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Wall Street Occupation
| Wilber Webb | |
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 Sept 30th, 2011 - Wall Street, NYC Wall Street Occupation Tahrir square on the Hudson... http://inthesetimes.c...  http://takethesquare.... http://www.burlington... http://www.indypenden... http://www.todayswork... http://www.zimbio.com... http://stevebrodner.c...  Wisconsin This year:  If the occupation of Wall Street were being conducted by 2,000 tea party activists, Amy Goodman was saying, there would be that many reporters or more on the scene to cover it. Instead, the demonstrators are people who decry things like war and financiers' greed, she said, so the mainstream media mostly looks the other way. The Wall Street protest has received scant attention because the mainstream news is "very skewed to the right," she said. "We need media that tells the truth," she said, particularly in time of war, and with another election coming up. "Those opposed to war are not the silent majority," she said, "they're the silenced majority.  As ITT's Akito Yoshikane reported, the lifeblood of the protests has been the young and the frustrated. But the occupation also represents swelling resentment across all sectors of society -- covering expressly the 99 percent of us who are getting screwed and shafted by corporate moguls and, more tragically, our own elected representatives. Yet the proactive anger has been building in the labor movement far from Wall Street. An editorial by the Socialist Worker points to protests in recent months -- by longshoremen in Washington, striking hospital workers in California, and the groundbreaking Verizon strikers -- as signs of new "fighting mood" among the rank and file: Doug Stanhope - Verizon strikers See 312/353  nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn         nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnDoug Stanhope - On Nationalism nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn  http://nyceducator.co... http://citizen.typepa... "Whenever you hear a politician carry on about what a mess the schools are, be aware that you are looking at the culprit." -Molly Ivins |
| Wilber Webb | |
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Sept 30th, 2011 - Wall Street, NYC Wall Street Occupation Tahrir square on the Hudson... Dude, Wheres my middle class?  Wall Street protesters morale 'high' - UPI.com https://occupywallst.... http://m.ctv.ca/topst... http://republicandirt... http://www.enewspf.co... http://vimeo.com/2951... http://www.upi.com/To... VIDEO http://www.livestream... http://occupynola.org... Michael Moore: The media ignores Wall Street occupation Posted on 09.20.11 By Andrew Jones http://www.rawstory.c... http://www.youtube.co... Filmmaker Michael Moore appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show Monday evening to discuss the media’s coverage towards the tea party being notably larger than coverage given to protests from the left. “A thousand people were arrested a couple weeks ago on the Tar Sands environmental issue,” Moore said to Maddow. “Hardly any coverage of this.” “Can you imagine if a thousand tea partiers had been arrested in front of the White House? It would be the top of every news story. People are down on Wall Street right now holding a sit in and a camp in down there, virtually no news about this protest. This goes on with liberals and the left all the time, and it gets ignored. Fortunately, there are shows like yours and others who aren’t ignoring it, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening and it will continue to happen.” WATCH: Video from MSNBC, which appeared on September 19, 2011. http://www.youtube.co... Tea Party Racists http://www.youtube.co... nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn    <p></p> nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnn   http://www.economicpo... http://republicandirt... http://blog.modernmec... http://www.thestencil... http://reason.com/blo... http://wisaflcio.type... http://www.youtube.co... http://www.youtube.co... http://www.youtube.co...  |
| Wilber Webb | |
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14 Days of Wall Street Occupation: Why is this being ignored?
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| Wilber Webb | |
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14 Days of Wall Street Occupation: Why is this being ignored?
American Spring: Brooklyn Bridge shut down by protesters; 700 arrested VIDEO http://abcnews.go.com... http://www.npr.org/20... http://rt.com/news/wa... http://rt.com/news/wo... Protests ALL Across The USA: Is this only the begining? Thousands of protesters who have been camping out near Wall Street have spilled out onto the roadway, causing the Brooklyn Bridge to be shut down. At least 700 people have been arrested, including a New York Times reporter. The clash and confrontation between NYPD and thousands of protesters took place on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. The demonstration started by Wall Street and then protesters rallied toward the Brooklyn Bridge. When they got on the bridge, the police cordoned off both sides of the Brooklyn Bridge and started to move in on the protesters to make arrests for blocking traffic and disorderly conduct. The protesters were banging drums and chanting, “The whole world is watching!” Police moved in, there were paddywagons brought to the scene, and things got very physical. Edited by Wilber Webb on Oct 4, 2011 3:09 PM |
| Wilber Webb | |
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14 Days of Wall Street Occupation: Why is this being ignored? American Spring: Brooklyn Bridge shut down by protesters; 700 arrested VIDEO http://abcnews.go.com... http://blog.seattlepi... http://newamericamedi... http://bostonreview.n... LIBERTY SQUARE Protests ALL Across The USA: Is this only the begining? Thousands of protesters who have been camping out near Wall Street have spilled out onto the roadway, causing the Brooklyn Bridge to be shut down. At least 700 people have been arrested, including a New York Times reporter. The clash and confrontation between NYPD and thousands of protesters took place on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. The demonstration started by Wall Street and then protesters rallied toward the Brooklyn Bridge. When they got on the bridge, the police cordoned off both sides of the Brooklyn Bridge and started to move in on the protesters to make arrests for blocking traffic and disorderly conduct. The protesters were banging drums and chanting, “The whole world is watching!” Police moved in, there were paddywagons brought to the scene, and things got very physical. "One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, ‘I can’t believe he just fuckin’ maced us.’ "http://www.npr.org/20... http://rt.com/news/wa... http://rt.com/news/wo... Edited by Wilber Webb on Oct 4, 2011 3:22 PM |
| Wilber Webb | |
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Shocking footage of police thuggery at peaceful protest
http://www.youtube.co... Top Comments We are seeing more and more violence directed towards the citizens. Protesting is a right spelled out in the U.S. Consitution in the 1st Ammendment. If there is no rioting/destruction of property then the cops have no right directing agressive force against anyone. This is not a dictatorship and Americans need to challenge the government as they wish. I have seen this before during the 1960's where thge cops beat down citizens. Have we learned nothing from history? cbarsonfire 4 days ago 18 Rise up, People.Dont just watch.Whole world is with you.I hope this is only The Beginning. w3a4s 5 days ago 26 Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests Jeanne Mansfield http://bostonreview.n... "One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, ‘I can’t believe he just fuckin’ maced us.’ " My boyfriend Frank and I are heading toward Liberty Square to check out what’s going on at the Occupy Wall Street protest, when we stumble upon the afternoon march toward Union Square. So we join up and walk along behind. The crowd looks like maybe 300 people, mostly punk-styled kids and folks carrying their computers (for live streaming, we found out later) and some aging-hippie types. People are beating drums, blowing whistles, carrying signs, and chanting: “Banks got bailed out, you got sold out!” and “We are the 99 percent!” and “All day, all week, occupy Wall Street!” and of course the classic “This is what democracy looks like!” All in all, it starts out as a pretty good time. There are police, but for the most part they are walking behind the group casually, just beat cops bantering and laughing, keeping an eye on things. There are around 30 of them. We reach Union Square, circle it a couple times, and join the human microphone. The human microphone consists of one person speaking or shouting, and then everyone within earshot repeating, thus, a human amplifier, albeit with some delay. After about fifteen minutes, we are on the move again, the crowd spurred toward the United Nations by the messages transmitted from the human microphone. As we circle Union Square, about twenty NYPD officers haul out orange plastic nets (the kind used to fence off construction sites) and close off the road, diverting the crowd. But the detour, too, is closed, leaving us only one option: straight down Broadway. The lighthearted carnival air begins to get very heavy as it becomes clear that we are being corralled. The main group, about 150 protesters, keeps on down the street, but the police are running behind with the orange nets, siphoning off groups of fifteen to twenty people at a time, classic crowd control. A new group of police officers arrives in white shirts, as opposed to dark blue. These guys are completely undiscerning in their aggression. If someone gets in their way, they shove them headfirst into the nearest parked car, at which point the officers are immediately surrounded by camera phones and shouts of “Shame! Shame!” Up until this point, Frank and I have managed to stay ahead of the nets, but as we hit what I think is 12th Street, they’ve caught up. The blue-shirts aren’t being too forceful, so we manage to run free, but stay behind to see what happens. Then things go nuts. At this point, the crowd of twenty or so caught in the orange fence is shouting “Shame! Shame! Who are you protecting?! YOU are the 99 percent! You’re fighting your own people!” A white-shirt, now known to be NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, comes from the left, walks straight up to the three young girls at the front of the crowd, and pepper-sprays them in the face for a few seconds, continuing as they scream “No! Why are you doing that?!” The rest of us in the crowd turn away from the spray, but it’s unavoidable. My left eye burns and goes blind and tears start streaming down my face. Frank grabs my arm and shoves us through the small gap between the orange fence and the brick wall while everyone stares in shock and horror at the two girls on the ground and two more doubled over screaming as their eyes ooze. In the street I shout for water to rinse my eyes or give to the girls on the ground, but no one responds. One of the blue-shirts, tall and bald, stares in disbelief and says, “I can’t believe he just fuckin’ maced us.” And it becomes clear that the white-shirts are a different species. We need to get out of there. Unbelievable protest footage. NYPD drag girl across the street http://www.youtube.co... nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Why Whistleblowing is important George Carlin; Just smart enough to run the system, but dumb enough not to sit round the kitchen table and figure out how *%$& they are getting ...NO MORE! Who are these guys? Everyone! The 99% An open letter and warning from a former tea party movement adherent to the Occupy Wall Street movement http://www.reddit.com... nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nn |
| Wilber Webb | |
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 A few words in support of Lauren Valle and professional agitators everywhere Blogpost by James Brady - October 26, 2010 at 9:39 http://www.meetup.com... http://www.greenpeace... http://www.lpso.net/o... http://www.huffington... http://word.world-cit... http://www.pbs.org/wg... We applaud Lauren for her courage, and for taking a stand on an issue she believes in, and exercising her right to speech. This morning the first thing I saw was a TV news clip of my friend Lauren Valle getting kicked in the head by one of Rand Paul's volunteers while another beefy fellow held her down. Lauren is a 23-year-old woman who is about 5’5” and her assailants were pretty big guys. The whole thing was pretty brutal and frightening but Lauren kept her calm throughout the ordeal and refused to meet violence with violence. She did not call the men names and she did not lash out in anger. How many of us would be able to keep calm and collected in a situation like that? How many folks do you know who could take being held down and kicked in the head without freaking out? How many people could accept that punishment in the service of a bigger goal? Well, as it turns out there are quite a few folks like that out there in the world. They are called peaceful protestors and they are in every state, county, and country you can think of. Rush Limbaugh was earning his money today and was on the air early bad mouthing Lauren Valle and throwing his support behind her aggressors. His rationale is that Lauren Valle is a "professional agitator." The evidence for this is that Lauren has an arrest record and has participated in protests in Louisiana, New York, and Beijing, China. Clearly then, she deserves to be beaten. She asked for it by standing up where people would prefer that she sit down. She brought it on herself by speaking up in a place where her beliefs are unpopular. What else did she expect would happen? This was the gist of Mr. Limbaugh's commentary as well as some of the comments I read on the many articles that have been printed about this event. I find this interesting as an avenue of attack as I am at something of a loss to think of a single social advance almost ever in world history that happened without someone standing up and speaking out when others told them to shut up and sit down. It's called agitating and from Women’s Sufferage to the Civil Rights Movement to ending child labor it’s how things get done. Rosa Parks was a "professional agitator." She went to nonviolence workshops and she studied campaigning strategies and tactics. She understood how to use media to dramatize and amplify an issue and she knew the history of other peaceful protest movements long before she sat down on the bus and refused to move. To paraphrase James Lawson, who led the Nashville Woolworth's sit-ins, "Succesful social movements do not happen spontaeously, they have to happen systematically." What is a “professional agitator”? In Lauren Valle’s case it is someone who cares about pollution in the Gulf of Mexico, oppression of Tibetan people, big banks funding strip mining, and political corruption. It’s someone who volunteers for progressive organizations to try to bring some sanity to this voracious world. It’s a young woman who is still idealistic and optimistic enough to believe that change is possible and who’s willing to take a kick to the head for following her conscience. There are people in this country who find that scary. There are people who benefit from keeping folks scared and desperate and angry and people like Lauren scare them a lot because they won’t sit down and shut up and accept business as usual. One of Gandhi’s Tenets of Nonviolence was that to practice it one had to be willing to accept suffering. He wasn’t keen on suffering, you understand, he just understood that it was sometimes necessary in the course of making things better. The willingness to speak out when we are afraid and outnumbered is our greatest strength. Thanks, Lauren, for reminding me. James Brady conducts non-violent direct action workshops for Greenpeace. http://www.telegraph.... http://freetibet2008.... http://edition.cnn.co... http://www.huffington... Lauren Valle, Head-Stomped MoveOn Activist, Responds To Stomper's Request For Apology |
| Wilber Webb | |
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Between the Lines: Occupational Hazards
America's disenfranchised young embed themselves in the belly of the beast. Thursday, October 06, 2011 By Tom Sturm http://www.valleyadvo... A group calling itself The Other 99 Percent has been snowballing its effort to "Occupy Wall Street." In the weeks since it began on Sept. 17, the occupation—an actual campout that's roughly centered in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park—has been attracting increasing media attention, celebrity clout and, most recently, large and unanimous support from labor unions. Intellectuals Noam Chomsky, Cornell West and Naomi Klein have endorsed the occupation, and activist group The Yes Men have put up a Kickstarter site to fund printing 50,000 copies of The Occupy Wall Street Journal. Susan Sarandon, Russell Simmons and Michael Moore have all made appearances. Last weekend, more than 700 protesters were arrested during a shutdown of the Brooklyn Bridge. Initiated by what many would call a loosely organized core of basically disenfranchised youth (is this starting to sound like 1968?), The Other 99 Percent's takeover of the streets included no specific agenda or list of demands, and at times appears to suffer from message drift—last week, on live streaming video from the park, a well-coiffed college girl was crowing about transgender rights—but its goal is to be inclusive (hence the name), and the participants' hearts are in the right place. The overall point is one that many Americans agree on: the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting poorer, and no one in the establishment is doing anything about it. The group came to include as many hackers as slackers as its ranks swelled, and the most media and tech-savvy generation ever to walk the earth quickly made its cause viral. By last Friday, Occupy Wall Street had inspired "Occupy Boston," and the New York event has set off protests in almost every major American city, and beyond. Sporting iconic Guy Fawkes masks popularized by the film V for Vendetta and the hacker group Anonymous, the group rallied around this motto: "Those who profit off the suffering of others will be held accountable. We are the 99 percent, and we are too big to fail." If the Internet would start supporting olfactory plug-ins, you could almost smell the tangy aroma of well-padded baby boomers slow-cooking on a spit. Should this expression of outrage be surprising to anyone? According to an Aug. 24, 2011 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, "This year, the share of young people [ages 16-24] who were employed in July was 48.8 percent, the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948." The top 1 percent of Americans owns 50 percent of the wealth, and has all but bought the government, keeping the majority of the population from having any real, meaningful effect on policies that will seriously affect them and their children. When you can't win the game no matter how hard you try because it's been stacked against you from every conceivable direction, you've got to change the game, and that's exactly what these young people are out to do. Occupy Wall Street also illustrates how important it is to maintain net neutrality and diverse media viewpoints. Because the 1 percent doesn't own the Web, images of the demonstration have gotten wide exposure. Pictures and video of innocent female protesters being pepper-sprayed by police have helped to gain popular sympathy for the movement, and the organizational power of mobile phones and social networking by the group has proven that revolutions powered by communications technology aren't just for Egypt anymore. As James Downie of the Washington Post wrote, "pictures of Wall Streeters doing their best Marie Antoinette impersonations—drinking champagne and mocking a protest march—have been particularly powerful." Other pictures that have made the Facebook rounds include signs with simple truths that are catchy and hard to ignore; one held by an African-American woman read, "One day, the poor will have nothing left to eat but the rich." |
| Wilber Webb | |
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The Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining momentum in cities around the nation Wall Street occupation inspires resistance across the US http://www.socialistw... by Anindya Bhattacharyya A left wing protest movement in New York has captured the imagination of ordinary people across the US. The Occupy Wall Street movement set up camp on 17 September with only a few hundred people. Since then it has grown in numbers and broken into the mainstream US media. A brutal police clampdown at the weekend drew further attention to the extraordinary scenes in Manhattan. Now similar protests are springing up across the US. Mary Clinton, a student based in New York and a participant in Occupy Wall Street, spoke to Socialist Worker. “I’m involved with the labour outreach committee, which builds links between the occupation and organised workers,” she said. “We’re mobilising for a huge march on Wednesday of this week that will bring together labour and community groups with Occupy Wall Street. “We need labour union support in order to build momentum. At first there was a lot of curiosity but also wariness from the labour movement. But we’ve managed to persuade people that Occupy Wall Street is something they want to get behind.” Protesters have put together a busy programme of marches and demonstrations to draw attention to their action. Those marches met a heavy-handed response from the police, but one that has only strengthened the protesters’ resolve, says Mary. “The police reacted brutally—there was a ton of arrests, lots of pepper spray. “A lot of ordinary Americans were shocked to see this kind of brutality in their backyard. People think we have the right to voice our opinions—so to see videos of mass arrests and so on is really powerful. “Some 110 were arrested on Saturday. It was a pivotal moment for us. We had to organise medical attention, food and water for some of those arrested. It created a strong sense of solidarity.” Liberty The occupation is based at Zuccotti Park, a privately owned park in Lower Manhattan. But protesters have reverted to its previous name—Liberty Plaza—partly as a reference to Tahrir Square in Cairo (“tahrir” means “liberation” in Arabic). “There’s hundreds sleeping out every night,” says Mary. “The weather right now is beautiful, but it’s going to get colder. I’m from the Midwest so I’m pretty used to extreme weather—I’m hoping people here will toughen up!” The occupation’s processes are a work in progress. “It’s non-hierarchical,” says Mary. “Individuals who see a need or an opportunity come together to form a working group. “Working groups then report back to the general assembly. Things happen spontaneously, but in an organised fashion.” Protesters initially got around a media blackout by using the internet and alternative media sources. “Everybody’s got cameras on their cellphones so we can develop our story without being dependent on mainstream media,” says Mary. “But we were on the front page of the New York Times on Saturday and that was good for getting the word out.” More than 70 cities across the US now have planning processes or are organising their own occupations. “It’s really inspiring to know that’s going on. We’ve had an Arab Spring. Now we’re hoping for an American Fall—and the fall of the American empire.” Write Your Own and post it! -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------‘Austerity measures affect all of us’ The US economy has not been immune from the financial crisis. Earlier this year president Barack Obama announced savage cuts to welfare services in order to meet Republican demands for a “balanced budget”. This has had a profound impact on the lives and political attitudes of ordinary Americans, says Mary. “The occupation has struck a chord,” she says. “The cuts and closures to social services and education have been hitting a lot of people. “We talk about how we are the 99 percent and they are the 1 percent—the financial and real estate industries that are running the government. “People can’t pay their mortgages and have lost their homes, yet Wall Street and the banks got bailed out. So there’s a strong sense that we want to take our country back. “The austerity measures are affecting all of us, from working class people who depend on social services right up to more middle class people who face losing their homes. “Student debt is a huge issue—it’s higher than credit card debt. We were told to go to college, that it would pay off when we got a well-paid job. But we’re just not seeing those jobs. “There’s this juxtaposition—not making the rich pay for this crisis, but instead making working and middle class pay. The millionaires’ tax was not extended. Stock transfer tax was not extended. “Meanwhile there are cuts to schools, fire services, all the social services we depend upon. People get that—and it has inspired people to fight back.” Mary said the protesters were inspired by the struggle in Wisconsin earlier this year, when striking workers occupied the state capitol to defend their trade union rights. “Beforehand people felt that there were a lot of problems but maybe there was nothing we can do about it,” she says. “Wisconsin challenged that apathy and made us realise that there is something we can do about this. |
| Wilber Webb | |
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Con....
“It didn’t start with the occupation of Wall Street and it won’t end here either. This has inspired people across the country, and it’s so rewarding to be part of something bigger than myself. “Nobody can predict the revolution awakening. We’ve yet to see where this will go, but I’m looking forward to finding out.” -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------• Some 700 pilots from United and Continental Airlines marched down Wall Street, protesting about their contracts. The Transport Workers’ Union, the United Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union are among unions backing a march on Wednesday of this week. |
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