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Occupy Wall St - Occupy Everywhere, Occupy Together!

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theBishop

Banned
The #OccupyPhilly organization had an open meeting tonight to determine where and when the occupation would take place. It attracted over 1000 citizens in an old church downtown:

kFwfx.jpg
 
theBishop said:
The #OccupyPhilly organization had an open meeting tonight to determine where and when the occupation would take place. It attracted over 1000 citizens in an old church downtown:

kFwfx.jpg

Wow.
 
Yay for Philly!

And folks...it hit me...I now know what should be the opposite side of my sign. Not "Poverty is a WMD." I need to give the people who don't like NADER a choice...my friends, the other choice is Jay Billington Bulworth.

"BULWORTH
BULWORTH
BULWORTH"

Here's the idea. We get Warren Beatty to just act out the part of Bulworth for the 8 years of his Presidency. Man...an honest politician...who RAPS!!! Who wouldn't love the guy?
 

unomas

Banned
kame-sennin said:
He wants to get rid of the department of education.

You mean the massively failing department of education? Let states run their own education systems, maybe we would actually get better results. We don't need so much government interference at the National level, leave more things up to the states.

And kudos to the people that showed up in Philly! Very nice.
 

ToxicAdam

Member
“I think a good deal of the bankers should be in jail.”

That is what Andrew Cole, an unemployed 24-year-old graduate of Bucknell University, told me Monday morning in Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Mr. Cole, an articulate young man dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt and with a blue wool beanie on his head, had just arrived by bus from Madison, Wis., where he recently lost his job.

There was nothing particularly menacing or dangerous about Mr. Cole. He said he had come to participate in Occupy Wall Street because he believed in its “anticapitalist” message. “I see Wall Street as responsible for the mess we’re in.”

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/on-wall-street-a-protest-matures/

Patriot Corps Field Staff
Progressive Patriots Fund
Political Organization industry
September 2008 – Present (3 years 2 months)

Trained and dispatched by Senator Russ Feingold's PAC to work in the field for Eric Massa's congressional campaign in New York's 29th district. Responsibilities included volunteer recruitment, voter contact, and coordinating the GOTV push for a campaign satellite office in Canandaigua, NY.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-cole/9/954/6b9


whoops
 

Snake

Member
unomas said:
You mean the massively failing department of education? Let states run their own education systems, maybe we would actually get better results. We don't need so much government interference at the National level, leave more things up to the states.
The states already do run their own education systems. The US has one of the most decentralized education systems in the developed world. The Department of Education also happens to be one of the smallest cabinet departments. Most federal involvement deals with simply offering additional funding if states meet certain targets.

This is why these kinds of concerns are a joke, even to many Republicans. You and Ron Paul apparently don't even know your own country.
 

remnant

Banned
magicstop said:
Also, Obama is a corporatist and he's a huge part of an even huger problem. There's no push to keep him around or to support him. He's in Sach's sack, so to speak, and that's a no go. Again, this movement is striving and succeeding thus far in being nonpartisan, apolitical, and free of being co-opted.
Non-partisan and free of being co=opted. How many unions, who historically support and donate large sums to democrat politicians are joining this now.

This isn't non-partisan. it has never been
 

akira28

Member
The unions will offer their expertise, but they already turned Charles Rangel away, and have said they would do so to other politicians. I think they're serious about being non-partisan for now. Right now the Dems are wondering how they can interface with this because this should be their dream scenario, and the GOP is trying to see if they can squelch or misdirect it because it has to be a nightmare for the wingers and the business elites both. But right now this is about Wall Street, their GOP enablers will also be addressed at some point we assume.
 

akira28

Member
unomas said:
You mean the massively failing department of education? Let states run their own education systems, maybe we would actually get better results. We don't need so much government interference at the National level, leave more things up to the states.

And kudos to the people that showed up in Philly! Very nice.


Hey unomas. Did you know the dirty liberals allow DiHydrogen Monoxide into our water systems? Our children drink that water. How does that make you feel? Don't you think the EPA should care about something like that? Well they don't. In fact they PURIFY the DHMO and leave it in. Insane. What will you do about it?
 

Puddles

Banned
Why wouldn't the unions join in? This is an anti-corporatist backlash, and the unions have been hammered for decades now. Unionization helped the working class achieve an unprecedented level of prosperity in the 20th century which has been steadily pushed back since the 70s. They have as much of a reason to protest as anyone.
 

remnant

Banned
Hokuten said:
The states already do run their own education systems. The US has one of the most decentralized education systems in the developed world. The Department of Education also happens to be one of the smallest cabinet departments. Most federal involvement deals with simply offering additional funding if states meet certain targets.

This is why these kinds of concerns are a joke, even to many Republicans. You and Ron Paul apparently don't even know your own country.
This isn't totally true. The state establishes school but the dept of education has huge influence on every state education system. Have you never heard of "No child left behind." They've also been against every school reform movement until very recently.

Why wouldn't the unions join in? This is an anti-corporatist backlash, and the unions have been hammered for dec...gibberish
Unions are a political machine. They can join, I don't care. Just don't say you are non-partisan and take no sides, and then on the other hand lean on a political machine. Is anyone asking these union members their views on the "corporatist" Obama administration?

they already turned Charles Rangel away, and have said they would do so to other politicians.
Would they? A few hecklers booed at one of the most corrupt politicians in the country. All that says to me is that a few people there are well informed
 

akira28

Member
remnant said:
Would they? A few hecklers booed at one of the most corrupt politicians in the country. All that says to me is that a few people there are well informed

Pardon me. I'll be away a moment. My eyes rolled out of the room.

An apartment with a shady lease in NYC rent law land, and a few trips to the Bahamas that doubled as some kind of international community summit doesn't put him anywhere in the range of the most corrupt politicians in the country.

It's not going to be worth it, is it? Replying?
 

Snake

Member
remnant said:
This isn't totally true. The state establishes school but the dept of education has huge influence on every state education system. Have you never heard of "No child left behind."
I have, which is why I alluded to its function in my previous post. NCLB is about a state's actions determining their ability to receive federal education funding. States are not forced to do anything. They are more than welcome to handle their own affairs with their own funding. The federal government's actions in this regard are incentive-driven, not coercion.
 

remnant

Banned
Hokuten said:
I have, which is why I alluded to its function in my previous post. NCLB is about a state's actions determining their ability to receive federal education funding. States are not forced to do anything. They are more than welcome to handle their own affairs with their own funding. The federal government's actions in this regard are incentive-driven, not coercion.
Except that the Dept of education passed NCLB during a time of various state budget crises, essentially controlling most of the states academic standards. To achieve the "carrot" states had to jump various hoops, spending more money than originally planned for essentially no pay off. This is especially harsh on poorer schools, which are punished by the act, have to jump through more hoops and spend more money.

akira28 said:
Pardon me. I'll be away a moment. My eyes rolled out of the room.

An apartment with a shady lease in NYC rent law land, and a few trips to the Bahamas that doubled as some kind of international community summit doesn't put him anywhere in the range of the most corrupt politicians in the country.

It's not going to be worth it, is it? Replying?
A few trips to the Bahama's? Rangel used his position in the ways and means commitee(who deals with taxes) to curry favor with certain corporations. He lied on his tax return(again on the ways and means commission.) and has over 10 ethics counts against him. Yeah he is pretty corrupt.
 

unomas

Banned
akira28 said:
Hey unomas. Did you know the dirty liberals allow DiHydrogen Monoxide into our water systems? Our children drink that water. How does that make you feel? Don't you think the EPA should care about something like that? Well they don't. In fact they PURIFY the DHMO and leave it in. Insane. What will you do about it?

Complete idiocy doesn't deserve much of a response.
 

unomas

Banned
Hokuten said:
I have, which is why I alluded to its function in my previous post. NCLB is about a state's actions determining their ability to receive federal education funding. States are not forced to do anything. They are more than welcome to handle their own affairs with their own funding. The federal government's actions in this regard are incentive-driven, not coercion.

Make of it what you will, we simply don't need government involved in any shape or form in education. That was the original point, and my original statement stands in regards to having a department of education. Now back to Occupy Wall Street, my fault for getting side tracked.
 

Baraka in the White House

2-Terms of Kombat
remnant said:
Unions are a political machine. They can join, I d
Code:
on't care. Just don't say you are non-partisan and take no sides, and then on the other hand lean on a political machine. Is anyone asking these union members their views on the "corporatist" Obama administration?
You sound incredibly petty. Not to mention this is the umpteenth time you've tried to pigeonhole the entire movement as just a bunch of Obama fans getting together for a librul pow wow.
 

remnant

Banned
DOO13ER said:
You sound incredibly petty. Not to mention this is the umpteenth time you've tried to pigeonhole the entire movement as just a bunch of Obama fans getting together for a librul pow wow.
And this is the third or fourth time you've bitched about something like my tone? Why do you care? I see problems in this "movement" that I find worth discussing because I think it's interesting. Will you not be happy until i unilaterally praise them or something.

If you think i'm pigeonholing them becuase I dare to be critical, fine. Put me on ignore and pretend that a movement demanding a trillion dollars be spent to restore trees and establish a world bank is nonpartisan
 

Baraka in the White House

2-Terms of Kombat
remnant said:
And this is the third or fourth time you've bitched about something like my tone? Why do you care? I see problems in this "movement" that I find worth discussing because I think it's interesting. Will you not be happy until i unilaterally praise them or something.

If you think i'm pigeonholing them becuase I dare to be critical, fine. Put me on ignore and pretend that a movement demanding a trillion dollars be spent to restore trees and establish a world bank is nonpartisan
Discuss your problems all you want but so far your issues with the movement depend entirely on your own bullshit assumptions about what the movement stands for. To date, those assumptions don't jive with reality. Just because unions have thrown their support behind it doesn't make everyone in those crowds union supporters and hypocritical corporate hating Obama worshippers, as much as you seem to want that to be the case.

And no, I'm not going to put you on ignore. I'm going to keep calling you out until you voice a substantial grievance that doesn't depend on everyone else arguing from your own pre-conceived notions of what this thing is and isn't.
 

remnant

Banned
Karma Kramer said:
Why would occupywallstreet be in favor of Obama remnant?
AFL-CIO (AFSCME)
United NY
Strong Economy for All Coalition
Working Families Party
TWU Local 100
SEIU 1199
CWA 1109
RWDSU
Communications Workers of America
CWA Local 1180
United Auto Workers
United Federation of Teachers
Professional Staff Congress - CUNY
National Nurses United
Writers Guild East
And:

VOCAL-NY
Community Voices Heard
Alliance for Quality Education
New York Communities for Change
Coalition for the Homeless
Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)
The Job Party
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
The Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center
The New Deal for New York Campaign
National People's Action
ALIGN
Human Services Council
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
Citizen Action of NY
MoveOn.org
Common Cause NY
New Bottom Line
350.org
Tenants & Neighbors
Democracy for NYC
Resource Generation
Tenants PAC
Teachers Unite

Those are the groups supporting OccupyWall St. That list is on the front page of their website. Dis a single one of the groups on that list not support the obama campaign financially, knowing full well he was the most "Wall St" funded candidate on the ticket last election cycle. The company you keep says a lot.

DOO13ER said:
Discuss your problems all you want but so far your issues with the movement depend entirely on your own bullshit assumptions about what the movement stands for. To date, those assumptions don't jive with reality. Just because unions have thrown their support behind it doesn't make everyone in those crowds union supporters and hypocritical corporate hating Obama worshippers, as much as you seem to want that to be the case.
What bullshit assumptions? What are they? I have posted in this thread plenty of times so there must be some you can cite. Are unions not a political machine? Does the government not give money to corporations that are lost in loans. Does the Occupy WallSt not support spending a trillion dollars on trees and creating a worldbank? it's on their website.

You wouldn't be on me so much if i was kissing their ass. Just be honest.
 
remnant said:
AFL-CIO (AFSCME)
United NY
Strong Economy for All Coalition
Working Families Party
TWU Local 100
SEIU 1199
CWA 1109
RWDSU
Communications Workers of America
CWA Local 1180
United Auto Workers
United Federation of Teachers
Professional Staff Congress - CUNY
National Nurses United
Writers Guild East
And:

VOCAL-NY
Community Voices Heard
Alliance for Quality Education
New York Communities for Change
Coalition for the Homeless
Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)
The Job Party
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
The Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center
The New Deal for New York Campaign
National People's Action
ALIGN
Human Services Council
Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
Citizen Action of NY
MoveOn.org
Common Cause NY
New Bottom Line
350.org
Tenants & Neighbors
Democracy for NYC
Resource Generation
Tenants PAC
Teachers Unite

Those are the groups supporting OccupyWall St. That list is on the front page of their website. Dis a single one of the groups on that list not support the obama campaign financially, knowing full well he was the most "Wall St" funded candidate on the ticket last election cycle

I voted for Obama, but I don't support him now. Your list doesn't correlate to Obama supporters in the sense that they equal votes in 2012.
 

remnant

Banned
Karma Kramer said:
I voted for Obama, but I don't support him now. Your list doesn't correlate to Obama supporters in the sense that they equal votes in 2012.
Look I'm tired and this is giving me a sense of deja vu. Maybe some obama supporters in 2008 have become more critical or disillusioned by him. I don't believe any of those groups have.

Either way i don't believe this is a non-partisan event. I don't believe it ever has been.
 

gkryhewy

Member
Manos: The Hans of Fate said:
Who are you voting for in 2012 then?
Speaking as a disappointed librul, Obama, because the alternative will likely be a cartoonish bible-thumping, science-hating, anti-intellectual, wealth-worshipping maniac of some variety.
 

Baraka in the White House

2-Terms of Kombat
remnant said:
What bullshit assumptions? What are they? I have posted in this thread plenty of times so there must be some you can cite. Are unions not a political machine? Does the government not give money to corporations that are lost in loans. Does the Occupy WallSt not support spending a trillion dollars on trees and creating a worldbank? it's on their website.
You wouldn't be on me so much if i was kissing their ass. Just be honest.
Right, let's take the silliest of long list of evolving demands and grievances and paint with that brush. I guess because some jackoff got photographed with a sign demanding zero taxes at a Tea Party rally it's safe to write the entire sentiment of that movement off as a bunch of malleable idiots lashing out at the system responsible for the public works and social services they depend upon more than anyone. And because I've made this judgment call, I deem the entirety of the Tea Party hypocritical and ultimately irrelevant.

I wouldn't be on you so much if you actually had a decent point to make. You know, other than that an organized movement with a tone and tenor anywhere to the left of the Tea Party must be made up of Obama apologists.
 

jchap

Member
Obama will try to hijack this movement the same way the republicans hijacked the tea party. It will probably work too
 

Dash27

Member
theBishop said:
The #OccupyPhilly organization had an open meeting tonight to determine where and when the occupation would take place. It attracted over 1000 citizens in an old church downtown:

http://i.imgur.com/kFwfx.jpg

Doesnt look very... diverse. I see a lot of white people. I also saw footage of Roseanne Barr saying they need to behead the bankers or some such.

I dont really give a damn about either of those things as it relates to this protest, but I thought it was worth mentioning this was how the Tea Party was branded racist and angry/violent.
 
Dash27 said:
Doesnt look very... diverse. I see a lot of white people. I also saw footage of Roseanne Barr saying they need to behead the bankers or some such.

I dont really give a damn about either of those things as it relates to this protest, but I thought it was worth mentioning this was how the Tea Party was branded racist and angry/violent.
With the Phillies in the playoffs one should be happy a 1000 people attended.
 

XMonkey

lacks enthusiasm.
Dash27 said:
Doesnt look very... diverse. I see a lot of white people. I also saw footage of Roseanne Barr saying they need to behead the bankers or some such.

I dont really give a damn about either of those things as it relates to this protest, but I thought it was worth mentioning this was how the Tea Party was branded racist and angry/violent.
I hope you're not trying to project what Roseanne Barr wants on this entire protest movement.... The Tea Party wasn't branded racist and angry because it was made up of white people. The rhetoric coming from some Tea Party members did a good enough job of that.
 

theBishop

Banned
Dash27 said:
Doesnt look very... diverse. I see a lot of white people. I also saw footage of Roseanne Barr saying they need to behead the bankers or some such.

I dont really give a damn about either of those things as it relates to this protest, but I thought it was worth mentioning this was how the Tea Party was branded racist and angry/violent.
Anything organized online is going to have a problem with class/race diversity. I agree with you. But the group is committed to outreach, and they shouldn't have trouble attracting people at city hall.
 

magicstop

Member
theBishop said:
Anything organized online is going to have a problem with class/race diversity. I agree with you. But the group is committed to outreach, and they shouldn't have trouble attracting people at city hall.

This, I hope. That Philly pic was very encouraging, but it was also a sea of white, and that's not good. However, there are POC/LGBTQ committees that are committed to insuring that POC/LGBTQ have a central position in this movement, and that the grievances that POC/LGBTQ/women have experienced for hundreds of years (really thousands) before the white middle class started hurting are made public, made clear, made important, and made right. If this movement fails to do that, it will have failed, period.
That being said, I'm hopeful. I'm working with the POC committee for my local Occupy movements, and it's a very positive force with some great ideas and people involved.

Also, if you haven't figured it out by now, remnant is trolling and there's no reason to respond to him. Just ignore him and move on. Seriously :D I am glad he posted that list of involved groups. I hadn't seen that even though it was on their site. Must be a newish addition. I will be updating the OP with that list shortly. Thanks remnant!
 

theBishop

Banned
magicstop said:
This, I hope. That Philly pic was very encouraging, but it was also a sea of white, and that's not good. However, there are POC/LGBTQ committees that are committed to insuring that POC/LGBTQ have a central position in this movement, and that the grievances that POC/LGBTQ/women have experienced for hundreds of years (really thousands) before the white middle class started hurting are made public, made clear, made important, and made right.

So, I definitely wouldn't say the demographics were anything close to the actual population of Philadelphia. It was disproportionately white for sure. But I didn't feel like a "sea of white" when I was in it. There was more diversity than I expected, but more work is needed.

Also, I think it's worth mentioning that white people have significant privilege here. Poor disenfranchised black citizens are risking a lot more coming out and possibly getting arrested than working-class whites. Hopefully, movements like these create some cover for all people to speak out with less fear of recrimination.
 

magicstop

Member
theBishop said:
So, I definitely wouldn't say the demographics were anything close to the actual population of Philadelphia. It was disproportionately white for sure. But I didn't feel like a "sea of white" when I was in it. There was more diversity than I expected, but more work is needed.

Also, I think it's worth mentioning that white people have significant privilege here. Poor disenfranchised black citizens are risking a lot more coming out and possibly getting arrested than working-class whites. Hopefully, movements like these create some cover for all people to speak out with less fear of recrimination.

This is absolutely true. Some of the struggles our committee is having:

a.) How to get the involvement of working class, struggling POC, who don't have the time, energy, or resources to be involve? Some of our ideas have been offering vehicular transport, arranging our events on established bus lines, timing our events for weekends (particularly Saturdays or Sunday afternoons), etc.
b.) How do we get POC who don't have computers and internet access information about what's going on? How do we get them involved if digital communication isn't possible? Possible solutions have included door-to-door interaction, getting involved with churches and other social groups in order to spread the word, having community hosted dinners, etc.
c.) How do we make our Occupy movement a comfortable place, where POC feel that they can safely and comfortably make their opinions known? That's tricky. We want to avoid "white-centric" organization, we want to insure that there are lots of POC involved and represented in order to lend each other support, and we want to make sure that everyone is respected, listened to, and engaged.

As far as the increased risk of arrest at protests, I really don't know the answer for that. Perhaps it's best for POC to sit some of that out if they are uncomfortable (and reasonably so), and let the white people risk the arrests? Perhaps we just need a strong front that doesn't allow for singling out (although fighting back against cops is bad news for anyone). We certainly won't be pressuring people who are uncomfortable to do things that they are disinclined to do.

We don't have all the answers yet, but I think we're asking some good questions.
 
magicstop said:
This, I hope. That Philly pic was very encouraging, but it was also a sea of white, and that's not good. However, there are POC/LGBTQ committees that are committed to insuring that POC/LGBTQ have a central position in this movement, and that the grievances that POC/LGBTQ/women have experienced for hundreds of years (really thousands) before the white middle class started hurting are made public, made clear, made important, and made right. If this movement fails to do that, it will have failed, period.
That being said, I'm hopeful. I'm working with the POC committee for my local Occupy movements, and it's a very positive force with some great ideas and people involved.

Also, if you haven't figured it out by now, remnant is trolling and there's no reason to respond to him. Just ignore him and move on. Seriously :D I am glad he posted that list of involved groups. I hadn't seen that even though it was on their site. Must be a newish addition. I will be updating the OP with that list shortly. Thanks remnant!
Stating facts is not trolling. At least they are honest about what this so-called movement is actually about now. Big labor.
 
theBishop said:
Also, I think it's worth mentioning that white people have significant privilege here. Poor disenfranchised black citizens are risking a lot more coming out and possibly getting arrested than working-class whites. Hopefully, movements like these create some cover for all people to speak out with less fear of recrimination.
Perhaps that just don't care about the "movement."

What exactly does "non-male" mean? Does that mean transgendered but, not female to male?


Schedule! by seasonofthebitch, on Flickr
 
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