Alarmingly, few actually demonstrating in New York know the reason for the protest. That is unfortunate when you realize that as a consequence of their reasonless protest more than 80 people have been arrested. Those arrested appear to articulate no particular reason for the protest with the exception of possibly the generic canned response, "corporate greed."
Furthermore, when you ask the protesters for a reason why two police officers were hurt ( one hospitalized for a head injury), again they are at a loss for explanations. Are the police over paid? Are they part of corporate greed? Give me a break. 42 people were arrested in Times Square after being warned repeatedly to disperse. Three others were arrested trying to take down police barriers. Two dozen people were arrested at a Citibank branch after they refused a manager's request to leave. (Was it Citibank that forced the protesters to spend money that they did not have? ) Five others were arrested for wearing masks. (If you have nothing to hide and are proud to be seen protesting, than why do you want to hide your identity?)
10 people were loaded into a police van from Manhattan park after police repeatedly told them the park closed at midnight. (In these times of recession, should the City really have to pay overtime to the police so they can protect protesters violating the law?)
And the movement of ignorance is spreading. On October 15, 2011, Occupy Vancouver protest boasted 2000 participants. When asked why they were protesting, some agreed, "America is greedy." Others shared the most common reason given by American Protesters, "I dunno."
Here is a little suggestion for protesters. If you want to end capitalism, have the guts to come out and state what you really want. If you want a socialistic society where everyone makes the same amount regardless of their job or the quality of the work, than say so. Vote your conscious. If you can't get the candidates you want elected, than either try again or move to a socialistic country that has the economic and political system you want. If that is too tough for you, than protest in such a fashion that the rest of the country doesn't have to pay for your little temper tantrum that you insist in exhibiting in public. And by the way, find some leaders who can articulate what the heck you are protesting for. Us veteran protesters from the Vietnam War days are embarrassed by your lack of goals, organization and ability to use the English language.
Update 10-19-11: “Don’t blame Wall Street. Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.” Herman Cain
Update 11-1-11: Former Marine Scott Olsen suffered a skull fracture after an Oakland protest turned violent the night of Oct. 25. More than 15 local public safety agencies were called in to assist the Oakland Police Department, including the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. Activists claim to have identified at least three San Francisco deputies in video shot during the raid. Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: LINK.
Update 11-3-11: More violence in Oakland. A protest shut down the Port of Oakland in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement started off peaceful. However, after dark it became violent after several protestors broke into a vacant building. Police in riot gear arrested dozens of protesters after several downtown windows were broken and sprayed with graffiti. In addition several fires were set. At least four protesters were hospitalized. One protestor fought with a police officer. Several officers were also injured but there is no report of them needing medical attention.
Update 11-14-11: New York City Police raided Zuccotti Park around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. They evicted protesters, cleared the park and arrest those that stood in their way. Police said that the 2-month-old camp must be temporarily emptied for cleaning, citing "health and fire safety" hazards.
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34 comments:
LUv a good protest but these folks don't make any sense.
These seem like a bunch of mostly young adults just wanting a reason for an extended period to play hookey from the real world.
Joey C.
Just one big excuse to party
“Don’t blame Wall Street. Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”
Herman Cain
C'mon...you sound like the mainstream media. They DO know what they want...prosecution of the corrupt bankers who brought down our economy.
Campaign finance reform...no more pay to play. Decisions are made by who donates the most to any one politician...this is not democracy! more like an oligarchy.
There are people of all ages protesting across the nation, and from many different backgrounds...they are fed up.
There are more and more war veterans joining. they come home from fighting for a war that haliburton profited handsomely from, and they cannot find jobs. Jobs that have been outsourced with the help of the paid for politicians in way of trade agreements.
Also, maybe you should watch "To Big to Fail" narrated by Matt Damon. See how many of these big banks are involved with laundering drug cartel money...and not one Banker in prison. So in cause and effect, the big banks are guilty of assisting in illegal drugs distribution in our country...they actually finance it. And free of prosecution because the political types are on the take. Know any young people serving time for drug addiction?
Look up Wachovia bank, busted for laundering drug money from a Mexican drug cartel, convicted for assisting corrupt telephone solicitors with swindling senior citizens out of their life savings to the tune of over some 200 million dollars, and was bailed out by the public and absorbed by Wells Fargo Banking...and no one went to prison.
V.G. You are partially right. Some know what we are fighting for. But having been on the front lines, sadly a lot don't. Now it is starting to get a little dangerous. Some of us decided to go home and live to fight another day.
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CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/friedman-did-you-hear-the-one-about-the-bankers.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
The banks are toxic to our economy as they stand as "To Big To Fail". They need to be broken up
Hey, let me sell my citigroup stock before I join in this one, video guy.
QUOTE:
The hacktivist group Anonymous is making good on its promise of digital retaliation against the Oakland Police Department for the force it used against protesters this week.
A distributed denial-of-service attack against the department's website -- www.oaklandpolice.com -- is underway, and the website currently is unreachable.
In addition, members of the collective have begun releasing information about Oakland police officers, and the call is out for additional help.
LINK: http://www.scmagazineus.com/anonymous-downs-oakland-police-site-after-violence/article/215433/
Legal! I don't think one would want to piss these protesters off...they have nonviolent capabilities that far exceed anything from the 60's protests.
BTW...a good documentary to see is "The Weatherman". It is about the 60's protest group (anti-war) called the "Weather Underground". They bombed everything, including the Pentagon and never harmed a soul...and were never caught. I'm thinking, if push comes to shove this "anonymous" group could make the "Weatherman" look like 3rd graders.
Once the war veteran organizations start marching with the OWS movement, the cops will think twice about clubbing battle hardened veterans...they WILL fight back in force. And the National Guard will not fire on their own...especially war veterans who are held in the highest respect with them.
Hold on to your hats, as protests go...this will be a good one.
Admittedly, the protestors grow in numbers. I suspect that they can no longer be ignored. But if they get violent, it could turn into a bloody mess.
Greg…sell your stock and close your accounts with the “To Big To Fail” banking monopolies…they will fail again since none of the regulations that helped to cause the crash have been revised. Put your money into local credit unions or a local community bank. After all, the local banks DO invest into local business and do not gamble on the stock exchange with YOUR money. If/when the big banks fail again they will not be bailed out and you will lose everything if invested with them. The people were appalled at the bailout last time and if the politicians try it again the streets will be filled with people dragging guillotines behind them instead of holding signs.
“The times, they are a changing”…Bob Dylan
Here is another reason people are pissed
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/world/middleeast/united-states-plans-post-iraq-troop-increase-in-persian-gulf.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
What the MSM did not report on was the fact that once Halliburton secured their monopoly of 30% of Iraq’s oilfields (one of the largest in the world)…It was then that Obummer announced “The war in Iraq is over and we are pulling the troops”
Don’t believe for a moment that that war was for anything else besides their resources of oil, and given to Halliburton (Dick Cheney’s corp), B.P., and Exon Mobil.
The cost of oil far exceeds what you pay at the pump. What also must be included is the tax revenue spent on wars for profit for the few, and this includes the big banks that finance the wars.
So we pay for wars with tax dollars and our children’s lives with money that would be better used to improve our schools and infrastructure…and still get nailed at the pump!
“War Is A Racket”…read it! Written by 2-time Medal of Honor recipient Marine Major General Smedley Butler. He was also called upon by the corporatist and bankers at the time, (including J.P Morgan), to overthrow the Roosevelt Administration because they did not like the “New Deal” Roosevelt purposed to end the depression…that they caused. Like today, they wanted all that money for themselves. General Butler turned them in and Roosevelt let them know he knew…they then stopped their resistance to the “New Deal” (or face execution for treason) and eventually we came out of the depression with many years of prosperity for all, including the making of a strong middle class that fueled our economy for generations.
The 1% have always been against prosperity for all…and will go to any extreme to prevent it and enhance their greed.
I’m guessing the Oakland Police and their treatment of that veteran started this
QUOTE:
We believe that it is essential for our community to be active in this movement, and call on all veterans and GIs to join the encampment nearest you.
Here: http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/veterans-and-gis-the-only.html?mid=518
ALSO:
We are used as pawns in Wall Street’s wars. We are fighting wars that were sold to the public by Wall Street—by the banks, Big Oil and defense contractors. The millionaire politicians who provided the political cover have long been exposed as lying to us and our families about why we must go to war. We are expected to believe it’s just a coincidence that the wars are in the most resource-rich, profitable regions of the world, which were off-limits to Wall Street. It is only the rich who benefit from these wars, while we suffer because of them.
Unemployment for Iraq and Afghanistan vets is at least 30 percent. Despite what recruiters tell us to lure young people into the military, we are statistically less likely to be able to find employment after serving in the military. Our unemployment rate is triple the official national average. We desperately need jobs programs. If the banks can get trillions in bailouts from our tax dollars, there is enough money to bailout veterans as well.
Our only enemies are on Wall Street. A recent study found that 78 percent of U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan are from poor and working-class communities. The reason is no mystery. When the economic crisis hit in 2007 and 2008, the U.S. military had a record-setting number of new recruits.
Oops…sucks to be right. Once they get a few hundred of these guys to protest in NY, the abuse will stop.
I remember back when the Vietnam Veterans started to march along with the student protesters back in the 60’s… the blue collar workers that use to harass the anti-war protesters stopped throwing crap at them once the veterans showed up, the whole country took a different view and soon the war was over
BTW…the Matt Damon Doc I was referring to is titled “Inside Job”, and not “To Big To Fail”. Goes back to the Savings and Loan crash of the early 80’s and Greenspand’s involvement. His finger prints are on all of these financial crashes, and he is still employed by both Republican and Democratic administrations…since both parties are bought and paid for by Wall Street….the protesters got it right.
I am one of those mad as hell 30 something that will no longer tolerate the current disparity between the haves and the have nots!
The President is bringing the troops home within 3 months. So the war is soon to be someone else's problem.
The current protest is about jobs and the declining middle class. We want our peace of pie. We don't want violence. We just want the top executives to all lose their jobs and know what it feels like to be chronically searching for employment while living back at home with one's parents.
Update 11-1-11: Former Marine Scott Olsen suffered a skull fracture after an Oakland protest turned violent the night of Oct. 25. More than 15 local public safety agencies were called in to assist the Oakland Police Department, including the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. Activists claim to have identified at least three San Francisco deputies in video shot during the raid. Read more at the San Francisco Examiner LINK on front page.
Over 100 Veterans marched with the protesters in NY today…and guess what? Not one person was clubbed or arrested, at least I heard of no arrests so far.
In Oakland thousands and thousands participated in a general strike, apparently shutting down one of the harbors as they said many of the goods from China enter our country through this port. I seen video of people standing on tractor-trailer trucks on Current TV…and what did CNN report on? Cain’s sexual harassment, Michael Jackson’s Doctors trial, and Kim Kardashion’s devoice. They remind of the Soviet Union’s reporting in the 50’s and 60’s…repressive.
Of course the TV networks do not want campaign finance reform since they make so much $$$ of the candidate’s adds…this is also one of the 99% complaints.
Good observation Video Guy. President Clinton recently gave a speech in Washington D.C. where he encouraged the debate to focus on how do we improve the lives of those on the lower spectrum of the economic chain and not make this a "Anti Government v. government" issue.
Update 11-3-11: More violence in Oakland. A protest shut down the Port of Oakland in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement started off peaceful. However, after dark it became violent after several protestors broke into a vacant building. Police in riot gear arrested dozens of protesters after several downtown windows were broken and sprayed with graffiti. In addition several fires were set. At least four protesters were hospitalized. One protestor fought with a police officer. Several officers were also injured but there is no report of them needing medical attention.
Yes, I heard about Oakland but am suspicious…It is a know fact amongst activists that agent provocateurs (government or local police) are sent to such events to stir up trouble thus giving a bad name to whatever protest is in need of suppression. During the Wisconsin peaceful labor disputes their Governor was caught red handed speaking by phone, about staging violent events for just such an intention. Considering that there were many women and children at that protest, and the danger such methods would have put them in…I now consider this Governor as repressive and a danger to society as any third world violent dictator we are told to loathe.
Also, another Iraq war Veteran was beaten in Oakland, rupturing his spleen I believe I heard. It was also reported he was held in custody for over 18 hours and began coughing up blood. His story is that once the violence broke out, he was heading away from the scene when confronted by the police, who proceeded to beat him. I feel that, truth or fiction we will never know since this will end up being a “he said, she said” kind of thing…unless someone captured it on video. In addition, it was reported that earlier in the protest the Veterans were placing themselves in between the protesters and the police…If true, someone could have taken it personally and acted in revenge on a dark side street later that evening.
In a most interesting 3 seconds of video from Oakland I seen a young girl with her dukes up, standing her ground while confronting a cop who was prodding her with a nightstick…apparently tensions were high long before dark out there.
QUOTE:
I saw film of the vandals at Whole Foods. It looked like a small contingent of anarchists, and there was also footage of protestors trying to stop them.
I went back at 4:30 to join the march to the docks at the Port of Oakland. Our port is one of the five busiest in the country, so this was a big deal. Though the local unions didn’t call a strike, they offered their support and blessings to this action.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/04/i_saw_a_different_side_of_occupy_oakland/?source=newsletter
Like a lot of the young protesters who have flocked to Occupy Wall Street, Joe had thought that hard work and education would bring, if not class mobility, at least a measure of security (indeed, a master’s degree can boost a New York City teacher’s salary by $10,000 or more). But the past decade of stagnant wages for the 99 percent and million-dollar bonuses for the 1 percent has awakened the kids of the middle class to a national nightmare:
In the face of unchecked capitalism and a broken, captured state, the citizens of Occupy America have done something desperate and audacious—they put their faith and hope in the last seemingly credible force left in the world: each other.
One of the first working groups that the original organizers created was simply called Food, and its first budget aspired to raise just $1,000 for peanut butter sandwiches. It now takes in donations from around the world and dishes out up to 3,000 meals a day; nobody is turned away as long as there is a morsel left, and there almost always is. Pizzas arrive by bike or car, many sent by labor unions; canned and dry goods are shipped to OWS’s UPS address (118A Fulton St. #205, New York, NY 10038); oatmeal, quinoa and rice come in large sacks and small supermarket packages; chicken and beef, apples and seasonal root vegetables are trucked in from organic farms upstate. Trained chefs were quick to volunteer their time and have even opened up their kitchens.
Hummm…sounds like a good place to eat, prob better than some of NY finest restaurants.
http://www.thenation.com/article/164348/audacity-occupy-wall-street
Servants of the rich?
trying to shut down a port or our economy is not helpful and is in fact foolish.
The top 1% of the income earners pay 39% pf all the tax bill. How is that fair?
A U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to the census data released Monday.
This wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.
Anony 8:17 AM,
What are you talking about…Warren Buffet only pays 17% after all his deductions and loop holes as well as many others in that category. GE, BP, Exon Mobil, Bank of America and may others pay nothing…they actually pay a negative tax. How! Because many of these Corps get a rebate of millions of tax dollars even after showing billions in profits. Why should B.P receive $100’s of millions for exploration from our tax dollars while receiving billions in profits every quarter? …Like I said Capitalism for these people when they profit but socialism when they need it.
What you have here is exactly the same reasons the revolutionary war was fought. Most do not know that the “Boston Tea Party” was an action against a Corporation, the East India Trading Corporation that the King and the British aristocracy were invested with. The Tea Tax was to line their pockets and pay for their exorbitant lifestyles on the backs of the poor, as well as pay for their wars of Empire to capture the world’s resources, that they would again profit from.
Throughout history this had happened and the brilliant men who wrote our constitution wanted this to never happen again, as they knew that at some point some group would wish to grab power and enslave the people once again. Sad to say the only thing these type of personality’s understand are from the business end of a musket, or the receiving edge of the guillotine blade….they just don’t get it until it is too late.
Thomas Jefferson had said there has to be a knock down bloody revolution every 200 years or so to bring the power back to the people…and that is what you are seeing now…THIS IS IT !!
OWS wants the corruption out of politics (publicly funded elections) and the bankers who caused our economic crash and stole millions of peoples homes to pay…prosecution!
The only reason Bernie Maddoff is in prison is because he stole from other rich people, if one steals from the rest of us they receive a bonus.
Communism is a social, political and economic movement that establishes a classless, moneyless and stateless communist society. The keys are common ownership of the means of production.
In Marx said that communism is a specific stage of historical development that inevitably emerges from the development of the productive forces that leads to a superabundance of material wealth. This allows for distribution based on need and social relations based on freely associated individuals.
Socialism is just a transitional stage on the road to communism. Leninists advocate proletarian revolution to hold all political power after the revolution, "in the name of the workers" and with worker participation, in a transitional stage between capitalism and socialism.
You go Video Guy, you go!
C'mon, Legal pubster!
You know why they're protesting Wall Street. Because it is the cool thing to do, and everybody is doing it. Follow the leader, like Jonestown, baby!
Occupy Everyplace
Well, I must admit for some of us it started as fun. But now we are more focused. we want better jobs and less corruption at the top.
(.)(.)
Well, I must admit for some of us it started as fun. But now we are more focused. we want better jobs and less corruption at the top.
(.)(.)
Update 11-14-11: New York City Police raided Zuccotti Park around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. They evicted protesters, cleared the park and arrest those that stood in their way. Police said that the 2-month-old camp must be temporarily emptied for cleaning, citing "health and fire safety" hazards.
I say get rid of private ownership. Let the government own everything and employ everyone. Then we will finally have a fair system.
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