Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is availableThu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozenTue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership?Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open ThreadMon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader 2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War IIIMon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by
?Grocery Tax? to Hike Britons? Shopping Bills by ?56 in Labour Net Zero ?Inflation Boost?Sun Dec 22, 2024 15:00 | Richard Eldred Labour's "grocery tax" is set to punish British families, slapping an extra ?56 onto their shopping bills and driving up inflation, all in the name of Net Zero.
The post ?Grocery Tax? to Hike Britons? Shopping Bills by ?56 in Labour Net Zero ?Inflation Boost? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Furious German Protesters Demand Mass Deportations Following Christmas Market Attack by Saudi Doctor...Sun Dec 22, 2024 13:00 | Richard Eldred Over 1,000 Right-wing protesters have flooded Magdeburg, demanding mass deportations after a Saudi psychiatrist allegedly killed five people and injured over 200 in a Christmas market attack.
The post Furious German Protesters Demand Mass Deportations Following Christmas Market Attack by Saudi Doctor, Leaving Five Dead Including a Nine Year-Old Boy appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
NHS Faces High Court Legal Fight Over Cross-Sex Hormones Prescribed to BoySun Dec 22, 2024 11:00 | Richard Eldred A Brighton father is suing the NHS in a High Court showdown, claiming a GP's prescription of cross-sex hormones to his 16 year-old son defied Cass Review guidance and broke the rules.
The post NHS Faces High Court Legal Fight Over Cross-Sex Hormones Prescribed to Boy appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Can a Vegan Really Save MasterChef?Sun Dec 22, 2024 09:00 | Jack Watson The BBC has announced that Greg Wallace's replacement in Celebrity MasterChef will be Grace Dent. But how can a vegan judge a cooking competition that includes meat dishes? asks Jack Watson.
The post Can a Vegan Really Save MasterChef? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Is it Ever Legitimate to Compare a Pride Flag to a Swastika?Sun Dec 22, 2024 07:00 | Steven Tucker Is it ever legitimate to compare a Pride flag to a swastika? Usually it's exaggeration, says Steven Tucker, but the Canadian human rights tribunal that fined a town for not flying the flag is doing its best to change that.
The post Is it Ever Legitimate to Compare a Pride Flag to a Swastika? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
This is the US Fall responding to the Arab Spring : 700+ arrested this morning on Brooklyn Bridge
#OccupyWallStreet #OccupyDameStreet
NEW YORK TIMES: Updated, 3:35 a.m. Sunday | In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested more than 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon. (After a 2 week corporate media blackout, #occupywallstreet direct action is now front page news)
Cornell West speaking at the peoples assembly at #occupywallstreet day 11:
"There is a sweet spirit in this place. I hope you can feel the love and inspiration, of those sly stone called "everyday people" who take a stand with great courage and compassion because we oppose the greed of Wall street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats who squeeze the democratic juices out of this country and other places around the world. I am so blessed to be here, you got me spiritually breakdancing on the way here, cuz when you bring folk together, all colours, all cultures, all genders, all sexual orientation, the elite will tremble in their boots. And we will send a message that this is the US FALL responding to the Arab Spring, it is going to hit Chicago, Los Angelas, Phoenix Arizona, and A town itself, moving on to detroit, its gonna hit apalacha, hit the reservations with our red brothers and sisters, martin luther king will smile in the grave, saying were moving step by step to what he called a revolution, dont be afraid to say REVOLUTION. We wanna transfer of power from the oligarchs, to ordinary citizens, with the poor children of all colours, and the orphans and the widows, and the elderly, and the working folk, if we connect the prison industrial complex with the military industrial complex and the wall street oligarchy complex and the corporate media multiplex. I want to thank you, its a blessing to be a small part of this magnificant gathering, this is the general assembly consecrated by your witness and your body and your mind.
Oscar-winning filmmaker, best-selling author,and provocateur laureate Michael Moore, who visited the Occupied zone on Monday night:
"This is literally an uprising of people who have had it. It has already started to spread across the country in other cities. It will continue to spread. ... It will be tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people ... Their work ahead is not as difficult as other movements in the past ... The majority of Americans are really upset at Wall Street ... So you have already got an army of Americans who are just waiting for somebody to do something, and something has started."
Arun Gupta: The Revolution Begins at Home, An Open Letter to Join the Wall Street Occupation:
What is occurring on Wall Street right now is truly remarkable. For over 10 days, in the sanctum of the great cathedral of global capitalism, the dispossessed have liberated territory from the financial overlords and their police army.
They have created a unique opportunity to shift the tides of history in the tradition of other great peaceful occupations from the sit-down strikes of the 1930s to the lunch-counter sit-ins of the 1960s to the democratic uprisings across the Arab world and Europe today.
While the Wall Street occupation is growing, it needs an all-out commitment from everyone who cheered the Egyptians in Tahrir Square, said “We are all Wisconsin,” and stood in solidarity with the Greeks and Spaniards. This is a movement for anyone who lacks a job, housing or healthcare, or thinks they have no future.
Princeton University professor Cornell West was speaking at #occupywallstreet day 11 peoples assembly. In the video, the load shouting method, repeating the speakers words clearly, is used becuase 2000 people had to listen and the NYPD forbid the use of loudhalers, soundsystems etc... Being interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now after spending time in the occupation, Cornell West stated:
"You’re talking about raising political consciousness so it spills over all parts of the country, so people can begin to see what’s going on through a set of different lens, and then you begin to highlight what the more detailed demands would be. Because in the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution: A transfer of power from oligarchs to everyday people of all colors. And that is a step by step process. In the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution; a transfer of power from oligarchs to every day people of all colors, and that is a step-by-step process. It’s a democratic process, it’s a non-violent process, but it is a revolution, because these oligarchs have been transferring wealth from poor and working people at a very intense rate in the last 30 years, and getting away with it, and then still smiling in our faces and telling us it’s our fault. That’s a lie, and this beautiful group is a testimony to that being a lie. When you get the makings of a U.S. autumn responding to the Arab Spring, and is growing and growing—-I hope it spills over to San Francisco and Chicago and Miami and Phoenix, Arizona, with our brown brothers and sisters, hits our poor white brothers and sisters in Appalachia—-so. it begins to coalesce. And I tell you, it is sublime to see all the different colors, all the different genders, all the different sexual orientations and different cultures, all together here in Liberty Plaza; there’s no doubt about it.
So from the revolts in North Africa, what has been called the "Arab Spring", what jumped across the straights of Gibralter and spread throughout spain; the peaceful revolution dubbed the "15M" (May 15th was the first day of action)... Thankfully and finally Indignation has spread to the US... Good luck to all there, hopefully we will see this massive spark jump to all those places which are still not indignant and on the streets making change... Like Ireland
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET The American Revolution is underway
People of the US have Risen Up
Cornell West: you got me spiritually breakdancing, dont be afraid to say REVOLUTION
700+ arrested this morning on Brooklyn Bridge
Occupy the Streets
Caption: Video Id: H31XN8zgXlI Type: Youtube Video Cornell West speaking at the peoples assembly at #occupywallstreet day 11
Caption: Video Id: ln1QILrnFzQ Type: Youtube Video Michael Moore
Caption: Video Id: yULSI-31Pto Type: Youtube Video Police Arrest More Than 700 #occupywallstreet Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge (We are Change)
A revolution is coming: a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough, compassionate if we care enough, successful if we are fortunate enough - but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect it's character, we cannot alter it's inevitability"
For those who might not be aware of it, Bunreacht na hEireann (the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland) -- i.e. the highest law of the land -- has an exceptionally useful clause (Article 6.1 that is) which is very conducive to peaceful revolution of the kind suggested in this commentary.
"The 'final' say relating to the 'common good' in the Republic of Ireland is very firmly and very clearly ANCHORED in 'the people', as stated in Article 6.1 of our Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann)."
With this month's Republic of Ireland presidential election in mind, much associated campaigning anticipated in the coming three weeks or so, and the fact that our President is the "Principal Guardian" of our Constitution, the excerpt just above has been copied from an e-mail sent earlier today to a selected group of politicians, journalists, and lawyers in the Republic of Ireland.
An excerpt from Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, delivered just before his assination, on the role of and need for REVOLUTION in the United States. (In April 4, 1967 appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered the speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" )
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with righteous indignation. It will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay a hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.
Excerpt from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Commencement Address for Oberlin College, June 1965, Oberlin Ohio
There are all too many people who, in some great period of social change, fail to achieve the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution. There can be no gainsaying of the fact that a great revolution is taking place in our world today. It is a social revolution, sweeping away the old order of colonialism. And in our own nation it is sweeping away the old order of slavery and racial segregation. The wind of change is blowing, and we see in our day and our age a significant development. Victor Hugo said on one occasion that there is nothing more powerful in all the world than an idea whose time has come. In a real sense, the idea whose time has come today is the idea of freedom and human dignity. Wherever men are assembled today, the cry is always the same, "We want to be free." And so we see in our own world a revolution of rising expectations. The great challenge facing every individual graduating today is to remain awake through this social revolution.
"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET: A Modest Call to Action on this September 17th
This statement is ours, and for anyone who will get behind it. Representing ourselves (not the movement as a whole), we bring this call for revolution.
We want freedom for all, without regards for identity, because we are all people, and because no other reason should be needed. However, this freedom has been largely taken from the people, and slowly made to trickle down, whenever we get angry.
We need to retake the freedom that has been stolen from the people, altogether.
1- If you agree that freedom is the right to communicate, to live, to be, to go, to love, to do what you will without the impositions of others, then you might be one of us.
2 - If you agree that a person is entitled to the sweat of their brows, that being talented at management should not entitle others to act like overseers and overlords, that all workers should have the right to engage in decisions, democratically, then you might be one of us.
3 - If you agree that freedom for some is not the same as freedom for all, and that freedom for all is the only true freedom, then you might be one of us.
4 - If you agree that power is not right, that life trumps property, then you might be one of us.
5 - If you agree that state and corporation are merely two sides of the same oppressive power structure, if you realize how the media distorts things to preserve it, how it pits the people against the people to remain in power, then you might be one of us.
And so we call on people to act:
1 - We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.
2 - We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.
3 - We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.
4 - We call for the organization of people’s assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.
5 - We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.
We call for a revolution of the mind as well as the body politic.
Who are we? Well, who are you? If you’re reading this, there’s a 99 percent chance that you’re one of us.
You’re someone who doesn’t know whether there’s going to be enough money to make this month’s rent. You’re someone who gets sick and toughs it out because you’ll never afford the hospital bills. You’re someone who’s trying to move a mountain of debt that never seems to get any smaller no matter how hard you try. You do all the things you’re supposed to do. You buy store brands. You get a second job. You take classes to improve your skills. But it’s not enough. It’s never enough. The anxiety, the frustration, the powerlessness is still there, hovering like a storm crow. Every month you make it is a victory, but a Pyrrhic one — once you’re over the hump, all you can do is think about the next one and how much harder it’s all going to be.
They say it’s because you’re lazy. They say it’s because you make poor choices. They say it’s because you’re spoiled. If you’d only apply yourself a little more, worked a little harder, planned a little better, things would go well for you. Why do you need more help? Haven’t they helped you enough? They say you have no one to blame but yourself. They say it’s all your fault.
They are the 1 percent. They are the banks, the mortgage industry, the insurance industry. They are the important ones. They need help and get bailed out and are praised as job creators. We need help and get nothing and are called entitled. We live in a society made for them, not for us. It’s their world, not ours. If we’re lucky, they’ll let us work in it so long as we don’t question the extent of their charity.
We are the 99 percent. We are everyone else. And we will no longer be silent. It’s time the 1 percent got to know us a little better. On Sept. 17, 2011, the 99 percent will converge on Wall Street to let the 1 percent know just how frustrated they are with living in a world made for someone else. Let us know why you’ll be there. Let us know how you are the 99 percent.
WOW... this is a truly truly important moment we are going through... It really feels like WE ARE WINNING, communication is playing a massive role in this, the spreading of ideas, face to face, in the streets, in the occupied squares, in workshops, on the net, on radio, on live streams, on tweets, on FB pages, emails... Only a few minutes ago I opened a mail from an eco activist list, with a post to a link, which had summary of COOL SHIT, number 2 on that list after the adbusters call to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET was link to GLOBALREVOLUTION.TV, which im watching the live stream from presently. Now an ANONYMOUS masked up activist is talking about the Global Day of revolution which will be happening in 13 days... next saturday; OCTOBER 15, maybe this will be the day they talk about in years to come, that simple, beautiful, peaceful day when it all changed.
For me, being 1 of the many many indignados of my town, Barcelona, in the occupied square Placa Catalunya, with many thousands more, sitting there and watching the screen, watching live as we all waved and roared hello or hola to our sisters and brothers in the occupied Syntagma square outside the Parliament in Athens, Greece, and them roaring and waving back... That will be a memory i will always cherish, its simple, we could have been doing it for years, but we havent, BUT, now we are using it... from P2P to S2S, from Peer to Peer (Initial streaming experiments, person to person, or device to device) to Square to Square... These are our WMD's... We all know the lies sprung to rape and rob Iraq, but come and get us now "We have WMD's... Weapons of Mass D.I.F.F.U.S.I.O.N....
WE ARE WINNING...
GLOBALREVOLUTION.TV
Global Revolution brings you live stream video coverage from independent journalists on the ground at nonviolent protests around the world. The team includes members of Mobile Broadcast News, Glassbead Collective, Twin Cities Indymedia and the alt.media ninjas that brought you Terrorizing Dissent and Democracy 101 documentaries. Currently broadcasting from #OccupyWallStreet protests in NYC that began on Saturday, Sept 17, 2011.
live feed from wall street of the OCCUPIED WALL STREET JOURNAL and articles being explained... THIS IS JUST SO FUCKING COOL, AND IMPORTANT... I THINK MLK IS SMILING NOW SEEING ALL THIS UNFOLD...
The journal has been talked about by the new york times: Occupying, and Now Publishing, Too http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/occupying-...-too/
"The downtown protesters' free newspaper made its debut Saturday with a press run of 50,000. The Occupied Wall Street Journal will not be mistaken for its near-namesake. "
On October 15th people from all over the world will take to the streets and squares. From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest.
The ruling powers work for the benefit of just a few, ignoring the will of the vast majority and the human and environmental price we all have to pay. This intolerable situation must end.
United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future.
We are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers who do not represent us.
On October 15th, we will meet on the streets to initiate the global change we want. We will peacefully demonstrate, talk and organize until we make it happen.
It’s time for us to unite. It’s time for them to listen.
People of the world, rise up on October 15th!
related:
The route the COOL SHIT took from somewhere to me...
Now, they have their own newspaper. It debuted on Saturday with a print run of 50,000, after two independent journalists in New York started a campaign using the online fund-raising platform Kickstarter.
“This movement has sometimes been misrepresented,” said Arun Gupta, 46, one of the two primary organizers of the project. “This paper is for the general public to let them know what is going on here.”
The four-page broadsheet includes a story by Mr. Gupta headlined “The Revolution Begins at Home,” an essay by the former New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges urging people to participate in the protests, and a “Declaration of the Occupation” approved at a meeting of protesters on Sept. 29.
“There are no excuses left,” Mr. Hedges writes in a piece reprinted from the site Truthdig, where has a regular column.
Either you obstruct, in the only form left to us, which is civil disobedience, the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy. Either you are a rebel or a slave.
OUR MISSION
Occupy Together exists solely to help organize, publicize, and support the growing number of communities that are showing support for the Occupy Wall St. movement. We don’t have any other agenda outside of this. We stand by the developing mission of Occupy Wall St., but we are not representatives for Occupy Wall St.
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
As we watched the continuing marches on Wall St. over the internet and many across the nation reacting to the movement, we decided to set up a website and social media networks to provide a hub for those organizing in various states across the country. Many of us cannot be there with our brothers and sisters in NYC and, like us, wanted to do something. Occupy Together was our way of participating in these events, in spirit and solidarity, in order to support those organizing and demonstrating in various cities and states across America.
Sunday October 2nd thousands of people marched (betwen 35000 said by the police and 130000 by organizers) to make oposition to the cuts that are taking place and also to share the belief that a better world is possible.
Around 1pm Albert Square has been occupied by the protestors, there was a bit of tension because the police tried to arrest people but there was too mucho people to proceed that way, so a thousand people rested to create an assembly just to speak and share opinions. There was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.
By 2pm, there was a heavy rain even though assembly continued. It was really amazing to live the first day of occupation in a country where that has never been done.
Today a basic camp is proudly erected in the square. The seed for the #ukrevolution that is coming.
One thing is for sure, this was just the beginning, but nobody is going to give up, as it happens in Puerta del Sol, we are fighting for a globalrevolution.
Solidarity exemplifies itself on Wall Street today with unification of the 99% marching to NYPD head quarters. All creeds, races, colors, sexes, parties, and faiths marched together today to demonstrate their Constitutional right to express their opinions and to make themselves known to the powers that be. They are the 99%
A wave of public discontent in the U.S. shows no sign of abating, following Saturday's protest, where hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were arrested, sparking accusations of heavy-handed policing. Defiant anti-Wall street activists refuse to back down, saying more marches against corporate greed and social inequality are in the pipeline. Both the crackdown on Wall street and the way existing financial institutions are run, show that 'U.S. democracy' is just an empty phrase - that's according to UK-based investigative journalist Tony Gosling.
Police in New York have violently dispersed an anti-Wall Street rally, arresting more than seven hundred people after a dramatic showdown on Brooklyn bridge. Thousands joined the movement dubbed 'Occupy Wall street' - in protest against what they call corporate domination. Radio host and author Stephen Lendman says the ever expanding protest shows awareness is growing among Americans that the country is run by people they never elected.
As morning commuters head down Atlantic Avenue to their jobs in the Financial District today, they’ll be hard-pressed not to notice what’s going on at the Summer Street intersection, kitty-corner from South Station. A tent city popped up in Dewey Square over the weekend, and its residents are making their voices heard -- they’re ready to stay until someone listens.
“I have a feeling [the people who work in the area] won’t be too excited [to see us],” said Ryan Cahill, 26. “I’m sure they’ll want to marginalize us as much as possible.”
Occupy Boston, one of over 100 occupations that emulates and stands in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, settled into the square at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
“We are raising awareness about the discontent with the American corporate and political systems. We’re inspiring conversation, discussion and debate around topics like corruption, financial inequality, and political immorality,”
“We need to stop the media blackout. They won’t be able to say they don’t know about us,” an Occupy Boston member told the crowd of about 360 people at a meeting last night where the loosely organized group was camped near the Federal Reserve.
“We want to show people what a real democracy looks like,” said Jason Potteiger, 25, of Boston. “When 1 percent of the people have 50 percent of the wealth and then use that wealth to undermine the democratic process, that’s why we’re here.”
In Boston, an estimated 3,000 people took part in a protest outside Bank of America’s downtown offices Friday, where 24 were arrested for trespassing.
Enormous anti-austerity rallies shake crisis-stricken Portugal, with organizers estimating an attendance of at least 130,000 in Lisbon and 50,000 in Porto.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Portugal Saturday against the government’s austerity measures, protest organisers said, amid projections that the economic situation was far worse than expected.
*****
Latest DEMOCRACY NOW feature on the unfolding AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
THE “OCCUPY Wall Street” movement may have reached a turning point with the arrest of more than 700 demonstrators on Brooklyn Bridge on October 1st.
As they continue into a third week, the protests, which were initially ignored by mainstream US media, are making newspaper and television headlines.
In a seeming throwback to 1968, the protests appear to be spreading across the US and overseas. Folk guitar-playing, hippie-style clothing and communal living add to the impression of historical deja-vu.
The encampment at Zuccotti park in lower Manhattan yesterday displayed a map of the US showing 21 cities where protests have been organised, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
The protest began 17 days ago when a few dozen protesters, from several organisations and none, moved in to camp in Manhattan’s financial district’s Zuccotti Park where they have established an open-air community with its own newspaper – the Occupied Wall Street Journal – and a makeshift hospital. They survive on donated food, huddle against the cold in sleeping bags and under plastic sheets, and keep their laptops and lively social media campaign running by means of a portable gas-powered generator.
Consciously modelling themselves on the leaderless protesters of Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the “indignados” of Madrid and Athens, they have slowly garnered support around the country. There have been spin-off marches and occupations bubbling up in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington.
And the class war between rich and poor that the groups diagnose as raging in recession-hit America is a fact of life. As billionaire Warren Buffett told a radio interviewer the other day, “My class isn’t just winning, I mean we’re killing them.”
The anti-Wall Street protest in New York has now produced copycat movements across the US.
In Los Angeles along with other cities such as Chicago and San Francisco smaller scale protests have been staged all pointing a finger of blame for the recession on capitalist greed.
As this all grows, Ive hunted for an excellent article from the early days of the #SPANISHREVOLUTION to explain how passers by came to check out the freakshow but how quickly got what was going on and joined in, how the numbers just grew and grew and grew...
Inside this mini-city, there were committees in sitting everywhere... A huge, hand-drawn map of the whole camp had been stuck to the side of newspaper kiosks directing people to each area... The walkways of this tented city were not only to allow free movement of the people living on the camp, but to allow the free movement of the other essential ingredients in all of this political play in the centre of Madrid: the tourist and the passer-by... More than this, it is the heart of Madrid, and, geographically at least, the heart of Spain... But on Thursday night, because of the shrewd planning of the camp protesters, the tourists and the passers-by were no longer transfixed by the juggler or the artists imitating statues. Rather, they were mingling through the camp, transfixed by the sheer number of meetings: they could see people in meetings everywhere, talking, debating, taking votes and recording the details. If this on its own was not enough of a rarefied sight, then the fact that every committee meeting was surrounded by the tourists and the locals, all watching with keen interest what was happening, brought an air of surreality to it all. In 20 years of attending protests and demonstrations, meetings and conferences, I have never seen such engagement, from both those involved, but even more fascinatingly, from those passing-by...
the number of people sitting down increased rapidly, as the passers-by realised that this was something different, enthralling, and stayed on to watch the meeting unfold. But more than this, as the offices and workplaces of Madrid started to empty, the crowed surrounding the meeting grew even more rapidly. And here, an incredible transformation took place. First, people returning from their day’s work stopped, and stared, incredulous at what they were seeing. They were completely confused with the consensual forms of group agreement that is employed in the camp – the non-aggressive, two-handed wave in the air that replaces applause at meetings like this. Everywhere you could see people turning to their partners and friends – ‘qué pasa con eso’? What on earth does this mean?
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%).
2) Investigate Wall Street and Hold Senior Executives Accountable for the Destruction in Wealth that has Devastated Millions of People.
3) Return the Power of Coining Money to the U.S. Treasury and Return to Sound Money
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
5) Eliminate “Personhood” Legal Status for Corporations
6) Repeal the Patriot Act, End the War on Drugs and Protect Civil Liberties
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
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!
And in case you feel like the REVOLUTION hasnt reached you yet, the great people at TAKE THE SQUARE have given a clear "how to" guide in going about that:
There are a couple key principles you’ll also want to observe to make the camp successful.
- No Violence
- Follow the Law
- Social Media for Distribution, not Discussion
- Be Anonymous: No Leaders, No Heirarchy
- Welcome Everyone, Listen to Everyone
The AMERICAN REVOLUTION is spreading
AMERICAN REVOLUTION has gone global and still growing...
OCCUPY TOGETHER, interesting image to see the growth of US OCCUPY sites
How the initial days of the #SPANISHREVOLUTION were supported around the planet (637 nodes)
Are we having another '68 moment? hope so, seems that way
worries me the way a lot of people are comparing this to the 1968 events. A few years ago on the 40th anniversary there was a lot of self-satisfied waxing lyrical from middle-aged people about the revolutions that supposedly happened in that year, but what major changes actually resulted from them? None, as far as I can tell; if anything it was a year in which the forces of reaction gained the upper hand-Nixon elected, the Prague spring suppressed by Soviet army, Martin Luther King assasinated, etc. and yet, to hear them talking you'd think some kind of profound positive change had occurred in that year.
The reason for this seems to be largely people going around talking up the significance of people going out marching in the streets with banners and stuff, hoping that if they repeat the fact that the revolution is here often enough, somehow a revolution will magically come about. Sadly this is not the case. Getting together in large numbers, having a bit of a shout and playing your drums...it's all cathartic and liberating and all, but it is never going to change anything unfortunately.
On Thursday October 6th we will see how the AMERICAN REVOLUTION goes, as forces come to the political heart, Washington DC. Will we see a Tahrir like CAMP CITY outside the White House???
October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.
We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening.
The October2011 Movement is planning an occupation and nonviolent resistance actions in Washington, DC starting on October 6, 2011. This date marks the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the first week of the new federal budget which provides unlimited funding for war, tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for human services.
Thousands of people have pledged to gather in Freedom Plaza beginning on that day to nonviolently disrupt the disloyal, incompetent, and corrupt special interests which have usurped our nation’s civil and military power, spawning a host of threats to our liberty, lives and national security...
A loose-knit populist campaign that started on Wall Street three weeks ago has spread to dozens of cities across the country, with protesters camped out in Los Angeles near City Hall, assembled before the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago and marching through downtown Boston to rally against corporate greed, unemployment and the role of financial institutions in the economic crisis.
With little organization and a reliance on Facebook, Twitter and Google groups to share methods, the Occupy Wall Street campaign, as the prototype in New York is called, has clearly tapped into a deep vein of anger, experts in social movements said, bringing longtime crusaders against globalization and professional anarchists together with younger people frustrated by poor job prospects.
In the nation’s capital, an Occupy D.C. movement began on Saturday, with plans to join forces on Thursday with a similar anticorporate and antiwar group, October 2011, for an encampment in a park near the White House.
Javier Rodriguez, 24, a former student at Pasadena City College, held a sign that read “Down with the World Bank” in Spanish, and said he was anti-capitalist.
CHICAGO | At protests Monday near the Federal Reserve Bank and the Chicago Board of Trade, demonstrators spoke out against corporate greed and social inequality.
BOSTON | Commuters walked past demonstrators at the Occupy Boston village in the Financial District. Rallies are planned in other cities including Minneapolis, Baltimore and McAllen, Tex.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is thundering across America, threatening to morph into a full fledged national movement. Channeling the nonviolence of the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the bottom-up collective decision making of the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy.
Antother great informative vid from RT, interviewsing Don Debar in support of Occupy Wall Street via Occupy Europe: Occupy Everything: 'US protests have explosive potential' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQW0hHa1WP4
Just in case anyone missed the live vid stream from Wall Street, heres a few vids to give the feel of it and some lads screen shot... Whats important here is that the mainstream media can be completely bypassed, as is happening, as more and more people loose faith in their ability to "Tell the truth"...
To watch, just click the play button on the image embedded in this feature, top green box, or else go straight here http://globalrevolution.tv/
* CLEAR LIST OF DEMANDS FOR CONGRESS when we engage in direct action at the Capitol complex (feel free to add or edit) *
1 - INVESTIGATE, ARREST AND TRY THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS
2 - CONGRESS ENACT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY BY REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION
3 - ACTION ON GLASS-STEAGALL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_Act --- Wiki entry summary:
4 - CONGRESS PASS THE BUFFETT RULE ON FAIR TAXATION SO THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE & CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOP HOLES INCLUDING PROHIBITION ON HIDING FUNDS OFF SHORE.
5 - CONGRESS COMPLETELY REVAMP THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND STAFF IT AT HIGHEST AND LOWEST LEVELS WITH PROFESSIONALS WHO GET THE JOB DONE PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF THE MARKET THEREBY PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND INVESTORS.
6 - RE-ESTABLISH THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES IN THE U.S. SO THAT POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME FOR FREE AT REASONABLE INTERVALS IN DAILY PROGRAMMING DURING CAMPAIGN SEASON.
7 - CONGRESS ENACT SPECIFIC LAWS THAT EFFECTIVELY BUILD A WALL BETWEEN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND THE U.S. MILITARY.
finishes off with 2 links:
Please keep one thing in mind. This is from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.
The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation."
That similar protests have never caught on in Ireland is notable. In November 2010, between 50,000 and 100,000 people marched against the final budget of the Fianna Fáil/Greens coalition. Since then, there have been fractured protests by groups opposed to job losses, public sector cuts and education fees but nothing on the scale of what has been seen in New York.
There is an atmosphere of relative apathy towards mass mobilisation in Ireland and the lack of media coverage of the events in New York is unlikely to encourage any similar movements here.
While crowds of thousands of people from a variety of backgrounds and creeds come together in the US, Greece, Spain and even in our nearest neighbour, there has not been a similar outpouring of protest at austerity measures in this country.
With the budget looming and a new wave of spending cuts expected, the atmosphere might soon be rife for a similar outpouring of frustration in Ireland.
Chris Hedges put it well in this quote, and it goes for all of us in the West, not just America:
“There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history. Either you obstruct, in the only form left to us, which is civil disobedience, the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy. Either you are a rebel or a slave.”
Our demand in Ireland is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) stay out of our affairs. We do not want their influence or control. Our demand is that the private bank debt that has been socialised and burdened upon the population of the country who had nothing to do with it be lifted. We will not pay and let our children and grandchildren pay for this mess that private banks and bondholders have caused. It is their problem, not ours. Our demand is that the oil and gas reserves off our coast that were criminally handed away to private corporations be returned to the people. Our demand is for real, participatory democracy - where the people’s interests come first, where the people decide what happens.
"It is NOT a matter of political ideas, religion or ideology.
It’s a matter of how much we care about our future and the future of the planet."
Poster A - Hmm, do we need some of this here, too?
Poster B - People in this country are just short of that extra little push over the edge where calls of "Don't strike or protest as it will damage our reputation internationally" from our media and politicians will fall on deaf ears. When that happens we could well be seeing the Anglo building burn
Poster C - If you want to make a meaningful protest against the EU/IMF, Govt and Banks, you do it in a way that will hurt them most.
An organised mass witholding of Mortgage payments is the best form of protest.
Hit them in the pockets, it is the only thing they understand.
"Until you change the way money works, you change nothing"
Not everybody will know who Mike Ruppert is but he has written on topics of Peak Oil, 9/11, the economy and many others for more than a decade. His narrative and its consequent predictions of what is happening in the world have been quite accurate and at this point is still perhaps the best explanation of what is now happening and that is that due to the effects of Peak Oil industrial civilisation is about to collapse and he is one of the relatively few to link Peak Oil to the end of growth and that all the debt racked up in the past decades cannot be repaid and it is this which is really the physical manifestation at the heart of the global financial crisis.
Without futher paraphrasing him, it is probably best to quote his comment on the Occupy Wall Street statement other than to add a note that it was reported that video from the street when panned up to the luxury apartments above showed people out on the balconies sipping champagne and laughing and sneering down at the crowd below.
Until Occupy Wall Street makes a clear statement on the way money works and ending infinite growth it will be leading people into a cul de sac and betraying their hopes. There is no other problem that needs to be identified because until you change the way money works, you change nothing. Every grievance they list arises from the mandate for infinite growth. Fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, and compound interest will always recreate the same end results, no matter how much enthusiasm is mustered or how exciting it may be to see people uniting. The Powers That Be know this. That's why they can sip champagne from balconies and watch the demonstrations with laughter. "Sure, let them have their little venting fest!"
So, I would have to say that the leaders of the movement are misinformed and naive at best, or intellectual and moral cowards at worst, until they name, challenge and focus on the only real issue there is. Half measures do not avail 50% benefits. They avail nothing and we no have five decades of protest history to prove that. Not one progressive or populist movement has changed the world. The world we live in is living proof of that. Human beings have neither the energy or the ability to participate in something like this that will ultimately leave them hungry, beaten, defeated and poorer.
It is simple arithmetic that cannot be challenged. That is why until I see a clear commitment and vision to something that will produce change I can applaud the non-violent power that is being exercised, but I cannot tell our readers with confidence that this will produce anything more than millions of people in the street protesting the invasion of Iraq did. We either get what the issue is or the slow campers will have expended precious energy on nothing... And this may be the last window of opportunity that comes along. -- MCR
Thanks for that T, I had not heard about Mike Ruppert before but am in agreement of much of what he has stated. I am well aware of the PEAK OIL situation, I helped set up the Transition group in Barcelona (transitioning form oil dependance to local resilience) and here in Barcelona, where I live and have been participating with the #SPANISHREVOLUTION im glad to say that much of the transition / permaculture / degrowth / peak oil ideas have entered the discourse and affirmative action is happening at many different levels. Im sure your aware of Transition groups, it did originally come from Kinsale permaculture course, are you aware of the movement, are you involved, if so where, how is it going, what is your take on the movement.
Last July, 2 of us traveled from Barcelona to the Transition Network conference in Liverpool, while there we communicated to the people about what had gone on, in transition terms, during the still ongoing 15M "Spanish Revolution", there was a huge and very supportive response from people there, people from all over the world; japan, brazil, US, europe, Australia... So hopefully the idees are spreading further. It seems, from afar, that the US transition movement is really taking off, im not sure how many "transitioners" are part of the OCCUPY communities and groups, i hope and expect quite a few, I posted on their facebook page about the goings on but have not heard any responses, yet.
See end of this post for the vids and from that time, but more so, listen to the audio after we showed short vids in an impromptu session one night, gathered there were rob hopkins, ben brongwin, peter lipman (who displayed an excellent knowledge of the revolutionary and pre civil war republican times in barcelona, which included huge participation, local currencies, local food distribution, real democracy) pete north (liverpool based geographer, author of LOCAL MONEY) and many others, it was a very passionate discussion and hopefully it served as an important step in the transition story.
My own view, is that we are at a very special moment. Transition was in its own kind of ghetto, in england its been seen as very white, middle class, nice, non confrontational, almost an extended cookery and sewing class. This view, I think is firstly unfair as it is more mixed than that, but i feel it needed to enter that type of world at first for general acceptance and now it, the movement, is growing and going off into exceptional territory... On the other side, the "activist world" has also been in its own ghetto, now something has erupted and that has alllowed for the breaking of ghetto walls and true mixing... I think the 15M discourse is stronger and deeper becuase its had transition / degrowth and ecological critique entered into the discourse more, ie, really pointing out what are the core problems (infinite growth impossible on limited planet, peak oil will give us a right kick in the bolix very soon...) but also that the transition movement is all the better for people, whether or not with transition hats on, have been participating in the revolution on the streets of barcelona; sleeping in the square, involved with commissions, setting up a community garden in placa catalunya (to further highlight oil - food - crash and collapse story) thereby pushing the limits of what exactly transition is. Our own transition group, as well as many other groups here in Catlunya does focus on economic situation, we have alt currency and no money networks (xarxa - the network) there are much intercambios (free no money exchanges) and a growing culture of sharing or alternatives to money (watch the great doc about all that at Homage to Catalonia II ). Local currencies is a big part of the transition movement, have you seen the "Brixton Pound". And in case you doubt the diversity of the transition movement, we now have the first favala (shanty town) of Sao Paolo, Brazil in Transition, as well as a whole host more initiaves all around that wonderful country.
I think there is a further need to deepen the critique, as Mike Ruppert outlines, has he been down himself? A lot of these occupied spaces are many many things, I know as I spent much time in Pl Cat, they can be chaotic, amazing, draining... But its an initial first step, an opening, a crack, that permits people to come together and the discourse to deepen, BUT, thats not all, the important thing is to take those ideas, turn them into achievable goals, and do the work to realize the collective dreams... its ongoing, its always in motion, its definately achievable and it can and should feel like the most amazing adventure to be participating on...
`
Lastly, what ill say is that, while I agree with Mike Ruppert to a point, perhaps he's one who is in what we call "mad max syndrome", see the accmompanying graph which is from the transition world. What the transition community see is that we can creatively and intelligently design our way out of the mess. We now live with huge dependance on oil, whereas in the past it wasnt so, so we can start to lower that dependance and build up our resilience at local community level. In my own district, last thursday we had our first open space for a community participative energy lowering group, the Sant Marti PEP ( http://tinyurl.com/5sbfvb2 ) This is a way of getting to an end point somewhat similar to the MAD MAX view, but just by a different softer route, again see graph, that of EARTH STEWARDSHIP through "creative descent". Kinsale was the first place to really explore this idea, there in 2004 they created the first EDAP (energy descent action plan).
Id also like to point out that a massive event happened in December 2009 and the COP15, when, it seems that the "world leaders" finally said we have a global ecological problem. The whole talks were a failure, but there were many thousands of people on the streets, in centres, over the net, working together to come up with a peoples document of a route we have to take to live in a sustainable, responsible and socially just way... that reasulted in the KLIMAFORUM DECLARTION, see below for links and demands.
So getting back to the US and the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET protests, which seems to be growing and growing, my take is the following: I believe we passed the PEAK OIL moment in late 2008 and that sparked the so-called "financial crisis", here in barcelona on the streets it is seen as a massive con, a hoax... Anyway, point is, that with that something has given, people are loosing their jobs (here in spain 20% unemployment, and nearly 50% for the youth... ) and not being able to pay their mortgage, they start asking questions "why me, why this" and from that common ground has been reached by many many different groups and they have taken the fight to the heart of the problem... it will be a slow and long journey, with some big and quick moments, but we are on the road... from north africa (raising food prices due to energy costs sparked the tunisian man to burn himself...) to spain (energy fights on the border have already led to truckers stabbing each other to death..) to europe (Greece again right now is in clouds of tear gas as the people resist) and now to the US... I believe we will indeed change things around, radically, that belief that its possible is from where i get my drive (as opposed to "fighting the good fight", a point micheal albert talks about very well), first point is connecting, asking questions, getting to know people and community, next part is the action, and thats well underway, i think its but a matter of time till we get there.
With that I salute all those sleeping out in NYC, Boston, Chicago.... and all those ready to take to the streets in Washington tommorow... This is not a "us" and "them" situation... it is a global situation, global problems (caused by todays crazy position global capitalism has been allowed to reach) being met by global solutions, yes its a revolution, but its a peaceful and inclussive revolution... I really believe that in say 60 years people will indeed look back at the year 2011 and say "Wow, what a time to have been alive".
by 2011: the year of global indignationWed Oct 05, 2011 22:07
Roseanne Bar, Cornell West, MIcheal Moore, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, (nearly Radiohead), Salman Rushdie, Deepak Chopra, Michael Moore and Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz... along with 1000's and 1000's of more who consider themselves the 99% and are fighting back...
The mainstream has had to lift its blackout, its simply got WAY too big, and now, even the financial times is making comparisons to the last time the west seriously looked like its foundations were being shaken up; 1968...
At the end of August, I wrote a column headlined – “2011, the year of global indignation“. I suggested that there was a global mood of anti-elite anger, linking outbreaks of popular protest in countries as different as Egypt, India, Chile, China, Israel, Greece and Spain. It is Spain and France that gave birth to the movement, known as the indignados (the indignant). I also wrote, however, that there was “one striking exception to the this pattern – the US.” Perhaps I spoke too soon. The arrest of more than 700 anti Wall Street protesters in New York - and the possibility that similar protests could spread to other cities in the US - means that the wave of global unrest has now arrived on America’s shores. The whole thing has a whiff of 1968 about it.
I have been struck by the extent to which people in finance, “just don’t get it” (to use a nasty cliche). About a month ago, speaking to a group of bankers in London, I said that I was surprised that there had not been more of a public backlash against high finance, given the events of the last couple of years.
ARUN GUPTA: It is not a revolution, but it is a remarkable nucleus of a revolt, because what has gone on is they have been able to seize this territory in the heart of global capitalism, right there near the New York Stock Exchange, and hold it now for going into its third week. What this has done is create a political space, a radical democratic popular space for organizing.
AMY GOODMAN: And have you tasted the Occu-pie? That’s the pizza pie that’s coming in from pizza parlors all over, being ordered for the people in Occupy Wall Street from all over the world, as happened in Madison, Wisconsin. People from Egypt putting in orders so that the people would be fed at Occupy Wall Street.
Occupy Wall Street has progressed from a small undistinguished movement to a front runner of national emerging protests within 19 days. This movement against corrupt corporations and Wall Street has quickly gained momentum within Middle America.
Students at Northeastern University are expected to join those at dozens of other colleges in Massachusetts and across the nation today in a massive Occupy Colleges walk-out.
I was in Cairo meeting with revolutionaries and organizers all last week as part of an Organizers Forum, and kept being amazed by the passion and dedication of the Egyptian people we met with. I kept wondering how we can make a large-scale, nationwide peaceful uprising happen here in the USA. And then, it seems, it did.
Occupy Wall Street has already weathered the usual early storms. The kept media ignored the protest, but that failed to end it. The partisans of inequality mocked it, but that failed to end it. The police servants of the status quo over-reacted and that failed to end it – indeed, it fueled the fire. And millions looking on said, "Wow!" And now, ever more people are organising local, parallel demonstrations – from Boston to San Francisco and many places between.
Yet, for decades now, we have failed to similarly question, challenge, criticise and debate our economic system: capitalism. Because a taboo protected capitalism, cheerleading and celebrating it became obligatory. Criticism and questions got banished as heresy, disloyalty or worse. Behind the protective taboo, capitalism degenerated into the ineffective, unequal, crisis-ridden social disaster we all now bear.
Capitalism is the problem... We just need to reorganise our producing units differently, to go beyond a capitalist economic system that no longer serves our needs.
Let me conclude by offering a slogan: "The US can do better than corporate capitalism."
While New Yorkers were focused on what happened on the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend, people in cities across the U.S. started their own Occupy protests.
“The decision not to inject capital into the banks, but to effectively relieve them of their bad assets and then allow them to earn their way out of a hole leaves the banks bumper profits and then allows them to pay bumper bonuses.”
Over the last few weeks, the Occupy Wall Street movement has (peacefully) fought its way into the national spotlight. And it's still growing. I was down in Zuccotti park last afternoon, and I spoke to plenty of folks who had just arrived, and were planning on staying for the long haul. The protester's encampment is bristling with energy -- and it's sure to get a major boost today, when unions, college students, and the green movement joins the fray for a massive solidarity march today at 4:30 pm.
If you're in or around New York City, it's the ideal time to show your support. Here are the details ...
From 350.org: "It's time for environmentalists and climate activists to join the fight to restore America's democracy from the stranglehold of big polluters and corporations. From Keystone XL lobbyists to Big Coal, corporations have polluted our atmosphere and our political process. Join us in fighting back.
Despite their diversity and amorphous agenda, Occupy Wall Street participants agree that only the extremely wealthy are surviving. And even thriving, abetted by elected officials and an unfettered right-wing media. It basically galls them that Wall Street has moved on when they cannot. Business has never been more usual and never more unjust.
Moreover, the odd assortment of supporters and visitors, which so far includes Salman Rushdie, Deepak Chopra, Michael Moore and Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, as well as unions and some Tea Party-ists, indicates that at the very least, Occupy Wall Street is driving a public conversation that should have occurred in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis.
(Nobel Prize winning..) Economist Joseph Stiglitz was at the Occupy Wall Street protest in Zuccotti Park yesterday. He was joined by New York Times book reviewer a and economics columnist, Jeff Madrick.
Here are some highlights:
Stiglitz looked surprised by the call and repeat form of speaking the protestors use at first, but then he seemed to enjoy it. Pointed out that it was illegal to use a bullhorn in the park on a Sunday, and he said that was an example of "too many regulations stopping demonstrations and not enough from stopping Wall Street from behaving."
He said that Wall Street got rich by "misallocating capital" and by "socializing losses and privatizing gain... that's not capitalism... its a distorted economy."
Deepak Chopra; Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself: what kind of world do I want to live in? Hand on heart ask yourself: how can I make that happen from a place of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Simple anger will always perpetuate what is already out there. It was created by greed, and fear. We have to go beyond that and come from a place of compassion, centered equanimity, and creativity. Once again, ask yourself, how can I be the change that I want to see in the world. Thank you
(The "People's Mic" was created because currently the protestors are banned from using a real microphone or megaphone by the NYPD. It also gives the sense of community & that everyone has an equal voice & equal rights to speak. All one has to do is shout out 'Mic Check' and then proceed. )
5.12pm: Paul Harris says there could be as many as 15,000 on the march. More are on the way – Village Voice reports:
Willis Plummer, in a student group marching down currently at Franklin and Lafayette, reports that the police have trucks and police buses parked in the middle of the streets as seeming barricades, but that people are going around them. He says "there are about 2000 people marching down" to meet the group at Foley Square.
When I see "spritual gurus" like Deepak Chopra attending it very much worries me. I hope this doesn't turn in to the middle class want their share of the trough and right to consume the planet. I really hope the impulse is deeper than this.
Yet another excellent video from RT- Chris Hedges: No way in US system to vote against banks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5RxhahHK0
(thanks to IMC-IE mods for finding this one)
Chris Hedges is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies. His most recent book is "The World As It Is".
Caption: Video Id: uz5RxhahHK0 Type: Youtube Video Chris Hedges: No way in US system to vote against banks (RT)
thanks Chris! Glad to see someone actually watched it! ;-)
Its from the Alyona show on RT. She is giving good coverage to the wall street protest at the moment for anyone interested. Alas her show is on at 4am mon-sat so it's a sky+ job (channel 512 sky).
fortunately its usually available on youtube too though.
And now its the indignation has come to Ireland, #OccupyDameStreet is at day 3 and growing nicely and getting great support from the ground, infos at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/100658
Meanwhile back in Wall Street, famouns philosopher and political commentator SLAVOJ ZIZEK came down and shared his views
We can see that for a long time we allowed our political engagement also to be outsourced. We want it back. We are not communists. If communism means the system which collapsed in 1990, remember that today those communists are the most efficient ruthless capitalists. In China today we have capitalism which is even more dynamic than your American capitalism but doesn’t need democracy. Which means when you criticize capitalism, don’t allow yourselves to be blackmailed that you are against democracy. The marriage between democracy and capitalism is over.
The only thing I’m afraid of is that we will someday just go home and then we will meet once a year, drinking beer, and nostalgically remembering what a nice time we had here. Promise ourselves that this will not be the case.
The Boston PD disagreed and this evening raided this second camp. They removed all property and arrested those on site. The first line of protestors were a group of military veterans. The police used batons and their fists to subdue the veterans. Film taken clearly shows that while things were heated on both sides the Boston PD quickly escalated things. As of 2:20 am CST over 100 people (including veterans) have been arrested.
The protesters had moved from Dewey Square to a second site across the street. A local conservancy group recently planted $150,000 worth of shrubs along the greenway and officials said they were concerned about possible damage.
MORE IMPORTANT SHRUBS THAN PEOPLE.
HUGE line of police marching in. Group of about 40 police wearing battlegear helmets and billy clubs walking toward Camp Rose from south station. Police wagons everywhere (3 hours ago, presume this tek team were arrested with communication tools)
Paddy wagons are on the move. Riot police are at Dewey. Media told to leave premises. EMTs have set up a direct response tent for casualties. No police action yet.
Riot police are at Dewey. EMTs have set up a direct response tent for casualties. Nonviolence is how we win this.
SWAT TEAM putting on RIOT GEAR on High St. PLEASE JOIN US NOW!
The mayor's line needs to hear from you--you need to be calling from Boston - so be ready with the street name of "your" Boston address: 617.635.4500 ... When you get the recording hold or press "0". Also call the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. Here's the phone # 617 292 0020. They are mainly just counting nays and yeas. So call both numbers - CALL THEM RIGHT NOW!
@OccupyBOS_Media : Yes, I'm tweeting from jail. Occupy!! #occupyboston. -a.
(Tweet after the cop violence and mass arrest last night at Occupy Boston ) https://twitter.com/#!/OccupyBOS_Media/status/123652976781955072
#occupydamestreet gets further coverage on online media:
Occupy Wall Street Protest Now On Every Continent Except Antarctica! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJvgHPZ1-uo
@OccupyBOS_Media : Yes, I'm tweeting from jail. Occupy!! #occupyboston. -a.
Caption: Video Id: VJvgHPZ1-uo Type: Youtube Video Occupy Wall Street Protest Now On Every Continent Except Antarctica! (includes vid from dublin)
Rise up, stand tall, and strap on an Occupy Wall Street condom. Apparently the Occupy Wall Street movement has grown big enough to warrant its own novelty condom.
Condomania has just released a new condom in honor of the Wall Street Protesters. Condomania says that 99% of the country is currently getting screwed so they might as well wear a condom.
Condomania writes:
“Occupy Condoms! Why? Whether or not you agree with the ‘demands’ of the Occupy Wall Street movement that is sweeping the U.S., one thing is for sure; lots of people out there are tired of feeling screwed. Occupy Condoms say it all in a neat little package while affording young protestors the protection they need to stay safe in the passionate frenzy that is social protest.”
But isn’t capitalizing on the movement a little hypocritical? Condomania believes that it has solved that problem by offering the condoms at a 70% discount. The regular price for a 30 pack of condoms, like the Obama Stimulus Package condoms, Sarah Palin Protection condoms, or Election Protection condoms, usually sell for about $40. The Occupy Wall Street condoms are going for just $11.99.
Condomania said:
“Occupy Condoms are sold at a 70% discount to demonstrate our support for social change and the virtuous pursuit of equality for all. Mostly, we didn’t think it cool to be capitalizing quite so blatantly on a protest movement that itself is concerned about unscrupulous profiteering. So, we’ll just hope for some good buzz and a small amount of unscrupulous profits.”
The future of the occupation of Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park is up in the air after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered protesters to prepare to vacate the area so that sanitation workers can clean up the premises.
Last night Michael Bloomberg visited the site in New York’s financial district that has been the main hub for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators since they first began protesting four weeks ago. As thousands from across the world continue to congregate in the private Manhattan park, Bloomberg and other Big Apple bigwigs have decided that the area needs a nice cleaning before protests can continue.
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street! (anonymous)
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
Join us at 6AM FRIDAY for non-violent eviction defense. http://anonops.blogspot.com/2011/10/live-occupywallstre....html
4 months ago, May 27, a similar "Cop aided Clean UP" happened in Barcelona...
May 27, 12 days into the occupation of placa Catalunya, on the friday morning, the local catalan police, los mossos, came to "clean" the square at about 7.30am. Their act resulted in an extreme few hours of heavy violence, ONLY, from the state forces, battons were wielded with no holding back, even a man in a wheelchair was whacked. Rubber bullets were also used, about 150 were injured, 4 severly (rubber bullets can kill). But the people resisted with non-violent powerful presence. Eventually the cops left, that night there was not 1000 in the square, but more than 10,000 and the Spanish Revolution grew and grew. So with that, good luck Occupy Wall Street from Acampadabcn, we are with you.
The members of the secret steering committee have taken a leading role in imposing the unwieldy and time-consuming formalism of always reaching a consensus in the general assembly, meaning that any significant opposition can block the implementation of urgent actions. A simple up or down majority vote is not enough. (The last governing assembly of any major nation to give each member a veto over the actions of the whole body was the aristocratic Polish Diet of the 18th century, which was so dysfunctional that it led to Poland being obliterated from the map of Europe – not an example to be imitated.)
The consensus method provides immense comfort to the predatory speculators of Wall Street, since it virtually guarantees that no potent and controversial strategy to break the power of finance capital can emerge. Indeed, it guarantees that absolutely nothing will be able to emerge in an emergency after a rapid turn in the overall situation. The US Congress is paralyzed by a minority, but the consensus rules of the general assembly mean that it can be paralyzed by a tiny clique bent on sabotage. In the background, the covert steering committee is busy creating a series of faits accomplis.
The deliberations of the general assembly are one big filibuster. On October 4, much of the session was taken up with an agonized discussion of whether to buy or knit and sew sleeping bags as the nights became colder. Right-wing commentators hostile to the protests had a field day using this grotesque scene to mock the entire movement.
Those who run the General assembly sessions are known as facilitators. The relation of these facilitators to the secret steering committee is being investigated. . . . . . .
Caption: Video Id: 3QZlp3eGMNI Type: Youtube Video Unbeliveably Childish carry-on in Seattle, Which reminds me of . . . .
Caption: Video Id: jVygqjyS4CA Type: Youtube Video . . . . I
Hijacked, no, if youve been participating youd know that. In the US, as usual, there is a very small section of society spouting the "conspiracy theory" claptrap... facilators rotate, there is no "core leaders", this has allowed things grow so quickly, so massivly, so powerfully, so organicallly. The fact that your main link is to http://conservartive.com/ speaks volumes, the conservative section of US society must be, to use the words of Cornell West "trembling in its boots", as they are the ones who have facilitated this corporate hijacking of democracy for their own ends. Their imperialist days are over though, these weeks have been but only the beginning.
Long live the GLOBAL REVOLUTION.... WE ARE WINNING.
Support the #OccupyWallStreet callout, take to the streets, occupy, connect, change the world...
Over the last 30 years, the 1% have created a global economic system - neoliberalism - that attacks our human rights and destroys our environment. Neoliberalism is worldwide - it is the reason you no longer have a job, it is the reason you cannot afford healthcare, education, food, your mortgage.
Neoliberalism is your future stolen.
Neoliberalism is everywhere, gutting labor standards, living wages, social contracts, and environmental protections. It is "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." It is a system that ravages the global south and creates global financial crisis - crisis in Spain, in Greece, in the United States. It is a system built on greed and thrives on destablizing shocks.
It allows the 1% to enrich themselves by impoverishing humanity.
This has to stop!
We must usher in an era of democratic and economic justice.
We must change, we must evolve.
On October 15th the world will rise up as one and say, "We have had enough! We are a new beginning, a global fight on on all fronts that will usher in an era of shared prosperity, respect, mutual aid, and dignity."
He talks about commmunity, health care and how we have to enter the "we" back into the discourse, not the I I I, me me me...
a FREE doctor for 40 years, "nuclear family" is stupid, we are communal animals, get together collectively...
He
talks about how only 3% of people who came to see him had a good sense
of self esteem, most people didnt love themselves, their work, their communities...
On Playing By The Rules - The Strange Success Of #OccupyWallStreet By David Graeber - who is currently a Reader in Social
Anthropology at Goldsmiths University London. Prior to that he was an
associate professor of anthropology at Yale University. He is also an author - http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/david-graeber-on....html
(Yves here. I have to note that David DeGraw of http://ampedstatus.com/ is widely credited as the originator of “We are the 99%.”)
But as I paced about the Green, I noticed something. To adopt activist
parlance: this wasn’t really a crowds of verticals—that is, the sort of
people whose idea of political action is to march around with signs
under the control of one or another top-down protest movement. They were
mostly pretty obviously horizontals: people more sympathetic with
anarchist principles of organization, non-hierarchical forms of direct
democracy, and direct action. I quickly spotted at least one Wobbly, a
young Korean activist I remembered from some Food Not Bomb event, some
college students wearing Zapatista paraphernalia, a Spanish couple who’d
been involved with the indignados in Madrid… I found my Greek friends,
an American I knew from street battles in Quebec during the Summit of
the Americas in 2001, now turned labor organizer in Manhattan, a
Japanese activist intellectual I’d known for years…
who were we? Who did want to appeal to? Who did we represent?
Someone—this time I remember quite clearly it was me, but I wouldn’t be
surprised if a half dozen others had equally strong memories of being
the first to come up with it—suggested, “well, why not call ourselves
‘the 99%’? If 1% of the population have ended up with all the benefits
of the last 10 years of economic growth, control the wealth, own the
politicians… why not just say we’re everybody else?” The Spanish couple
quickly began to lay out a “We Are the 99%” pamphlet, and we started
brainstorming ways to print and distribute it for free.
We quickly decided that what we really wanted to do was something like
had already been accomplished in Athens, Barcelona, or Madrid: occupy a
public space to create a New York General Assembly, a body that could
act as a model of genuine, direct democracy to contrapose to the corrupt
charade presented to us as “democracy” by the US government. The Wall
Street action would be a stepping-stone.
Most of New York’s grumpier hard-core anarchists refused to join in, and
mocked us from the sidelines as reformist; meanwhile, the more open,
“small-a” anarchists, who had been largely responsible for organizing
the facilitation and trainings, battled the verticals in the group to
ensure that we did not institute anything that could become a formal
leadership structure, such as police liaisons or marshals.
Even the commitment to direct action, so often confused with breaking
windows or the like, really refers to the refusal of any politics of
protest, that merely appeals to the authorities to behave differently,
and the determination instead to act for oneself, and to do what one
thinks is right, regardless of law and authority. Gandhi’s salt march,
for example, is a classic example of direct action. So was squatting
Zuccotti Park. It’s a public space; we were the public; the public
shouldn’t have to ask permission to engage in peaceful political
assembly in its own park; so we didn’t. By doing so we not only acted in
the way we felt was right, we aimed to set an example to others: to
begin to reclaim communal resources that have been appropriated for
purposes of private profit to once again serve for communal use—as in a
truly free society, they would be—and to set an example of what genuine
communal use might actually be like. For those who desire to create a
society based on the principle of human freedom, direct action is simply
the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free.
Actually, the development of consensus process, which is probably the
movement’s greatest accomplishment, emerges (from small-a anarchism) just as much from the
tradition of radical feminism, and draws on spiritual traditions from
Native American to Quakerism.
And then it happened. The last time I went back to Zuccotti Square, and
watched middle aged construction workers and Latino hip hop artists
using all our old hand signals in mass meetings, one of my old anarchist
comrades—a one-time tree-sitter and inveterate eco-activist who used to
go by the name Warcry, and was now established in the park as video
documentarians—admitted to me, “every few hours I do have to pinch
myself to make sure it isn’t all a dream.”
Say what you will about Americans, and one can say many things, this is a
country of deeply democratic sensibilities. The idea that we are, or
are supposed to be, a democratic society is at the very core of what
makes us proud to be Americans. If Occupy Wall Street has spread to
every city in America, it’s because our financial overlords have brought
us to such a pass that anarchists, pagan priestesses, and tree-sitters
are about the only Americans left still holding out for the idea that a
genuinely democratic society might be possible.
***** Earlier article with David Graeber in the Guardian: Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination (Sunday 25 September) The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011...otest
Meet the international activists who lit the fuse for the populist protest movement that's sweeping the world. (Mother Jones mag)
— By Andy Kroll
( Andy's work has appeared at The Wall Street Journal, SportsIllustrated.com, The Detroit News, Salon, and TomDispatch.com, where he's an associate editor. He works in Mother Jones' DC Bureau, and can be reached at akroll (at) motherjones (dot) com)
Months before the first occupiers descended on Zuccotti Park in lower
Manhattan, before the news trucks arrived and the unions endorsed,
before Michael Bloomberg and Michael Moore and Kanye West made
appearances, a group of artists, activists, writers, students, and
organizers gathered on the fourth floor of 16 Beaver Street, an artists'
space near Wall Street, to talk about changing the world. There were
New Yorkers in the room, but also Egyptians, Spaniards, Japanese,
Greeks. Some had played a part in the Arab Spring uprising; others had
been involved in the Protests catching fire across Europe. But no one at 16 Beaver knew they were about light the fuse on a protest movement that would sweep the United States and fuel similar uprisings around the world..
Without that worldly group that met at 16 Beaver and later created the NEW YORK GENERAL ASSEMBLY, there might not have been an Occupy Wall Street as we know it today.
- OWS Oakland Takes Over City, Shutting Down One of the Biggest Ports in the Country...But Nightfall Brings More Chaos and Teargas http://tinyurl.com/3cwqd54
Some politicians
may physically remove us from public spaces - our spaces - and,
physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas.
Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people
-- all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power
This is a statement from the Occupy Wall Street after the eviction that happened about 5 hours ago, 1am local time, of Zucutti park...
OCCUPY WALL STREET has been evicted. Presently there are 100s of occupiers on braodway and they have just been joined by a big support march, there are more than 1000 people, this is all coming live through the LIVESTREAM, they said that they will act as their brothers and sisters did in Oakland 2 days ago; If the cops push us, we will push them back (in a peaceful way, in OO, the protesters repelled the horses that were sent in), presently calls to go to Foley park and carry out an imediate GA (general assembly), while the group with the livecam are presently standing on cop vans and the police helicopter above, shining the spotlight down...
9.02AM: I've just received very useful this round-up of tonight's events from
Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for Democracy Now, filing for the Guardian.
He writes:
Hundreds of officers with
the New York City Police Department descended on the Occupy Wall Street
encampment in Lower Manhattan late this evening. At approximately 1.00am
protesters say the NYPD set up emergency vehicles around the park and
turned on massive flood lights. Scores of officers in riot gear began
entering the park and handing out notices of eviction. Protesters say
there was little time to respond the department's orders to disperse.
Several hundred of the demonstrators rallied around the park's central
eating area.
With roughly 200 protesters collected in the kitchen
space, police and sanitation workers began tearing down tents and any
standing structures around the park. Protester's belongings were thrown
into massive piles then loaded into large trucks.
Media were
repeatedly directed away from the square and eventually confined to a
metal pen at the far end of the block. Police buses were later parked in
front of the pen, blocking clear shots of the park.
Meanwhile in
the kitchen area six protesters reportedly used bicycle locks to chain
themselves together by the neck. The demonstrators gathered at the
centre of the park were free to leave but chose to stay, forming seated
columns with their arms locked.
A mass of police officers began to
gather around the kitchen area to begin arresting the remaining
protesters. Reports from inside indicated the arrests were orderly and
non-violent, but some protesters and press who managed to leave the area
reported that they saw officers beating and stepping on demonstrators.
Occupy Wall Street: New York police begin clearing Zuccotti Park
1AM cops arrived with floodlights to evict "It was just like daytime"
The revolution is being LIVESTREAMED
We are the 99% - We will resist!!!
Caption: Video Id: y2pVafxS8ZU Type: Youtube Video (Al Jazeera VID) New York police evicting 'Occupy' protesters
Looks like only the 1% will be allowed to occupy wall street from now on since the 99% movement could not be co-opted to get Obama another term in office.
Caption: Video Id: C5K6l-_-uDY Type: Youtube Video WE ARE THE 1%
Raids on Occupy camps carry powerful echoes of US history
LARA MARLOWE
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
AMERICA : In 1932, first World War veterans and their families camping out in Washington were branded criminals and communists
WHEN POLICE cleared out encampments of the Occupy movement around the country this week, the late-night raids, demonstrations, arrests and skirmishes carried powerful echoes of US history.
In 1932, three years after the start of the Great Depression, tens of thousands of first World War veterans and their families camped out in the mudflats along the Anacostia river in southeast Washington, within view of the Capitol.
They scavenged wrecked cars, chicken coops and scraps of wood from a nearby dump to build their shanty town. Like the tents pitched in Zuccotti Park, the camp lasted two months.
In 1924, the US government had promised bonuses averaging $1,000 to first World War veterans, but the certificates of service could not be redeemed until 1945. By 1932, the men who fought in the trenches of Europe were poor, hungry and homeless.
The “Bonus Army” started on May 25th, 1932, when veterans in Portland, Oregon, gathered in the railroad yards with bugles and flags, then hitched rides on freight trains to Washington, to demand immediate payment.
Word spread and men, women and children converged from all over the country.
Then, as now, Congress had bailed out big business. Like the present-day Occupy protesters, the Bonus Army enjoyed popular support. On Sundays, residents of the capital “came down and brought them sleeping bags and tents, cigarettes and food, big bags of potatoes in sacks, and turnips and a piece of pork or something”, Tom Allen, co-author of The Bonus Army: An American Epic , recounted on National Public Radio (NPR).
Like Occupy Wall Street, the Bonus Army organised its camp.
“There was a library and there was a post office,” Allen continued. “They had their own barber shops; produced their own newspaper, the Bef News [for Bonus Expeditionary Force]. It had streets with the names of states.”
Like Occupy Wall Street, the Bonus Army was maligned by the establishment. Then they were branded criminals and communists. This week, representative Peter King of New York hammered endlessly on television that the occupants of Zuccotti Park were “living in faeces and urine, living in their own filth”.
The 1932 protesters received the support of retired marine corps general Smedley Butler, who visited the country’s largest “Hooverville” (after the Depression-era US president Herbert Hoover) along the Anacostia.
“I never saw such fine Americanism as is exhibited by you people,” Butler told the protesters. “You have just as much right to have a lobby here as any steel corporation. Makes me so damn mad, a whole lot of people speak of you as tramps. By God, they didn’t speak of you as tramps in 1917 and ’18.”
The House of Representatives voted to pay the bonuses, but the Senate refused. When police went to clear out squatters from abandoned buildings near the Capitol, they were cornered and opened fire, killing two veterans.
The largest fighting force seen in Washington since the end of the civil war was mobilised.
“These guys got in there and they started waving their sabres, chasing these veterans out, and they started shooting tear gas,” said Fred Blancher, a witness to the crackdown whose archive interview was broadcast by NPR.
“There was just so much noise and confusion, hollering and there was smoke and haze.”
The army scattered protesters, then burned their camp to the ground.
The charge down Pennsylvania Avenue was commanded by the army chief of staff, Gen Douglas MacArthur, later of second World War fame, and then Maj George S Patton. Onlookers shouted “Shame! Shame!” at the army.
The future US president Dwight D Eisenhower, then an aide to MacArthur, was appalled that the army would attack veterans. “I told that dumb son-of- a-bitch not to go down there,” Eisenhower said later.
Newsreels of the clashes were shown in cinemas across the US. The public sided with the veterans. Hoover was badly beaten by Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1932 election.
Four years later, the veterans received their bonuses. In 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill, out of gratitude to the military and to ease soldiers’ transition to civilian life.
But today, again, unemployment and homelessness are significantly higher among veterans, who are strongly represented in the Occupy movement. In a rare show of unanimity, the House this week voted to provide tax incentives to companies that hire veterans.
Economist Jeffrey Sachs cited two historical precedents for the backlash against corporate corruption and greed, in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
The present-day 30-year “Reagan era” echoes the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, with its robber barons, and the Roaring 20s, a pro- business period that culminated in the Great Depression, Sachs wrote.
The Depression led to Roosevelt’s New Deal, decades of greater equality, higher top tax rates, stronger trade unions and financial regulation.
It is too soon to know what will happen to the Occupy movement but Sachs is convinced it heralds a “new progressive era”.
University of Davis, California - Police Pepper Spraying Doing What They Do Best - Protecting the Capitalist System
Police in the U.S. have used pepper spray against students taking part
in an 'Occupy' campaign at the University of California. Demonstrators
had been ordered to remove their camp, but after refusing, officers
showed up and tore their tents down. (RT news report) Occupy Maced: Police pepper spray unarmed youth, tear tents down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBk1ogP18K0
" It's no surprise that the Romney campaign is raising money from Wall
Street by saying they want to repeal consumer protections and allow Wall
Street to write its own rules," KEEPING IT HONEST: Wall Street, a key
contributor to Obama in 2008, seems to be switching allegiances.
" Hum.. I wonder why? Maybe the gang on Wall Street does not wish to
alienate “their” representatives? Mr. Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan
and Senator McConnell and his 43 obstructionists in the senate that are
provided their campaign funds! After all, this same Wall Street Gang
were the direct recipients of trillion dollar tax payer bailout with no
conditions and used it some of it for bonuses! According to Senator
Bernie Sanders, it is now clear that the Republicans /hypocrites made
pledges that they are for their “only” plan of continuing its Class War
against the middle Class to protect their rich Millionaires on Wall
street and Billions like the Gover Norquest, Russ Limbaugh, Rupert
Murdock and others like the Koch Brothers that provide them their
campaign funds! Their plan was never about creating American jobs for
the unemployed middle class! LET'S PUBLICLY LIST THE NAME OF EVERY
POLITICIAN AND WALL STREET GIVER SO AMERICAN CAN KNOW WHO IS ON "TAKE"
AND SELLING MIDDLE AMERICA OUT!
international |
anti-capitalism |
feature
Monday October 03, 2011 01:34
by T
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48A revolution is coming: a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough, compassionate if we care enough, successful if we are fortunate enough - but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect it's character, we cannot alter it's inevitability"
John F Kennedy
JFK: A revolution is coming:
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
I'll hold the parachute till you get back...honest.
Message for the nervous market
For those who might not be aware of it, Bunreacht na hEireann (the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland) -- i.e. the highest law of the land -- has an exceptionally useful clause (Article 6.1 that is) which is very conducive to peaceful revolution of the kind suggested in this commentary.
"The 'final' say relating to the 'common good' in the Republic of Ireland is very firmly and very clearly ANCHORED in 'the people', as stated in Article 6.1 of our Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann)."
With this month's Republic of Ireland presidential election in mind, much associated campaigning anticipated in the coming three weeks or so, and the fact that our President is the "Principal Guardian" of our Constitution, the excerpt just above has been copied from an e-mail sent earlier today to a selected group of politicians, journalists, and lawyers in the Republic of Ireland.
The full text of the e-mail in question can be viewed at the following location:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/IrishLegalProfessions...e_6.1
An excerpt from Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, delivered just before his assination, on the role of and need for REVOLUTION in the United States. (In April 4, 1967 appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered the speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" )
Above Democracy Now feature found at SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/17/special_dr_martin...ng_jr
youtube at 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_WFvHMkehg 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-2SsOPEk6o
Excerpt from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Commencement Address for Oberlin College, June 1965, Oberlin Ohio
Full speach at http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/BlackHistoryMonth/M....html
video: Martin L. King Jr. "Remain Awake During a Great Revolution"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGHydxF_b18
Related materials:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/18/dr_martin_luther_..._1929
Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
Martin Luther King Jnr on the role of and need for REVOLUTION in the United States
Caption: Video Id: A_WFvHMkehg Type: Youtube Video
Martin Luther King Jnr on the role of and need for REVOLUTION in the United States - part 1
Caption: Video Id: j-2SsOPEk6o Type: Youtube Video
Martin Luther King Jnr on the role of and need for REVOLUTION in the United States - part 2
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET: A Modest Call to Action on this September 17th
This call is found at https://occupywallst.org/article/September_Revolution/ and http://roarmag.org/2011/09/statement-from-the-occupatio...reet/
Related VIDEO: Nobody Can Predict The Moment Of Revolution ( Occupy Wall Street )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwWInp75ua0
Who are the 99% ? : Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves ( From http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ )
Related articles and links
(washington post) ‘Occupy Wall Street,’ save the world?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/o....html
(FOX NEWS) 700 Protesters Arrested On Brooklyn Bridge
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/wall-street-protesters-...11001
Chomsky speaks out in support of Wall Street protests
http://roarmag.org/2011/09/chomsky-speaks-out-in-suppor...ests/
Occupation of Wall Street makes waves around the world (September 20)
http://roarmag.org/2011/09/wall-street-occupation-makes...orld/
Statement from the occupation at Wall Street (September 19)
http://roarmag.org/2011/09/statement-from-the-occupatio...reet/
Occupy Wall Street: The resistance continues at Liberty Square and Nationwide!
ROAR - Reflections on a Revolution
WAKE UP!
Occupied Wall street.. now spread all over the US
Occupy Wall Street
Caption: Video Id: OwWInp75ua0 Type: Youtube Video
Nobody Can Predict The Moment Of Revolution ( Occupy Wall Street )
WOW... this is a truly truly important moment we are going through... It really feels like WE ARE WINNING, communication is playing a massive role in this, the spreading of ideas, face to face, in the streets, in the occupied squares, in workshops, on the net, on radio, on live streams, on tweets, on FB pages, emails... Only a few minutes ago I opened a mail from an eco activist list, with a post to a link, which had summary of COOL SHIT, number 2 on that list after the adbusters call to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET was link to GLOBALREVOLUTION.TV, which im watching the live stream from presently. Now an ANONYMOUS masked up activist is talking about the Global Day of revolution which will be happening in 13 days... next saturday; OCTOBER 15, maybe this will be the day they talk about in years to come, that simple, beautiful, peaceful day when it all changed.
For me, being 1 of the many many indignados of my town, Barcelona, in the occupied square Placa Catalunya, with many thousands more, sitting there and watching the screen, watching live as we all waved and roared hello or hola to our sisters and brothers in the occupied Syntagma square outside the Parliament in Athens, Greece, and them roaring and waving back... That will be a memory i will always cherish, its simple, we could have been doing it for years, but we havent, BUT, now we are using it... from P2P to S2S, from Peer to Peer (Initial streaming experiments, person to person, or device to device) to Square to Square... These are our WMD's... We all know the lies sprung to rape and rob Iraq, but come and get us now "We have WMD's... Weapons of Mass D.I.F.F.U.S.I.O.N....
WE ARE WINNING...
GLOBALREVOLUTION.TV
http://globalrevolution.tv/
postscript:
live feed from wall street of the OCCUPIED WALL STREET JOURNAL and articles being explained... THIS IS JUST SO FUCKING COOL, AND IMPORTANT... I THINK MLK IS SMILING NOW SEEING ALL THIS UNFOLD...
The journal has been talked about by the new york times: Occupying, and Now Publishing, Too
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/occupying-...-too/
"The downtown protesters' free newspaper made its debut Saturday with a press run of 50,000. The Occupied Wall Street Journal will not be mistaken for its near-namesake. "
And regard to the global day of action via http://15october.net/
related:
The route the COOL SHIT took from somewhere to me...
Barcelona and beyond revolutionary reports:
Oct 15; Global day of action
rEVOLution
P2P to S2S, from Peer to Peer to Square to Square: Barcelona connects with Athens
We got the fucking WMD's (Weapons of Mass Diffusion)
Anonymous manifesto - GLOBAL REVOLUTION OCT 15TH
OCT 15 - united for global change
Caption: Video Id: K8spSX5qgn4 Type: Youtube Video
Anonymous vid manifesto: GLOBAL REVOLUTION DAY OCTOBER 15TH - EXPECT US
Caption: Video Id: LpK6w5UjzJc Type: Youtube Video
memories from the BARCELONA REVOLUTION
(new york times) Occupying, and Now Publishing, Too
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/occupying-...-too/
The PDF will be available soon from http://kasamaproject.org/2011/10/02/soon-in-your-hands-...al-1/
vid: The Occupied Wall Street Journal #occupywallst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMQx6Lu3zDo
The OCCUPIED Wall Street Journal
The OCCUPIED Wall Street Journal
The OCCUPIED Wall Street Journal - PDF coming soon
Caption: Video Id: vMQx6Lu3zDo Type: Youtube Video
The Occupied Wall Street Journal #occupywallst
OUR MISSION
Occupy Together exists solely to help organize, publicize, and support the growing number of communities that are showing support for the Occupy Wall St. movement. We don’t have any other agenda outside of this. We stand by the developing mission of Occupy Wall St., but we are not representatives for Occupy Wall St.
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS
As we watched the continuing marches on Wall St. over the internet and many across the nation reacting to the movement, we decided to set up a website and social media networks to provide a hub for those organizing in various states across the country. Many of us cannot be there with our brothers and sisters in NYC and, like us, wanted to do something. Occupy Together was our way of participating in these events, in spirit and solidarity, in order to support those organizing and demonstrating in various cities and states across America.
http://www.occupytogether.org/
FB - http://www.facebook.com/OccupyTogether
OCCUPY TOGETHER CORK
http://www.occupytogether.org/events/international/euro...land/
VID OCCUPY TOGETHER - Talking About Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrfktJ-a4jY
OCCUPY TOGETHER - Making that Revolution, state by state, town by town...
Caption: Video Id: qrfktJ-a4jY Type: Youtube Video
OCCUPY TOGETHER - Talking About Revolution
Camps spread to Manchester. Who can stop this? (From TAKE THE SQUARE )
http://takethesquare.net/2011/10/03/camps-spread-to-man...this/
more infos from manchester:
http://www.occupymanchester.org/
Manchester Occupied (IMC-UK)
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/10/485782.html
BLOG - http://owlsotherblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/manchester-oc....html
Occupy Manchester + Education Bloc Tory Demo Pics (Northern England IMC)
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/2242
Steps from TAKE THE SQUARE on how to bring the GLOBAL REVOLUTION to your backyard at http://takethesquare.net/join-the-globalrevolution/
*****
New York INDIGNADOS are front page news in Catalunya:
La mayoría de los 'indignados' detenidos en Brooklyn, en libertad con cargos
http://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20111002/5422....html
more vids:
We The People... Occupy Wall Street - Day 14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ht08vBra9M
Occupy Wall Street Begins To Go National! ( http://MOXNews.com )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDnFbIwZUWQ
NY Violence: 'Media happy to show protests but not in our backyards' (RUSSIA TODAY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AAlh2LwaEM
American Spring? 'Occupy Wall Street just the beginning' (RUSSIA TODAY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sygV7dI0adk
15 October - United for Global Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y3X2VFruLM
Occupy Strike Resist - occupations come to Manchester, UK
Occupy Strike Resist - occupations come to Manchester, UK
New York INDIGNADOS are front page news in Catalunya
In the US, OCCUPY TOGETHER has gone from 0 to 400 places taking action... and growing
New York INDIGNADOS are front page news in Catalunya (detail)
Caption: Video Id: 8AAlh2LwaEM Type: Youtube Video
NY Violence:
Caption: Video Id: 6ht08vBra9M Type: Youtube Video
We The People... Occupy Wall Street - Day 14
Occupy Boston Takes Over Dewey Square (Boston Globe: October 3, 2011)
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/thenextgreatgener....html
Occupy Boston targets elites (Boston Herald)
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2011_...ion=1
Vid: Why Do You Occupy? - Interviews At Occupy Boston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7I1uC-ZsA
Vid: Noam Chomsky on Occupy Boston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5zCqHnd_pY
http://occupyboston.com/
*******
Meanwhile in Portugal...
100,000 rally against austerity in Portugal
http://roarmag.org/2011/10/100000-rally-against-austeri...ures/
Enormous anti-austerity rallies shake crisis-stricken Portugal, with organizers estimating an attendance of at least 130,000 in Lisbon and 50,000 in Porto.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Portugal Saturday against the government’s austerity measures, protest organisers said, amid projections that the economic situation was far worse than expected.
*****
Latest DEMOCRACY NOW feature on the unfolding AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
700 Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge as Occupy Wall Street Enters Third Week, Protests Grows Nationwide
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/3/700_arrested_on_b...ge_as
Boston Occupied: Tent city @ Boston
99% @ Boston
100,000 take to the streets of Portugal: DOWN WITH CAPITALISM
Amy Goodman shows of the OCCUPIED WALL STREET JOURNAL on Democracy Now
Occupy Wall Street
Caption: Video Id: NK7I1uC-ZsA Type: Youtube Video
Why Do You Occupy? - Interviews At Occupy Boston
Caption: Video Id: F5zCqHnd_pY Type: Youtube Video
Noam Chomsky on Occupy Boston
WOW, this is spreading BIGTIME!!!
Echoes of '68 as protests spread from Wall Street
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1004/122....html
(To remember a bit from '68, check out an earlier IMC-IE feature: 40 years ago this month in Paris….Mai 68
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/87672 )
Another somewhat cynical view of the goings on is reported with some very interesting parts in the Times: Wall Street blues
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1004/1....html
From Euronews; Anti-Wall Street protesters ‘get organised’ (vid at link)
http://www.euronews.net/2011/10/03/anti-wall-street-pro...nised
http://www.occupytogether.org/
As this all grows, Ive hunted for an excellent article from the early days of the #SPANISHREVOLUTION to explain how passers by came to check out the freakshow but how quickly got what was going on and joined in, how the numbers just grew and grew and grew...
From Arab Spring to Spanish Summer: The Protests Continue
By Andy Price (Z.Net, Sunday, May 22, 2011)
http://www.zcommunications.org/from-arab-spring-to-span...price
So what this AMERICAN REVOLUTION want???
7 Core Demands from the Occupy Wall Street Movement
http://www.goldstockbull.com/articles/7-demands-from-oc...reet/
Declaration of the Occupation
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on september 29, 2011
http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupatio...city/
And in case you feel like the REVOLUTION hasnt reached you yet, the great people at TAKE THE SQUARE have given a clear "how to" guide in going about that:
How to Start A #Revolution – #globalrevolution
http://takethesquare.net/2011/08/03/how-to-start-a-revo...tion/
The AMERICAN REVOLUTION is spreading
AMERICAN REVOLUTION has gone global and still growing...
OCCUPY TOGETHER, interesting image to see the growth of US OCCUPY sites
How the initial days of the #SPANISHREVOLUTION were supported around the planet (637 nodes)
Are we having another '68 moment? hope so, seems that way
worries me the way a lot of people are comparing this to the 1968 events. A few years ago on the 40th anniversary there was a lot of self-satisfied waxing lyrical from middle-aged people about the revolutions that supposedly happened in that year, but what major changes actually resulted from them? None, as far as I can tell; if anything it was a year in which the forces of reaction gained the upper hand-Nixon elected, the Prague spring suppressed by Soviet army, Martin Luther King assasinated, etc. and yet, to hear them talking you'd think some kind of profound positive change had occurred in that year.
The reason for this seems to be largely people going around talking up the significance of people going out marching in the streets with banners and stuff, hoping that if they repeat the fact that the revolution is here often enough, somehow a revolution will magically come about. Sadly this is not the case. Getting together in large numbers, having a bit of a shout and playing your drums...it's all cathartic and liberating and all, but it is never going to change anything unfortunately.
On Thursday October 6th we will see how the AMERICAN REVOLUTION goes, as forces come to the political heart, Washington DC. Will we see a Tahrir like CAMP CITY outside the White House???
Stop the Machine! Create a New World!
A Call to Action - Oct. 6, 2011 and onward
http://october2011.org/statement
Joint Solidarity Statement by US Day of Rage and the October2011 Movement #oct6 #occupyDC
http://usdayofrage.org/public-announcements/108-occupyd....html
Occupy DC http://occupydc.org/
And in case some people still doubt that this movement is really growing, check out the latest from New York Times:
Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/us/anti-wall-street-p...times
(NEW YORK TIMES) Wall Street Protests Spread - slideshow
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/10/03/us/20111004....html
A Movement is Born (ADBUSTERS - Who put out the original call to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET )
As #OWS spreads across the country, people are realizing, it's time to live!
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/movement-....html
Antother great informative vid from RT, interviewsing Don Debar in support of Occupy Wall Street via Occupy Europe: Occupy Everything: 'US protests have explosive potential'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQW0hHa1WP4
related RT article:
http://rt.com/news/brooklyn-bridge-occupy-wallstreet-859/
Don DeBars blog
http://dondebar.blogspot.com/
Will they achieve their goals? maybe not. Is it worth a shot? Fuck YES!!!
Stop the Machine! Create a New World! - October 6th: This Time Is Different. This Time We Are Not Leaving!
Heres Why - Occupy Everything + Occupy Together
Stop the Machine! Create a New World!
Occupy Everything: 'US protests have explosive potential'
99% of Americans are being fucked, now their starting to say NO
Caption: Video Id: vp89lIDy7Io Type: Youtube Video
October 6th: This Time Is Different. This Time We Are Not Leaving!
Caption: Video Id: kQW0hHa1WP4 Type: Youtube Video
Occupy Everything:
Just in case anyone missed the live vid stream from Wall Street, heres a few vids to give the feel of it and some lads screen shot... Whats important here is that the mainstream media can be completely bypassed, as is happening, as more and more people loose faith in their ability to "Tell the truth"...
To watch, just click the play button on the image embedded in this feature, top green box, or else go straight here http://globalrevolution.tv/
GLOBAL REVOLUTION / occupywallst DAY 12
http://vimeo.com/29720249
banksterpuppetpolice riots & peacefull people movement at #occupywallstreet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZQ6OXPu0fU
Mass arrests and media team under threat livestream Wall Street BREAKING 9.24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z5AyGANrRk
Bypassing the corporate media, picking up and tuning into the LIVE STREAMS
Caption: Video Id: 29720249 Type: Vimeo
GLOBAL REVOLUTION / occupywallst DAY 12
Al Jazeera English 25 minute video report about Occupy Wall Street + Occupy Together...
Rage on Wall Street
Will the US administration manage to defuse protesters' anger over the crumbling economy and 'corporate greed'?
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/201....html
youtube link for this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFOZlOnIjiA
Specific Demand And Action List For Washington, DC
http://occupywallst.org/forum/specific-demand-and-actio...n-dc/
finishes off with 2 links:
Please keep one thing in mind. This is from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Here's the entire "Letter from the Birmingham Jail": http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html
and vid link to:
BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mI0Jpyn5YY
"This economic crisis is just like a cancer, its time to get ready to root it out, governments dont control the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world"
Rage on Wall Street (Al Jazeera English 25 minute video)
Trader on BBC: The Collapse Is Coming...And Goldman Sachs Rules The World
US getting ready to OCCUPY DC in 2 days on Thursday October 6th 2011
Caption: Video Id: aFOZlOnIjiA Type: Youtube Video
Rage on Wall Street (Al Jazeera English 25 minute video)
Caption: Video Id: -mI0Jpyn5YY Type: Youtube Video
Trader on BBC: The Collapse Is Coming...And Goldman Sachs Rules The World
(Politico.ie) Occupy Wall Street grows in size and credibility
http://www.politico.ie/world-politics/7922-occupy-wall-....html
(Irish Left Review) #OccupyDameStreet 8th of Oct, 2pm
http://www.irishleftreview.org/2011/10/04/occupydamestr...-2pm/
Thread: Wall Street occupied by anti-bankster protestors.
http://www.politics.ie/forum/us-politics/170797-wall-st....html
Event post: Occupy Dame Street - Oct 8th - Bring tent
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/100658
https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDameStreet
Rest of world acitons: http://www.occupytogether.org/ + map: http://map.15october.net/
Occupy Dame Street - Oct 8th - Bring tent
We are the 99% - Occupy Dame St
O8 - Objective
Dame St is but 1 node of the #GLOBALREVOLUTION
Livestreams are up for 10+ cities - http://t.co/BeREIPVH #occupywallstreet at http://occupyinfo.tumblr.com/
@OccupyWallSt (New York, NY) LIVESTREAM - http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
@Occupy_Boston (Boston, MA) LIVESTREAM - http://www.livestream.com/occupyboston
@OccupySF (San Francisco, CA) LIVESTREAM - http://www.livestream.com/occupyfdsf
@OccupyLA (Los Angeles, CA) LIVESTREAM - http://www.livestream.com/owslosangeles
Via TWEET
Livestreams are up for 10+ cities - http://t.co/BeREIPVH #occupywallstreet
https://twitter.com/#!/exiledsurfer/status/121293114672562177
Livestreams are up for 10+ cities - http://t.co/BeREIPVH #occupywallstreet at http://occupyinfo.tumblr.com/
TWEET: Livestreams are up for 10+ cities - http://t.co/BeREIPVH #occupywallstreet
"Until you change the way money works, you change nothing"
Not everybody will know who Mike Ruppert is but he has written on topics of Peak Oil, 9/11, the economy and many others for more than a decade. His narrative and its consequent predictions of what is happening in the world have been quite accurate and at this point is still perhaps the best explanation of what is now happening and that is that due to the effects of Peak Oil industrial civilisation is about to collapse and he is one of the relatively few to link Peak Oil to the end of growth and that all the debt racked up in the past decades cannot be repaid and it is this which is really the physical manifestation at the heart of the global financial crisis.
Without futher paraphrasing him, it is probably best to quote his comment on the Occupy Wall Street statement other than to add a note that it was reported that video from the street when panned up to the luxury apartments above showed people out on the balconies sipping champagne and laughing and sneering down at the crowd below.
Until Occupy Wall Street makes a clear statement on the way money works and ending infinite growth it will be leading people into a cul de sac and betraying their hopes. There is no other problem that needs to be identified because until you change the way money works, you change nothing. Every grievance they list arises from the mandate for infinite growth. Fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, and compound interest will always recreate the same end results, no matter how much enthusiasm is mustered or how exciting it may be to see people uniting. The Powers That Be know this. That's why they can sip champagne from balconies and watch the demonstrations with laughter. "Sure, let them have their little venting fest!"
So, I would have to say that the leaders of the movement are misinformed and naive at best, or intellectual and moral cowards at worst, until they name, challenge and focus on the only real issue there is. Half measures do not avail 50% benefits. They avail nothing and we no have five decades of protest history to prove that. Not one progressive or populist movement has changed the world. The world we live in is living proof of that. Human beings have neither the energy or the ability to participate in something like this that will ultimately leave them hungry, beaten, defeated and poorer.
It is simple arithmetic that cannot be challenged. That is why until I see a clear commitment and vision to something that will produce change I can applaud the non-violent power that is being exercised, but I cannot tell our readers with confidence that this will produce anything more than millions of people in the street protesting the invasion of Iraq did. We either get what the issue is or the slow campers will have expended precious energy on nothing... And this may be the last window of opportunity that comes along. -- MCR
Thanks for that T, I had not heard about Mike Ruppert before but am in agreement of much of what he has stated. I am well aware of the PEAK OIL situation, I helped set up the Transition group in Barcelona (transitioning form oil dependance to local resilience) and here in Barcelona, where I live and have been participating with the #SPANISHREVOLUTION im glad to say that much of the transition / permaculture / degrowth / peak oil ideas have entered the discourse and affirmative action is happening at many different levels. Im sure your aware of Transition groups, it did originally come from Kinsale permaculture course, are you aware of the movement, are you involved, if so where, how is it going, what is your take on the movement.
Last July, 2 of us traveled from Barcelona to the Transition Network conference in Liverpool, while there we communicated to the people about what had gone on, in transition terms, during the still ongoing 15M "Spanish Revolution", there was a huge and very supportive response from people there, people from all over the world; japan, brazil, US, europe, Australia... So hopefully the idees are spreading further. It seems, from afar, that the US transition movement is really taking off, im not sure how many "transitioners" are part of the OCCUPY communities and groups, i hope and expect quite a few, I posted on their facebook page about the goings on but have not heard any responses, yet.
See end of this post for the vids and from that time, but more so, listen to the audio after we showed short vids in an impromptu session one night, gathered there were rob hopkins, ben brongwin, peter lipman (who displayed an excellent knowledge of the revolutionary and pre civil war republican times in barcelona, which included huge participation, local currencies, local food distribution, real democracy) pete north (liverpool based geographer, author of LOCAL MONEY) and many others, it was a very passionate discussion and hopefully it served as an important step in the transition story.
My own view, is that we are at a very special moment. Transition was in its own kind of ghetto, in england its been seen as very white, middle class, nice, non confrontational, almost an extended cookery and sewing class. This view, I think is firstly unfair as it is more mixed than that, but i feel it needed to enter that type of world at first for general acceptance and now it, the movement, is growing and going off into exceptional territory... On the other side, the "activist world" has also been in its own ghetto, now something has erupted and that has alllowed for the breaking of ghetto walls and true mixing... I think the 15M discourse is stronger and deeper becuase its had transition / degrowth and ecological critique entered into the discourse more, ie, really pointing out what are the core problems (infinite growth impossible on limited planet, peak oil will give us a right kick in the bolix very soon...) but also that the transition movement is all the better for people, whether or not with transition hats on, have been participating in the revolution on the streets of barcelona; sleeping in the square, involved with commissions, setting up a community garden in placa catalunya (to further highlight oil - food - crash and collapse story) thereby pushing the limits of what exactly transition is. Our own transition group, as well as many other groups here in Catlunya does focus on economic situation, we have alt currency and no money networks (xarxa - the network) there are much intercambios (free no money exchanges) and a growing culture of sharing or alternatives to money (watch the great doc about all that at Homage to Catalonia II ). Local currencies is a big part of the transition movement, have you seen the "Brixton Pound". And in case you doubt the diversity of the transition movement, we now have the first favala (shanty town) of Sao Paolo, Brazil in Transition, as well as a whole host more initiaves all around that wonderful country.
I think there is a further need to deepen the critique, as Mike Ruppert outlines, has he been down himself? A lot of these occupied spaces are many many things, I know as I spent much time in Pl Cat, they can be chaotic, amazing, draining... But its an initial first step, an opening, a crack, that permits people to come together and the discourse to deepen, BUT, thats not all, the important thing is to take those ideas, turn them into achievable goals, and do the work to realize the collective dreams... its ongoing, its always in motion, its definately achievable and it can and should feel like the most amazing adventure to be participating on...
`
Lastly, what ill say is that, while I agree with Mike Ruppert to a point, perhaps he's one who is in what we call "mad max syndrome", see the accmompanying graph which is from the transition world. What the transition community see is that we can creatively and intelligently design our way out of the mess. We now live with huge dependance on oil, whereas in the past it wasnt so, so we can start to lower that dependance and build up our resilience at local community level. In my own district, last thursday we had our first open space for a community participative energy lowering group, the Sant Marti PEP ( http://tinyurl.com/5sbfvb2 ) This is a way of getting to an end point somewhat similar to the MAD MAX view, but just by a different softer route, again see graph, that of EARTH STEWARDSHIP through "creative descent". Kinsale was the first place to really explore this idea, there in 2004 they created the first EDAP (energy descent action plan).
Id also like to point out that a massive event happened in December 2009 and the COP15, when, it seems that the "world leaders" finally said we have a global ecological problem. The whole talks were a failure, but there were many thousands of people on the streets, in centres, over the net, working together to come up with a peoples document of a route we have to take to live in a sustainable, responsible and socially just way... that reasulted in the KLIMAFORUM DECLARTION, see below for links and demands.
So getting back to the US and the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET protests, which seems to be growing and growing, my take is the following: I believe we passed the PEAK OIL moment in late 2008 and that sparked the so-called "financial crisis", here in barcelona on the streets it is seen as a massive con, a hoax... Anyway, point is, that with that something has given, people are loosing their jobs (here in spain 20% unemployment, and nearly 50% for the youth... ) and not being able to pay their mortgage, they start asking questions "why me, why this" and from that common ground has been reached by many many different groups and they have taken the fight to the heart of the problem... it will be a slow and long journey, with some big and quick moments, but we are on the road... from north africa (raising food prices due to energy costs sparked the tunisian man to burn himself...) to spain (energy fights on the border have already led to truckers stabbing each other to death..) to europe (Greece again right now is in clouds of tear gas as the people resist) and now to the US... I believe we will indeed change things around, radically, that belief that its possible is from where i get my drive (as opposed to "fighting the good fight", a point micheal albert talks about very well), first point is connecting, asking questions, getting to know people and community, next part is the action, and thats well underway, i think its but a matter of time till we get there.
With that I salute all those sleeping out in NYC, Boston, Chicago.... and all those ready to take to the streets in Washington tommorow... This is not a "us" and "them" situation... it is a global situation, global problems (caused by todays crazy position global capitalism has been allowed to reach) being met by global solutions, yes its a revolution, but its a peaceful and inclussive revolution... I really believe that in say 60 years people will indeed look back at the year 2011 and say "Wow, what a time to have been alive".
Infos on Transition and Revolution: From #SPANISHREVOLUTION to #AMERICANREVOLUTION and the world of transition
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/99859&comment_limit=0&c...84328
#SPANISHREVOLUTION to #AMERICANREVOLUTION to TRANSITION
vids:
Audios:
INFOS
Peak Oil
COP 15 and the KLIMAFORUM DECLARATION
Mike Ruppert
Our Energy Future (which defines our economic future) - Mad Max or Earth Stewardship, hopefully #occupywallstreet is exploring this
Mike Ruppert : "Until you change the way money works, you change nothing"... Transition is already doing that
Deepening the debate; anti capitalist revolution > planting urban food gardens > local money > resilient communities
Caption: Video Id: 80UdS9WuQXA Type: Youtube Video
15M what
Caption: Video Id: rQF09NG00V8 Type: Youtube Video
TRANSITION TOWNS: An Interview with Rob Hopkins
http://sheffield.indymedia.org.uk/media/2011/07//482475.mp3
Transition and the #SpanishRevolution – Transition Conference 2011, Liverpool
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/transitioning_from_climate_camp_to_eco_villages_to_transition_towns_to_eco_cities.mp3
Transitioning from climate camp to eco villages to transition towns to eco cities
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/transition_town_kinsale.mp3
Transition Town Kinsale – BOLD radio
Roseanne Bar, Cornell West, MIcheal Moore, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, (nearly Radiohead), Salman Rushdie, Deepak Chopra, Michael Moore and Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz... along with 1000's and 1000's of more who consider themselves the 99% and are fighting back...
The mainstream has had to lift its blackout, its simply got WAY too big, and now, even the financial times is making comparisons to the last time the west seriously looked like its foundations were being shaken up; 1968...
(FINANCIAL TIMES) America’s indignados, Gideon Rachman
http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2011/10/americas-indignad...uVwdO
(His earlier article: 2011, the year of global indignation, August 29,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/36339ee2-cf40-11e0-b6d4-...6Jt1W )
(Democracy Now! ) As Unions, Students Join Occupy Wall Street, Are We Witnessing Growth of a New Movement?
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/5/as_unions_student..._wall
Occupy Wall Street gaining huge momentum with Middle America
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/312393
Occupy movement triggers college walk-out push
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?arti...71186
(Rainforest Action Network - RAN) Lessons From Tahrir Square For The Occupation Of Wall Street
http://understory.ran.org/2011/10/04/lessons-from-tahri...reet/
Occupy Wall Street ends capitalism's alibi
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011...-york
This protest pinpoints how dysfunctional our economic system is: we must refashion it for human needs, not corporate aims
Occupy Wall Street Is Now In Eight More Major Cities, And They're Preparing To Go International
http://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-at-occupy-wall-st...11-10
(EURONEWS) George Soros backs anti-Wall Street protests
http://www.euronews.net/2011/10/04/george-soros-backs-a...ests/
Green Movement to Occupy Wall Street Today
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/10/green_movement_...t.php
(SYDNEY MORNING HERALD) It can no longer be business as usual on Wall Street
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/it-can-no-longer...tPsAi
Joseph Stiglitz Was At Occupy Wall Street Yesterday And He Looked Like He Was Having A Great Time
http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-stiglitz-was-at-o...4hTiI
Nobel-winning economist supports ‘Occupy Wall Street’
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/04/nobel-winning-eco...reet/
Photos at http://globalgrind.com/news/dr-deepak-chopra-joins-occu...hotos
VID: Deepak Chopra @ occupy wall street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkwS3C6KBDA
Joseph Stiglitz and Jeff Madrick @ #occupywallstreet Open Economic Forum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TF8L2DWhpw
Whole thing has a whiff of 1968 about it... FINANCIAL TIMES on America’s indignados
Depak Chopra gives support and leads a meditation session at #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Nobel Prize winner Joe Stiglitz comes and gives support to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Caption: Video Id: RkwS3C6KBDA Type: Youtube Video
Deepak Chopra @ occupy wall street
Caption: Video Id: 2TF8L2DWhpw Type: Youtube Video
Joseph Stiglitz and Jeff Madrick @ #occupywallstreet
Guardian Live Feed:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/oct/05/occupy...-live
5.12pm: Paul Harris says there could be as many as 15,000 on the march. More are on the way – Village Voice reports:
Willis Plummer, in a student group marching down currently at Franklin and Lafayette, reports that the police have trucks and police buses parked in the middle of the streets as seeming barricades, but that people are going around them. He says "there are about 2000 people marching down" to meet the group at Foley Square.
Occupy Wall Street march under way in New York
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/occupy-wall...march
Occupy Wall Street: more than the sum of its demands
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011...mands
Occupy Wall Street: the direct action committee driving the protest's success
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/occupy-wall...ction
The policing of Occupy Wall Street: we are watching (By Amy Goodman, from Democracy Now)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011...odman
Guardian today; live feed + 4 articles
Apparently JP Morgan Chase are a bit worried about all this so they donated 4.6 million dollars to the NY police so they can beat up and arrest protesters more efficiently for the 1%
http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Home/article/ny-...3.htm
Anonymous plan to attack the stockmarket on october 10th. Yay!
http://www.anonnews.org/index.php?p=press&a=item&i=1185
Anonymous twitter feed
http://twitter.com/#!/AnonymousIRC
Media systematically ridiculing protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzdyXkfEaXc&NR=1
This clip however didn't make it on to bill o reilly!! ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGrp1xAhtR0
Kudos to all the "occupy" protesters!
When I see "spritual gurus" like Deepak Chopra attending it very much worries me. I hope this doesn't turn in to the middle class want their share of the trough and right to consume the planet. I really hope the impulse is deeper than this.
“If I can't dance - I don't want to be part of your revolution” - Emma Goldman
(Emma Goldman was a Lithuanian born American International anarchist who conducted leftist activities in the United States from about 1890 to 1917. 1869-1940. Infos at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman vid of her at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTCMcO4WTjE )
A few Tunes to mark this special occasion, the next #AMERICANREVOLUTION...
Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG8ZUaLACZ8
Tracy Chapman- Talking about revolution (Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, 1988）
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXY9V7yVyRM
NINA SIMONE - Revolution (1969)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16a3BX-uV4k
"Times are changing" - Bob Dylan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vou4qUu5YY
John Lennon - Imagine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name - 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8de2W3rtZsA
Jim Page - Didn't We (Re N30 and the shutting down of the WTO in Seattle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW6u75jBLec
Bob Marley War live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFHYyErkA0
faithless weapons of mass destruction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TsCud9QhU
Le Tigre - New Kicks (Marking F15, Feb 15th and the global day of action against the war in Iraq)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wksYjIXLGYE
Sepultura - Refuse/Resist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODNxy3YOPU
This Is What Democracy Looks Like (Madison, Wisconsin. Saturday February 19, 2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ7DwzT_4YI
“If I can't dance - I don't want to be part of your revolution” - Emma Goldman
Caption: Video Id: EG8ZUaLACZ8 Type: Youtube Video
Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now
Caption: Video Id: HXY9V7yVyRM Type: Youtube Video
Tracy Chapman- Talking about revolution (Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, 1988)
Yet another excellent video from RT- Chris Hedges: No way in US system to vote against banks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5RxhahHK0
(thanks to IMC-IE mods for finding this one)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges
Chris Hedges is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies. His most recent book is "The World As It Is".
Caption: Video Id: uz5RxhahHK0 Type: Youtube Video
Chris Hedges: No way in US system to vote against banks (RT)
thanks Chris! Glad to see someone actually watched it! ;-)
Its from the Alyona show on RT. She is giving good coverage to the wall street protest at the moment for anyone interested. Alas her show is on at 4am mon-sat so it's a sky+ job (channel 512 sky).
fortunately its usually available on youtube too though.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow
-ws
And now its the indignation has come to Ireland, #OccupyDameStreet is at day 3 and growing nicely and getting great support from the ground, infos at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/100658
Meanwhile back in Wall Street, famouns philosopher and political commentator SLAVOJ ZIZEK came down and shared his views
Today Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek
http://occupywallst.org/article/today-liberty-plaza-had...izek/
Yesterday Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek #OWS
http://anonops.blogspot.com/2011/10/yesterday-liberty-p....html
VIDS
SLAVOJ ZIZEK AT OWS PART1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9BWlcRwPQ
SLAVOJ ZIZEK AT OWS PART2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UpmUly9It4
Caption: Video Id: eu9BWlcRwPQ Type: Youtube Video
Today Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek: PART 1
Caption: Video Id: 7UpmUly9It4 Type: Youtube Video
Today Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek: PART 2
#Occupydamestreet spreading to further news outlets around planet:
#Occupydamestreet makes front page Irish news
Latest vids from #OccupyDameStreet
+
Žižek at Wall Street: “don’t fall in love with yourselves”
#Occupydamestreet makes front page Irish news
Caption: Video Id: tFz1VVXsWRU Type: Youtube Video
Incredible Speech By Wall Street Protester "End The Fed" 2011
Caption: Video Id: 9IxQLpMcowQ Type: Youtube Video
#occupydamestreet (madamk)
Cops beat veterans in boston
http://www.fempop.com/2011/10/11/cops-beat-veterans-in-...llas/
related vid: #occupyboston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu63e7QD_5k
Boston police arrest 50 from #OccupyBoston movement
http://anonops.blogspot.com/2011/10/boston-police-arres....html
follow on FB at http://www.facebook.com/OccupyBoston
Latest POSTS:
follow their LIVE STREAM at http://www.livestream.com/occupyboston
here you can watch recorded vids that went out as live streams earlier
earlier vid, from some days back: Cornel West addresses #OccupyBoston + National Nurses United protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDEleci0ub4
#OccupyBoston : Occupied square evicted + Cops beat veterans
#OccupyBoston : Occupied square evicted + Cops beat veterans
Caption: Video Id: Iu63e7QD_5k Type: Youtube Video
#OccupyBoston : Occupied square evicted + Cops beat veterans
Caption: Video Id: QDEleci0ub4 Type: Youtube Video
Cornel West addresses #OccupyBoston + National Nurses United protesters
@OccupyBOS_Media : Yes, I'm tweeting from jail. Occupy!! #occupyboston. -a.
(Tweet after the cop violence and mass arrest last night at Occupy Boston )
https://twitter.com/#!/OccupyBOS_Media/status/123652976781955072
#occupydamestreet gets further coverage on online media:
Occupy Wall Street Protest Now On Every Continent Except Antarctica!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJvgHPZ1-uo
@OccupyBOS_Media : Yes, I'm tweeting from jail. Occupy!! #occupyboston. -a.
Caption: Video Id: VJvgHPZ1-uo Type: Youtube Video
Occupy Wall Street Protest Now On Every Continent Except Antarctica! (includes vid from dublin)
Vietnam War resister and a founder of the plowshares movemenet, Fr. Dan Berrigan SJ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Berrigan
now 90 years of age, watches the golden calf go by at #occupywallstreet
http://twitpic.com/6xt3cq
VIDEO of "Golden Calf" protest
http://blog.faithinpubliclife.org/2011/10/faith_leaders....html
Rise up, stand tall, and strap on an Occupy Wall Street condom. Apparently the Occupy Wall Street movement has grown big enough to warrant its own novelty condom.
Condomania has just released a new condom in honor of the Wall Street Protesters. Condomania says that 99% of the country is currently getting screwed so they might as well wear a condom.
Condomania writes:
“Occupy Condoms! Why? Whether or not you agree with the ‘demands’ of the Occupy Wall Street movement that is sweeping the U.S., one thing is for sure; lots of people out there are tired of feeling screwed. Occupy Condoms say it all in a neat little package while affording young protestors the protection they need to stay safe in the passionate frenzy that is social protest.”
But isn’t capitalizing on the movement a little hypocritical? Condomania believes that it has solved that problem by offering the condoms at a 70% discount. The regular price for a 30 pack of condoms, like the Obama Stimulus Package condoms, Sarah Palin Protection condoms, or Election Protection condoms, usually sell for about $40. The Occupy Wall Street condoms are going for just $11.99.
Condomania said:
“Occupy Condoms are sold at a 70% discount to demonstrate our support for social change and the virtuous pursuit of equality for all. Mostly, we didn’t think it cool to be capitalizing quite so blatantly on a protest movement that itself is concerned about unscrupulous profiteering. So, we’ll just hope for some good buzz and a small amount of unscrupulous profits.”
tired getting screwed by wall street ? use this.
Bloomberg could kick out protesters at Occupy clean-up
https://www.rt.com/usa/news/bloomberg-clean-occupy-zucc...-787/
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street! (anonymous)
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
Join us at 6AM FRIDAY for non-violent eviction defense.
http://anonops.blogspot.com/2011/10/live-occupywallstre....html
4 months ago, May 27, a similar "Cop aided Clean UP" happened in Barcelona...
Related video: http://vimeo.com/24386075
Related post on Indymedia Ireland: M27 - The spanish revolution is attacked by the Police, WE ARE STRONGER
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/99859#comment281193
Barcelona Camp being evicted now so Barca Football club can celebrate
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/99883
May 27; "Cop aided Clean UP" in Barcelona..
It only made us stronger... from 3,000 to 10,000
Caption: Video Id: 24386075 Type: Vimeo
May 27; "Cop aided Clean UP" in Barcelona..
http://redactednews.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-st....html
The Consensus Straitjacket
The members of the secret steering committee have taken a leading role in imposing the unwieldy and time-consuming formalism of always reaching a consensus in the general assembly, meaning that any significant opposition can block the implementation of urgent actions. A simple up or down majority vote is not enough. (The last governing assembly of any major nation to give each member a veto over the actions of the whole body was the aristocratic Polish Diet of the 18th century, which was so dysfunctional that it led to Poland being obliterated from the map of Europe – not an example to be imitated.)
The consensus method provides immense comfort to the predatory speculators of Wall Street, since it virtually guarantees that no potent and controversial strategy to break the power of finance capital can emerge. Indeed, it guarantees that absolutely nothing will be able to emerge in an emergency after a rapid turn in the overall situation. The US Congress is paralyzed by a minority, but the consensus rules of the general assembly mean that it can be paralyzed by a tiny clique bent on sabotage. In the background, the covert steering committee is busy creating a series of faits accomplis.
The deliberations of the general assembly are one big filibuster. On October 4, much of the session was taken up with an agonized discussion of whether to buy or knit and sew sleeping bags as the nights became colder. Right-wing commentators hostile to the protests had a field day using this grotesque scene to mock the entire movement.
Those who run the General assembly sessions are known as facilitators. The relation of these facilitators to the secret steering committee is being investigated. . . . . . .
Caption: Video Id: 3QZlp3eGMNI Type: Youtube Video
Unbeliveably Childish carry-on in Seattle, Which reminds me of . . . .
Caption: Video Id: jVygqjyS4CA Type: Youtube Video
. . . . I
Hijacked, no, if youve been participating youd know that. In the US, as usual, there is a very small section of society spouting the "conspiracy theory" claptrap... facilators rotate, there is no "core leaders", this has allowed things grow so quickly, so massivly, so powerfully, so organicallly. The fact that your main link is to http://conservartive.com/ speaks volumes, the conservative section of US society must be, to use the words of Cornell West "trembling in its boots", as they are the ones who have facilitated this corporate hijacking of democracy for their own ends. Their imperialist days are over though, these weeks have been but only the beginning.
Long live the GLOBAL REVOLUTION.... WE ARE WINNING.
Support the #OccupyWallStreet callout, take to the streets, occupy, connect, change the world...
October 15th Call to Action
http://occupywallst.org/article/10-15-call-to-action/
October 15th Call to Action - vid
http://vimeo.com/30448960
Revolution - The Times They Are A-Changin' - vid
http://vimeo.com/30252365
15.10.11 United for Global Change
Caption: Video Id: 30448960 Type: Vimeo
October 15th Call to Action
Caption: Video Id: 30252365 Type: Vimeo
Revolution - The Times They Are A-Changin
Dr. Patch Adams MD at Freedom Plaza - Day 8
Vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVAA1CyGQN8
Report: http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/revolution-lov...plaza
He talks about commmunity, health care and how we have to enter the "we" back into the discourse, not the I I I, me me me...
a FREE doctor for 40 years, "nuclear family" is stupid, we are communal animals, get together collectively...
He talks about how only 3% of people who came to see him had a good sense of self esteem, most people didnt love themselves, their work, their communities...
find out more about this revolutionary doctor from his web at http://www.patchadams.org/ or read his amazing book, a call to arms to change the world;
Gesundheit!: Bringing Good Health to You, the Medical System, and Society through Physician Service, Complementary Therapies, Humor, and Joy
http://www.amazon.com/Gesundheit-Bringing-Physician-Com...1781X
Dr. Patch Adams MD at Freedom Plaza : We need a Revolution of Love
Caption: Video Id: UVAA1CyGQN8 Type: Youtube Video
Dr. Patch Adams MD at Freedom Plaza : We need a Revolution of Love
On Playing By The Rules - The Strange Success Of #OccupyWallStreet
By David Graeber - who is currently a Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths University London. Prior to that he was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University. He is also an author
- http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/david-graeber-on....html
(Yves here. I have to note that David DeGraw of http://ampedstatus.com/ is widely credited as the originator of “We are the 99%.”)
who were we? Who did want to appeal to? Who did we represent? Someone—this time I remember quite clearly it was me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a half dozen others had equally strong memories of being the first to come up with it—suggested, “well, why not call ourselves ‘the 99%’? If 1% of the population have ended up with all the benefits of the last 10 years of economic growth, control the wealth, own the politicians… why not just say we’re everybody else?” The Spanish couple quickly began to lay out a “We Are the 99%” pamphlet, and we started brainstorming ways to print and distribute it for free.
We quickly decided that what we really wanted to do was something like had already been accomplished in Athens, Barcelona, or Madrid: occupy a public space to create a New York General Assembly, a body that could act as a model of genuine, direct democracy to contrapose to the corrupt charade presented to us as “democracy” by the US government. The Wall Street action would be a stepping-stone.
Most of New York’s grumpier hard-core anarchists refused to join in, and mocked us from the sidelines as reformist; meanwhile, the more open, “small-a” anarchists, who had been largely responsible for organizing the facilitation and trainings, battled the verticals in the group to ensure that we did not institute anything that could become a formal leadership structure, such as police liaisons or marshals.
Even the commitment to direct action, so often confused with breaking windows or the like, really refers to the refusal of any politics of protest, that merely appeals to the authorities to behave differently, and the determination instead to act for oneself, and to do what one thinks is right, regardless of law and authority. Gandhi’s salt march, for example, is a classic example of direct action. So was squatting Zuccotti Park. It’s a public space; we were the public; the public shouldn’t have to ask permission to engage in peaceful political assembly in its own park; so we didn’t. By doing so we not only acted in the way we felt was right, we aimed to set an example to others: to begin to reclaim communal resources that have been appropriated for purposes of private profit to once again serve for communal use—as in a truly free society, they would be—and to set an example of what genuine communal use might actually be like. For those who desire to create a society based on the principle of human freedom, direct action is simply the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free.
Actually, the development of consensus process, which is probably the movement’s greatest accomplishment, emerges (from small-a anarchism) just as much from the tradition of radical feminism, and draws on spiritual traditions from Native American to Quakerism.
And then it happened. The last time I went back to Zuccotti Square, and watched middle aged construction workers and Latino hip hop artists using all our old hand signals in mass meetings, one of my old anarchist comrades—a one-time tree-sitter and inveterate eco-activist who used to go by the name Warcry, and was now established in the park as video documentarians—admitted to me, “every few hours I do have to pinch myself to make sure it isn’t all a dream.”
Say what you will about Americans, and one can say many things, this is a country of deeply democratic sensibilities. The idea that we are, or are supposed to be, a democratic society is at the very core of what makes us proud to be Americans. If Occupy Wall Street has spread to every city in America, it’s because our financial overlords have brought us to such a pass that anarchists, pagan priestesses, and tree-sitters are about the only Americans left still holding out for the idea that a genuinely democratic society might be possible.
*****
Earlier article with David Graeber in the Guardian:
Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination (Sunday 25 September)
The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011...otest
Related vid:
David Graeber on the Occupy Wall Street Protest (Democracy Now)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPeaFKvszKI
"Occupy Wall Street": Thousands March in NYC Financial District, Set Up Protest Encampment
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/19/occupy_wall_stree...ch_in
Origins of #occupywallstreet - Small a anarchist David Graebers views
Caption: Video Id: CPeaFKvszKI Type: Youtube Video
David Graeber on the Occupy Wall Street Protest (Democracy Now)
How Occupy Wall Street Really Got Started
Meet the international activists who lit the fuse for the populist protest movement that's sweeping the world. (Mother Jones mag)
— By Andy Kroll
( Andy's work has appeared at The Wall Street Journal, SportsIllustrated.com, The Detroit News, Salon, and TomDispatch.com, where he's an associate editor. He works in Mother Jones' DC Bureau, and can be reached at akroll (at) motherjones (dot) com)
Months before the first occupiers descended on Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, before the news trucks arrived and the unions endorsed, before Michael Bloomberg and Michael Moore and Kanye West made appearances, a group of artists, activists, writers, students, and organizers gathered on the fourth floor of 16 Beaver Street, an artists' space near Wall Street, to talk about changing the world. There were New Yorkers in the room, but also Egyptians, Spaniards, Japanese, Greeks. Some had played a part in the Arab Spring uprising; others had been involved in the Protests catching fire across Europe. But no one at 16 Beaver knew they were about light the fuse on a protest movement that would sweep the United States and fuel similar uprisings around the world..
Without that worldly group that met at 16 Beaver and later created the NEW YORK GENERAL ASSEMBLY, there might not have been an Occupy Wall Street as we know it today.
*****
NEW YORK GENERAL ASSEMBLY http://www.nycga.net/
We are the 99 per cent - How Occupy Wall Street Really Got Started
In reaction to the near killing of a protester, US war vet who served 2 terms in Iraq, Scott Olsen.
latest:
Occupy Oakland general strike – Thursday 3 November
• Port of Oakland shut down• Police fire teargas at protesters
• Protesters set barricade on fire
live blog - oakland night http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/nov/03/occupy...-live
Oakland port is shut down by Occupy protesters
One of America's busiest shipping ports is closed after thousands of demonstrators march on the city
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/03/oakland-por...ccupy
LINKS:
- (mother jones) What Does the #OccupyOakland Strike Have to do With 1946? http://mojo.ly/sxpt0d #ows
- (Democracy Now) Occupy Oakland Prepares for General Strike as War Veterans Organize Day of Action at Occupy Camps
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/2/occupy_oakland_pr...trike
- LIVE: Police in stand-off with Occupy Oakland protesters
http://storyful.com/stories/1000011117
- OWS Oakland Takes Over City, Shutting Down One of the Biggest Ports in the Country...But Nightfall Brings More Chaos and Teargas http://tinyurl.com/3cwqd54
- (RT) Occupy Oakland strike vs tear gas, flashbangs, rubber bullets
http://rt.com/news/occupy-oakland-general-strike-467/
#OccupyOakland has shut down the port, first #Generalstrike since 1946 - Go Occupy Oakland
Thousands took the bridge to the port
thousands watch #oakland on the live stream
great foto standing on the trucks and loving life at the port:)
late after strike, cops were out again on the streets, MORE tear gas + rubber bullets
..from the sidelines
Dig up Mr Cohen's 'Democracy is coming to the USA' from his 'The Future' album..
..and blast it at the cops.
Just a thought.
You can't evict an idea whose time has come.
Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces - our spaces - and, physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas. Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people -- all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power
This is a statement from the Occupy Wall Street after the eviction that happened about 5 hours ago, 1am local time, of Zucutti park...
OCCUPY WALL STREET has been evicted. Presently there are 100s of occupiers on braodway and they have just been joined by a big support march, there are more than 1000 people, this is all coming live through the LIVESTREAM, they said that they will act as their brothers and sisters did in Oakland 2 days ago; If the cops push us, we will push them back (in a peaceful way, in OO, the protesters repelled the horses that were sent in), presently calls to go to Foley park and carry out an imediate GA (general assembly), while the group with the livecam are presently standing on cop vans and the police helicopter above, shining the spotlight down...
Links:
LIVESTREAM: http://www.ustream.tv/theother99 (currently 10,000 people watching it)
GUARDIAN live feed: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/nov/15/occupy-...-live
(guardian) Occupy Wall Street: New York police begin clearing Zuccotti Park
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/15/occupy-wall...-park
(new york times) Police Begin Clearing Zuccotti Park of Protesters
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/police-begin....html
(Al Jazeera VID) New York police evicting 'Occupy' protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2pVafxS8ZU
9.02AM: I've just received very useful this round-up of tonight's events from Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for Democracy Now, filing for the Guardian. He writes:
Hundreds of officers with the New York City Police Department descended on the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan late this evening. At approximately 1.00am protesters say the NYPD set up emergency vehicles around the park and turned on massive flood lights. Scores of officers in riot gear began entering the park and handing out notices of eviction. Protesters say there was little time to respond the department's orders to disperse. Several hundred of the demonstrators rallied around the park's central eating area.
With roughly 200 protesters collected in the kitchen space, police and sanitation workers began tearing down tents and any standing structures around the park. Protester's belongings were thrown into massive piles then loaded into large trucks.
Media were repeatedly directed away from the square and eventually confined to a metal pen at the far end of the block. Police buses were later parked in front of the pen, blocking clear shots of the park.
Meanwhile in the kitchen area six protesters reportedly used bicycle locks to chain themselves together by the neck. The demonstrators gathered at the centre of the park were free to leave but chose to stay, forming seated columns with their arms locked.
A mass of police officers began to gather around the kitchen area to begin arresting the remaining protesters. Reports from inside indicated the arrests were orderly and non-violent, but some protesters and press who managed to leave the area reported that they saw officers beating and stepping on demonstrators.
Occupy Wall Street: New York police begin clearing Zuccotti Park
1AM cops arrived with floodlights to evict "It was just like daytime"
The revolution is being LIVESTREAMED
We are the 99% - We will resist!!!
Caption: Video Id: y2pVafxS8ZU Type: Youtube Video
(Al Jazeera VID) New York police evicting 'Occupy' protesters
Looks like only the 1% will be allowed to occupy wall street from now on since the 99% movement could not be co-opted to get Obama another term in office.
Caption: Video Id: C5K6l-_-uDY Type: Youtube Video
WE ARE THE 1%
All these pictures are sourced from the link below
Lara Marlowe draws the links between 1932 and today. Full text at link
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1119/1224307821292.html
Raids on Occupy camps carry powerful echoes of US history
LARA MARLOWE
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
AMERICA : In 1932, first World War veterans and their families camping out in Washington were branded criminals and communists
WHEN POLICE cleared out encampments of the Occupy movement around the country this week, the late-night raids, demonstrations, arrests and skirmishes carried powerful echoes of US history.
In 1932, three years after the start of the Great Depression, tens of thousands of first World War veterans and their families camped out in the mudflats along the Anacostia river in southeast Washington, within view of the Capitol.
They scavenged wrecked cars, chicken coops and scraps of wood from a nearby dump to build their shanty town. Like the tents pitched in Zuccotti Park, the camp lasted two months.
In 1924, the US government had promised bonuses averaging $1,000 to first World War veterans, but the certificates of service could not be redeemed until 1945. By 1932, the men who fought in the trenches of Europe were poor, hungry and homeless.
The “Bonus Army” started on May 25th, 1932, when veterans in Portland, Oregon, gathered in the railroad yards with bugles and flags, then hitched rides on freight trains to Washington, to demand immediate payment.
Word spread and men, women and children converged from all over the country.
Then, as now, Congress had bailed out big business. Like the present-day Occupy protesters, the Bonus Army enjoyed popular support. On Sundays, residents of the capital “came down and brought them sleeping bags and tents, cigarettes and food, big bags of potatoes in sacks, and turnips and a piece of pork or something”, Tom Allen, co-author of The Bonus Army: An American Epic , recounted on National Public Radio (NPR).
Like Occupy Wall Street, the Bonus Army organised its camp.
“There was a library and there was a post office,” Allen continued. “They had their own barber shops; produced their own newspaper, the Bef News [for Bonus Expeditionary Force]. It had streets with the names of states.”
Like Occupy Wall Street, the Bonus Army was maligned by the establishment. Then they were branded criminals and communists. This week, representative Peter King of New York hammered endlessly on television that the occupants of Zuccotti Park were “living in faeces and urine, living in their own filth”.
The 1932 protesters received the support of retired marine corps general Smedley Butler, who visited the country’s largest “Hooverville” (after the Depression-era US president Herbert Hoover) along the Anacostia.
“I never saw such fine Americanism as is exhibited by you people,” Butler told the protesters. “You have just as much right to have a lobby here as any steel corporation. Makes me so damn mad, a whole lot of people speak of you as tramps. By God, they didn’t speak of you as tramps in 1917 and ’18.”
The House of Representatives voted to pay the bonuses, but the Senate refused. When police went to clear out squatters from abandoned buildings near the Capitol, they were cornered and opened fire, killing two veterans.
The largest fighting force seen in Washington since the end of the civil war was mobilised.
“These guys got in there and they started waving their sabres, chasing these veterans out, and they started shooting tear gas,” said Fred Blancher, a witness to the crackdown whose archive interview was broadcast by NPR.
“There was just so much noise and confusion, hollering and there was smoke and haze.”
The army scattered protesters, then burned their camp to the ground.
The charge down Pennsylvania Avenue was commanded by the army chief of staff, Gen Douglas MacArthur, later of second World War fame, and then Maj George S Patton. Onlookers shouted “Shame! Shame!” at the army.
The future US president Dwight D Eisenhower, then an aide to MacArthur, was appalled that the army would attack veterans. “I told that dumb son-of- a-bitch not to go down there,” Eisenhower said later.
Newsreels of the clashes were shown in cinemas across the US. The public sided with the veterans. Hoover was badly beaten by Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1932 election.
Four years later, the veterans received their bonuses. In 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill, out of gratitude to the military and to ease soldiers’ transition to civilian life.
But today, again, unemployment and homelessness are significantly higher among veterans, who are strongly represented in the Occupy movement. In a rare show of unanimity, the House this week voted to provide tax incentives to companies that hire veterans.
Economist Jeffrey Sachs cited two historical precedents for the backlash against corporate corruption and greed, in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
The present-day 30-year “Reagan era” echoes the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, with its robber barons, and the Roaring 20s, a pro- business period that culminated in the Great Depression, Sachs wrote.
The Depression led to Roosevelt’s New Deal, decades of greater equality, higher top tax rates, stronger trade unions and financial regulation.
It is too soon to know what will happen to the Occupy movement but Sachs is convinced it heralds a “new progressive era”.
..that as they mobilise against the Occupiers..their stooges in the Egyptian military are moving on Tahrir with the proxy jackboot in Cairo.
University of Davis, California - Police Pepper Spraying
Doing What They Do Best - Protecting the Capitalist System
Police in the U.S. have used pepper spray against students taking part in an 'Occupy' campaign at the University of California. Demonstrators had been ordered to remove their camp, but after refusing, officers showed up and tore their tents down.
(RT news report) Occupy Maced: Police pepper spray unarmed youth, tear tents down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBk1ogP18K0
(full footage of spraying) Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJmmnMkuEM
University of Davis, California - Police Pepper Spraying
Caption: Video Id: FBk1ogP18K0 Type: Youtube Video
(RT news report) Occupy Maced: Police pepper spray unarmed youth, tear tents down
Caption: Video Id: WmJmmnMkuEM Type: Youtube Video
Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis
..und der hidden politburo
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27806
" It's no surprise that the Romney campaign is raising money from Wall Street by saying they want to repeal consumer protections and allow Wall Street to write its own rules," KEEPING IT HONEST: Wall Street, a key contributor to Obama in 2008, seems to be switching allegiances.
" Hum.. I wonder why? Maybe the gang on Wall Street does not wish to alienate “their” representatives? Mr. Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan and Senator McConnell and his 43 obstructionists in the senate that are provided their campaign funds! After all, this same Wall Street Gang were the direct recipients of trillion dollar tax payer bailout with no conditions and used it some of it for bonuses! According to Senator Bernie Sanders, it is now clear that the Republicans /hypocrites made pledges that they are for their “only” plan of continuing its Class War against the middle Class to protect their rich Millionaires on Wall street and Billions like the Gover Norquest, Russ Limbaugh, Rupert Murdock and others like the Koch Brothers that provide them their campaign funds! Their plan was never about creating American jobs for the unemployed middle class! LET'S PUBLICLY LIST THE NAME OF EVERY POLITICIAN AND WALL STREET GIVER SO AMERICAN CAN KNOW WHO IS ON "TAKE" AND SELLING MIDDLE AMERICA OUT!