What a pleasant surprise. I was on the phone and heard chanting and drumbeats outside, and lo and behold, it was OccupyWallStreet across the street from me (on the west side of Park Avenue). Unfortunately, I have meetings this PM and so I could only run out briefly to see them on the street, but this was a perfect day to come this far uptown. The police told me they had walked up from Zuccotti Park, that’s a good 7-8 mile hike.
Quick impressions: the marchers were fairly densely packed on the sidewalk, extending 2-3 blocks, so I’d say at least 300 people, probably closer to 500.
The cop coverage was intense: several paddy wagons, lots on motorcycles and in the little cars (not standard issue cop cars, a form factor more like little one Postal Service delivery people use). The policing was doing much more to disrupt traffic than the marchers were.
People on the street seemed mainly bemused, a lot of picture taking and people standing on corners across the street to watch. Some seemed to be chatting to people they didn’t necessarily know well. A few perplexed faces and a few genuinely sour faces.
I saw two camera crews, each had picked people who were clearly more affluent looking (not that they necessarily were more affluent) than most people on the street. One was a grey haired gentleman in an fine cotton shirt who was talking about “the spending, there’s been a $3 trillion increase in spending, health care, in the last two years.” I couldn’t help myself, I was out out of the line of the camera angles, but interjected, “That isn’t true, the new health care plan isn’t effective yet.” I could have gone on but didn’t want to become part of the interview. But I did throw the guy off his rhythm which was enough satisfaction.
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They are visiting the homes of the wealthy today: Jamie Dimon, Blankfein, Koch, Milstein, and more. Taking the protest to the front doors of the 1%.
I smell a business model! Bus tours! Who said the Occupations were bad for tourism?
no kidding!
The food trucks are raking it in around Liberty Plaza.
The gyro and fruit smoothee dudes are fast on their way into the 1% if this keeps up.
Can’t believe Paul Krugman is writing about why the Times won’t let him go down to the square, because he might be mistaken for an “activist”. haha ahahaha ahahahaha
I mean really Dr. K. YOu can call it “due diligence” and buy yourself a gyro. maybe you can even expense it! And you’ll probly find a few tatooed hippie queens who might drool over you.
I know I’d go if I were you. LOL.
Actually, he’s probably correct. It wouldn’t surprise me if NY Times had made it clear that he not become involved with OWS as a condition to keeping his column & blog space. Since he does have an important message and does reach millions of people that way, he would have seen the wisdom in toeing the party line.
Certainly he can’t go down and become an advocate. I understand that.
But not sure why he can’t do what I did and lots of other folks do, just go down and see for himself, ask questions, have conversations, perceive and interpret. That’s what folks do in a free and free-thinking society. Doesn’t slap a lable on you.
Maybe there’s a fear that if he’s there, it implicitly means he’s a supporter. I guess I see how that spins — even though it’s hellaciously presumptuous and it seems like a bad case of solpsistic synechdoche. It’s probably ticketable but I’m off duty. ha ha. -Officer DT Tremens.
Anyway, I guess the Thought Police are on patrol 24/7 at the NY Times and even the Big K is under their surveillance. Ecce Homo sed Fred.
Whatever. I hope Yves makes it down and gives us a report. There’s lots of shirtless wiry dudes with tatoos laying on the ground and a few hippie chicks and lots of earnest bespectacled bearded guys ready to engage in cerebrality.
The police look bored as hell. I was there Saturday night and all the sudden a crowd of about 30 officers started jogging toward the northeast corner of the square from across Bway. I thought “Oh Sh-t, here it comes!” But then they angled off to the north and I realized from the stragglers’ talk that they’d just gotten off a long shift and were heading home. It’s like that.
anyway, enough of Dr. K. Who cares? Not me, I’m just yacking.
Last time I checked, reporters and columnists did this thing called “reporting,” which meant going down to places just like this and asking people, “What’s going on?”
The New York Times has now made it official: Its top economic columnist is not allowed to do any reporting. I think Krugman should tell them just where to stuff it, in very certain anatomical terms.
I wonder what the Times would say if its resident yuppie weasel Andrew Ross “Too Big To Fail” Sorkin put in for a taxi down there for a fact-finding trip? Would he also get an expense account reimbursement for the tomato stains on his Brooks Brothers suit when he identified himself at Zuccotti Park? (Or he could replace it; there’s a Brooks Brothers store right across the street.)
Paul Krugman doesn’t need the NYT. His brand is better than their brand, if not bigger. Yes, they handle the ‘back office’ stuff of getting a blog out and policing it, and yes their audience has reach beyond what he might have with a blog of his own. But I would say that if he’s going to call out the Times and put them on the spot by going by the Occupation, he should pick his time well and wisely for maximum impact—and then stick it to them. The New York Times is deeply corrupt, and at some point if Paul doesn’t want to be he’s going to have to ignore their poxed hand and speak his mind.
If this be Class Warfare – Let us make the most profit from it!
It would be great if a mob could park themselves outside the homes of all the crooks and stay there until they were charged. They could chant “shame” everytime they came or left their home. Blankfein, Dimon, Moynihan and his predecessor (might be Charlotte), Geithner, Bernanke in DC, etc. Let them get a taste of the discomfort they have caused others.
There is a precedent for this in Australia – when the Howard govt was in the middle of a period of particularly egregious refugee-bashing, activists silently surrounded the home of minister Philip Ruddock (who famously wore his Amnesty badge with pride….) – this at a time when his own daughter was publicly criticising her father’s actions.
Didn’t stop him though.
Which homes though? These guys all own like 20 places and could easily buy new ones that no one knows about.
That’s even better. Everybody in Vail knows who owns what.. ditto for Telluride and Aspen, Tahoe and Marin
It’s harder to target places in Anguilla or St. Barts… but exposure is about the same… not enough police to protect them…and everybody knows who owns what.
An online database should include their clubs, schools and wives ‘activities’….
The protesters can’t conceivably target every place these guys own. I agree with protesting these people – especially when they’re in public speaking events – but keeping databases on their activities crosses a line.
So jesse, there is no line to cross. These folks are keeping files on _you_, believe it; or more specifically soulless muscle at their hire is keeping a file on you. And on me. Doesn’t mean they’ll use it, but you can bet they’re acquiring it. And when the nitty meets the gritty, they’ll be catty enough to scratch out at a few eyes to try to make the 99% back off. Just bear that in mind.
I’m not necessarily endorsing putting a protest presence at the residence of every salient member of the 1%. But there may be a day when that tactic is useful. Or necessary. But regardless, the ‘personal’ line has long since been crossed: by them.
The difference is, I’m not likely to be a target for assassination. Some crazed gunman could track those guys down and attack them if you start listing where they are all the time.
They should show up to foreclose on their fancy houses. After all, they still owe us those buckets of money we sent them that they turned around and bought Congress with.
They should ‘visit’ the homes of the Supreme Court Justices who gave us Citizens United.
Word.
Why visit the lackeys when you can visit the Lords?
Oh, that’s a good one!
Citizens United is definitely part of the issue-mix at Zucotti. A few days ago I saw several signs there with this pithy slogan: “Corporations aren’t persons until Texas executes one.”
LOL! Love it.
Corporate ownership of government existed before Citizens United. We need an amendment banning corporate donations to government officials.
No. We need to abolish corporate personhood.
I don’t think people have thought about the consequences of completely denying personhood to corporations. For example, do you think the government should be able to seize a corporations assets without due process of law?
Why on earth would they need “person”hood for that? Be creative. And anyway, if the government wants to abuse its power, it can, regardless of what is and isn’t law. Similarly, if it wants to effectively neuter itself (a far larger problem currently), it can do this as well. Why is the latter less worrisome than the former?
Another option is to fully embrace corporate personhood. It’s illegal for any person to buy, own, or sell another person.
Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark.
Foppe, there’s a lot in what you just said.
“Why on Earth would they need personhood for that.”
Corporations, advocacy groups, etc are treated as being people because they are made up of groups of people. If you ended up making a list of rights you think those groups should have, it’d end up looking a lot like the bill of rights. For example, should the government be allowed to fine the SEIU for supporting the OWS protests? Of course not – it’s free speech. How about a corporations right to sue other corporations when they’ve been defrauded? Of course they should have that right. I believe that, in this case, corporate power has become SO EXTREME and it’s control over our elections SO VAST that it warrants an amendment to ban corporate campaign donations. But to throw out 100+ years of Supreme Court decisions (which repeatedly affirm corporate personhood) would be equivalent to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
“And anyway, if the government wants to abuse its power, it can, regardless of what is and isn’t law.”
If the law did not place any restraints on government power regarding corporations [i.e. if we removed corporate personhood], then by definition the government could not”abuse its power” because it would be unlimited.
Fine, keep corporate personhood. Abolish limited liability.
Perhaps the problem isn’t corporate person-hood. The real problem may be that so many people watch television or otherwise see the political advertising that corporate money buys. And furthermore, that corporate political advertising is received uncritically, or without sufficient discernment. Those who dominate the narrative seem to win the votes.
We probably won’t see the end of corporate person-hood anytime soon, in view of the current court. And we probably won’t be able to sufficiently improve our approach to education before the 2012 election. Maybe we should encourage happy laughter in the campaigns. We’ll vote for the one who can elicit the kind of laughter that Stewart and Colbert produce.
So if corporations are persons, not only are they barred from buying and selling other persons, but they can also go to prison for their crimes. The whole damn thing. Just put the “corporation” in prison: put barbed wire and towers around the whole thing, and then take all the principals away in shackles to a “real” prison. You know, the kind real people go to.
Yup. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-11/anti-wall-street-protesters-target-new-york-city-homes-of-dimon-murdoch.html
So on a parallel topic from last night, raids or harassments were brought against the occupations in Boston, Atlanta, St. Lous., Des Moines, Dallas, and Seattle at least in the dark of the night on Monday. In many cases, the occupiers were not moved. There seems clear coordination on the national level though. As commenter soullite said in a prior thread, it’s hard to imagine local police departments coordinating at this level; that’s not their nature, nor their mandate.
The Monday Night Follies were a trial run, folks. It would be very, very interesting to know who is coordinating this, and via what agency. I would hypothesize DoJ, but I don’t know. I strongly encourage anyone with inside knowledge of this effort to assault the Occupation to post up, as it were.
It’s is a certainty that at some point officialdom will make an effort to clear away the occupations: that is their nature. Citizens are NOT allowed to assemble freely in the US _in public_, we can only assemble when permit-ed by those who reserve authority to themselves. Why? Well, riots are a real and serious issue of public order. But in reality the reason is always what we see now, that citizens are barred from participating in governance but restricted to petitioning grievances to the ‘duly constituted authorities.’ Who in the present instance are lackeys to the 1% and firmly against any public interest. So when the move on the Occupation comes—and it will come—here’s to the Occupiers, and the rest of us, having our next phase blocked out and planned up. One obvious move is to simply go right back and occupy all over again. But best to do that in conjunction with a secondary vector of action. Get ready, folks, it’s coming . . . .
‘I strongly encourage anyone with inside knowledge of this effort to assault the Occupation to post up, as it were.’
Where’s Wikileaks when you need them?
So Glenn, they’re sill there, and I believe that they will play as large a part in the crest of this wave as they did in the trough. The Year of the Wiki has begun.
I don’t know about inside information, but here’s some commons sense from the ground. I fear that much of the 1% are severely underestimating the threat an organized people can pose. Maybe they’re thrown off by the hippie thing…
See http://youtu.be/zFVtEYxL2yA
How embarrassing! They walked all that way and forgot to bring the rope.
They took the protest to their front doors, but their garages are on another side of the block.
Thanks for the update, Yves. Been meaning to join them once I can get out of the office today. Short bike ride over to Park Avenue.
FYI. They took public transit to 59th/5th, which is where today’s march started.
“The policing was doing much more to disrupt traffic than the marchers were.”
This has been the case since the beginning.
Nice walk, though.
You go tell them, Yves!
I love it that the guy in the white cotton shirt is in favor of decreased life expectancy for the descamisados.
Christopher Hedges mentions only one dominant idea in the OWS discussions in the article I read by him: corporations should lose status as legal persons. Did you see that idea promoted there by the OWS on the UWS?
Yes, thanks for the update. Was there last week and chatted with a number of people. Like what others have commented, the general feeling I got was that people were disgusted with both legacy parties.
Yves,
Your healthcare dude is actually a positive sign. The comments about spending and (presumably) Obamacare are Tea-Party issues. He may not be a Tea Partier, but he certainly could fit in.
Bottom line: even co-opted, useful-idiot Tea-Party types are recognizing that something is wrong, and are unafraid to protest big corporations/TBTF banks for their role. Eric Cantor and Dick Armey may begin to suffer fainting spells if this sort of thing continues.
N.b. Not all Tea Party people are stupid and co-opted; many Tea Partiers are fed up with the Tea Party and its unwillingness to take on Wall St. and its dependents (e.g. Cantor, Boehner, et al.).
story over on HP about Cain and Romney now changing their tunes…don’t know if true, but wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/2012-gop-candidates-occupy-wall-street_n_1005588.html
I’ve been to several Tea Party events, eschewing “leadership” and talking to people in the crowd. The folks I’ve talked to are steaming mad about the Wall Street bailouts. They do tend to erroneously blame Obama when that particular was a Bush project, but they’re plenty mad at TBTF banks and the communism of the rich.
The first time I went down to Zucotti Square it struck me that it would be great to get the people there together with a Tea Party crowd minus the crackpot Tea Party leadership.
After my first Tea Party event in Rockland County I ended up at a dinner with all the “presenters” from the day’s hostilities and they bid themselves further and further to the lunatic fringe with Hitler and Linen references the ante to join the conversation. I didn’t say much! But the people I had spent the day talking to in the crowd could be the parents (more likely grandparents) of the campers at Zucotti Square.
The focus on fairness will cut across identity groups, it is already starting to.
EVEN BABIES GET FAIRNESS:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111007161636.htm
Even dogs get fairness.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/dogenvy/
Even monkeys get fairness.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2010/jul/15/monkeys-sense-fairness-human-nature
Eh, they seem to have hit on the right target, not that Bush is blameless. Remember TARP failed to pass Congress the first time. It passed only after Obama came in off the campaign trail and twisted Democrats arms to make sure it passed (the GOP mostly voted against it). And then the Fed continued to give additional backdoor support during the early part of his Administration with Treasury support.
They both (Bush and Obama) deserve criticism. The idea that either one is better is just silly. Bush came up with the plan. Obama got it passed.
But the problem isn’t TARP. It’s that the politicians are owned by Wall St. et al…the wealthy and the powerful – across the political divide. The system is corrupt to the bone. It’s not one bill or action or POTUS. It’s all of them!
Sacrificing the middle class to save and enrich the banksters. It’s pure evil. And they are doing it in broad daylight!
That’s my sense of things, too, john newman. Hope you’re right.
~
chimps too!
and – perhaps more importantly, they actually reject perceived ill gotten gains. if only the 1% could evolve…
see –
http://scienceblogs.com/primatediaries/2010/04/chimpanzees_prefer_fair_play_o.php
They also possess inequity aversion, where people will opt out of playing a game they see as unfair, even when it seems economically irrational to do so. Gee, could there be any contemporary examples?
~
greed, i guess, is a learned behavior.
let’s un-learn
“I couldn’t help myself, I was out out of the line of the camera angles, but interjected, “That isn’t true, the new health care plan isn’t effective yet.”
Good for you! Glad you threw him off his rhythm. Tee-hee.
there goes our yves. that is so you. “i couldn’t help myself”… “that isn’t true”! classic.
can’t wait for the video of yves speaking to a rapt group in zuccotti park. honestly i think they will love you.
be prepared to be embraced by cerebral, bespectacled, tattooed shirtless hippie chicks with graffiti on their bellies. (don’t wear white) your reward for all you’ve done.
As a part time occupier and huge Yves fan, I can’t wait to see her down at the park, speaking to the occupiers via people’s mike!
I visited the Occupy Sydney website and there was no indication of when or where the thing is supposed to be on. Indymedia had a piece which complained that there were two Occupy efforts, with separate gatherings only half a click from each other at the same time. Talk about divide and conquer!
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/occupy-protests-bound-for-brisbane-20111011-1lj01.html
Skippy…Ohhh dang. Weekend in noosa with wife and kids (wife’s idea) or OWS in brizzy. Fear for me Glen for I could become dog food.
I’d go for Noosa too given the option. My finances might take me as far as Dapto or Toongabbie, so I’ll join one or both of the Occupies. In fact I might move from one to t’other, berating the silly buggers for not joining up. Just heard from my union rep that they’ve got a big refugee rally at the same time, half a click the other way. It’s mad. I smell a rat, but then I always do.
Things would have to get a fair bit worse here for anything like OWS NY or Boston’s heat to be generated, so I’m hoping for good weather and a nice day out. I’ll wave a placard on your behalf if you have a surf for me.
Probably drive family up early then turn around and get up to my neck in it. Suggest places to get informed from ie NC, Cavaliers, books, again Yves, Greabers, et al. So…they can start asking the polies the *right questions*…eh.
Skippy…then drive back up for a late avo surf (gab some nose for ya) and midnight fish.
Best of both worlds, though going by that Brissie Times piece you have two Occupies there as well. The more the merrier I guess, it is organic ‘open source’ dissent after all.
Enjoy the break.
Haha, love it!
I’d like to see them organize a strategy with rolled up signs to unfurl and demonstrate in small groups at strategic spots. Groups that pop up like mushrooms at the same time spread out over a couple of blocks; too big to ignore, but too small to engage police.
great idea, leeanne. why not just get a few friends together and do it.
You have just described an insurgency (substituting banners for explosives).
Thanks. More proof -there are no original ideas. Only variations on a theme.
I had a similar idea. I keep getting a vision of an action that would have two groups blend in with the people on the sidewalks on both sides of a street, everybody just walking along, indistinguishable from anybody else. Then at a signal, maybe a whistle, they would J-walk across the street, thus filling up the street for a few seconds, like a flash mob. And then melt back into the daily hustle of the street. People would notice.
Here’s a podcast of Stuart Zechman’s report from OWS and it sounds like a unique and really interesting place – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2011/10/07/virtually-speaking-a-to-z
It sounds a lot more organized than most give it credit for, but then given what they’ve accomplished, it would have to be.
Cynthia Kouril posted about the group Yves observed, over at FDL. This is not #OWS, but a coalition of community groups in support:
OWS Is Coming Home to Roost
By: Cynthia Kouril Tuesday October 11, 2011 7:32 am
A group calling itself 99 New York is going to stage a march today in support of Occupy Wall Street. It includes UnitedNY, Strong Economy for All Coaltition, NY Communities for Change, the Working Families Party and a bunch of other community organizations. They plan to march to the homes of several Masters of the Universe and present oversized symbolic checks representing the additional monies that will begin to line the pockets of the 1% once the New York State “millionaire’s tax” expires the end of this year.
The marchers are meeting up at the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue at noonish. The march sets off at 12:30 after a brief rally at 59th….
…
From the plaza, the march will head up Fifth Avenue to Rupert Murdoch’s home between 63rd & 64th on Fifth Ave, then move on to David Koch’s residence at 71st & Fifth. Eventually they will end up at JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s home at 93rd & Park.
http://my.firedoglake.com/cindykouril/2011/10/11/ows-cming-home-to-roost/
BTW: There appear to be two of us now posting as AR. I did not post the comment above about the signs: “Corporations aren’t persons until Texas executes one.” I’m the one who used to ramble on about servicers and foreclosure last year.
Let them march if it makes them happy, but it’s the GAs that are innovative and interesting.
And lambert, I concur regarding the GAs. I was down at the General Assembly in Seattle tonight (briefly); the first one here I believe. What a fascinating process and energy. Two hundred and fifty flowers blooming into one BIG sunflower (on a rotten weather day). . . . They’re teaching themselves to be activists and belong, and growing a movement a phrase at a time. This is _better_ than top down because this way it will diffuse. If the message is ‘me,’ you could jail a hundred and the message stays the same and just keeps going.
I’m loving this. I haven’t had a smile this big since 1991 . . . .
Or even better, the message is “I belong.”
I was down at the Occupy Portland, OR again tonight and would have to say that while the interaction is encouraging, the level of consensus they are requiring to make decisions seems counter productive to me.
They made a decision tonight on continuing to block a street that seems like a bad decision relative to the overall situation but I hope i am wrong and will continue to support them regardless of their decisions as long as they exist.
So psychohistorian [Note: I actually do what psychohistory was supposed to be, I always get a kick out of that monicker], some of the large groups will have tortous process at times; some of the decisions will be poor; consensus is extremely wearing and so the process of it teaches how much of it to apply, to what end, in what circumstance. There will be tactical mistakes along the way, and all the more in that many of those on the ground in the occupations are new to this kind of thing, as it were. From my perspective, it’s better that the participants make their mistakes now, and learn how to manage the grind of consensus now while the stakes are comparatively low and there’s time to recover from missteps. Those who are in it for the long haul will get the hang of it.
So AR, yes, well, they’re of the 99%, so if they call themselves Occupiers or pro thereof then they are. But in many ways, this is even better. Satellite protests/temporary occupations are _exactly_ what are needed at this point. Spread the word. Keep the cops jumping. Give the main site Occupiers a breather. Empower those who can’t/won’t go all in 24 hr at the hot point. I heartily encourage satellite actions—but keep it peaceful, folks. That’s the MO.
There truly is something heartwarming when hundreds of your fellow citizens stand up to power. Even more so when they are preaching one’s own gospel. I encourage you to put on some old clothers, a nice pair of walking shoes, make yourself look unimportant, slap together a quick placard for the occasion (I would just love to know what you’d say), and go to church at Zuccotti Park. It would recharge your soul. For those of you who have never protested – or its been decades – the feeling one gets is better than any church I have ever attended. Go, you won’t regret it.
i keep changing my sign ideas. this is the latest. yeas, nays, suggestions welcome.
I Work for the Department
of Homeland Security
for the 99%.
We Are Now on RED ALERT.
HELP WANTED
for the Army of the Heart.
So aletheia33, “the Army of the Heart;” that’s _great_. I recommend ‘the Department of Heartfelt Security as a parallel.
@ richard kline
in case you see this: thanks, i like your idea
i’ve also been thinking about simply “get rid of the office of homeland security”. i realized that it is already so entrenched that i take it for granted, and my own level of acceptance of it scares me. so it is a statement worth making to raise consciousness, however practical or not.
So aletheia33, yes I did swing by. I think I’m going to borrow your Department of Heartfelt Security for one side of my sign when I march on Saturday in Seattle.
Dept. of Homeland Security is really an awful, awful mestasticism, but to this point the concept is worse than the substance. To all of those ‘big government is bad’ screames, the prospering of Homeland Security is the plainest proof of their hypocrisy in the main. This department was _not_ created to secure ANYTHING but rather to provide a permanent budget code to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars from the public fisc to the massively right wing spy-and-prision complex. Seriously, it’s just a scam to take the money and run. Almost no one involved even cares if any of the stuff works. You’ll notice that the odious and indeed itself criminal ‘terrorist entrapment’ program that’s been run over the last ten years is leveraged out of Justice, not the Keystone Kops of Homeland, for example. In the worst case, Homeland Security could morph into a dim Gestapo with a midriff bulge, but for that to occur we’d have so many other problems that they’d be just another int he queue. But that department will likely be around for generations, guzzling tax receipts to return nickels on the dollar in effect, and that doofus and easily avoided by serious criminal or actual terrorist types. That’s my view.
Firing teachers to hire well-remunerated corporate spies to direct penny ante Keystone Cops; that’s the ‘can’t do’ America as brought to us in the 21st century by the 1%.
As an ex-pat NYer now in Ohio (and sidelined by illness), I am deeply homesick. And, as a veteran of 1968, et seq., I cannot help but wonder when the other shoe (hobnail) will drop. TPTB get very antsy when you show up near their homes. We were anonymous back then, but now Skynet makes it easy to track folks down and I wouldn’t be surprised to see “preventive detention” rolled out for key people.
Then there need to be no, or, and it comes to the same thing, very many “key people.” Which is exactly what the GA process is designed to produce.
Yves:
I would have loved to have been there for th healthcare discussion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rZbvi6Tj6E&feature=fvwrel
?
Banks advice to employees regarding OWS:
“Project an image of confidence and strength. Walk with a purpose and avoid hesitation, keep your head up, shoulders back and make eye contact with people you pass.
Avoid confrontation and unnecessary contact with protesters.
Avoid walking or driving alone. There is safety in numbers.
Carry purses close to the body.
Wallets and cash are best kept in a front pocket.
Avoid wearing Bank ID or logo items outside the bank if possible.
Keep your cell phone charged and close at hand.
Have emergency contact information pre-programmed into your phone.
Have your keys out and ready before you need them.
If you feel that you’re in danger or if you observe suspicious or illegal activities, call the police or dial 911.
If confronted or attacked, try to remain calm and cooperate by following the attacker’s instructions.
Do not attempt to reason or argue with the protesters.”
http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/152679/bank_warns_employees_about_ows/?page=2
“Do not attempt to reason or argue with protestors: we’re not equipped for that. Summon security instead.” There, I fixed that for them.
“Clutch your money to your clammy breast; that is your ID to stay admitted to the 1%.”
“Walk quickly and avoid personal contact; liberty is infectious, and we can’t afford to lose you too.”
I could go on, but their script was bad to begin with . . . .
Carry purses close to the body. Wallets and cash are best kept in a front pocket.
Projection, much? I haven’t heard of any muggings associated with OWS protestors. It’s more likely that a bank will try to steal your money.
Bank warns employees about OWS:
http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/152679/bank_warns_employees_about_ows/?page=1
i had no idea jamie dimon lives across the street from me until today. i didn’t have time to make a “mark to market” protest sign. and i shook up some neighbors and dumb reporters, a 55yo doctor in a suit, with the stuff coming out of my mouth (fraud, kleptocracy, lobbyists writing laws gutting regulations, artificially low money rates, $29 billion taxpayer guarantee against bear stearns assets handed over to dimon and chase). silly me, i thought everyone knew this stuff.
So howard, those that don’t want to know _really_ don’t. There’s always one in three on the wrong side of history in a normal distribution. But hey, we’ll have to carry that 99% of them on our backs with all the rest going in the right direction; same as it ever was.
Republican presidential candidate Buddy Roemer has issued a statement of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement:
As I continue touring college campuses throughout New Hampshire, I am reminded of all the young Americans currently taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Please know that I stand by you.
It is Main Street that creates the majority of jobs in America; it is Main Street that sends our brave young men and women to war; it is Main Street that hurts when another manufacturing plant closes only to be re-opened in China; it is Main Street that is being foreclosed on; and it is Main Street that is suffering while the greed of Wall Street continues to hurt our middle-class.
Too-big-to-fail banks have only gotten bigger thanks to government bailouts, and as president, I will end the corporate tax loopholes that un-American corporations take advantage of only to ship our jobs overseas. Fair trade not Free trade.
Money in politics has created institutional corruption. Both parties are guilty of taking the big check and are bought by Wall Street. My campaign is the only one that speaks out against this and I look forward to the day lobbyists are not allowed to donate to campaigns.
Wall Street grew to be a source of capital for growing companies. It has become something else: A facilitator for greed and for the selling of American jobs. Enough already
funny that I always make this typo demon instead of dimon
This link is a preview of a presentation at OWS tonight (10-12-11)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/04/occupy-wall-street-new-york
The question is how do you contend with markets that keep popping up such as those that sell the trinkets of the rich people about to be guillotined to the crowd who’ve come to watch.
Collective Morality
Frontalcortexes. Become a guillotine operator.
This movement needs an icon or flag that POWERFULLY communicates the true nature of the problem: the fusion of government and corporate power, which is the classic definition of Fascism, which Mussolini preferred to call corporatism. Suggest you look at
http://stephenrowe.blogspot.com/2011/10/old-glorys-red-white-and-blue-seem.html
and the succinct but clear exegesis of the icon presented there.
No. The movement needs as many people to visit Occupations and participate in the General Assemblies.
Seconded
WEll now.. seems to me that the various media, TV papers even the checkout stand mags should throw these folks a few bucks probably they are upping viewership readers etc.
They provide better news then L Lohan.
Everyone’s talking about the 99 percent, but what about the 1 percent? Who’s thinking about us?
For instance, I’m having to spend so much for added security that if these protests continue, I’ll have to reduce my monthly budget for prostitution, and may even have to reduce my cocaine habit.
While it’s nice to bang on bongo drums and sing “we’re the 99 percent”, let’s not forget that the 1 percent have needs as well. Yet these needs are being completely ignored by the selfishness of the 99 percent.
It’s like that proposal in 2008 to tax carried interest at the normal rate, threatening private equity chiefs with the same level of tax on their income as the 99 percent.
It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland.
Whole Foods is opening a store near me. I think they are expecting roughly 12,000 people (with jobs no less) to show up and buy food today. A little larger event than all the demonstrators in all the Occupy camps all over the country.
In other news, lots of people show up at ballgames. Then they go home without having made Eric Cantor and his masters uncomfortable. Immaterial.
Perhaps you meant to point out that there are millions of people still available to join the protest when the time comes (some, maybe, when they lose those jobs).
And speaking of an appropriate musical video for the Occupation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfkYdpX_OUM&feature=player_embedded
(I’m including the second one as it’s a parody of Elizabeth Warren’s senate run — highly complementary — and funny.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu61aU4N8mM&feature=player_embedded#!
I finally saw footage of the Marine carrying the sign: “2nd time I’ve fought for my country; 1st time I’ve known my enemy.” He is a very sympathetic and articulate young man, besides being a Marine. Very nice guy. And I loved his compatriot, another Marine whose blunt advice to the banksters was a terse “Fuck you.”
Aww hey, that’s an _awesome_ sign from that Marine, and I will remember that.
There are many decent, intelligent, motivated people who end up in the military for a time. Some of them even stay. That Marine could just ‘grow up’ to be Smedly Darlington Butler, probably even knows who he was; there is a precedent there. We need more like them . . . .
I’m confused. Was the “grey haired gentleman in a fine cotton shirt” part of the protest or someone who just happened to be in the area? Did you gain satisfaction from throwing him off rhythm because he wasn’t speaking to your viewpoints? The mention of healthcare may have been out of place, but has there not been an exponential increase in government spending in the last 4 years? Did you try to throw any of the protestors who blame everything on Bush and the Republicans off rhythm? I’m puzzled by just about everything surrounding Occupy Wall Street (the protests themselves, the media coverage, the special interests and political parties infiltrating or aligning or thinking about aligning). I see no clear message from OWS. The Tea Party may have been coopted by special interests, but at least they had somewhat of a message when they first sprang up (whether you agree with the message or not). “I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
Are you trying to point out that a national “single payer” health care system would have vastly reduced the costs of health care, had it only been passed?
i hope you stay confused.
to clarify, previous post is reply to b, not susan the other.
The only thing that puzzles me is how good the food is down there.
I don’t mind vegan at all and it looked pretty good the last two times I’ve been down. Not sure if it’s been reviewed yet by any restaurant critics (I’m not a foodie, anyway).
So this weekend, I think I’ll do my usual visit to the square and this time have a meal and write a review of the food experience. I heard quite a few good things about it last time, and there was this young woman who had a plate full and plopped down next to me for some chit-chat last weekend. She was very cool and very intelligent and she seemed to be enjoying the cuisine.
The kitchen is an open kitchen, so you can see the food being prepared and dished up. And if you want to talk Marxist economic theory vs. say, Neoliberalism or intelligent regulation of global finance, they you probably can, even with the chefs. I’d say that’s unusual. Usually the chefs are in the kitchen cursing out the crew and/or come out and do a star turn and hardly say anything. How much fun is that? isn’t that the celebrity circus culture that makes us puke? It makes me puke.
Down at the square, there are no tables, per se, and no wait staff. It’s pretty much line up and choose what you want. The ambiance is intelligent and friendly and it’s easy to circulate and chat people up, which you can’t do at a restaurant without causing a huge scene and probably freaking people out. Oh, well, there’s a time and a place for everthing.
The view is, well, not bad. You can see across the park to the tatooed shirtless dudes on the cardboard and piles of clothes and the hippie chicks smoking cigarettes, and then across to the metal barricades and the police. But beyond that you can see the downtown highrises, which probably look good around dusk. It’s not too bad, really. I’ve seen restaurants with much worse in the way of visual appeal. I’m kind of geting excited already and it’s only Wednesday.
Keep up the great work!
#OCCUPY has been responsible for a MASSIVE shift of the Overton window on the range of “acceptable” debate on issues of wage/income inequality, plutocracy, rigged market wall street capitalism, and the like!
Corporations are person[s?
Skippy…I demand a DNA test!