Best Free Podcasts. Occupy was right: capitalism has failed the world. Occupy was right: capitalism has failed the world. DN! AARON MATÉ: An Occupy Wall Street activist has been found guilty of assaulting a New York City police officer, but critics say the trial should have been about the police assaulting her.
Cecily McMillan was arrested in March 2012 as protesters tried to re-occupy Zuccotti Park six months after Occupy began. McMillan was convicted of deliberately striking Officer Grantley Bovell with her elbow, leaving him with a black eye. The Start of Something New: transitioning GA to CA. Community Assembly Every 1st WED. of Month From Announcement of 1st CA — December 2013 The OPDX Info Team and the Friends of Occupy Portland (FOOP) have been in discussion over the decline in General Assembly (GA) attendance and whether it is serving the community needs anymore.
In a special GA next week [Dec. 11, 2013], they propose an end to the regular General Assembly (which merely confirms the current de facto situation) and will also be unveiling a new meeting format, the Community Assembly (CA). Occupy Wall Street's debt buying strikes at the heart of capitalism. Across the United States, 2,693 people have received a letter in the last few months, which identified a debt and read: "You are no longer under any obligation to settle this account with the original creditor, the bill collector, or anyone else.
" Revealed: how the FBI coordinated the crackdown on Occupy. It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: new documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall – so mystifying at the time – was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police.
The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves –was coordinated with the big banks themselves. The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, in a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major US media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?) , filed this request. Verheyden-Hilliard points out the close partnering of banks, the New York Stock Exchange and at least one local Federal Reserve with the FBI and DHS, and calls it "police-statism": Are Millennials the Screwed Generation? - Newsweek and The Daily Beast. The Responses to 'Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama' - Conor Friedersdorf.
Some advocates of backing "the lesser evil" actually prioritize civil liberties and human rights even less than they themselves imagined.
Reuters My recent article, "Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama," is one of dozens I've written in the last several years criticizing President Obama for violating civil liberties, expanding executive power, and waging a secretive drone war that presumes all unidentified males killed are "militants. " Why did it receive more attention, by many orders of magnitude, than any of those articles?
One significant reason is that partisan Democrats reliably pay attention to every issue that might impact Obama's chances at the ballot box -- and frequently ignore many important issues that won't. Glenn Greenwald: Elite Media Biased Against Occupy Wall Street. Hedges Gov't can Kill US Citizens No Evidence Sues Obama ∞ NDAA NDRP Martial Law U R the Enemy. Add It Up: Taxes Avoided by the Rich Could Pay Off the Deficit. Conservatives force the deficit issue, ignoring job creation, and insisting that tax increases on the rich wouldn't generate enough revenue to balance the budget.
They're way off. But it takes a little arithmetic to put it all together. In the following analysis, data has been taken from a variety of sources, some of which may overlap or slightly disagree, but all of which lead to the conclusion that withheld revenue, not excessive spending, is the problem. 1.
Individual and small business tax avoidance costs us $450 billion. The IRS estimates that 17 percent of taxes owed were not paid, leaving an underpayment of $450 billion. 2. There are numerous examples of tax avoidance by the big companies, but the most outrageous fact may be that corporations decided to drastically cut their tax rates after the start of the recession. Will We Have to Wait for a 21st Century Peasants’ Revolt Before Seeing Any Real Change?
While everyone from Tony Blair to Nouriel Roubini is debating whether or not bankers should be hung, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg provide some fascinating historical context.
The journal's Jason Zweig reports: Financial criminals throughout history have been beaten, tortured and even put to death, with little evidence that severe punishments have consistently deterred people from misconduct that could make them rich. The history of drastic punishment for financial crimes may be nearly as old as wealth itself. David Harvey video interview - the Guardian. David Graeber: New Police Strategy in New York – Sexual Assault Against Peaceful Protestors. By David Graeber, a Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and an author and activist currently based in New York A few weeks ago I was with a few companions from Occupy Wall Street in Union Square when an old friend — I’ll call her Eileen — passed through, her hand in a cast.
“What happened to you?” I asked. “Oh, this?” 99 to 1 - A BK Currents book by Chuck Collins. Occupy May Day: Not Your Usual General Strike. Last December, Occupy Los Angeles proposed a General Strike on May 1 “for migrant rights, jobs for all, a moratorium on foreclosures, and peace – and to recognize housing, education and health care as human rights.” The idea has spread through the Occupy movement. Concentrated wealth is a long-term threat to America. Occupy Wall Street is not known for the precision of its economic analysis, but new research on income distribution in the United States shows that the group’s sloganeering provides a stunningly accurate picture of the economy.
In 2010, according to a study published this month by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez, 93 percent of income growth went to the wealthiest 1 percent of American households, while everyone else divvied up the 7 percent that was left over. Put another way: The most fundamental characteristic of the U.S. economy today is the divide between the 1 percent and the 99 percent. It was not ever thus. In the recovery that followed the downturn of the early 1990s, the wealthiest 1 percent captured 45 percent of the nation’s income growth. In the recovery that followed the dot-com bust 10 years ago, Saez noted, 65 percent of the income growth went to the top 1 percent. Video Citizens United vs. the 99% Outlawing Occupy - US Making It Illegal to Protest or Voice Your Opinions and Concerns. 'Occupy' as a business model: The emerging open-source civilisation. Chiang Mai, Thailand - Last week I discussed the value crisis of contemporary capitalism: the broken feedback loop between the productive publics who create exponentially increasing use value, and those who capture this value through social media - but do not return these income streams to the value "produsers".
In other words, the current so-called "knowledge economy" is a sham and a pipe dream - because abundant goods do not fare well in a market economy. James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change. The truth about violence at Occupy. When you fall in love, it’s all about what you have in common, and you can hardly imagine that there are differences, let alone that you will quarrel over them, or weep about them, or be torn apart by them — or if all goes well, struggle, learn, and bond more strongly because of, rather than despite, them.
The Occupy movement had its glorious honeymoon when old and young, liberal and radical, comfortable and desperate, homeless and tenured all found that what they had in common was so compelling the differences hardly seemed to matter. Until they did. Revolutions are always like this: at first all men are brothers and anything is possible, and then, if you’re lucky, the romance of that heady moment ripens into a relationship, instead of a breakup, an abusive marriage, or a murder-suicide. Salon.com. Defend the Bill of Rights for All of Us. On Bill of Rights Day, Thursday, Dec 15 there will be a Press Conference on Federal Court Steps, 40 Centre St., Manhattan, 11am. A coffin of the Bill of Rights will be brought to Federal Court Foley Square, NY, NY The Bill of rights was ratified 220 years ago, on December 15, 1791.
It is shameful that today, in the United States, we are forced to come together in defense of the Bill of Rights and our civil liberties, as the representatives of the 1% who rule this country continue to take our rights away. Congress is attempting to bury the Bill of Rights. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA) includes language proposed by Democratic Sen. Occupy Protesters Have Blocked Access to Three West-Coast Ports - National. Occupy It All: Military Vets Will March with Scott Olsen to Shut Down the Ports. I have no idea what it takes to have your skull smashed, get dragged out of harms way by your buddies while all hell is breaking loose around you, spend a month in recovery, and then decide to go back into action.
What is Occupy Wall Street (and how will it be remembered)? Guest Post Arrested in Los Angeles — A Terrifying Ordeal in a Police State. Occupy Economics. Pregnant Woman Blasted with Pepper Spray by SPD Says She Miscarried (Updated) Posted at 3:55 p.m. and updated below with an interview with Jennifer Fox. Updated again on November 22 with questions about Fox's claims.
The roots of the UC-Davis pepper-spraying. OCCUPY The Highway: March from OWS to DC. "Corporate America Is Using Our Police Departments As Hired Thugs" Ret Police Captain Ray Lewis. The art of anger: how underground comics are inspiring the Occupy movement. Maybe It's Time to Occupy the Police State. Bloomberg’s office admits to arresting journalists for covering OWS. Media Can Avoid NYPD Arrest By Getting Press Pass They Can’t Get. To employ a tired journalism cliche, call it a classic Catch-22. Stu Loeser, a spokesman for New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, says the best way for reporters to avoid being arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street is to carry a press pass issued by the New York Police Department. Improvements and donations keep protest camp running smoothly. Exclusive: Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO) November 17: Historic Day of Action for the 99%
November 17 Day of Action: UC Davis Professor Demands Chancellor Resign Over Pepper Spraying Of Students. Editor’s Note 11.20.11: Please read today’s “UC Davis Pepper Spray Attack Of Students By Police: What Questions Do We Need Answered? The Moment When the Police Lost the Occupy Portland Narrative. Well, it turned. The police bureau is starting to crack after six weeks of Occupy Portland. #OWS calls for nonviolent solidarity on November 17th. Occupy and anarchism's gift of democracy. As the history of past movements all make clear, nothing terrifies those running America more than the danger of true democracy breaking out.
This Is What Revolution Looks Like - Chris Hedges' Columns. A police raid suffused with symbolism. “Everything you read in the mainstream media is 100% true.” (Good quotes for signs) Surprise, Homeland Security Coordinates #OWS Crackdowns. Occupy Wall Street: Michael Moore connects the federal government to encampment raids - Countdown with Keith Olbermann. THE FUNNIEST AND GREATEST THING I'VE EVER POSTED. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement. Occupy Wall Street Evicted in Late Night Raid; Lawyers Secure Injunction to Reopen Zuccotti Park. Douglas Rushkoff on Why Jobs Are Obsolete. Midnight Deadline Passes for Occupy Portland Eviction (Thousands Converge Downtown) OWS Teach-In with Douglas Rushkoff. Things That Make Me Angry (and make other Occupy Wall Street supporters angry too) Penn State and Berkeley: A Tale of Two Protests. How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the OWS Protests.
An Open Message to the 99% (Occupy Wall Street) The moral crisis of modern capitalism. Occupy America.