused...

Here are eleven facts that you need to know about the nation’s biggest banks:

And by the way, we don't need (in fact don't WANT) big banks.  Your money should be in COMMUNITY banks and credit unions, keeping the money close to home to build our COMMUNITIES.  Move your money if you have it (checking accounts, credit cards, etc.) to a LOCAL BANK!!  We still have the ability to move money...at least for now.  Need to be convinced?  Read on....

– Bank profits are highest since before the recession…: According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., bank profits in the first quarter of this year were “the best for the industry since the $36.8 billion earned in the second quarter of 2007.” JP Morgan Chase is currently pulling in record profits.

 – …even as the banks plan thousands of layoffs: Banks, including Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Credit Suisse, are planning to lay off tens of thousands of workers.


– Banks make nearly one-third of total corporate profits: The financial sector accounts for about 30 percent of total corporate profits, which is actually down from before the financial crisis, when they made closer to 40 percent.






– Since 2008, the biggest banks have gotten bigger: Due to the failure of small competitors and mergers facilitated during the 2008 crisis, the nation’s biggest banks — including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo — are now bigger than they were pre-recession. Pre-crisis, the four biggest banks held 32 percent of total deposits; now they hold nearly 40 percent.






– The four biggest banks issue 50 percent of mortgages and 66 percent of credit cards: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup issue one out of every two mortgages and nearly two out of every three credit cards in America.


– The 10 biggest banks hold 60 percent of bank assets: In the 1980s, the 10 biggest banks controlled 22 percent of total bank assets. Today, they control 60 percent.


– The six biggest banks hold assets equal to 63 percent of the country’s GDP: In 1995, the six biggest banks in the country held assets equal to about 17 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Now their assets equal 63 percent of GDP.


– The five biggest banks hold 95 percent of derivatives: Nearly the entire market in derivatives — the credit instruments that helped blow up some of the nation’s biggest banks as well as mega-insurer AIG — is dominated by just five firms: JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo.

 – Banks cost households nearly $20 trillion in wealth: Almost $20 trillion in wealth was destroyed by the Great Recession, and total family wealth is still down “$12.8 trillion (in 2011 dollars) from June 2007 — its last peak.”


– Big banks don’t lend to small businesses: The New Rules Project notes that the country’s 20 biggest banks “devote only 18 percent of their commercial loan portfolios to small business.”

 – Big banks paid 5,000 bonuses of at least $1 million in 2008: According to the New York Attorney General’s office, “nine of the financial firms that were among the largest recipients of federal bailout money paid about 5,000 of their traders and bankers bonuses of more than $1 million apiece for 2008.”


In the last few decades, regulations on the biggest banks have been systematically eliminated, while those banks engineered more and more ways to both rip off customers and turn ever-more complex trading instruments into ever-higher profits. It makes perfect sense, then, that a movement calling for an economy that works for everyone would center its efforts on an industry that exemplifies the opposite.

Comment on Comments

And...Blogger still isn't fixed..

       
Thank you for the Thumbs Up, Wayfarin' Jim!  You, too, Vicki!  Other than both your comments, it's pretty quiet here on the front line, out here JOTOLR. 

Wish we had a little more feedback just to see what everyone's thinking...or not! I spent a good two hours today reading and absorbing the topic, "Organizing by Consensus," and studying the way the General Assemblies function at OWS.  My oh, oh my....what a difference collective thinking would make in the way we govern (are "governed"...and I use that word as a surrogate only, for other words such as "controlled" and "marginalized" and "discounted." 

Beacons in the Fog...

This is an image I captured in 2009.  It was a little later in the year...long about November.  Every year, I keep thinking "it's over" when, indeed, the color is only beginning.  That's what it feels like today with the protests...it's quiet, but that doesn't mean things aren't brewing.  Last night's arrests in Boston at the Veterans for Peace demonstration, give voice to the fact that this Movement, this activism, is not a passing meteor shower.  We must stay tuned for further developments...

And on that note, here are some ways to do that:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/02/1022051/-Occupy-Wall-Street-Mothership-The-Time-Has-Come-to-Organize?via=siderec
 
This link gives a broad overview to events as they have unfolded and are unfolding.
 
The Occupy Wall Street Press at http://paper.li/occupymanhattan/1317517749
is updated every 12 hours and they have reporters on the street gathering stories.

Sleeping bags are needed at the New York OWS.  They've put out repeated requests for sleeping bags, but have received few.  If you've got bags you can donate, it will help greatly.  New ones, too, if you're inclined.  If you know where OWS could purchase some at wholesale prices, let them now.   Send any bags to:

UPS Store
118a Fulton Street #205
New York, New York 10038
Attn:  Occupy Wall Street

 Here is an interesting link.  If you haven't heard of Jacque Fresco, have a look at this YouTube video which was in the Occupy Wall Street Press yesterday, reposted from an earlier conversation with the Russia Today host last February, I believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlgzTlAvOo
 
Occupy Wall Street is a good group, too, making efforts to reveal another "face" of the protests.  Have a look at their website at: 
 
http://occupywallst.org/

Same can be said for Occupy Together at http://www.occupytogether.org/
 
It's mid-week, and some DO have jobs, or classes, to tend and attend...it's looking like the protesters are staging a marching tour of Billionnaire homes in downtown Manhattan sometime in the next little while; also looks as though various groups are working to go global with global-wide protest on October 15th. (Check out the Spanish protests on the You Tube video on Occupy Wall Street Press.  All plans are in the developing stages. To keep track, tap into any of the above websites I've listed.  Disregard the MSM.  Not worth reading.  Keith Olbermann, Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman (Democracy Now) are the places to be...in that vein, check out this video from Amy's program last night:

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/10/occupy_wall_street_emerges_as_first

A New Day is Dawning and We are the Red Ink...

Sunrise this morning was spectacular.  Against a backdrop of certainty, it flowered into full bloom.  It's the dawn of a new day...

 There's a plate of 12 cookies sitting on a table. The rich take 11 cookies leaving only 1 cookie left on the plate. They then turn to the Tea Party and say ‘Those unions are trying to take your cookie.'

We are the 99%.

From Slavoj Zizek, Philosopher, Educator
 To see the entire presentation, go to:  http://occupywallst.org.





"Let me tell you a wonderful old joke from communist times." he said.
"A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia. He knew his mail would be read by censors. So he told his friends: Let’s establish a code. If the letter you get from me is written in blue ink ,it is true what I said. If it is written in red ink, it is false. After a month his friends get a first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theaters show good films from the West. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.
This is how we live. We have all the freedoms we want. But what we are missing is red ink. The language to articulate our non-freedom. The way we are taught to speak about freedom, war and terrorism and so on, falsifies freedom. And this is what you are doing here: You are giving all of us red ink.

We are the 99%.

And this is just the beginning...

Fall is arriving gradually, almost painfully emerging from the torpor of this past summer.  The trees have seemed bowed, awaiting the long winter's nap, and a good rest.  After this past week of exciting developments across the entire world, begun by #OccupyWallStreet, I feel a bit like resting, too.  But we need to push on...

Here's a saying I found this morning in a stack of index cards--(in my own handwriting, but haven't the foggiest recollection of where or when I wrote it) as I was neatening the supplies closet:

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

And there are plenty of vultures waiting to "co-opt" and then consume this burgeoning OCCUPATION.  We must stand strong, united, and peaceful.  Characterizing the 99% as a "dangerous mob" -- Ann Coulter and Eric Cantor--shows you where the 1% is coming from.  I was appalled to see one of the photographs yesterday that showed a third story series of windows, to which the "occupiers inside" had cleverly penned, "We ARE the 1%"

Yes, this Americn Autumn is only the beginning...we have a long way to go.  "And miles to go before I sleep..."

Have a good weekend, dear readers. I hope I have helped elucidate the issues and the struggles and made you a bit more comfortable with the ideas espoused, and a bit less comfortable with personal inaction.  Join us.  We (and you) are the 99%.

See you Monday!

Well....It's Been Quite a Week...!

So....what do "they" want?

 As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members. That our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors. That a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people, and the Earth, and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.



We come to you at a time when corporations — which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality — run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here as is our right to let these facts be known.


They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.


They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses.


They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in workplaces based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.


They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.


They have profited off the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.


They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is, itself, a human right.


They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut worker’s health care and pay.


They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people with none of the culpability or responsibility.


They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams, but look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.


They have sold our privacy as a commodity.


They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products, endangering lives in pursuit of profit.


They determine economic policy despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.


They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.


They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.


They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives, or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.


They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.


They purposefully kept people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.


They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners, even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.


They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.


They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.


They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.


To the people of the world,


We, the New York City general assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.


Exercise your right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.


To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.


Join us and make your voices heard.”



The statement issued from Zuccotti Park by the general assembly at Occupy Wall Street

And, just in case you think the occupations and marches are comprised of left-over hippies, and unwashed masses of children...think again...and have a look:

http://front.moveon.org/the-big-secret-about-who-is-actually-marching-on-wall-street/?id=31810-19878551-LLkZHCx

Follow Naomi Klein Where She Leads..

Naomi Klein is a true heroine.  Check out her piece in The Nation yesterday:

http://www.thenation.com/article/163844/occupy-wall-street-most-important-thing-world-now

And here is the Mothership at Kos so you can track on-going activities.  Remember:  this is an OCCUPATION which is a lot different than a single MARCH.  A "march" is over and done with at the end of the day; an OCCUPATION continues...and will over the coming weeks.

Be sure to check out Portland, OR's OCCUPATION!!! (The Mothership at Kos has a link to the Portland story..(Portland's website seems to be down at the moment).  Their mayor is wonderful!  This contrasts markedly with the San Francisco Occupy yesterday where Police made the marchers clear out ALL their belongings from their occupation site whereupon the Police took it all.

Occupy DC

Check out the list of things marchers are encouraged to bring!


Items to bring:




•Your finest finery: suits, dresses


•Champagne or wine bottles


•Glasses *clink*


•Wall street journals, financial times


•Pearls (touch the pearls, wave)


•Hats, like bowlers or top hats


•Pocket squares


•Slickee hair product


•A briefcase or folder for flyers would be great


and lookee here who will also be all tricked out and attending:

At the March to the Washington Ideas Forum, institutional elite will discuss the direction and focus of the United States moving forward in the 21st century. It will be attended by and seek the advice of those members of the 1% and their political allies whose policies and agendas have corrupted our financial and political system.



Media confirmed attendees include:


Vice President Joe Biden; Former Vice President Dick Cheney and daughter Liz Cheney; Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH); White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Treasury Secretary Geithner; Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett; Former Nixon Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; Bryan Moynihan President and CEO of Bank of America; Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf; Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL); Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI); Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; Google’s Eric Schmidt; Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson; The Presidents and CEO’s of the Corporate News Media; among others.


We have also got word from WAMU that they will be there and probably a lot of other media too...

Go to:
                        occupydc.org