#OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

[Project Willow]

I spent nearly 5 hours holding up a big sign today. The crowds ebbed and flowed around two very small marches. Overall numbers were far lower than just a week ago.

A psychologist refused one of my pamphlets by telling me she had no room in her menopausal memory for any other cause but economic justice.

There was a great little demo, a funeral procession including a brass band and led by an Orthodox Rabbi. They buried corporate greed.

Shortly after that, Occupy Seattle came to an abrupt and unceremonious end. The park nearly cleaned clear out. The core of former occupiers found a better place to sleep in one of the city's neighborhoods. It's basically all over.

I have few photos because it's nearly impossible to carry a heavy sign and work a camera at the same time.



The sign I made using Wintler's slogan, thank you Wintler!! I was going to paint two of the evolution of man figures with an earlier one bent over by chains and a big bag of debt, but I can't always control what I paint.



The back side.



People taking photos of my sign. There are just as many shooting as there are being shot when some activity is occurring.

[Jeff]

Shortly after that, Occupy Seattle came to an abrupt and unceremonious end. The park nearly cleaned clear out. The core of former occupiers found a better place to sleep in one of the city's neighborhoods. It's basically all over.

A shame to hear that. Was that unexpected, or according to plan?

Love your sign, PW, and Wintler's slogan!

[Project Willow]

Thanks Jeff.

The move was agreed to by 4/5 vote at the GA a few days ago. They've moved onto the campus of Seattle Central Community College, with the acquiescence of the President of the college. SCCC is in the middle of the most progressive neighborhood in the city. Basically, it's safe.

It's my thinking that If you're going to occupy ground then occupy it, and don't count on being able to sleep, but apparently there weren't enough people to make such a stand. The constant police presence made sleep impossible for the small group there. They would wake the occupiers every hour and shine lights in their faces. It got to the point where people were being arrested simply for sitting down. The core group insisted that being able to sleep was a priority, so they ceded the territory.

I think the new site will turn into a party camp, and the downtown site will whither. I hope I am wrong.

http://capitolhillseattle.com/2011/10/29/occupy-capitol-hill-occupiers-move-in-at-seattle-central-with-march-party

[eyeno]

video Greg Palast/Democracy Now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Nif3r8sOO4

[operator kos]

I spent nearly 5 hours holding up a big sign today. The crowds ebbed and flowed around two very small marches. Overall numbers were far lower than just a week ago.

Thanks PW (and everyone else) for being out there!! We had another march around Oakland tonight down to the police station and the jail and then in a big circle around downtown. Riot police were present but there were no arrests or overt violence.

[wordspeak2]

Meanwhile, how is it going, New Yorkers? The northeast was just dumped on with an incredibly bizarre amount of pre-November snow. Over a foot here in Mass. Obviously a HAARP operation directed at OWS. But seriously, I can only imagine it's mayhem at Ground Zero. Here's what's up on occupywallst.org:

It's been dumping snow here in NYC all day, high winds and 3 inches of slush on the ground. With the NYPD and FDNY confiscating six generators on Friday and this unprecedented October snow, those occupying Liberty Plaza in downtown NYC are in need of emergency supplies crucial for cold weather survival (and occupation).

We've made a lot of headway on getting winter gear here in the last 48 hrs but definitely need more. Please help by purchasing or donating supplies directly. Winter gear and other necessities can be dropped off in person, delivered, or shipped.

1) NEEDS
insulated gloves, wool hats, scarves
long underwear / smart wool thermal socks
300 hand warmers, 300 foot warmers
waterproof boots in all sizes
disposable shoe covers
winter coats
hot beverages
thermal heaters
all weather sub-thermal sleeping bags
tarps
all-weather tents
foam padding / insulation for inside of tents
wooden pallets to get tents off the ground
cots to get people off the ground (don't currently have any - could really use these)

2) DROPPING OFF IN PERSON IN NYC

Daily until 9pm at the OWS storage space at 52 Broadway Ave, ground floor.

After 9pm at the OWS Comfort Station on the east side of Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park)

3) WHERE TO SHIP
Occupy Wall Street
118a Fulton St
PO Box 205
NY NY 10038

[crikkett]

I spent nearly 5 hours holding up a big sign today. The crowds ebbed and flowed around two very small marches. Overall numbers were far lower than just a week ago.

I hope we see pics of your sign all over the Internet. Glad you took a stand. It's inspiring.

[elfismiles]

Occupy Seattle Returns to SCCC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopy5gW92Gw

Thanks Jeff.

The move was agreed to by 4/5 vote at the GA a few days ago. They've moved onto the campus of Seattle Central Community College, with the acquiescence of the President of the college. SCCC is in the middle of the most progressive neighborhood in the city. Basically, it's safe.

It's my thinking that If you're going to occupy ground then occupy it, and don't count on being able to sleep, but apparently there weren't enough people to make such a stand. The constant police presence made sleep impossible for the small group there. They would wake the occupiers every hour and shine lights in their faces. It got to the point where people were being arrested simply for sitting down. The core group insisted that being able to sleep was a priority, so they ceded the territory.

I think the new site will turn into a party camp, and the downtown site will whither. I hope I am wrong.

http://capitolhillseattle.com/2011/10/29/occupy-capitol-hill-occupiers-move-in-at-seattle-central-with-march-party

[elfismiles]

Occupy Austin arrests

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F20p17LfvoU

Occupy Austin Unconstitutional Arrests (10-29-2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bna4BIuZOs8

Dozens of Occupy protesters arrested in Texas, Oregon
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/30/us/texas-occupy-austin/

Dispute over food tables leads to 38 arrests at Occupy demonstration in Austin, Texas
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

[Bruce Dazzling]

I got back from OWS about an hour ago.

They really had the hatches battened down against last night's ridonkulous weather.

Miss Dazzling and I donated a bunch of winter gear and then we went to two nearby places to buy a tent to donate, but they were both sold out.

We're probably going to go out a bit later and have a look at Eastern Mountain Sports. Cross your fingers.

We had an exchange with a fiftyish gentleman from Oakland who was almost begging us to buy him a tent, but I have a feeling that I'd be begging for a tent as well after a night as miserable as last night must have been. On the other hand, though, he also complained loudly about what he referred to as "the druggies who are ruining the camp site". He mentioned finding "syringes everywhere," which made me wonder whether he was possibly trying to spread disinfo, as his diatribe was completely unsolicited; he literally came up to us out of nowhere and began talking AT us. We really couldn't get a word in edgewise.

It's really unfortunate that we need to question the motivations of exchanges like that, but alas, I'm certain that THE MAN is deep in this shit.

In any event, here are some more photos.

[elfismiles]

Milwaukee Occupy the Hood to hold Public Hearing on Wisconsin Senate Bill 207
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJyRyd7tWU8

Wisconsin State Senate Bill 207 aims to override existing state fair employment legislation and permit "an employer to refuse to employ or to bar or terminate from employment an individual who has been convicted of a felony and who has not been pardoned for that felony and preempting cities, villages, towns, and counties from adopting provisions concerning employment discrimination based on arrest or conviction record that prohibit activity that is allowed under the state fair employment law." (Wisconsin State Legislature Proposal Listing, Full Text of Senate Bill 207)

The proposed bill will nullify any city or county legislation that would attempt to to delay the disclosure of felony convictions in order to prevent discriminatory hiring practices including the ordinance recently approved by the Milwaukee County Board. On September 29th, the Board unanimously approved "Ban the Box" legislation sponsored by County Supervisor Eyon Biddle of the 10th District. In a press release Biddle stated the legislation was "an important first step in preventing recidivism and encouraging reforms to hiring practices."

Occupy (Chicago) Austin-Occupy the Hood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_OalZ4mmaw

'Occupy Milwaukee' Organizer Talks About His Recent Arrest And Allegations Of Voter Fraud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxfljUrdPQ0

KCPT - Kansas City Week in Review: October 28, 2011 at 7:35 to minute marks
[Especially like the guy who goes off at the 11 minute mark.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu2EY54pNcw

OCCUPY KC: The Occupy movement that's taken hold across the country turned violent this week. In Oakland, police in riot gear using tear gas on protestors. There were 97 arrests. Some cities, including Atlanta and closer to home in Lawrence are now making protestors move from city parks where they've been encamped. So what's happening here in Kansas City? Is Occupy KC growing stronger or fading as the weeks wear on?

Occupy Santa Fe: March To The Railyard. October 29, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olm2DCFGZQc

Occupy Denver Police Pepper Spray and Rubber Bullets the Protester
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjSWxbUSVKU

Occupy Seattle Returns to SCCC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopy5gW92Gw

Nashville Judge Tells Cops "You Have NO Lawful Basis To Arrest Occupy Protesters!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j07CprU3rlk

Star Trek - DS9 Deep Space Nine episode PAST TENSE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_Tense ... Space_Nine)

[wordspeak2]

Thanks, Bruce. Wow, I have such respect for people who braved last night out there, especially if you didn't have a tent, oh my goodness. How long do you think folks are really going to stay out there, Bruce? You think some people will try to brave the winter? Maybe some churches will open their doors.
I mean, are *you* seeing syringes? Sounds like no, huh? Cause I really doubt that one.

[Bruce Dazzling]

Thanks, Bruce. Wow, I have such respect for people who braved last night out there, especially if you didn't have a tent, oh my goodness. How long do you think folks are really going to stay out there, Bruce? You think some people will try to brave the winter? Maybe some churches will open their doors.
I mean, are *you* seeing syringes? Sounds like no, huh? Cause I really doubt that one.

I haven't seen any syringes, or even smelled marijuana, for that matter, but I'm only there a few hours a day on average, and I don't sleep there.

I DO want to stress though, that until today, I'd never heard even one person complain about drug use, and again, the guy who was complaining about it today was doing so loudly, in a very conspicuous manner, and completely unsolicited. And just to repeat, the possibility that he is a disinfo agent DID cross my mind.

As for churches, there are two really big ones in the area (Trinity and St. Paul's) and a few other smaller ones. I'm really not sure if any of them are taking protesters in off the street. If they are, though, last night would have been the night for it, as it was just awful; wet, windy, and bitter cold.

I'm not sure what the strategy is going forward into winter, but if it calls for a presence to remain until spring, I'm certain that a hardcore group of a several hundred are willing and able to hold the space, regardless of the weather. Even though the NYPD continues to take their gas-powered generators, they've been building bicycle-powered generators, and they're taking donations to build enough of them to power the entire camp.



Donate here.

[wordspeak2]

Dopeness! I'll see what's in my piggybank. I may have some clothes to send, too. I do think folks would get some hard-core national respect if they stayed out all winter. I have this really terrible blood circulation where I can't be out in the cold much at all or my fingers start to turn crazy colors and my system shuts down... but I would sure be there in solidarity and helping from the outside.

To me the most f**ed up thing so far has been the corporate media's near-entire ignoring of the Scott Olsen shooting. The kid almost died. How many people in the general public know about it? Not many. Is the media team at OWS also doing basic PR? Like trying to bridge to mainstream press? Probably not, huh? Seems like that's a gap.

[JackRiddler]

.

They endured that damn storm while I again slept off the work week.

Thank you, OWS.

Things are getting weird and a lot of capitalist bastards, though hardly most, are starting to see writing on the wall.

The only thing remarkable about the following article is who wrote it. Except for the last paragraph, you'd never guess...

October 29, 2011
Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?


CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust.

It doesn’t get any more immoral than this. As the Securities and Exchange Commission civil complaint noted, in 2007, Citigroup exercised “significant influence” over choosing $500 million of the $1 billion worth of assets in the deal, and the global bank deliberately chose collateralized debt obligations, or C.D.O.’s, built from mortgage loans almost sure to fail. According to The Wall Street Journal, the S.E.C. complaint quoted one unnamed C.D.O. trader outside Citigroup as describing the portfolio as resembling something your dog leaves on your neighbor’s lawn. “The deal became largely worthless within months of its creation,” The Journal added. “As a result, about 15 hedge funds, investment managers and other firms that invested in the deal lost hundreds of millions of dollars, while Citigroup made $160 million in fees and trading profits.”

Citigroup, which is under new and better management now, settled the case without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. James Stewart, a business columnist for The Times, noted that Citigroup’s flimflam made “Goldman Sachs mortgage traders look like Boy Scouts. In settling its fraud charges for $550 million last year, Goldman was accused by the S.E.C. of being the middleman in a similar deal, allowing the hedge fund manager John Paulson to help choose the mortgages and then bet against them without disclosing this to the other parties. Citigroup dispensed with a Paulson figure altogether, grabbing those lucrative roles for itself.” (Last Thursday, the U.S. District Court judge overseeing the case demanded that the S.E.C. explain how such serious securities fraud could end with the defendant neither admitting nor denying wrongdoing.)

This gets to the core of why all the anti-Wall Street groups around the globe are resonating. I was in Tahrir Square in Cairo for the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and one of the most striking things to me about that demonstration was how apolitical it was. When I talked to Egyptians, it was clear that what animated their protest, first and foremost, was not a quest for democracy — although that was surely a huge factor. It was a quest for “justice.” Many Egyptians were convinced that they lived in a deeply unjust society where the game had been rigged by the Mubarak family and its crony capitalists. Egypt shows what happens when a country adopts free-market capitalism without developing real rule of law and institutions.

But, then, what happened to us? Our financial industry has grown so large and rich it has corrupted our real institutions through political donations. As Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, bluntly said in a 2009 radio interview, despite having caused this crisis, these same financial firms “are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they, frankly, own the place.”

Our Congress today is a forum for legalized bribery. One consumer group using information from Opensecrets.org calculates that the financial services industry, including real estate, spent $2.3 billion on federal campaign contributions from 1990 to 2010, which was more than the health care, energy, defense, agriculture and transportation industries combined. Why are there 61 members on the House Committee on Financial Services? So many congressmen want to be in a position to sell votes to Wall Street.

We can’t afford this any longer. We need to focus on four reforms that don’t require new bureaucracies to implement. 1) If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big and needs to be broken up. We can’t risk another trillion-dollar bailout. 2) If your bank’s deposits are federally insured by U.S. taxpayers, you can’t do any proprietary trading with those deposits — period. 3) Derivatives have to be traded on transparent exchanges where we can see if another A.I.G. is building up enormous risk. 4) Finally, an idea from the blogosphere: U.S. congressmen should have to dress like Nascar drivers and wear the logos of all the banks, investment banks, insurance companies and real estate firms that they’re taking money from. The public needs to know.

Capitalism and free markets are the best engines for generating growth and relieving poverty — provided they are balanced with meaningful transparency, regulation and oversight. We lost that balance in the last decade. If we don’t get it back — and there is now a tidal wave of money resisting that — we will have another crisis. And, if that happens, the cry for justice could turn ugly. Free advice to the financial services industry: Stick to being bulls. Stop being pigs.

spoiler...








By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opini ... nted=print

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