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Hilt
Social climber
Utah
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Nov 18, 2011 - 03:12pm PT
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First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Martin Niemöller-
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corniss chopper
climber
breaking the speed of gravity
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Nov 18, 2011 - 03:20pm PT
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OWS has crossed the line and become domestic terrorists! Homeland Security
is surely getting ready to do mass arrests, process and transport the lot of them down to Gitmo.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Nov 18, 2011 - 03:55pm PT
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Yes, there was a big riot in Pennsylvania just the other day. Thousands of entitled young people protesting against the status quo. They caused a lot of damage, and negatively affected the public and the police.
I'm referring, of course, to the university students who rioted when their football coach was fired, for not taking appropriate action to respond to pedophilia. The yuppie scum seemed to think that football was more important than criminal law, or higher education.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 18, 2011 - 05:17pm PT
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You missed it because yesterday was Thursday.
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Jingy
climber
Somewhere out there
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Nov 18, 2011 - 05:56pm PT
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The Declaration of the Occupation of Washington, D.C.
Consented to in committee November 15th, 2011
We have been captives of corrupt economic and political systems for far too long. The concentration of wealth and the purchase of political power stifle the voices of the increasingly disenfranchised 99%. Corporate dominance subverts democracy, intentionally sows division, destroys the environment, obstructs the just and equitable pursuit of happiness, and violates the rights and dignity of all life.
Occupy D.C. is an open community of diverse individuals, founded on equality for the common good. We are peaceably assembled at McPherson Square, practicing direct democracy on the doorstep of K Street, the center of destructive corporate and governmental relationships. We insist that our political and economic systems serve the people’s interests. Now is the time to advance and complete the struggles of those who came before us.
We are assembled because...
It is absurd that The 1% has taken 40% of the nation’s wealth through exploiting labor, outsourcing jobs, and manipulating the tax code to their benefit through special capital tax rates and loopholes. The system is rigged in their favor, yet they cry foul when anyone even dares to question their relentless class warfare.
Candidates in our electoral system require huge sums of money to be competitive. These contributions from multi-national corporations and wealthy individuals destroy responsive representative governance. A system of backroom deals, kickbacks, bribes, and dirty politics overrides the will of the people. The rotation of decision-makers between the public and private sectors cultivates a network of public officials, lobbyists, and executives whose aligned interests do not serve the American people.
The entrenched 2-party system overlooks public interests by pursuing narrow political goals. This climate encourages candidates to polarize voters for individual power and personal gain. Citizens’ meaningful input has been compromised by gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and unresponsive politicians. Residents of Washington DC continue to lack autonomy and legislative representation.
Those with power have divided us from working in solidarity by perpetuating historical prejudices and discrimination based on color of skin, perceived race, immigrant or indigenous status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability, among other things.
Corporations broke the financial system by gambling with our savings, property, and economy. They needed the public to bail them out of their failures yet deny any responsibility and continue to fight oversight. They loot from those whose labor creates society’s prosperity, while the government allows them to privatize profits and socialize risk.
Corporate interests threaten life on Earth by extracting and burning fossil fuels and resisting the necessary transition to renewable energy. Their drilling, mining, clear-cutting, overfishing, and factory farming destroys the land, jeopardizes our food and water, and poisons the soil with near impunity. They privilege polluters over people by subsidizing fossil fuels, blocking investments in clean energy and efficient transportation, and hiding environmental destruction from public oversight.
Private corporations, with the government’s support, use common resources and infrastructure for short-term personal profit, while stifling efforts to invest in public goods.
The U.S. government engages in drawn-out, costly conflicts abroad. These operations are often pursued to control resources, needlessly overthrow foreign governments, and install friendly regimes. These wars destroy the lives of American soldiers and innocent civilians and are a blank check to divert money from domestic priorities.
Government authorities cultivate a culture of fear to invade our privacy, limit assembly, restrict speech, and deny due process. They have failed in their duty to protect our rights. Exacerbated by profiteering interests, the criminal justice system has unfairly targeted underprivileged communities and outspoken groups for prosecution rather than protection.
Corporatized culture warps our perception of reality. It cheapens and mocks the beauty of human thought and experience, while promoting excessive materialism as the path to happiness. The corporate news media furthers the interests of the very wealthy, distorts and disregards the truth, and confines our imagination of what is possible for ourselves and society.
Leaders are trading our access to basic needs in exchange for handouts to the ultra-wealthy. Our rights to healthcare, education, food, water, and housing are sacrificed to profit-driven market forces. They are attacking unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, creating an uncertain future for us all.*
A better world is possible. To all people,
We, the Washington D.C. General Assembly occupying K Street in McPherson Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble and reclaim the commons. Re-conceive ways to build a democratic, just, and sustainable world.
To all who value democracy, we encourage you to collaborate, and share available resources. We stand with you in solidarity.
*These grievances are not all inclusive.
http://crooksandliars.com/
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 18, 2011 - 05:58pm PT
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So, how do they plan on fixing it?
How do we know their solution isn't worse than the problem?
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 18, 2011 - 06:05pm PT
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Just wondering...
Anybody have any good ideas where this thing will end up?
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 18, 2011 - 06:34pm PT
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Some ended up in the hospital.
Some ended up going out of business, because occupiers displaced normal commerce, and replaced it with feces.
Some ended up being raped, so now they'll have a lifetime of emotional demons they otherwise wouldn't have had to deal with.
And at least one occupier ended up being deported back to Mexico, because he was foolish enough to get arrested on purpose, and they found out he was an illegal.
See, they really are making a difference!
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 18, 2011 - 07:11pm PT
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How's this reform going to look?
How do we know the occupier's solution won't be worse than the problem?
They don't exactly earn any kind of trust, trashing places and associating with lunatic radicals.
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lostinshanghai
Social climber
someplace
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Nov 19, 2011 - 01:15pm PT
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Looks like Nixon back in town or actually House Speaker John Boehner
Lobbying firm's memo spells out plan to undermine Occupy Wall Street
By Jonathan Larsen and Ken Olshansky, MSNBC TV
A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”
The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.
CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead.According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”
The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”
Two of the memo’s authors, partners Sam Geduldig and Jay Cranford, previously worked for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Geduldig joined CLGC before Boehner became speaker; Cranford joined CLGC this year after serving as the speaker’s assistant for policy. A third partner, Steve Clark, is reportedly “tight” with Boehner, according to a story by Roll Call that CLGC features on its website.
Jeff Sigmund, an ABA spokesperson, confirmed that the association got the memo. “Our Government Relations staff did receive the proposal – it was unsolicited and we chose not to act on it in any way,” he said in a statement to "Up."
CLGC did not return calls seeking comment.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to comment on the memo. But he responded to its characterization of Republicans as defenders of Wall Street by saying, “My understanding is that President Obama is the single largest recipient of donations from Wall Street.”
On “Up” Saturday, Obama campaign adviser Anita Dunn responded by saying that the majority of the president’s re-election campaign is fueled by small donors. She rejected the suggestion that the president himself is too close to Wall Street, saying “If that’s the case, why were tough financial reforms passed over party line Republican opposition?”
The CLGC memo raises another issue that it says should be of concern to the financial industry -- that OWS might find common cause with the Tea Party. “Well-known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism,” the memo says. “…This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.”
The memo outlines a 60-day plan to conduct surveys and research on OWS and its supporters so that Wall Street companies will be prepared to conduct a media campaign in response to OWS. Wall Street companies “likely will not be the best spokespeople for their own cause,” according to the memo. “A big challenge is to demonstrate that these companies still have political strength and that making them a political target will carry a severe political cost.”
Part of the plan CLGC proposes is to do “statewide surveys in at least eight states that are shaping up to be the most important of the 2012 cycle.”
Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina.
The memo indicates that CLGC would research who has contributed financial backing to OWS, noting that, “Media reports have speculated about associations with George Soros and others.”
"It will be vital,” the memo says, “to understand who is funding it and what their backgrounds and motives are. If we can show that they have the same cynical motivation as a political opponent it will undermine their credibility in a profound way.”
end
And we try to tell other countries what a democracy is?God bless Unamerica
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 19, 2011 - 02:35pm PT
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read and understand that post. Amazing. Thx...
The pepper-spraying of innocent, peaceful students at UC Davis yesterday will not have the effect intended by the authorities.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 19, 2011 - 03:40pm PT
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What's this Fairey dupe thinking?
Obama is the ringleader of the Wall Street One Percent!
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Nov 19, 2011 - 03:49pm PT
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"Since the Middle Ages, Limbo has been for Catholics a place (in Dante's vision, a castle) where the souls of unbaptised children go. Aborted foetuses, too. But a 30-strong commission of theologians established by John Paul II concluded that a nicer destiny was necessary - namely that all children who die do so in the expectation of "the universal salvation of God", whether baptised or not. "In effect, this means that all children who die go to Heaven," a papal source told the Times five years ago.
The Pope's announcement ended centuries of heartlessness typified by Pope Pius X (1903-14), who declared Limbo to be a place where the unbaptised "do not have the joy of God but neither do they suffer . . . they do not deserve Paradise, but neither do they deserve Hell or Purgatory". What a revolting invocation of deserts! Instead, the Catholic church now believes that God wishes all souls to be saved.
Five years ago Limbo's children were able to scamper with their satchels and protractors towards Heaven, where - fingers crossed - God made Heavenly sandwiches for packed lunches."
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Nov 19, 2011 - 03:49pm PT
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Yeah right
That's why he signed the Financial Reform Bill in to law, that for the first time puts limits on derivative trading.
That's why "Wall Street" has already given MORE to the Republican candidates than Obama
That's why Wall Street does NOT want to see him re elected, because they fear he will continue to aggressively pursue financial reform that directly limits their "profits"
Get your god damn facts straight PRIOR to forming an opinion.
Campaign donations so far show Obama gets his money from SMALL individual donors,
compared to the much higher "maxed out", wealthy, fewer in number for the Repubshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-outpaces-gop-rivals-and-his-own-2008-results-in-small-donations/2011/11/04/gIQANhTJWN_story.html
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Nov 19, 2011 - 03:54pm PT
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Pew: Obama Approval Ticks Up, Bests All Challengers Nationally
A new Pew poll confirms a trend that’s been surfacing for a few weeks — with the constant changes in the GOP presidential primary race, President Obama has seen an uptick in a few key metrics, maintaining a slim lead against former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and a larger one against other possible challengers.
Pew’s numbers shows that the President’s approval rating, which has been consistently underwater during a difficult summer in Washington, is now even at 46 percent. It also shows that his favorability rating, a point of particular strength for him, continues to be positive. 52 percent of those Americans polled holds him in a positive light, versus 45 percent who see him unfavorably.
In a large sample of nearly 1,600 registered voters, Obama also leads the GOP challengers by varying levels, although the matchup versus his chief rival in Romney is close: Obama garners 49 percent against Romney’s 47. The rest of the field doesn’t fare well at all — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman Herman Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are all down by double digits to Obama.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 19, 2011 - 09:32pm PT
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United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said, "I know it when I see it," referring to hard-core pornography.
And that was good enough for the Supreme Court.
How about you. Would you know fascism if you saw it?
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cintune
climber
Midvale School for the Gifted
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Nov 19, 2011 - 10:54pm PT
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Sonic
Trad climber
Hilly, but no rocks Folsom, California
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:20am PT
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That pepper spray incident happened the other day at UC Davis. Was pretty eye opening
Here's a video called Occupy mountains- if you want some nice big mountain skiing, skip to 1:30
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Where in Seattle does this apply to an 84 year old retired school teacher?
Let us know!