Lawsuits - the refuge of the weak (in cases like this). We'll break the law to get our point across, but if you do anything that even pretends to cross the line, we'll use the law against you.
That is the great irony of this.
How many times does it take to get through to you two???
I do agree with what the police did. I do not agree with excessive use of force. But, I am not in the Police's shoes when these things go down. If they fell threatened, and they go a little overboard, then I'm fine with it. I do not agree with just walking over to people and beating them with sticks. But, I will cut the NYPD slack over a protestor every day of the week.
That video does not show what occured prior. I'm not saying they edited the actual footage they have. But, it does not necessarily (and I don't know that it doesn't either) give the entire context. So, the police get the benefit of my doubt.
Lawsuits - the refuge of the weak (in cases like this). We'll break the law to get our point across, but if you do anything that even pretends to cross the line, we'll use the law against you.As others have said - I am sure there are incidents where police cross the line. No profession is full of angels. But, for the most part, they are trying to do their jobs to the best of their abilities and get home safely to THEIR children. It's a dangerous jobs that nuts like these only make tougher.
i hope your views on lawsuits remain consistent 20 years from now if you have a son or daughter that decides to stand up against an injustice, perceived or otherwise, and winds up on the wrong end of a police baton, or teargas, or handcuffs... but i somehow doubt that you would be so rigid in your thinking...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Lawsuits - the refuge of the weak (in cases like this). We'll break the law to get our point across, but if you do anything that even pretends to cross the line, we'll use the law against you.
That is the great irony of this.
How many times does it take to get through to you two???
Protesting is NOT ILLEGAL!!
Correct. But, crossing the bridge (for example) after being told not to is. Nobody saying the protesting itself is illegal. But, it is illegal to assemble in certain places. Don't block public streets that we all pay taxes for without a permit. That is illegal.
Sorry. The world doesn't work the way you tell it to.
i hope your views on lawsuits remain consistent 20 years from now if you have a son or daughter that decides to stand up against an injustice, perceived or otherwise, and winds up on the wrong end of a police baton, or teargas, or handcuffs... but i somehow doubt that you would be so rigid in your thinking...
I will. When my kid comes home and says so and so hit him, my first comment to them is - what did you do? (of course the first answer is nothing).
My kids are being raised to be responsible for themselves. They are also taught that there are processees to follow if you have a complaint or issue. If they show up on Wall Street whining they don't have a job because they chose to major in the arts, police batons, teargas and handcuffs will be their best options to coming home...
Sorry. The world doesn't work the way you tell it to.
the bridge incident is a microcosm of the entire protest. the focus should not be on that. there was actually police brutality early on, and there will be more later if the protesters stay there or if the numbers grow.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
the bridge incident is a microcosm of the entire protest. the focus should not be on that. there was actually police brutality early on, and there will be more later if the protesters stay there or if the numbers grow.
There is no doubt the bigger it gets the more chance for that to happen. But, why aren't those the exceptions? Only the protesters get to site exceptions?
The general rule will be that the police will act in good faith to the best of their abilities for the GREATER good. There will be exceptions to this rule.
I will guarantee, as we've already seen - there will be more protesters breaking laws than abiding. The ones abiding by the law will be the exception.
I know police are held to a higher standard (as they should be). If someone is breaking the law, they should be brought to justice on both sides. However, as I've already said - police have the benefit of my doubt in all incidents, and none of it should be tried in the court of public opinion.
Sorry. The world doesn't work the way you tell it to.
Lawsuits - the refuge of the weak (in cases like this). We'll break the law to get our point across, but if you do anything that even pretends to cross the line, we'll use the law against you.
That is the great irony of this.
How many times does it take to get through to you two???
Protesting is NOT ILLEGAL!!
It sometimes is depending on what you are doing, no?
It's like they are stealing from the Tea party... the idea that if you throw out enough grievances that you are protesting, you can get a pretty big group to follow. It's all good now, I just wonder how it will end up with so many different agendas when push comes to shove.
Though I took some heat, looks like someone agrees with me...
It's like they are stealing from the Tea party... the idea that if you throw out enough grievances that you are protesting, you can get a pretty big group to follow. It's all good now, I just wonder how it will end up with so many different agendas when push comes to shove.
Though I took some heat, looks like someone agrees with me...
...
I agree with you. The Tea Party arose because of anger... anger at the political system and its symbionic relationship with corporations and banks. The original Tea Party intent was to oust every incumbant Representative when their term came up for election.
However, the Tea Party was hi-jacked by the Republican Party (using their voice box, FOX News). The current Tea Party is nothing more than the Christian Coalition without the hard-on about the abortion issue.
Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
Hail, Hail!!!
I will guarantee, as we've already seen - there will be more protesters breaking laws than abiding. The ones abiding by the law will be the exception.
I know police are held to a higher standard (as they should be). If someone is breaking the law, they should be brought to justice on both sides. However, as I've already said - police have the benefit of my doubt in all incidents, and none of it should be tried in the court of public opinion.
how the fuck can you begin to speculate the underlined part??
have you got a crystal ball or something??
it sounds to me like you are generalizing an entire population of people. most of those protesting have been well behaved. far more have been well behaved than not. now it seems like you are just baiting people to get a response...
and nothing should be tried in the court of public opinion?? thank god that was not the prevailing attitude during the the civil rights movement or the anti vietnam war movement. as long as there are media there with rolling cameras things are going to be tried in the court of public opinion whether you like it or not.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
It's like they are stealing from the Tea party... the idea that if you throw out enough grievances that you are protesting, you can get a pretty big group to follow. It's all good now, I just wonder how it will end up with so many different agendas when push comes to shove.
Though I took some heat, looks like someone agrees with me...
I have to agree with some of the comments on this site. I would be there with them if they were in Washington and if they were more peaceful.
“We the people are the rightful masters of bothCongress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
It's like they are stealing from the Tea party... the idea that if you throw out enough grievances that you are protesting, you can get a pretty big group to follow. It's all good now, I just wonder how it will end up with so many different agendas when push comes to shove.
Though I took some heat, looks like someone agrees with me...
I have to agree with some of the comments on this site. I would be there with them if they were in Washington and if they were more peaceful.
Though I do not agree with them on everything, I do think that the millionaires need to get out of Washington. However, they want the Millionaires money…..I do not agree with that….
“We the people are the rightful masters of bothCongress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
I have to agree with some of the comments on this site. I would be there with them if they were in Washington and if they were more peaceful.
Though I do not agree with them on everything, I do think that the millionaires need to get out of Washington. However, they want the Millionaires money…..I do not agree with that….
...
I think it's because Wall Street (Money) runs politics... Politics does not run Wall Street. Congressmen and Senators and Presidents are puppets to Wall Street.
Go after the puppet master... the puppet goes away.
Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
Hail, Hail!!!
0
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,088
Here's an excellent article that shows just how wide spread the support is for the Wall St. protest:
"Occupy Wall Street Catches Fire
8By Ruth Conniff, October 5, 2011
It started in New York's financial district. Now it has spread to cities all across the United States. Students, pilots, transit workers, teachers, tenants--thousands of people who work every day and keep our country going are marching and sitting in to protest the looting of our national wealth, a huge spike in poverty, and the liquidation of the middle class.
Like the rallies last spring in Wisconsin, the Occupy Wall Street protests feature a cross-section of society, as do similar marches now taking place in the financial districts of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities.
The scenes of huge crowds outside offices of investment houses and major banks graphically show how the majority of Americans' interests are directly opposed to the financial powerhouses that run our economy.
Bank deregulation, the non-payment of corporate taxes, austerity for the poor and middle class, and a lack of accountability for criminal activity that caused the current financial crisis are the facts that sparked these protests.
Most of all, people are protesting the pernicious economic theory called neoliberalism: welfare for the banks and austerity for the people.
Why should we be contemplating cuts in Social Security and Medicare while we are keeping taxes at a historic low for massive corporations--many of which now manage to pay no taxes at all?
Why should we be closing libraries and cutting funds for schools when we, the American taxpayers, just doled out another $750 billion in bailout funds to the same bankers who knowingly made lousy bets, enriched themselves, and then paid themselves big bonuses?
Why do we allow these people to insist that they need to take the taxpayers' money because they and only they know best how to run our economy--and if we don't give them tax breaks and bailout funds we will fall into an even deeper financial crisis?
This economy is not working well for most people. Wages have been stagnant since the 1970s, unemployment is at 9 percent, middle-class income fell last year, and the poverty rate is the highest since 1993.
People know that the banks caused the current economic crisis.
They know that cuts to schools and safety-net programs and more tax breaks for corporations that sit on the money will not create jobs or help the next generation get ahead.
For all the commentary about the diffuse message of the Occupy Wall Street protests, it is clear that this gut-level understanding drives people to join in.
Just as it happened in Wisconsin, a spontaneous outpouring is taking place in New York and around the country because people are fed up.
The American middle class, built by the labor movement, knows that an economy that runs on inequality--that concentrates the nation's wealth in the top 1 percent of earners, who now make more than the bottom 50 percent is no good.
We know that "shared sacrifice"--meaning fewer resources for our kids' schools, less medical care for our grandparents, and less retirement security for today's workforce--is an outrage when profits and bonuses are soaring at the big banks.
We know the difference between a just society that believes in opportunity for everyone and an oligarchy that enforces a caste system where the rich get richer and the poor are stuck.
These are fundamental American values. The banks have been allowed to abandon them.
But the citizens have not."
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
The Tea Party does things legally, organized and in orderly fashion! They get a permit, rent a fence, and have their civilized protest! These current protestors are hippies and anti capitalists who just reign on everyone elses parade! They are communists who think the world revolves around them! They are Marxists who seek to take more and more and more....even though they do not give! They want more entitlements even though they have not paid into the system! They have been brainwashed into loving the entitlement society idea! They are lazy! They want more without working hard! They are people who havent even worked hard for many years as of yet! They are young! How can you be experienced and knowledgable in society when you havent even paid taxes in an amount of what you take? These people are just blood thirsty!
They have no coherent message! The Tea Party has a platform! These people, when interviewed, have no message! They dont even understand the founding and principles of America! WOW LOST SOULS SHEEPLE!
Theres no time like the present
A man that stands for nothing....will fall for anything!
5 Facts You Should Know About the Wealthiest One Percent of Americans
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is.
As the ongoing occupation of Wall Street by hundreds of protesters enters its third week — and as protests spread to other cities such as Boston and Los Angeles — demonstrators have endorsed a new slogan: “We are the 99 percent.” This slogan refers to an economic struggle between 99 percent of Americans and the richest 1 percent of Americans, who are increasingly accumulating a greater share of the national wealth to the detriment of the middle class.
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is. ThinkProgress has assembled five facts about this class of super-rich Americans:
1. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Owns 40 Percent of the Nation’s Wealth
As Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz points out, the richest 1 percent of Americans now own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Sociologist William Domhoff illustrates this wealth disparity using 2007 figures where the top 1 percent owned 42 percent of the country’s financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home). How much does the bottom 80 percent own? Only 7 percent.
2. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Take Home 24 Percent of National Income
While the richest 1 percent of Americans take home almost a quarter of national income today, in 1976 they took home just 9 percent — meaning their share of the national income pool has nearly tripled in roughly three decades.
3. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Own Half of the Country’s Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds
The Institute for Policy Studies illustrates this massive disparity in financial investment ownership, noting that the bottom 50 percent of Americans own only .5 percent of these investments.
4. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Have Only 5 Percent of the Nation’s Personal Debt
Using 2007 figures, sociologist William Domhoff points out that the top 1 percent have 5 percent of the nation’s personal debt while the bottom 90 percent have 73 percent of total debt
5. The Top 1 Percent are Taking In More of the Nation’s Income Than at Any Other Time Since the 1920s
Not only are the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans taking home a tremendous portion of the national income, but their share of this income is greater than at any other time since the Great Depression, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities illustrates in this chart using 2007 data: (see site).
As Professor Elizabeth Warren has explained, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody…Part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
More and more often, that is not occurring, giving the protesters ample reason to take to the streets.
5 Facts You Should Know About the Wealthiest One Percent of Americans
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is.
As the ongoing occupation of Wall Street by hundreds of protesters enters its third week — and as protests spread to other cities such as Boston and Los Angeles — demonstrators have endorsed a new slogan: “We are the 99 percent.” This slogan refers to an economic struggle between 99 percent of Americans and the richest 1 percent of Americans, who are increasingly accumulating a greater share of the national wealth to the detriment of the middle class.
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is. ThinkProgress has assembled five facts about this class of super-rich Americans:
1. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Owns 40 Percent of the Nation’s Wealth
As Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz points out, the richest 1 percent of Americans now own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Sociologist William Domhoff illustrates this wealth disparity using 2007 figures where the top 1 percent owned 42 percent of the country’s financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home). How much does the bottom 80 percent own? Only 7 percent.
2. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Take Home 24 Percent of National Income
While the richest 1 percent of Americans take home almost a quarter of national income today, in 1976 they took home just 9 percent — meaning their share of the national income pool has nearly tripled in roughly three decades.
3. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Own Half of the Country’s Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds
The Institute for Policy Studies illustrates this massive disparity in financial investment ownership, noting that the bottom 50 percent of Americans own only .5 percent of these investments.
4. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Have Only 5 Percent of the Nation’s Personal Debt
Using 2007 figures, sociologist William Domhoff points out that the top 1 percent have 5 percent of the nation’s personal debt while the bottom 90 percent have 73 percent of total debt
5. The Top 1 Percent are Taking In More of the Nation’s Income Than at Any Other Time Since the 1920s
Not only are the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans taking home a tremendous portion of the national income, but their share of this income is greater than at any other time since the Great Depression, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities illustrates in this chart using 2007 data: (see site).
As Professor Elizabeth Warren has explained, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody…Part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
More and more often, that is not occurring, giving the protesters ample reason to take to the streets.
And?
How do you know who's giving what to whom? Your assumption that no charity is going on at the top is flawed. Let's stop talking about what other people have and focus on what I can do for myself.
Sorry. The world doesn't work the way you tell it to.
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brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,088
There are many good, hard working people out there trying to make positive changes to things. Thank you, brave souls!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
Democracy Dies in Darkness- Washington Post
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brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,088
How do you know who's giving what to whom? Your assumption that no charity is going on at the top is flawed. Let's stop talking about what other people have and focus on what I can do for myself.
I've never gotten the impression that it's charity that the protestors want but rather a fair shake. I lot of people work very hard for very little (See Barbara Ehrenreich book Nickle and Dimed). I'm totally with you about doing what we can for ourselves and I appreciate your thoughts that way. But I know that from personal experience having gone from being a very comfortable middle class yuppie class to- through no fault of my own due to injury- having to live in my vehicle for two years and finally to where I am now- working as best I can to keep my head above water, that this is often easier said than done- especially today. And hard as it was for me, I had some lucky breaks along the way. I already had a degree- and when I started school at Calif. State Univ. the tuition was only $50 for a full load. The vehicle I lived in was a van and getting hassled and rousted and broken into sucked but not nearly as badly as living in a Pinto or a cardboard box. Things in general were nowhere near as bad then as they are now in terms of trying to make a living wage and back then the term "middle class" meant the average person.
Yes, everyone needs to take some personal responsibility but the division between the haves and have-nots is growing and unless a person is securely (and remember- I thought I had it made for life in my yuppie days) and I mean really secure you might end up on the short end... which sucks and which is where more and more folks are headed.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
Democracy Dies in Darkness- Washington Post
0
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,088
What do you think- re. my post above, was I one step ahead of Mr. Kunstler this week?
By James Howard Kunstler
on October 10, 2011 9:17 AM
"Recession Officially Over," The New York Times' lead headline declared around 7 o'clock this morning. (Watch: they'll change it.) That was Part A. Part B said, "US Incomes Kept Falling." Welcome to What-The-Fuck Nation. I suppose if you include the cost of things like the number of auto accident victims transported by EMT squads as part of your Gross Domestic Product such contradictions to reality are possible. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, where are you when we really need you?
I dropped in on the Occupy Wall Street crowd down in Zuccotti Park last Thursday. It was like 1968 all over again, except there was no weed wafting on the breeze (another WTF?). The Boomer-owned-and-operated media was complaining about them all week. They were "coddled trust-funders" (an odd accusation made by people whose college enrollment status got them a draft deferment, back when college cost $500 a year). Then there was the persistent nagging over the "lack of an agenda," as if the US Department of Energy, or the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs was doing a whole lot better.
This is the funniest part to me: that leaders of a nation incapable of constructing a coherent consensus about reality can accuse its youth of not having a clear program. If the OWS movement stands for anything, it's a dire protest against the country's leaders' lack of a clear program.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
the revolution does not go better with coke, but it does go better with this song written and recorded by paula tiberius and richard duguay in honour of all the protesters at 'occupy wall street'. free to download and share.
The grumbling from the wealthy took off with a sign posted in the windows of the Chicago Board of Trade last week, in a place where street protesters easily could see it, which proclaimed: "We Are The 1%."
"A protester sees my Benz, and wants to rip me out of it. A real man sees my car, and wants to work hard so he can buy it one day."
officer tony bologna, the cop who sprayed the innocent women with pepper spray, is being investigated, and michael bloomberg said that all of the protestors can stay where they have been staying for as long as they like....
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
officer tony bologna, the cop who sprayed the innocent women with pepper spray, is being investigated, and michael bloomberg said that all of the protestors can stay where they have been staying for as long as they like....
Good to hear. But that cop - I doubt there will be much investigation...
More than 50 protesters from the Occupy Boston movement were arrested early Tuesday in a downtown greenway near where they have been camped out for more than a week.
officer tony bologna, the cop who sprayed the innocent women with pepper spray, is being investigated, and michael bloomberg said that all of the protestors can stay where they have been staying for as long as they like....
anyone else think of a character from the sopranos or goodfellas...
that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
officer tony bologna, the cop who sprayed the innocent women with pepper spray, is being investigated, and michael bloomberg said that all of the protestors can stay where they have been staying for as long as they like....
anyone else think of a character from the sopranos or goodfellas...
it sounds like nickname from one of those movies.
like joey "roast beef" or something...
or a character from jane austen's mafia...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
So what do you all think about the videos that show protesters trying to force their way through the metal barricades and push into the police? What are the police supposed to do in that case, stand there and be trampled?
Just before 8 p.m., witnesses said, a group of people standing near the metal barricades loudly announced their intention to march along Wall Street. After what some witnesses described as a countdown, members of the group surged against the barricades, attempting to push past them.
Police officers on the other side of the barricades pushed back, witnesses said, and photographs from the scene showed an officer behind the barricade directing a stream of pepper spray at people trying to shove their way past.
At least one officer was seen swinging a baton as police moved people back from the barricades.
David Suker, a 43-year-old teacher from the Bronx, said the officer struck him with a two-handed swing. On Thursday he displayed a long red welt on the side of his abdomen that he said was caused by the blow.
“It felt like he was trying to hit a home run,” Mr. Suker said of the officer.
Mr. Suker said that he knew that being part of a group that had announced an intention to cross the barricades could result in arrest, but said that he did not expect to be struck by a baton. He called the blow an instance of brutality.
Ok, really, what did this guy think was going to happen when hundreds of people shove a barricade into a group of police officers? The guy knew he was doing something wrong but did it anyway and now he's whining about the police attempting to control the crowd? Are you kidding me? How did he expect the police to arrest anyone in the group without using some sort of force--a use of force that is legal, by the way? Don't try to use mob mentality to run over the police and expect a response that is weak. This guy's a teacher, so I assume that he's not stupid. I have a hard time believing that he didn't expect pepper spray and batons when he decided to be a part of an angry mob charging the police barrier. I think he got exactly what he wanted--a chance to tell his sob story to the media and play the victim in order to generate some sympathy and support for this silly protest.
So what do you all think about the videos that show protesters trying to force their way through the metal barricades and push into the police? What are the police supposed to do in that case, stand there and be trampled?
I think that they should know it's coming. They should expect nothing less and are lucky they don't get their asses tased. The cop in the video was being very polite in his club usage.
Comments
How many times does it take to get through to you two???
Protesting is NOT ILLEGAL!!
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Correct. But, crossing the bridge (for example) after being told not to is. Nobody saying the protesting itself is illegal. But, it is illegal to assemble in certain places. Don't block public streets that we all pay taxes for without a permit. That is illegal.
I will. When my kid comes home and says so and so hit him, my first comment to them is - what did you do? (of course the first answer is nothing).
My kids are being raised to be responsible for themselves. They are also taught that there are processees to follow if you have a complaint or issue. If they show up on Wall Street whining they don't have a job because they chose to major in the arts, police batons, teargas and handcuffs will be their best options to coming home...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
There is no doubt the bigger it gets the more chance for that to happen. But, why aren't those the exceptions? Only the protesters get to site exceptions?
The general rule will be that the police will act in good faith to the best of their abilities for the GREATER good. There will be exceptions to this rule.
I will guarantee, as we've already seen - there will be more protesters breaking laws than abiding. The ones abiding by the law will be the exception.
I know police are held to a higher standard (as they should be). If someone is breaking the law, they should be brought to justice on both sides. However, as I've already said - police have the benefit of my doubt in all incidents, and none of it should be tried in the court of public opinion.
It sometimes is depending on what you are doing, no?
Though I took some heat, looks like someone agrees with me...
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/10/06/ ... index.html
I agree with you. The Tea Party arose because of anger... anger at the political system and its symbionic relationship with corporations and banks. The original Tea Party intent was to oust every incumbant Representative when their term came up for election.
However, the Tea Party was hi-jacked by the Republican Party (using their voice box, FOX News). The current Tea Party is nothing more than the Christian Coalition without the hard-on about the abortion issue.
Hail, Hail!!!
have you got a crystal ball or something??
it sounds to me like you are generalizing an entire population of people. most of those protesting have been well behaved. far more have been well behaved than not. now it seems like you are just baiting people to get a response...
and nothing should be tried in the court of public opinion?? thank god that was not the prevailing attitude during the the civil rights movement or the anti vietnam war movement. as long as there are media there with rolling cameras things are going to be tried in the court of public opinion whether you like it or not.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I have to agree with some of the comments on this site. I would be there with them if they were in Washington and if they were more peaceful.
I have to agree with some of the comments on this site. I would be there with them if they were in Washington and if they were more peaceful.
Though I do not agree with them on everything, I do think that the millionaires need to get out of Washington. However, they want the Millionaires money…..I do not agree with that….
I think it's because Wall Street (Money) runs politics... Politics does not run Wall Street. Congressmen and Senators and Presidents are puppets to Wall Street.
Go after the puppet master... the puppet goes away.
Hail, Hail!!!
http://www.progressive.org/occupy_wall_street_.html
"Occupy Wall Street Catches Fire
8By Ruth Conniff, October 5, 2011
It started in New York's financial district. Now it has spread to cities all across the United States. Students, pilots, transit workers, teachers, tenants--thousands of people who work every day and keep our country going are marching and sitting in to protest the looting of our national wealth, a huge spike in poverty, and the liquidation of the middle class.
Like the rallies last spring in Wisconsin, the Occupy Wall Street protests feature a cross-section of society, as do similar marches now taking place in the financial districts of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities.
The scenes of huge crowds outside offices of investment houses and major banks graphically show how the majority of Americans' interests are directly opposed to the financial powerhouses that run our economy.
Bank deregulation, the non-payment of corporate taxes, austerity for the poor and middle class, and a lack of accountability for criminal activity that caused the current financial crisis are the facts that sparked these protests.
Most of all, people are protesting the pernicious economic theory called neoliberalism: welfare for the banks and austerity for the people.
Why should we be contemplating cuts in Social Security and Medicare while we are keeping taxes at a historic low for massive corporations--many of which now manage to pay no taxes at all?
Why should we be closing libraries and cutting funds for schools when we, the American taxpayers, just doled out another $750 billion in bailout funds to the same bankers who knowingly made lousy bets, enriched themselves, and then paid themselves big bonuses?
Why do we allow these people to insist that they need to take the taxpayers' money because they and only they know best how to run our economy--and if we don't give them tax breaks and bailout funds we will fall into an even deeper financial crisis?
This economy is not working well for most people. Wages have been stagnant since the 1970s, unemployment is at 9 percent, middle-class income fell last year, and the poverty rate is the highest since 1993.
People know that the banks caused the current economic crisis.
They know that cuts to schools and safety-net programs and more tax breaks for corporations that sit on the money will not create jobs or help the next generation get ahead.
For all the commentary about the diffuse message of the Occupy Wall Street protests, it is clear that this gut-level understanding drives people to join in.
Just as it happened in Wisconsin, a spontaneous outpouring is taking place in New York and around the country because people are fed up.
The American middle class, built by the labor movement, knows that an economy that runs on inequality--that concentrates the nation's wealth in the top 1 percent of earners, who now make more than the bottom 50 percent is no good.
We know that "shared sacrifice"--meaning fewer resources for our kids' schools, less medical care for our grandparents, and less retirement security for today's workforce--is an outrage when profits and bonuses are soaring at the big banks.
We know the difference between a just society that believes in opportunity for everyone and an oligarchy that enforces a caste system where the rich get richer and the poor are stuck.
These are fundamental American values. The banks have been allowed to abandon them.
But the citizens have not."
They have no coherent message! The Tea Party has a platform! These people, when interviewed, have no message! They dont even understand the founding and principles of America! WOW LOST SOULS SHEEPLE!
A man that stands for nothing....will fall for anything!
All people need to do more on every level!
5 Facts You Should Know About the Wealthiest One Percent of Americans
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is.
As the ongoing occupation of Wall Street by hundreds of protesters enters its third week — and as protests spread to other cities such as Boston and Los Angeles — demonstrators have endorsed a new slogan: “We are the 99 percent.” This slogan refers to an economic struggle between 99 percent of Americans and the richest 1 percent of Americans, who are increasingly accumulating a greater share of the national wealth to the detriment of the middle class.
It may shock you to learn exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is. ThinkProgress has assembled five facts about this class of super-rich Americans:
1. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Owns 40 Percent of the Nation’s Wealth
As Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz points out, the richest 1 percent of Americans now own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Sociologist William Domhoff illustrates this wealth disparity using 2007 figures where the top 1 percent owned 42 percent of the country’s financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home). How much does the bottom 80 percent own? Only 7 percent.
2. The Top 1 Percent of Americans Take Home 24 Percent of National Income
While the richest 1 percent of Americans take home almost a quarter of national income today, in 1976 they took home just 9 percent — meaning their share of the national income pool has nearly tripled in roughly three decades.
3. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Own Half of the Country’s Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds
The Institute for Policy Studies illustrates this massive disparity in financial investment ownership, noting that the bottom 50 percent of Americans own only .5 percent of these investments.
4. The Top 1 Percent Of Americans Have Only 5 Percent of the Nation’s Personal Debt
Using 2007 figures, sociologist William Domhoff points out that the top 1 percent have 5 percent of the nation’s personal debt while the bottom 90 percent have 73 percent of total debt
5. The Top 1 Percent are Taking In More of the Nation’s Income Than at Any Other Time Since the 1920s
Not only are the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans taking home a tremendous portion of the national income, but their share of this income is greater than at any other time since the Great Depression, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities illustrates in this chart using 2007 data: (see site).
As Professor Elizabeth Warren has explained, “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody…Part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
More and more often, that is not occurring, giving the protesters ample reason to take to the streets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H47tHjR ... r_embedded
Especially when you fast forward to the part where the cameraman interviews people.
And?
How do you know who's giving what to whom? Your assumption that no charity is going on at the top is flawed. Let's stop talking about what other people have and focus on what I can do for myself.
I've never gotten the impression that it's charity that the protestors want but rather a fair shake. I lot of people work very hard for very little (See Barbara Ehrenreich book Nickle and Dimed). I'm totally with you about doing what we can for ourselves and I appreciate your thoughts that way. But I know that from personal experience having gone from being a very comfortable middle class yuppie class to- through no fault of my own due to injury- having to live in my vehicle for two years and finally to where I am now- working as best I can to keep my head above water, that this is often easier said than done- especially today. And hard as it was for me, I had some lucky breaks along the way. I already had a degree- and when I started school at Calif. State Univ. the tuition was only $50 for a full load. The vehicle I lived in was a van and getting hassled and rousted and broken into sucked but not nearly as badly as living in a Pinto or a cardboard box. Things in general were nowhere near as bad then as they are now in terms of trying to make a living wage and back then the term "middle class" meant the average person.
Yes, everyone needs to take some personal responsibility but the division between the haves and have-nots is growing and unless a person is securely (and remember- I thought I had it made for life in my yuppie days) and I mean really secure you might end up on the short end... which sucks and which is where more and more folks are headed.
http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/10/occupy-everything.html
Occupy Everything
By James Howard Kunstler
on October 10, 2011 9:17 AM
"Recession Officially Over," The New York Times' lead headline declared around 7 o'clock this morning. (Watch: they'll change it.) That was Part A. Part B said, "US Incomes Kept Falling." Welcome to What-The-Fuck Nation. I suppose if you include the cost of things like the number of auto accident victims transported by EMT squads as part of your Gross Domestic Product such contradictions to reality are possible. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, where are you when we really need you?
I dropped in on the Occupy Wall Street crowd down in Zuccotti Park last Thursday. It was like 1968 all over again, except there was no weed wafting on the breeze (another WTF?). The Boomer-owned-and-operated media was complaining about them all week. They were "coddled trust-funders" (an odd accusation made by people whose college enrollment status got them a draft deferment, back when college cost $500 a year). Then there was the persistent nagging over the "lack of an agenda," as if the US Department of Energy, or the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs was doing a whole lot better.
This is the funniest part to me: that leaders of a nation incapable of constructing a coherent consensus about reality can accuse its youth of not having a clear program. If the OWS movement stands for anything, it's a dire protest against the country's leaders' lack of a clear program.
the revolution does not go better with coke, but it does go better with this song written and recorded by paula tiberius and richard duguay in honour of all the protesters at 'occupy wall street'. free to download and share.
cheers!
http://news.yahoo.com/occupy-wall-stree ... 28054.html
The grumbling from the wealthy took off with a sign posted in the windows of the Chicago Board of Trade last week, in a place where street protesters easily could see it, which proclaimed: "We Are The 1%."
"A protester sees my Benz, and wants to rip me out of it. A real man sees my car, and wants to work hard so he can buy it one day."
:idea:
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Good to hear. But that cop - I doubt there will be much investigation...
Turns out some shrubs were in jeopardy
anyone else think of a character from the sopranos or goodfellas...
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
like joey "roast beef" or something...
or a character from jane austen's mafia...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/ ... t-protest/
Ok, really, what did this guy think was going to happen when hundreds of people shove a barricade into a group of police officers? The guy knew he was doing something wrong but did it anyway and now he's whining about the police attempting to control the crowd? Are you kidding me? How did he expect the police to arrest anyone in the group without using some sort of force--a use of force that is legal, by the way? Don't try to use mob mentality to run over the police and expect a response that is weak. This guy's a teacher, so I assume that he's not stupid. I have a hard time believing that he didn't expect pepper spray and batons when he decided to be a part of an angry mob charging the police barrier. I think he got exactly what he wanted--a chance to tell his sob story to the media and play the victim in order to generate some sympathy and support for this silly protest.
I think that they should know it's coming. They should expect nothing less and are lucky they don't get their asses tased. The cop in the video was being very polite in his club usage.