De-Colonize Wall Street Is the Occupy Wall Street Message

It appears that not unlike the days of Prohibition, the self-rightous in society, government, and business believed that alcohol was the reason for many of society's ills but instead, the cure became worse than the disease. Today, we have many in the GOP and in the Democratic Party who believe that social entitlements utilized by the average American and who have paid into them through their payroll taxes and contributions, as well as by millions suffering as a result of the corporate elite selling out the American workers for personal wealth gains are the reasons for the nation's ills. They continue to declare that employment with decent wages, or employment at all, are the reasons that the country has slipped into an economic decline. They don't want to hear that corruption inside the Federal Reserve, Treasury, White House, Congress, and Wall Street have all been the actual reason for why the nation has slipped closer toward becoming a Banana Republic with a growing and massive wealth disparity.


And, these corrupted political representatives (they are not leaders), who enjoy the benefits of the corporate-private sector revolving door continue to allow the nation's economic national security to go down the Rabbit Hole in order that the 1% can continue to be rewarded through their Plutocratic influences and decision making policies.


The Occupy Wall Street movement, which I have called the American Autumn Revolution, has created a Black Swan event for Obama and the GOPers up for re-election. For Obama to go unchallenged by his own party allows him to evade any policy changes.


We must demand that a Democratic challenger step forward to force Obama to make a committed stand to challenge the mediocre laws that have been put in place, such as health care reform and financial reform, that actually benefit Wall Street. New challenges in election finance reform, and the overturning of Citizens United, and tax reform, and the imbalances in our wealth distribution, and more must also become election pledges.


We all must thank those who have allowed themselves to be arrested on behalf of the 99 Percent, and have made a major sacrifice for this movement. We must support them!!!!, and join them whenever possible.


We must send out the message to any and everyone willing to read, or hear it.


The way government works today must not be government of tomorrow. It must be improved for all.

The 99% Talk Back

De-Colonize Wall Street

by VIJAY PRASHAD 10-3-11 from Counterpunch.orghttp://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/03/de-colonize-wall-street/

False modesty does not become the media. When it comes to the Tea Party or the Taliban, reporters are quick to offer an explanation of their motivations and their demands. When it comes to the protests of the Left, there is reticence to do any real reporting or analysis. Imagine this sentence from the Associated Press’ Verena Dobnik that opens the second paragraph in her article (“Wall Street Protest Accrues Interest,” October 2) on the Occupy Wall Street Protests (now into its third week), “They lack a clear objective, though they speak against corporate greed, social inequality, global climate change and other concerns.” It seems to me that there are at least three clear objectives in this sentence itself: to end corporate greed, to fight for social equality and to create mitigating policies to lessen climate change.

Then there’s the pure condescension. This is from Joanna Weiss of the Boston Globe (September 27), “It’s hard to take a protest fully seriously when it looks more like a circus — some participants seem to have taken a chute straight from Burning Man — and when it’s organized by a Canadian magazine and a computer-hacking group.” Is there now a dress code for democracy?

I spent an afternoon at Occupy Wall Street and in a few minutes got a flavor of the social vision have now inspired similar protests from Boston to San Francisco. “We are the 99%,” say the people who are in Zuccotti Park (Liberty Square). What they mean is simple: social policy in the country is dominated by the 1%, whose will dominates an economy that the International Monetary Fund says has entered the “danger zone.” They are right. In Ron Suskind’s new book Confidence Men, he offers us a window into the advantages given to the financial sector by theObama administration. From one side of the White House, Obama pledged to appoint Elizabeth Warren as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and from the other, more powerful side, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner assured the banks that this wouldn’t happen. Much the same occurred when Geithner’s Treasury Department prevented the restructuring of the far too powerful Citigroup. Suskind calls Geithner’s refusal to follow what appeared to be a settled decision a “fireable offense,” although Geithner remains very much in office. If Geithner had been fired, he might have accepted the job he had been offered in September 2007 by Stanford Weill, to take over Citigroup. Weill was no longer at the bank, so he had no business making a firm offer to thehead of the New York Federal Reserve. A banking analyst told Andrew Sorkin that the offer has to be seen in another light. “How else can we interpret this but as a nice juicy carrot being dangled in front of the President of the New York Fed by a bank that was going to need Fed help in a big way.” This is the world of finance capital and its politicians.

The gargantuan financial sector got us into this. Even former U. S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress in 2008, “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder’s equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief.” But this financial sector has paid nothing for the problems it has engineered.

Instead, ordinary people have been stiffed with the bill for the outrages of the financial class. No wonder that the Occupy Wall Street say the following, “We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We areworking long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything.”Government data confirms this sentiment. The latest gloomy report from the Pew Center details the miserable situation in the U. S. Latino sector of society. Latinos have the highest unemployment rate (11%), the greatest decline in household wealth from 2005 to 2009, the greatest food insecurity with a third of households in this condition, and 6.1 million children in poverty, the largest number for any ethnic group. The only political vision for the Latino population, crucial to Obama’s re-election prospects, is going to be more anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric. These are the social consequences of living in a recession, governed by politicians in the pockets of banks.

Occupy Wall Street has a simple message: reduce the power of finance capital over the United States government. Absent such a reduction, there is no rational social policy available for the United States. Neither the Obama government nor whoever wins the next election will be able to move an agenda to benefit an economy in the doldrums. It is to the credit of several unions (including the Transport Workers’ Union and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka) that they have endorsed Occupy Wall Street. It is likely that on Wednesday, October 5, tens of thousands of workers might join the march from Liberty Square to Wall Street. What would be equally valuable is if the unions declared from Liberty Square that their support in the election of 2012 is conditional on specific policies to constrain the power of the banks. It would be equally valuable if the unions extend their endorsement of the Occupy Wall Street to the call for a primary challenge to President Obama. As our letter that calls for the primary challenge put it,

“In an uncontested Democratic primary, President Obama will never have to justify his decision to bail out Wall Street’s most profitable firms while failing to push for effective prosecution of the criminal behavior that triggered the recession, or his failure to push for real financial reform. He will not have to defend his decision to extend the Bush era tax cuts nor justify his acquiescence to Republican extortion during the debt ceiling negotiations. He will not have to answer questions on how his Administration completely failed to protect homeowner’s losing their homes to predatory banks, or even mention the word ‘poverty,’ as he failed to do in his most recent State of the Union Address, even as more and more Americas sink into financial despair.”

A toothed challenge to the status quo would bring the unions to endorse this call. With the Republicans unable tosettle on a candidate who has any room for reason, it is imperative that the election-cycle not go by without a serious challenge to finance capital’s chosen instrument, the Obama team.

It proves the Occupy Wall Street movement right that the New York Police Department has now arrested over one thousand of their number, far more than the government has arrested from the suites of the banks. The 99% pay the social cost, as the 1% condescends to reality.

VIJAY PRASHAD is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His most recent book, The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World, won the Muzaffar Ahmad Book Prize for 2009. The Swedish and French editions are just out. He can be reached at: vijay.prashad@trincoll.edu 

(http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com)

Protesters Target Federal Reserve

From http://www.washingtonsblog.com

Posted on October 2, 2011 by WashingtonsBlog

Protesters Target Fed, As Well As Wall Street

The protesters are not just targeting Wall Street and the big banks. They’re also railing against the Federal Reserve:

(See this for the background of this image by WilliamBanzai7.)

Indeed, at the “Occupy Boston” protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, protesters yelled their derision for the Fed:

Criticism of Fed One of Protester’s Core Platforms

Indeed, as David DeGraw points out, criticism of the Fed is one of the main motivations driving Anonymous to help organize the protests:

On Mar 12, 2011, Anonymous A99 announced their first operation by posting a video to the AmpedStatus YouTube page. The effort was called “Operation Empire State Rebellion” (#OpESR). The video “OpESR Communication #1” stated the following:

“We are a decentralized non-violent resistance movement, which seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the organized criminal class.

One-tenth of one percent of the population has consolidated wealth in unprecedented fashion and launched an all-out economic war against 99.9% of the population.

We are not affiliated with either wing of the two-party oligarchy. We seek an end to the corrupted two-party system by ending the campaign finance and lobbying racket.

Above all, we aim to break up the global banking cartel centered at the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, Bank of International Settlement and World Bank.

We demand that the primary dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy, effective immediately.

As a first sign of good faith, we demand Ben Bernanke step down as Federal Reserve chairman.

Until our demands are met and a rule of law is restored, we will engage in a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful, civil disobedience.”

Objectively – and without using any hyperbole – it is true that the Federal Reserve is largely responsible for destroying the economy. Indeed, many current and former high-level Fed officials and other top economic officials have slammed the Fed as well.

Posted in Politics / World News | 8 Comments

(http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com)

Occupy Wall Street --- What Do They Want

Wonkbook: What does 'Occupy Wall Street' want?

Posted by Ezra Klein at 08:20 AM ET, 10/03/2011 from Washington Post

Two weeks ago, I was walking through New York when I stumbled on a crowd chanting angrily at a mass of police. "They're arresting them," someone said to me. "Who?" I asked. "The Occupy Wall Streeters," he said. Someone else held up a cell phone camera. "The whole world is watching," he shouted.

It didn't seem that the whole world was watching, at least not then. The next day, I tried to contact the protest's organizers for an interview, but it didn't come together. An effort to look up their demands online didn't yield much. I figured the protests would fizzle. Instead, they're gaining strength. Almost 1,000 protesters were arrested this weekend on the Brooklyn Bridge, and sympathy protests are spreading to cities all across the country. Occupy Wall Street is leading papers and news shows. The whole world, or at least the whole country, actually is watching.

The protesters are also gaining institutional support. MoveOn.org is sending e-mails about "an amazing wave of protest against Wall Street and the big banks has erupted across the country." They're planning to join with organized labor to march to the Occupy Wall Street site on Wednesday. A live videofeed from the protests will kick off the liberal Campaign for America's Future annual conference, and Van Jones's 'Rebuild the Dream' coalition is staging a "virtual march."

The Occupy Wall Street protests are explicitly inspired by, and modeled on, the Tahrir Square protests in Egypt. And though that's a tough act to follow, it's clear the Occupy Wall Street protests are catching a fire all their own. The question now is what they do with it. The jockeying has already begun to suggest an agenda to the protesters -- see these proposals by Mike Konczal and Nick Kristof -- and, in the embrace of the activist left, to join the protesters to an agenda that already exists, much as happened with the Tea Party and the conservative movement.

We'll see, over the next few weeks, which, if any of these paths, tempt the protesters. Up until now, the organizers have seemed to view the decentralized, inchoate nature of the protests as a strength for the nascent movement, not a weakness. The unifying idea has been drawing attention to "the 99," not offering a concrete policy agenda. The New York Times quoted a a pep talk a woman gave to a new protester. “It doesn’t matter what you’re protesting,” she said. “Just protest.”

An ‘Occupy Wall Street’ primer

These links also appear elsewhere on Wonkblog — namely, in the post titled ‘An Occupy Wall Street Primer’ -- but it seemed worth adding them to Wonkbook, too.

- The official -- or perhaps just mostly official -- ‘Occupy Wall Street blog’, and in particular, the blog’s forums. Here, for instance, is the movement’s ‘Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.’

- The moving ‘We are the 99’ tumblr.

- Nathan Schneider’s ‘Occupy Wall Street FAQ’.

- ‘Understanding the theory behind Occupy Wall Street’s approach,’ by Mike Konczal. Also see his post, ‘15 definitions of freedom from Occupy Wall Street.’

- ‘Occupy Wall Street is a church of dissent, not a protest,’ by Matt Stoller.

Top stories

 The "Occupy Wall Street" protests are escalating, reports Robin Harding: "A controversy erupted on Sunday over the policing of anti-Wall Street protests in which the New York police arrested over 700 people. Police said that they made the arrests on Saturday afternoon after demonstrators ignored warnings and entered the roadway of Brooklyn Bridge, stopping traffic. But protesters claimed that police had entrapped them by leading them on to the vehicle section of the bridge. The arrests have drawn worldwide attention to Occupy Wall Street, an inchoate protest movement modelled on the Tahrir Square demonstrations in Egypt this spring, which has been building up in downtown New York since September 17...The movement is fuelled by continuing anger at the profitability of Wall Street following government bail-outs in 2008 and 2009...But the goals of the demonstrations are vague."

(http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com)

Occupy Boston and Occupy Wall Street, LA, Chicago, San Francisco

BEACON HILL

‘Occupy Boston’ protesters march through downtown Boston 10-3-11

By Brian R. Ballou and John R. Ellement, Boston Globe Staff

About 100 people are marching through downtown Boston this morning as part of the Occupy Boston protest.

Accompanied by Boston Police officers who stopped traffic at key intersections, the protesters first gathered in the city’s Financial District this morning and then marched to the State House where they stood on the steps, chanting slogans and holding signs.

Some of the signs included “capitalism is organized crime” and “where’s my golden parachute?”

Most of the protesters appeared to be in their 20s. As they walked through the streets they called out to passersby.

“We are the 99 percent,” one group would shout.

“So are you,’’ another group shouted in response.

During the walk, a handful of people apparently heading to work, briefly joined the protest. One woman handed over to the marchers the cookies she had made for co-workers.

The group, called Occupy Boston , is inspired by Occupy Wall Street, a demonstration entering its third week in Manhattan’s Financial District that led to the arrest of 700 people Saturday on charges of blocking the Brooklyn Bridge. The effort has spread to dozens of communities nationwide, with tens of thousands of people participating.

In Boston, the protests had been building for several days, and on Friday swelled to about 1,000 in Dewey Square. Police arrested 24 people on trespassing charges when they refused to leave the Bank of America building nearby.

The demonstration, largely fueled by social media, is aimed at calling attention to what protesters call the ‘‘bottom 99 percent’’ of America who are hammered by rising costs for education, housing, and health care.

John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.

Wall Street protest arrests add fuel to fire

10-3-11

(AP)  

NEW YORK - The protesters who have been camping out in Manhattan's Financial District for more than two weeks eat donated food and keep their laptops running with a portable gas-powered generator. They have a newspaper — the Occupied Wall Street Journal — and a makeshift hospital.

They lack a clear objective, though they speak against corporate greed, social inequality, global climate change and other concerns. But they're growing in numbers, getting more organized and showing no sign of quitting.

City officials "thought we were going to leave and we haven't left," 19-year-old protester Kira Moyer-Sims said. "We're going to stay as long as we can."

The arrests of more than 700 people on Saturday as thousands tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge seemed to pour oil on the rage of those who camped out overnight in Zuccotti Park, a private plaza off Broadway near Wall Street.

The growing, cross-country movement "signals a shift in consciousness," said Jared Schy, a young man sitting squeezed between three others who participated in Saturday's march from Manhattan's Financial District to the bridge.

"We don't care whether mainstream media covers this or people see us on television. What counts are the more than 30,000 viewers following our online live stream," he said. "We heard from a lot of them, and they're joining us now!"

700 arrested at Brooklyn Bridge protest
Video: Wall Street protests spread beyond NYC
1,000 protesters march from Wall Street to NYPD

The Occupy Wall Street demonstration started out last month with fewer than a dozen college students spending days and nights in Zuccotti Park. It has grown significantly, both in New York City and elsewhere as people across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles, display their solidarity in similar protests.

Moyer-Sims, of Oregon, said the group has grown much more organized. "We have a protocol for most things," she said, including getting legal help for people who are arrested.

The protest has drawn activists of diverse ages and occupations, including Jackie Fellner, a marketing manager from Westchester County north of New York City.

"We're not here to take down Wall Street. It's not poor against rich. It's about big money dictating which politicians get elected and what programs get funded," she said.

On Sunday, a group of New York public school teachers sat in the plaza, including Denise Martinez of Brooklyn. Most students at her school live at or below the poverty level, and her classes are jammed with up to about 50 students.

"These are America's future workers, and what's trickling down to them are the problems — the unemployment, the crime," she said. She blamed Wall Street for causing the country's financial problems and said it needed to do more to solve them.

Police officers have been a regular sight at the plaza, but NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the protest has not led the department to assign additional officers to the area. The department won't change its approach to handling the protest and will continue regular patrols and monitoring, he said.

"As always, if it is a lawful demonstration, we help facilitate and if they break the law we arrest them," Browne said.

The Fire Department said it had gone to the site several times over the past week to check for any fire safety hazards arising from people living in the plaza, but there have been no major issues.

The protesters have spent most of their time in the plaza, sleeping on air mattresses, holding assemblies to discuss their goals and listening to speakers including filmmaker Michael Mooreand Princeton University professor Cornel West.

Susan Sarandon lends support to Wall Street protest
Occupy Wall Street "hoaxed" about Radio Head gig
NYPD to investigate pepper spraying at protest

On the past two Saturdays, though, they marched to other parts of the city, which led to tense standoffs with police. On Sept. 24, about 100 people were arrested and the group put out video which showed some women being hit with pepper spray by a police official. On Oct. 1, more than 700 people were arrested as the group attempted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

Some of the protesters said they were lured onto the roadway by police, or they didn't hear the calls from authorities to head to the pedestrian walkway. Police said no one was tricked into being arrested, and that those in the back of the group who couldn't hear were allowed to leave.

The NYPD on Sunday released video footage to back up its stance. In one of the videos, an official uses a bullhorn to warn the crowd. Marchers can be seen chanting, "Take the bridge."

Browne said that of the most recent arrests, the vast majority had been released. Eight people were still being held Sunday, three because of outstanding warrants and five others who refused to show any identification.

Gatherings elsewhere included one in Providence, Rhode Island, that attracted about 60 people to a public park. The participants called it a "planning meeting" and initially debated whether to allow reporters to cover it.

In Boston, protesters set up an encampment across the street from the Federal Reserve Building.

For more info:

• occupywallst.org
• 99 Percent Project

The 99 Percent Occupy New York And San Francisco

By CAROL HARVEY |October 2, 2011 from the Bay Citizen

The Canadian culture-jamming magazine, Adbusters, sent word to on-the-ground Manhattan organizers that, starting Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, for several months, 20,000 people should set up camp and occupy Wall Street.  

Organizers receiving the message wanted to use a 2000 Federal Court ruling confirming the legality of sleeping on the sidewalk as a means of social expression.  

This legal test was the unanticipated spark that sent the spontaneous Occupy Wall Street firestorm flashing across America through the entire spectrum of races, ages, and sexual orientations, where it continues touching off sympathy occupations in cities nationwide.

The Manhattan protestors marched on Wall Street, occupying New York's financial district.  They self-identified as the 99 Percent who came to call a halt to bank theft and corporate corruption perpetrated by the One Percent: The 400 families hoarding U.S. wealth, the fat cat bankers and corporate CEOs receiving enormous bonuses while the poor, unemployed, and unhoused starve.

Eyewitness and Occupy Wall Street participant, Ryan, excited by the potential of this massive protest, organized by consensus decision-making, drove cross country to the Occupy San Francisco sister protest.  He reported that, “On the morning of the 19th, the first Monday after the action started, we actually had a moving picket in front of Wall Street that slowed people from getting to their jobs by the opening bell, and the Stock Market took a hit that morning.”

Soon the NYPD brutalized the marchers and moved them two blocks away to Zuccotti Park where they get free food and medical care and are building an unstoppable social movement.

Holding the area night and day has been massively successful. Crowds grow daily.  Notables have visited and spoken, encouraging the occupiers.  Roseanne Barr, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore and Cornell West  appeared in the park and on occupiers live stream videos posted on their daily blog.  

Wall Street Occupiers are ever-aware of Tahrir Square, while sympathy occupations happen globally.

According to Michael Moore on Current TVs Countdown with Keith Olbermann, “Mayor Blumberg said last week – If we don't provide jobs right away there are going to be riots.” 

“This is Mayor Blumberg, the billionaire talking.  This is not Michael Moore saying this.   

“The smart rich know they can only build the gates so high, and sooner or later history proves that people --- when they've had enough --- aren't going to take it anymore.” 

The Occupy Wall Street blog posted a video of The great Professor, Cornel West, telling the crowd who used the People's microphone, repeating each phrase of his speech to all around them, “There is a sweet spirit in this place --- everyday people, who take a stand with great courage and compassion because we oppose the greed of Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats who squeeze the democratic juices out of this country and other places around the world.” 

“A similar story happened” in San Francisco,” observed Ryan.  On Saturday, Sept. 17, “People tried to occupy the Federal Building and 555 California Bank of America.”  The police moved them out to Justin Herman Plaza for their nightly 6:00 p.m. meetings, then two blocks down to a park where homeless people regularly sleep.

The growing band of occupiers became honored participants at a Make Banks Pay rally marching angrily down Market Street on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011, to banks along the way.

Milling around 555 California plaza waiting for the gathered group to march, a balding blue collar worker joked. “I am a broke, unemployed 'drone' with Occupy San Francisco, a grassroots movement.” He spent his last dollar buying a plane ticket to attend the October 6, 2011 Washington, D.C. protest.    

Pat Gray, a retired teacher handed out flyers. “I am so upset with the political system! Congress is 100% corrupt.  Our Congressional members listen to their contributors, not their constituents.”  

She announced that from 3:00 to 6:00 October 6, 2011 at the 7th and Mission Federal Building, a group named 'The 99% Coalition,' who can't afford to go to Washington on October 6 will speak “loud and clear, and tell them what we want.”  

Supervisor, John Avalos, Mayoral candidate launched the protest, nodding toward the Bank of America skyscraper.

“This building is a symbol of the incredible greed and wealth accumulated into fewer and fewer hands in our country.”  B of A got a $230 million dollar bailout. 

“They are firing 30,000 workers across the Nation.  Our economy's in shambles; (we have) joblessness and homelessness in San Francisco.  

“You strong, union, community, small business people fighting back give me hope.”

Avalos reported Bank of America and Wells Fargo each hold 3 billion dollars of San Francisco's 6.8 billion dollar budget.  “If we pooled our money from Bank of America and Wells Fargo, and created our own bank, we would have control of our own tax dollars.  We could leverage that to build our local economy,” support small businesses and property owners, create more services, and build more houses.

To resounding cheers, he called, “Can we create our own municipal bank in San Francisco? Yes we can!” 

Chanting, “Who bailed the banks out?  We bailed the banks out!”  “Make Them Pay!”  “The People United Will Never Be Divided!” thousands of marchers stormed Market street banks, massing before police lines outside Charles Schwab and Citibank doors.  Protestors who got inside were arrested, notably a Viet Nam Vet's widow, Brenda, whose mortgage was sliced and diced, then Citibank tried to evict her.  She spoke to the crowd vowing they'd never get her home.

Unemployed Tom Komita trudged down Market.  “I currently can't find work.  My situation is part of this larger situation, so I'm here in support of everybody.”  

Slender, graying marcher, Paul Larudie, a shirtsleeved business type, yelled, “All banks are responsible for the home foreclosures.  We're the ones that kept them in business.  They need to re-negotiate in good faith, reduce the principle, and make payments affordable to people who lost incomes.”

Charles Schwab employees on upper floors standing behind protective glass scoffed at protestors below.  Someone pointed out “these arrogant people up there!”  Another remarked, “Before her head rolled, Marie Antoinette said, 'Let them eat cake.”

Picking up the eating meme, a man recalled the video, 'Eat the Rich.'  “Ted Turner predicted in a few years the rich will have to cannibalize human beings,” he sneered.

An upraised sign announced,  “Abraham Lincoln.  John Quincy Adams.  Benjamin Franklin would not approve!”

Chris Tully walked past saying, “They played a shell game and brought down the economy.  We've been robbed.  We've still got the collapse of the dollar coming.  Let's come out, be aggressively non-violent, and make our point.”  He marched to the 6:00 p.m. Occupy SF meeting at Justin Herman Plaza.

Erica from Ukiah camps with Occupy SF in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, “so the One Percent (won't) hold onto all the money of the 99 Percent anymore. If we join together little by little, the One Percent will have to pay attention to the 99 Percent.  We are the people, and we are that 99 Percent.”

Erica reported San Francisco occupiers have been gathering for regular 6:00 meetings in Justin Herman Plaza.  “The City likes to hose the park down, so we can't sleep there.“ The group peacefully complies with requests to move.

This beautiful San Francisco evening across from the Embarcadero waterfront, a group of about fifty at the 6:00 General Assembly circle sat on the concrete passing a microphone to each speaker.  New attendees funneled in from the march fleshing out the numbers, which thirteen days ago had been only 6 to 8.

Ryan speculated that the General Assembly would discuss, and hopefully come to consensus, on “whether we're going to move our occupation to an actual place like the B of A or the Federal Reserve,” make a stronger statement, and  make something bigger happen.  This move would be inevitable in an ever-evolving Occupation that is in San Francisco to stay.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13ppT)

Day Eight At Occupy Chicago, October 1, 2011

BLAIR BRAVERMAN 

CHICAGO--(ENEWSPF)--October 1, 2011 - 11:41 AM CST  

ENews Park Forest

A layover at Chicago’s Union Station has me walking the streets, and I stop for an hour in front of the Federal Reserve Bank, where fifty or so men and women are now in their eighth day of protests. A young man in a Guy Fawkes mask is happy to explain the details. Occupy Chicago, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, is a leaderless (but committee-heavy) movement aimed to “fight corporate abuse of American democracy.” “How long will you stay here?” I ask him, and he takes off his mask to look at me. Brown eyes, heavy brows. “Until Congress meets our demands,” he says. “They’re still on the streets in Egypt, and we’ll stay on the streets here.”

At the time I happen in, discussion among the core group—twenty or so people sitting cross-legged in a circle—has to do with image. What kind are they presenting? “We should wear khakis,” someone suggests. “Khakis and polo shirts. A suit if you have one. It’s one thing to see hippies in the street—,” a few mutters, “—but it’s better if some businessman can walk by and think, hey, that guy looks like me.” Modest applause.

“But that’s the whole point,” someone says, “that we’re not suits. We’re the people. This is what the people look like.” This being sweatshirts, jeans, beanies, hand-rolled cigarettes. More cheering. And a third suggestion: that there’s no need for one uniform, it’s better to have a variety of looks. This gets the most cheering of all.

The cheering, I should mention, is silent–there’s a whole system of hand signals that I’m just beginning to catch on to. Wiggling fingers means approval. A triangle formed between the thumbs and index fingers means a point of order. This quietness, I gather, is part of a thoughtful system of self-policing, the goal being to strike a balance between attracting attention and irritating passers-by. Protestors draw each other out of the way of pedestrians, and reprimand each other for littering. One man, realizing that his smoke is blowing towards me, apologizes at length and pulls me in front of him, towards the center of the group. “You should be able to listen without getting gassed,” he says, disgusted, despite my objection. “God, I am so sorry.”

The quiet lasts until a city bus passes and the driver honks, two long beeps—sure, there’s a lot of wiggling fingers, but even more whooping. When the ruckus fades, a man pumps his fist. “She’s in a union!” he says.

More discussion: The protest now has 5,000 Twitter followers, and its website, occupychi.org, got a record number of hits. $1,100 raised in donations, plus more food than they can eat before it spoils. What they really need are ponchos and socks. Someone’s going to lead a meditation class. Someone else is teaching yoga. Another bus drives by, and everyone cheers even louder than the first time. Nobody cares that it didn’t honk.

There are committees: a treasury committee, a press committee, an art committee, a bicycle committee. “If anyone asks you why you don’t have a job,” someone says into a megaphone that doesn’t work, “hand them your resume and ask them for one. And if you have a job, tell them! But if you don’t, join a committee and really put your time in. Your new job is to make a change in this country.”

How do the police feel about this? “They brought us coffee and food at the beginning,” says Guy Fawkes. “But now that they know we’re serious–well, let’s just say I haven’t seen any donuts lately.”

Source: www.wagingnonviolence.org

'Occupy LA' sets up camp outside City Hall

A couple hundred demonstrators remained in downtown L.A. Sunday as the ongoing protest dubbed "Occupy Los Angeles" began to settle in outside City Hall.

Protesters set up about 30 tents along with a makeshift library, first aid tent, food tent, and generator-powered media tent that hosts a number of computer stations.

The event began Saturday morning as a crowd of nearly 1,000 marched down Broadway to City Hall, chanting "We are the 99 percent," and holding signs that called for everything from class war to global peace.

As the night progressed, protesters were asked to leave City Hall's lawn, but remained in front of the building.

"Unfortunately city parks close at 10:30 p.m.," said Callie Little, one of those who stayed overnight. "So we moved the entire operation to the sidewalks."

Demonstrators and their tents were allowed back on the lawn at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Organizers of this weekend's protests say they've set up a whole series of teams– including a security, sanitation, general assembly, facilitation, and a crafts team to create banners and schedule music and events.

Little is on the finance team. On Sunday, she sat behind a plastic table welcoming new initiates into the camp.

"We're sort of the hybrid welcome center and donation center," she said. "When people come who are new, that are off the street, they'll kind of come here and be like, 'Well, what do I do?"

It's Little's job to find them a place to go and to take donations of food, medical supplies and cash.

By Sunday afternoon, demonstrators had formed clusters across the City Hall lawn, some discussing politics, others holding CPR and other classes, many just taking in the sun.

Michael Ulrich, an educator who spent Sunday in front of City Hall next to a handmade sign reading "Teachers are pissed," said he decided to come out and join the demonstration after seeing the protests on New York's Wall Street.

"Over the past few years I've been feeling more and more abused, I guess," he said. "It's just really exciting to see people fed up to the point they've had enough. They don't care anymore. They're willing to go to jail. That's a powerful thing."

Steven Laux, one of those who patrolled the ground on Saturday night as part of the security team, said his team is working with police to make sure their protest remains peaceful.

"I think things went as well or better than any one could have hoped for. It was very quiet," he said of Saturday night's events. "There's been a little tension around the grass – where we can sleep exactly, but after a day it's been fine. We'll see how things go tonight."

10-2-11

(http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com)