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The call to occupy Wall Street resonates around the world

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    The call to occupy Wall Street resonates around the world

    We need deeper changes to our financial system, or tent cities of people angry at corporate greed will keep appearing

    19 September 2011

    On Saturday 17 September, many of us watched in awe as 5,000 Americans descended on to the financial district of lower Manhattan, waved signs, unfurled banners, beat drums, chanted slogans and proceeded to walk towards the "financial Gomorrah" of the nation. They vowed to "occupy Wall Street" and to "bring justice to the bankers", but the New York police thwarted their efforts temporarily, locking down the symbolic street with barricades and checkpoints.

    Undeterred, protesters walked laps around the area before holding a people's assembly and setting up a semi-permanent protest encampment in a park on Liberty Street, a stone's throw from Wall Street and a block from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    Three hundred spent the night, several hundred reinforcements arrived the next day and as we write this article, the encampment is rolling out sleeping bags once again. When they tweeted to the world that they were hungry, a nearby pizzeria received $2,800 in orders for delivery in a single hour. Emboldened by an outpouring of international solidarity, these American indignados said they'd be there to greet the bankers when the stock market opened on Monday. It looks like, for now, the police don't think they can stop them. ABC News reports that "even though the demonstrators don't have a permit for the protest, [the New York police department says that] they have no plans to remove those protesters who seem determined to stay on the streets." Organisers on the ground say, "we're digging in for a long-term occupation".

    #OCCUPYWALLSTREET was inspired by the people's assemblies of Spain and floated as a concept by a double-page poster in the 97th issue of Adbusters magazine, but it was spearheaded, orchestrated and accomplished by independent activists. It all started when Adbusters asked its network of culture jammers to flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens and peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. The idea caught on immediately on social networks and unaffiliated activists seized the meme and built an open-source organising site. A few days later, a general assembly was held in New York City and 150 people showed up. These activists became the core organisers of the occupation. The mystique of Anonymous pushed the meme into the mainstream media. Their video communique endorsing the action garnered 100,000 views and a warning from the Department of Homeland Security addressed to the nation's bankers. When, in August, the indignados of Spain sent word that they would be holding a solidarity event in Madrid's financial district, activists in Milan, Valencia, London, Lisbon, Athens, San Francisco, Madison, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Israel and beyond vowed to do the same.

    There is a shared feeling on the streets around the world that the global economy is a Ponzi scheme run by and for Big Finance. People everywhere are waking up to the realisation that there is something fundamentally wrong with a system in which speculative financial transactions add up, each day, to $1.3tn (50 times more than the sum of all the commercial transactions). Meanwhile, according to a United Nations report, "in the 35 countries for which data exist, nearly 40% of jobseekers have been without work for more than one year".

    "CEOs, the biggest corporations, and the wealthy are taking too much from our country and I think it's time for us to take back," said one activist who joined the protests last Saturday. Jason Ahmadi, who travelled in from Oakland, California explained that "a lot of us feel there is a large crisis in our economy and a lot of it is caused by the folks who do business here". Bill Steyerd, a Vietnam veteran from Queens, said "it's a worthy cause because people on Wall Street are blood-sucking warmongers".

    There is not just anger. There is also a sense that the standard solutions to the economic crisis proposed by our politicians and mainstream economists – stimulus, cuts, debt, low interest rates, encouraging consumption – are false options that will not work. Deeper changes are needed, such as a "Robin Hood" tax on financial transactions; reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act in the US; implementing a ban on high-frequency "flash" trading. The "too big to fail" banks must be broken up, downsized and made to serve the people, the economy and society again. The financial fraudsters responsible for the 2008 meltdown must be brought to justice. Then there is the long-term mother of all solutions: a total rethinking of western consumerism that throws into question how we measure progress.

    If the current economic woes in Europe and the US spiral into a prolonged global recession, people's encampments will become a permanent fixtures at financial districts and outside stock markets around the world. Until our demands are met and the global economic regime is fundamentally reformed, our tent cities will keep popping up.

    Bravo to those courageous souls in the encampment on New York's Liberty Street. Every night that #OCCUPYWALLSTREET continues will escalate the possibility of a full-fledged global uprising against business as usual.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...nancial-system

    __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

    [What is amazning - or not - that I only learned about this from a UK paper - the silence from American even NYC media is deafening...look at the results from Google News - no NY Times, Daily News, nothing...http://www.google.com/search?aq=2z&h...&oq=wall+stree ]
    Last edited by AngelinaCat; 09-19-2011, 05:35 PM. Reason: To bring in line with the formatting requirements for this board.

    #2
    I heard about this last night on FOX NEWS. I know many people don't like FOX, because they think it biased, but which of the so-called News organizations are 'HONEST'?

    Answer: NONE OF THEM! You are supposed to do your own research and evaluate for yourselves. Read all kinds of newspapers, and listen to all kinds of talk shows, whether radio or TV. Once you hear a multitude of opinions and 'talking points', you will start to 'hear' the kernel of truth that is running through them all--despite the spin. There is about .09 percent of truth in what is being said out there, and the rest is BS.

    Good wishes to all
    "To go bravely forward is to invite a miracle."

    "Worry is the darkroom where negatives are formed."

    Comment


      #3
      And how would you know if a media organization is bias? What evaluation methods do you use to detect bias? Do you have examples of bias reporting? Fox News is a opinion channel with very little substantial news just like MSNBC and certain extent CNN.

      What I find so comical about Fox News lately is their relentless pursuit of a failed solar power company that got a $500 million loan/grants etc thanks to the encouragement from the White House. Unfortunately, it did not work out and the money is loss. You win some, you lose some. But Fox sees a conspiracy behind it with out any evidence of wrong doing.


      Originally posted by AngelinaCat View Post
      I heard about this last night on FOX NEWS. I know many people don't like FOX, because they think it biased, but which of the so-called News organizations are 'HONEST'?

      Answer: NONE OF THEM! You are supposed to do your own research and evaluate for yourselves. Read all kinds of newspapers, and listen to all kinds of talk shows, whether radio or TV. Once you hear a multitude of opinions and 'talking points', you will start to 'hear' the kernel of truth that is running through them all--despite the spin. There is about .09 percent of truth in what is being said out there, and the rest is BS.

      Good wishes to all

      Comment


        #4
        I get my comedy from Fox News and my news from Jon Stewart on Comedy Central

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Isobel View Post
          I get my comedy from Fox News and my news from Jon Stewart on Comedy Central
          I could not have said it better!
          If you want "Honesty" watch Rachel Maddow. There is certainly a "bias" or political side to many, but it is a false equivalency to compare them to Fox with their claim of "fair and balanced". Fox "news" is a pure and simple 100% propaganda machine. Facts and truth are immaterial to what they are pushing. I don't have a problem with Fox's bias - it is their lies and hypocrisy and manipulation that sadly too many people fall prey to.

          Comment


            #6
            You are going to see more of this kind of action as long as money men keep running this government, the financial institutions and the stock market. We will always be second on the list. Their personal adgendas will always be #1 right down to our local governments. Greed begets greed at the expense of the less fortunate.
            Filed July 2009. Discharged 08/08/2014. Awaiting closing. We made it !!!! Woo-hoo!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by msm859 View Post
              If you want "Honesty" watch Rachel Maddow. There is certainly a "bias" or political side to many, but it is a false equivalency to compare them to Fox with their claim of "fair and balanced".
              Honestly, ALL of them - from CNN to FOX and everything in between - are liars and downright nauseating to watch if one has the slightest interest in reporting of the actual facts.

              I learned to laugh about it many years ago, when I was stuck somewhere far away and watching *all* of them falsify the reality I was seeing with my own eyes on daily basis.

              We're not talking about difference of opinions here, or possible misunderstanding of facts on the ground.

              We're not discussing "bending the truth a bit" or "little white lies".

              Heck no.

              What I'm referring to is a persistant stream of nauseating lies, put out with a very clear political purpose.

              NONE of the news agencies in this country can be trusted.

              In the end, they all serve the same masters. The ones who are the true enemies of working people of any profile.

              Period.

              I get a kick out of Bill Maher, always have. The same holds true for John Stossel.

              But that's humor and entertainment, with some interesting political spice and opinion thrown in the mix. No more, no less.

              Good luck to us all.

              No person in their right mind files a Ch. 13 with lien strip pro se. I have.Therefore, please consider me insane and clinically certifiable when reading my posts, and DO NOT take them as legal advice of any kind.Thank you.

              Comment


                #8
                Wish I could join the protesters on Wall Street. The banks screwed over the entire country, and what they did was blessed and fomented by Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner. Remember when Bernanke said he trusted the banks' SELF-INTEREST would lead them to do the right thing? Remember when Tim Geithner told the banks that TARP money from the taxpayers was not to be used to shore up EXISTING loans, that it was only for NEW ones? and that subsequently the banks called real estate and construction loans all over the country under "at will" clauses, putting thousands of workers out of jobs and businesses into bankruptcy for no reason other than that the bank regulators thought all such loans were "too risky?"
                Where are the bank stockholders that got screwed out of their investment dollars when bankers lined their personal pockets as the bank was declared "in trouble?" b They should be protesting, too.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by AngelinaCat View Post
                  There is about .09 percent of truth in what is being said out there, and the rest is BS.
                  My lady, you are exaggerating beyond belief. There is no way that .09% of the "news" is the truth. You are being told what they want you to know.

                  After all..... the ma$$es are a$$es.
                  All information contained in this post is for informational and amusement purposes only.
                  Bankruptcy is a process, not an event.......

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Thanks! Yes, I admire and respect Rachel Maddow a lot. I'm looking forward to watching Jon Stewart's interview with Bill O'Reilly tonight. One thing I really admire about JS is he treats all his guests with respect, even the guests whose m.o. is to behave entirely the opposite towards anyone with a differing view. And of course, he's hilarious.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I get my news from Rosie Odonnell. i'ts a right wing conspiracy. The US secretly caused 9-11 to get Saddam. Then Bush steered the Hurricane over Louisiana because he doesn't like Black poeple.
                      Stopped Paying CC's 2/2009. Retained Attorney 1/10/2010 Filed 1/23/2010. Discharged 5/19/10 $187K CC, $240K 2nd,$417K 1st, No asset Ch-7

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Aside from your local stations, there is no pure news. Keep in mind, real news simply "reports." So, when your local TV news channel says there has been an accident on X freeway and traffic is backed up, that is news.

                        The national and international stations, Fox, MSNBC, CNN, BBC etc, are more on the opinion and entertainment side of the spectrum. As soon as you start going down that road, you cannot help but be biased.

                        There are the fundamental questions, Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

                        Traditional news answers the Who, What, Where, and When.

                        As soon as you starting trying to answer the why and how, you offer an opinion.

                        But even in answering the Who, What, Where, and When questions, you can insert bias by your use of language.

                        Sample
                        1. This morning, congress voted and did not pass the jobs bill presented by the president (probably as unbiased as I can make it this early).
                        2. MSNBC Version: The Right Wing shot down president's job creation bill in favor of keeping low taxes for the rich.
                        3. Fox news: Conservatives won a victory today by defeating the president's economic stimulus bill that would raise taxes and kill jobs.

                        All 3 are reporting the "same" event.

                        It is not so much that the agencies "bend truth" or lie, it is just that they cannot help but report events from a particular slant. So, someone earlier asked, how do you detect bias, you detect it by the use of language. Now, news agencies defend the practice because they believe the audience wants and needs "context" to understand why something is newsworthy and important (and to some degree, that is true, especially when it comes to foreign events), but make no mistake, it is hard for bias not to creep in. Sometimes the bias cannot be helped (trying to understand an Asian culture through western eyes), and sometimes the bias is painfully obvious.
                        Last edited by HHM; 10-30-2011, 06:32 AM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by HHM View Post
                          sometimes the bias is painfully obvious.
                          Sometimes??? I find the "news" pretty painful each and ever time I am exposed to it.
                          All information contained in this post is for informational and amusement purposes only.
                          Bankruptcy is a process, not an event.......

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I can understand the frustration of all that watch our so called news. I daily scan many news sites to come up with my own information.

                            I found this site through Huffington Post where by you can send e mail messages to all of the Big Banks CEO's and Directors.
                            http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1064015.html

                            Many are sharing their stories here in a polite manner.
                            Last edited by OnTheRocks; 10-29-2011, 10:27 PM. Reason: correct link

                            Comment

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