Exclusive Interview With Michel Chossudovsky on OWS Movement and Libyan War (Video)

Exclusive Interview With Michel Chossudovsky on OWS Movement and Libyan War (Video) by Amir Alwani

This morning I had a chance to interview award-winning writer, Prof. Michel Chossudovsky about the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Michel Chossudovsky is the President and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He teaches Economics at the University of Ottawa and his books have been translated into over 20 languages.

Go to globalresearch.ca for more information.



See parts two and three below.





Amir Alwani is a psychonaut who makes metal, electronic, and hip-hop music. He is also the editor of the online independent media outlet known as Potent News.

The Four Horsemen - Official Film Trailer

The Four Horsemen - Official Film Trailer - The Daily Bail



The Four Horsemen is an independent documentary scheduled to be released later this Fall.

Website: http://www.fourhorsemenfilm.com

Featuring: Noam Chomsky, Max Keiser, Joseph Stiglitz, Prof. Herman Daly, Dr. Ha-Joon Chang, Simon Johnson, Michael Hudson, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, John Perkins, Tarek Al Diwany, Camila Batmanghelidjh, James Turk, David Morgan, Hugo Salinas Price.

Here's another clip from the film:

• The World's Greatest Banker

Why the Far Right “Supports” the Occupy Movement

© cartoonstock.com

Why the Far Right “Supports” the Occupy Movement by Shamus Cooke


Should Occupiers be concerned that the Nazi Party has given official “support” to the Occupy Movement? Or be worried that other far-right groups — including sections of the Tea Party — are "pro occupy?” Absolutely. These groups have no place in an anti-corporate, pro-worker movement. The Occupy Movement's greatest strength — its broad appeal — can quickly become an exploitable weakness, and the far right smells blood. 

Luckily, expelling the right wing isn't so difficult once you understand their motives and strategy. Right-wing populism's greatest strength is also the vague nature of their demands, which intend to connect with broad sections of the population. However, their demands are vague not because they are a fledgling movement — like Occupy — but because they strategically try to conceal their radically right-wing goals.

For example, right-wing populists put forth demands that are intentionally not class based; in a society torn by class-based inequality, their demands aim to shield this fact. Thus, some popular far-right demands include: End the Fed, End Free Trade, End Globalization, Immigration Reform, and anti Government rhetoric (especially if the Democrats are in power).

A cursory glance at these demands would lead many to believe that they're coming from a left-wing group — an expression of the far-right's populism. But these demands are used by the far right because there are many corporations and wealthy people who agree with them and even fund them. For example, many companies favor protectionism over free trade, and thus despise "globalization.” There are also corporations who think the anti-democratic Federal Reserve is far too democratic.

More importantly, these populist demands hide the class divides of our society and thus shield the corporate elite from being targeted, preventing real social change. Vague populist demands tend to distract from the real corporate rulers of our society and direct mass anger towards immigrants, minorities, labor unions and single institutions like the Federal Reserve, etc. The far right also makes the occasional anti-Wall Street or anti-capitalist statement, while immediately linking the two with "Zionist bankers,” using populist bait to make an anti-Semitic switch.

The right wing resorts to such trickery because otherwise they would have zero popular support. The Republican Party has evolved to appear overly religious and overly anti-immigrant to hide the fact they are so utterly pro-corporation. But the Republican Party cannot maintain mass support in a country that is becoming less racist, less homophobic, and more against corporate domination. The far right, however, knows that religion and immigration are not enough to woo the masses in times of economic crisis; they hide their pro-corporate ideology behind a fog of populism.

Hitler was a successful right-wing populist and used the above formula to perfection. He called himself a "national socialist" — even though he was a pro-corporate fascist — because the majority of working-class Germans were socialists of one kind or another at the time. He also used anti-banker rhetoric to gain popularity while reinforcing his anti Jewish and anti minority agenda. He was so successful that, after the Nazis gained government power, they gained support among some working class sectors. The leaders of this Nazi pseudo anti-corporate faction were then assassinated in Hitler's infamous Night of Long Knives, so that an unchallenged pro-corporate agenda could be pursued. Hitler outlawed labor unions and the large Socialist and Communist Parties to free the profit constraints of his corporate bosses.

The modern far-right's populist demands can be discredited by the Occupy Movement with one stroke; if we make class-specific demands that clearly benefit working people at the expense of the wealthy and the big corporations, the right wing will be disarmed. For example, instead of simply being anti Wall Street, the Occupy Movement should demand that the wealthiest 1% be taxed at 90%, as they were under Republican President Eisenhower, who dared not challenge the powerful labor/social movement at the time.

The Occupy Movement could also demand that corporate taxes and the inheritance tax be raised significantly. Using this tax money to implement a massive federal jobs program — along the lines of President Roosevelt’s public works projects — would leave the right wing speechless. Finally, war spending should be slashed and defense contractors should be compelled to produce items for the much-needed nationwide infrastructure repair and overhaul.

The far-right's propaganda would crumble with such demands, while the Occupy Movement would grow, since wider layers of the working class would see a movement that they could not only relate to, but that offers real solutions to their most pressing problems. Working people who have been fooled by the Tea Party would be won over to our cause while their leaders would discover themselves without followers. The same is also true of Democratic Party politicians looking to hijack the Occupy Movement; serious working-class based demands would repel the Democrats as much as the far right, since, at bottom, they both serve basically the same corporate bosses with the same profit motives.

Ultimately, the political spectrum of Left versus Right reflects a real-life class divide in our society; the Right being the purest form of pro-corporate politics while the Left represents the interests of those who suffer under the exploitation of these corporations and the wealthy who own them. Placing the Occupy Movement firmly on the Left with working class-specific demands will strengthen the movement while expelling fake populist intruders who would love to derail this movement.

Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)

Keiser Report Occupies World! (E200 Special)

Keiser Report Occupies World! (E200 Special)



This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, celebrate the 200th episode of Keiser Report with viewer artwork. They look at TINA versus Lady Liberty as an austerity police force is proposed for Greece. In the second half of the show, Stacy Herbert occupies Keiser Report. Max and Stacy discuss doggies, inflation and stealing the teleprompter from a mouthpiece for bankers.

Sounds from Occupy Europe: Thousands march in Germany & Spain

Sounds from Occupy Europe: Thousands march in Germany & Spain



Thousands staged demonstrations against the power of banks and for greater democracy in German cities on Saturday, while several thousand Spanish teachers and parents marched in the capital Madrid to protest against austerity measures. In Berlin the second edition of the so-called 'Occupy Berlin' protest against the financial system drew several hundred demonstrators to a march which ended at the Reichstag building, Germany's parliament, on Saturday afternoon. Protesters chanted slogans against banks as they walked past Berlin landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate. After the massive turnout at anti-bank protests last weekend, Berlin police were out in force this Saturday but no serious incidents were reported. A similar demonstration was held in Frankfurt, where several thousand people protested against the power of the banks and for greater democracy. The demonstration was organised by 'Occupy Frankfurt' and the international pro-democracy, anti-globalisation movement 'attac'. The participants marched from the centre of Frankfurt to the European Central Bank building, and a rally was held in front of the Deutsche Bank building. Meanwhile in Spain, several thousand teachers marched in Madrid under banners reading: "Our hopes for the future were never so gloomy" and "For sale", referring to cuts in public education that they say will lead to fewer teachers being employed. Teachers went on strike in Madrid on Thursday, the sixth day of stoppages since classes began last month. The protests have been triggered by local authority orders requiring teachers to teach an extra two hours of class per week, a measure that will lead to fewer teachers being hired this year. Education is run at the regional level in Spain and the order was instigated by local governments controlled by the centre-right Popular Party.


For latest updates, follow RT on http://twitter.com/RT_com
and http://www.facebook.com/RTnews

Wall Street Tsunami: OWS grows in force

Wall Street Tsunami: OWS grows in force - Sott.net



There's been another round of protester arrests in New York. Anti-corporate demonstrators complain police are taking too heavy an approach to their continuing peaceful rallies. RT's Lucy Kafanov is at the heart of protests that inspired a global movement.

Doug Casey: "Government is a monopoly of force" (Video)

Doug Casey: "Government is a monopoly of force" (Video) - Activist Post

An excerpt of Doug’s musings on why “the problems we’re facing are 100% caused by the US government” – from the recent Casey/Sprott Summit When Money Dies. 



Listen to Doug’s complete summit speech – plus those of more than 27 renowned financial experts – from the comfort of your home. More than 20 hours of audio recordings on CD or MP3, including the experts’ top stock picks. Learn more.

The End of History

© getmilked.com

The End of History by Paul Craig Roberts

Now that the CIA’s proxy army has murdered Gadhafi, what next for Libya?

If Washington’s plans succeed, Libya will become another American puppet state. Most of the cities, towns, and infrastructure have been destroyed by air strikes by the air forces of the US and Washington’s NATO puppets. US and European firms will now get juicy contracts, financed by US taxpayers, to rebuild Libya. The new real estate will be carefully allocated to lubricate a new ruling class picked by Washington. This will put Libya firmly under Washington’s thumb.

With Libya conquered, AFRICOM will start on the other African countries where China has energy and mineral investments. Obama has already sent US troops to Central Africa under the guise of defeating the Lord’s Resistance Army, a small insurgency against the ruling dictator-for-life. The Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, welcomed the prospect of yet another war by declaring that sending US troops into Central Africa “furthers US national security interests and foreign policy.” Republican Senator James Inhofe added a gallon of moral verbiage about saving “Ugandan children,” a concern the senator did not have for Libya’s children or Palestine’s, Iraq’s, Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s.

Washington has revived the Great Power Game and is vying with China. Whereas China brings Africa investment and gifts of infrastructure, Washington sends troops, bombs and military bases. Sooner or later Washington’s aggressiveness toward China and Russia is going to explode in our faces.

Where is the money going to come from to finance Washington’s African Empire? Not from Libya’s oil. Big chunks of that have been promised to the French and British for providing cover for Washington’s latest war of naked aggression. Not from tax revenues from a collapsing US economy where unemployment, if measured correctly, is 23 percent.

With Washington’s annual budget deficit as huge as it is, the money can only come from the printing press.

Washington has already run the printing press enough to raise the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) to 3.9% for the year (as of the end of September), the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) to 4.4% for the year, and the producer price index (PPI) to 6.9% for the year.

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As statistician John Williams (shadowstats.com) has shown, the official inflation measures are rigged in order to hold down cost of living adjustments to Social Security recipients, thus saving money for Washington’s wars. When measured correctly, the current rate of inflation in the US is 11.5%.

What interest rate can savers get without taking massive risks on Greek bonds? US banks pay less than one-half of one percent on FDIC insured savings deposits. Short-term US government bond funds pay essentially zero.

Thus, according to official US government statistics American savers are losing between 3.9% and 4.4% of their capital yearly. According to John Williams’ estimate of the real rate of inflation, US savers are losing 11.5% of their accumulated savings.

As retired Americans receive no interest on their savings, they are having to spend down their capital. The ability of even the most prudent retirees to survive the negative rate of interest they are receiving and the erosion by inflation of any pensions that they receive will come to an end once their accumulated assets are exhausted.

Except for Washington’s favored mega-rich, the one percent that has captured all of the income gains of recent years, the rest of America has been assigned to the trash can. Nothing whatsoever has been done for them since the financial crisis hit in December 2007. Bush and Obama, Republican and Democrat, have focused on saving the 1 percent while giving the finger to the 99 percent.

Finally, some Americans, though not enough, have caught on to the flag-waving rah-rah “patriotism” that has consigned them to the trash bin of history. They are not going down without a fight and are in the streets. Occupy Wall Street has spread. What will be the fate of this movement?

Will the snow and ice of cold weather end the protests, or send them into public buildings? How long will the local authorities, subservient to Washington as they are, tolerate the obvious signal that the population lacks any confidence whatsoever in the government?

If the protests last, especially if they grow and don’t decline, the authorities will infiltrate the protestors with police provocateurs who will fire on the police. This will be the excuse to shoot down the protestors and to arrest the survivors as “terrorists” or “domestic extremists” and to send them to the $385 million dollar camps built under US government contract by Cheney’s Halliburton.

The Amerikan Police State will have taken its next step into the Amerikan Concentration Camp State.

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Meanwhile, lost in their oblivion, conservatives will continue to bemoan the ruination of the country by homosexual marriage, abortion, and “the liberal media.” Liberal organizations committed to civil liberty, such as the ACLU, will continue to rank a woman’s right to an abortion with defense of the US Constitution. Amnesty International will assist Washington in demonizing its next target for military attack while turning a blind eye to the war crimes of President Obama.

When we consider what Israel has got away with, being as it is under Washington’s bought protection--the war crimes, the murders of children, the eviction in total disregard of international law of Palestinians from their ancestral homes, the bulldozing of their houses and uprooting of their olive groves in order to move in fanatical “settlers,” the murderous invasions of Lebanon and Gaza, the wholesale slaughter of civilians--we can only conclude that Washington, Israel’s enabler, can get away with far more.

In the few opening years of the 21st century, Washington has destroyed the US Constitution, the separation of powers, international law, the accountability of government, and has sacrificed every moral principle to achieving hegemony over the world. This ambitious agenda is being attempted while simultaneously Washington removed all regulation over Wall Street, the home of massive greed, permitting Wall Street’s short-term horizon to wreck the US economy, thus destroying the economic basis for Washington’s assault on the world.

Will the US collapse in economic chaos before it rules the world?

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was appointed by President Reagan Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and confirmed by the US Senate. He was Associate Editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal, and he served on the personal staffs of Representative Jack Kemp and Senator Orrin Hatch. He was staff associate of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, staff associate of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, and Chief Economist, Republican Staff, House Budget Committee. He wrote the Kemp-Roth tax rate reduction bill, and was a leader in the supply-side revolution. He was professor of economics in six universities, and is the author of numerous books and scholarly contributions. He has testified before committees of Congress on 30 occasions.

Press TV: The Zionist Influence and Sabotaging of OWS

Press TV: The Zionist Influence and Sabotaging of OWS

Occupy Wall Street Simplified

Occupy Wall Street Simplified

A Manifesto for the Impending Second American Revolution

© cnbc.com

A Manifesto for the Impending Second American Revolution by Carmen Yarrusso

The vast social injustice rife throughout the world has finally reached a tipping point. The smell of revolution is ripe in the air. We the people of planet earth have finally had enough. The immense human suffering caused by collaborating, corrupt governments throughout the world is about to awaken all humanity to a common cause.

When Tunisian Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire, he ignited a fire of revolution for social justice that will eventually engulf every corrupt government on earth. This fire won't die until we the people of planet earth unite in revolution and take back our respective governments from the elite oligarchs who now own and control them.

Soon this fire will burn hot in America, the world's epicenter of corrupt government. Each year, lobbyists transfer millions in legal bribes from corporate special interests to our government "representatives" in return for billions of our tax dollars. For example, last year alone, big oil, the richest industry on earth, gave our "representatives" $28,000,000 in return for $3,800,000,000 in tax breaks.

The elite oligarchs are getting fabulously rich while a record 44,000,000 Americans live in poverty, a record 40,000,000 Americans rely on food stamps, 30,000,000 Americans are unemployed or underemployed, a record 6,000,000 Americans have given up looking for a job, millions of Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure by the same banksters bailed out by billions of our tax dollars, and, unlike our privileged "representatives" in Washington, 51,000,000 Americans have no health insurance. America is ripe for revolution.

Our government actively facilitated the banksters' robbery of billions from the American people and then audaciously bailed out these crooks with billions of our tax dollars. While accepting millions in corporate bribes from the health insurance industry, our government refused to even discuss single-payer, a proven health care system that costs half what we Americans pay, provides superior health care, and covers every citizen! These two examples alone show our government's complete contempt for social justice and intellectual honesty. America is ripe for revolution.

Years ago politicians tried to hide their dishonesty. Our current government openly sells out the American people with impunity. Obama made a deal with the big pharmaceuticals that will cost the American people billions more for their medicine. Most Americans were against continuing the billions in tax cuts for the very rich, but that didn't matter to our "representatives". They patted themselves on the back for passing a "compromise" bill extending the tax cuts for the very rich (with a few crumbs thrown to the American people), while freezing federal worker's pay (a de facto tax increase for millions of middle-class Americans), reducing heating oil subsidies for the poor, and slashing at many other programs that help ordinary Americans just when that help is desperately needed. America is ripe for revolution.

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WikiLeaks confirmed that our government often lies to us about its foreign policies. Our government bribes, threatens, or severely punishes foreign governments that resist US hegemony. Our government invaded Iraq based on a pack of lies that ultimately will cost the American people trillions (not to mention thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives). Showing utter contempt for our intelligence, our government called this illegal invasion, "Operation Iraqi Freedom". International law means nothing to our government. Our government recently stood alone in killing a UN resolution condemning Israel's expansion of illegal settlements on stolen, occupied land (France, Germany, UK, Brazil, South Africa, and India all voted in favor). Yet, our government tells us they hate us because of our freedoms. America is ripe for revolution.

EVERY year our government gives billions of our tax dollars to various violent, oppressive governments (at least 4 billion go to Israel alone), where millions of human beings live in extreme poverty without any real political voice. But if these oppressed people dare to rise up and fight for life and dignity, they're labeled "terrorists" and billions more of our tax dollars are spent killing these "terrorists" created by our government's unjust foreign policies. Charging us hundreds of billions EVERY year, which could be spent actually benefiting the American people, our government now spends more on war and war preparation than all other countries on earth combined. But they hate us because of our freedoms. America is ripe for revolution.

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Occupy The World! To the Barricades Comrades?

© Unknown
A vintage poster from 1911 printed by the
Industrial Worker, an American socialist publication:

Occupy The World! To the Barricades Comrades? by William Bowles

Four years ago in a Ministry of Defence Review, the Whitehall Mandarins, more astutely than any so-called Lefty, determined the following:

"The Middle Class Proletariat - The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx. The globalization of labour markets and reducing levels of national welfare provision and employment could reduce peoples' attachment to particular states. The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat to social order and stability, as the burden of acquired debt and the failure of pension provision begins to bite. Faced by these twin challenges, the world's middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest." - 'UK Ministry of Defence report, The DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme 2007-2036' (Third Edition) p.96, March 2007

Yeah, I know, I'm always using this quote (I first used it four years ago) but it illustrates the great intellectual divide between the political class and the citizens they rule, including our Left, now made so apparent by what the pundits are now calling the 'Occupy The World' (OTW) movement. It seems that only our very own ruling class foresaw OTW.

Dig a little deeper into OTW and we find that with a few exceptions, there are no challenges to capitalism, mostly it's a 'clean up your act' kinda thing. Throw a few billionaires in jail, add some regulation and things will eventually turn out just fine. Dream on...

But we've been here before. This is what attempts at 'reforming' capitalism in the past have looked like. We lived under such a system from 1945 until the late 1970s, before the Empire reasserted itself, proving once again, that concepts like 'democracy' under capitalism, are at best, mere conveniences and so vague a concept that it can be made to resemble almost anything.

And once the so-called Good Life that capitalism allegedly had offered us started to wear thin and capitalism once more plunged us into war and poverty, so too the 'Good Life' had to be dumped. Belt-tightening time again.

But unlike 1968, or even the 'Anti-Globalization Movement' that some are comparing OTW to, socialism is barely mentioned, let alone the central motif. Yes, there are increasing anti-capitalist references but in 1968, politics was at the very heart of the situation. It wasn't about money but about posing a real alternative to capitalism. The concept of belonging to a class still existed in the public's consciousness, even if it lacked the collective will to do anything about it.

Am I being altogether too cruel to OTW? It is after all, early days in the development of OTW. It might all fizzle out or if it doesn't, the political class might have to use the logical response to the MoD's quote above: suppress it. Something for which, no doubt in another (secret) report, the Whitehall Mandarins have laid out the strategy and tactics to be employed in suppressing a burgeoning (socialist?) revolution.

After all, when "[f]aced by th[o]se twin challenges, the world's middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest", says it all.

You have to take this stuff seriously! It's not a game and the state is very adept at employing whatever tactics it chooses to suppress serious dissent including the use of agents provocateurs (a long-standing 'tradition') to infiltrate and provoke pointless confrontations with the state, in order not only to justify suppression but more importantly, as part of a propaganda war waged through the media, where we have no counter-voice.

Repression of course carries its own risks and far from being a solution could only further excerbate the problem. Timing is all. This is not a game. The political class is fighting for its life and that of its masters, the corporations. That's why they write those reports. Just as with the insurrections earlier this year in the UK, the state had a clear response to it and the role of the media was central to its effectiveness in spreading the state's message.

Let it 'burn baby, burn' and turn the world's cameras onto the conflagration, followed by a good dose of Victorian 'rough justice' (pity they've abolished hard labour and deportation to Australia). Make an example of them should anyone else have ideas about following in their footsteps.

The key here is the observation made by the Whitehall Mandarins about "class interests". Now if well-paid and no doubt loyal members of the political class' intelligentsia have gotten it figured out (and so far, their prediction is right on the money), how come the 'Left' hasn't?

Currently class is something almost entirely absent from the OTW movement. Without it eventually taking centre stage, OTW is bound to be stillborn. But there are some positive signs that some kind of 'consensus' mechanism is emerging from the chaos akin to some kind of 'self-organizing' principle. After all, we have what the MoD report called "access to knowledge, resources and skills" necessary to produce workable alternatives not only to capitalism but to fashion a new kind of inclusive democracy, one that hasn't existed before.

The aim is to create a venue for democratic deliberation and open debate in a place normally associated with secretive privilege. People working in the City of London have played a starring role in creating the global economic crisis. Since our representative institutions have thus far failed to address this crisis in a way that is both sensible and just, it is only fitting that we should use the City as a place in which [to] work on solutions ourselves. - 'Talk Amongst Yourselves' By Dan Hind

It's not a 'peasants revolt' kinda thing, though of course inevitably those hit the worst by the crisis will revolt first. But the crisis of capital has now hit those who make up the very bedrock of capitalist society's justification for existing, its so-called middle classes. These are the major consumers in our economy, not only is their consumption a major chunk of our GDP (as well its debt), they are also the managers and technicians of capitalism and the state machine. Piss them off and things could get out of hand just as the MoD has predicted.

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Some on the Left in the UK are still calling for revitalizing the Labour Party as a potential force for socialism but if so, then it means that it would have to come from its decimated grassroots membership, a tall if not impossible order to carry out. At the first signs of revolt in the Labour Party's constituency membership, the Party Machine will intervene and purge its ranks just as it has done so many times in the past.

For a Left largely pinning its hopes on a working class that no longer exists, it will have to broaden and deepen its knowledge of how capitalism has evolved and transformed the nature of the working class and learn to seek connections to a much more diverse and complex alliance of forces if we are to defeat the Empire.

What an irony that the Left - led largely by middle class intellectuals - fails to see what has happened, trapped as it is in its own patronizing and nostalgic vision of the working class aka George 'middle class' Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier. And this is the problem: it's always middle class intellectuals on the Left who have set the agenda, not for their own 'class' mind but for an idea that emerged in the middle of the 19th century; that the organized industrial working class would undertake the Revolution, led of course by middle class intellectuals.

OTW is nevertheless a transcendent moment, one to cherish and sustain and no doubt just the first shot across the bows of Global Capital but for it to have a chance of success it will have challenge corporate capitalism's right to exist.

To do this we will first have to dispel the 'bad apple' theory as the cause of the current crisis. That it's just a question of regulating capitalism, smoothing out the rough edges, eliminating the extremes and above all, restoring 'competition', so-called real capitalism.

But this could only be done by breaking up the giant corporations and abolishing the financial sector in its entirety as it currently exists. Is it likely that advocates of 'real' capitalism aka Max Keisser could undertake such a mission? The way I understand it, a 'real' capitalist economy would consist only of small competing private businesses, cooperatives, public utilities and the self-employed, and one assumes massive state intervention in order to make it all happen.

Sounds a bit like my favourite kind of socialism, William Morris's version and not an overly ambitious objective given the political will to carry it out.

But who will break up Shell or Goldman Sachs? Who will smash the military-industrial-media complex? Only a state owned and managed by the working class can undertake such a momentous task. OTY OTW...

William Bowles- http://williambowles.info

Statement From Occupy Wall Street - Revolution Is Now!

Statement From Occupy Wall Street - Revolution Is Now!



As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known. They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses.

The statement issued from Zuccotti Park, by the general assembly, at Occupy Wall Street

Courts Rule US Government Above the Law

Courts Rule US Government Above the Law - Corbett Report



Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein has declined to hold the CIA in contempt for destroying videos that it had been ordered by the courts to preserve.

The case revolves around 92 videos, depicting hundreds of hours of interrogations of detainees. The tapes allegedly contained evidence of torture, and the CIA was ordered by numerous courts to produce the videos in relation to lawsuits arising from torture allegations. The 9/11 Commission also demanded that the tapes be produced. Instead, the agency destroyed them.

Although the Obama Justice Department had already decided last year that no criminal charges would be filed for this blatant obstruction of justice, Judge Hellerstein’s recent ruling insures that the agency will not even face civil sanctions or so much as a contempt order for willfully breaking the law.

In his ruling, Judge Hellerstein, the very judge who had ordered the CIA to produce the tapes in September of 2004, notes that the agency had instead provided a description of what they say was on the tapes and “implemented new protocols” to insure that they don’t destroy evidence again, so there is no need to hold them accountable in any way.

Judge Hellerstein’s decision is not without precedent.

In 2010, Obama’s Office of Legal Council wrote a memo arguing the legality of Obama’s secret list of assassination targets, a list that apparently includes American citizens who have not been convicted or even charged of a crime. The memo was used as the legal justification for the extrajudicial assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen who the President ordered murdered early last year.

Now, the Obama White House is arguing that they don’t even have to show the justification for ordering the unconstitutional assassination of one of its own citizens.

Still, concerned citizens are attempting to challenge the Obama regime’s power grabs in court.

Earlier this year, Senator Wyden revealed that the federal government has a secret interpretation of the PATRIOT Act that allows the government much more power than is suggested by the wording of the act itself.
When Charlie Savage of the New York Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the interpretation, he was denied on the basis that the interpretation is classified.

Last week, Savage and the Times sued the federal government for refusing to release the documents. The case is currently before Judge William Pauley of the US District Court.

10 Mind Blowing Facts Which Show How Members Of Congress And Federal Employees Are Living The High Life At Our Expense

© unknown

10 Mind Blowing Facts Which Show How Members Of Congress And Federal Employees Are Living The High Life At Our Expense by Michael Synder

 If you were asked to guess, what area of the United States would you say has the highest average income?  New York City?  Los Angeles?  Silicon Valley?  Well, would you believe that it is actually the Washington D.C. area?  Median household income in the region is $84,523, which is the highest in the nation.  One of the biggest reasons for this are the huge salaries being pulled down by federal employees in the Washington D.C. area.  According to the latest numbers, the average federal employee in the D.C. area brings in total compensation worth more than $126,000 a year.  Of course members of Congress are even doing far better than that.  Most of the members of Congress are millionaires, and somehow the vast majority of our politicians leave Washington D.C. far wealthier than when they arrived.  So if you want to live the high life, you might want to move to the Washington D.C. area.  Our “representatives” in Congress and the bureaucrats that work for the federal government are swimming in cash, and it is all at our expense.

Before you read the following facts, keep in mind that median household income in the United States has declined for three years in a row.  While the bureaucrats in D.C. are living the high life, most of the rest of us are going through some really hard times.

Today, median household income in the United States is about $50,000 a year, and in most families both parents have to work or the bills will not get paid.

So it just does not seem right that the “average” federal worker in the Washington D.C. area is hauling down more than $126,000 a year in total compensation.

After all, are they not supposed to be “public servants”?

Instead, it feels like we are serving them.  They get to drive around in their shiny new cars and they get to enjoy their shiny new McMansions in the D.C. suburbs while the rest of us pay for it.

Trust me, I have seen the beautiful suburbs in Maryland and in northern Virginia that seem to go on forever, and it is the U.S. taxpayers that are footing the bill.  Spending by the federal government accounts for approximately one third of the GDP of the entire region.

According to the Washington Post, the Washington D.C. area has become a great place for those that enjoy “living the dream”….

Washingtonians now enjoy the highest median household income of any metropolitan area in the country, and five of the top 10 jurisdictions in America — Loudoun, Howard and Fairfax counties, and Falls Church and Fairfax City — are here, census data shows.
The signs of that wealth are on display all over, from the string of luxury boutiques such as Gucci and Tory Burch opening at Tysons Galleria to the $15 cocktails served over artisanal ice at the W Hotel in the District to the ever-larger houses rising off River Road in Potomac.

All of this wealth did not get created because the D.C. area is a great center for industry or finance.

Rather, all of these people are becoming very wealthy because of our big, fat bloated federal government.
The following are 10 mind blowing facts which show how members of Congress and federal employees are living the high life at our expense….

#1 When you total up all compensation (including health care and benefits), the average income for a federal worker in the Washington D.C. area last year was $126,369.

#2 In 2005, 7420 federal workers were making $150,000 or more per year.  In 2010, a whopping 82,034 federal workers were making $150,000 or more per year.  That is more than a tenfold increase in just five years.

#3 In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense had just nine civilians earning $170,000 or more.  When Barack Obama took office, the U.S. Department of Defense had 214 civilians earning $170,000 or more.  In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense had 994 civilians earning $170,000 or more.

#4 Last year, federal employees “earned” approximately 447 billion dollars in total compensation.

#5 According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, federal workers earn 30 to 40 percent more money on average than their counterparts in the private sector.

#6 Today, one out of every 12 people living in Washington D.C. is a lawyer.  In New York City, only one out of every 123 residents is a lawyer.

#7 More than 50 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires.

#8 The median wealth of a U.S. Senator in 2009 was 2.38 million dollars.

#9 Insider trading is perfectly legal for members of the U.S. Congress – and they refuse to pass a law that would change that.

#10 The percentage of millionaires in Congress is more than 50 times higher than the percentage of millionaires in the general population.

Meanwhile, most of the rest of America has been going through economic hell….

-The standard of living in the United States has fallen farther over the past three years than at any other time that has ever been recorded in U.S. history.

-According to the Federal Reserve, the combined net worth of American families has fallen by $5.5 trillion since 2007.

-Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

-According to Paul Osterman, a professor of economics at MIT, approximately 20 percent of all employed Americans are making $10.65 an hour or less.

While the average American family is deeply struggling to pay the mortgage and put food on the table, the bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are busy shopping for the latest cell phones and trying to figure out what brand of new car to buy next year.

Over the past couple of decades, the federal government has absolutely exploded in size, but this has not helped the poor.  We now have more poor people in this country than ever before and over 2 million additional Americans slipped into poverty last year.

No, the reality is that the people that have reaped the rewards of a much larger federal government are the lawyers, the lobbyists and the bureaucrats.

This is the kind of thing that the American people should be protesting.  Almost everybody in Congress is rich.  Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are living the high life.  The lawyers, the lobbyists and the bureaucrats are having a field day.

Meanwhile, most of the rest of the country is deeply suffering.

It just doesn’t seem right, does it?

Bank of Americas FDIC Robbery In Progress

Derivatives Taking America's Wealth Down a Black Hole

Bank of Americas FDIC Robbery In Progress by Jim W. Dean

A new attack on the US has begun, not nuclear, no planes hitting buildings, no secret terror cells, not as we know them anyway but the results, we may wish for a nuclear attack.  It might be more survivable. 

The target is the FDIC, one of the rolling targets of remaining capital that the bankster coalition is after after having pushed America into full collapse during the Bush years of “looking the other way.”

No conspiracy theory can come close to matching the very real scope of the Bush era derivative fraud, hundreds of trillions of dollars of worthless securities created out of thin air, more money than a thousand world wars would cost, more money than social security checks for the entire world for a thousand years.

This week, Bank of America and its subsidiary, Merrill Lynch was caught trying to launder its admitted $79 trillion dollar debt.  One bank, bordering on collapse owes 5 times more than America’s national debt.

The problem?  They are involved in a “stealth” or “end run” program, aided by the Republican Party, to push this debt inside America’s national debt, pushing it on the American people, though it is certain to collapse the dollar.

The other Wall Street banks, though surrounded by protestors, hold well over $400 trillion more in worthless toxic derivatives.

If you wonder how the “1%” made its billions (trillions), they did it the old fashioned way.  They stole it.

“Toxic” is a euphemism for “counterfeit.”

A “toxic derivative” is a “thing” a bank claims it has that is worth something when, in actuality, it is nothing at all.  A derivative has no money behind it, no company that makes things, no gold or silver, not even vacant land on one of the moons of Saturn.

Years ago there was  a famous banker named Carlo Ponzi.  People would give him money and he would return that and a good profit, perhaps too good a profit.  What he was doing, of course, was paying his first investors money he stole from suckers who got in at the back of the line.

Banks lent out money they said they had, based on “toxic derivatives,” and made huge profits on the interest they got when people paid back the money that actually never existed in the first place.

Nobody believed that every major bank in America would lie about something this simple or be allowed to commit such brazen crimes.  After all, were there laws and regulations?  Oh, you say such regulations are “socialism” and restrict the free use of capital.

So the banks invented $500 trillion dollars and, finally, when the money coming in wasn’t enough to hide the fact that the banks assets were imaginary, it all exploded.

Read complete article..

Consensus (Direct Democracy @ Occupy Wall Street)

Consensus (Direct Democracy @ Occupy Wall Street)



A look into the "HOW" of the Occupy Wall Street movement: The consensus process.

The community of occupiers at Liberty Plaza have sparked the process of building a movement that now transcends any one physical landmark. The tools to keep the movement alive belong to all of us.

Created by the Meerkat Media Collective. For the last 6 years we've been using consensus decision making in our filmmaking process - http://meerkatmedia.org

THE MOVEMENT:
http://www.OccupyTogether.org
http://www.OccupyWallSt.org
http://www.OccupyVideos.org

MORE ON CONSENSUS:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/08/1022710/--occupywallstreet:-a-primer...

START YOUR OWN GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
http://nycga.cc/resources/general-assembly-guide/

Mother of All Strikes: Greece grinds to halt for 48 hours

Mother of All Strikes: Greece grinds to halt for 48 hours



Greece is closed for 48 hours - flights are grounded, schools, shops and factories all quiet - as the country endures what's being called the 'mother of all strikes'. It's arguably the biggest protest since the financial turmoil that's crippling the country began - but more cuts could be coming.

Athens Clashes LIVE: RT at Greece massive protest showdown

Athens Clashes LIVE: RT at Greece massive protest showdown

The Elite Are Trembling in Their Boots

In Paris, protesters rally against the corporate corruption
of Democracy. (photo: Inspired by Light/flickr)

The Elite Are Trembling in Their Boots by Carl Gibson

As of October 15, 2011, the movement protesting banks that wrecked our economy for profit can now claim the "too big to fail" title from their targets.

Once dismissed as a ragtag fringe group of rabble-rousers, Occupy Wall Street protests have spread to 82 countries and 950 cities worldwide in just a month. In Europe, millions protested corporate/financial corruption of Democracy. And in America, Occupy Wall Street solidarity encampments continue in cities as big as Chicago, and as small as Jackson, Mississippi.

A sign frequently seen at occupations reads, "The system isn't broken, it was built this way." This movement's participants and organizers are all in basic agreement that the current system is by the 1 percent, of the 1 percent, for the 1 percent, and rigged to favor the 1 percent on the backs of the 99 percent. The evidence that spending money lobbying Congress means higher corporate profits is mainstream knowledge.

Alan Greenspan has acknowledged that his deregulation-driven ideology that drove US financial policy for the better part of a decade was wrong. Even wealthy investment managers admit that the wealth and power amassed by the top .01 percent - mostly through the use of complex financial instruments - is unavailable to the bottom 99.9 percent. The occupation movement isn't just a protest of the current system - occupiers are designing a political system that has no room for lobbyists or a powerful elite group of decision-makers over everyone else.

Now, as Cornel West predicted a few weeks ago, the elite are trembling in their boots.

Tom Leppert, running for retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-TX) seat, has funneled money into a website called endoccupy.com, attacking the protesters' "false sense of entitlement." This is particularly amusing considering the site's founder was a high-ranking executive for Washington Mutual right until the firm folded in the largest bank failure in American history, extorting $63 billion from shareholders.

Advewrtisement

Erick Erickson of the conservative blogging site redstate.com helped launch a blog called "We Are the 53%," a nod to the oft-quoted yet misleading conservative talking point that 47% of Americans don't pay federal taxes (even though they pay 1/3rd of their income in sales, property, payroll and excise taxes). To add to Erickson's callousness, the blog also intentionally mocks the "We Are the 99 Percent" tumblr blog, where people suffering from unemployment, underemployment, homelessness, foreclosure, poverty, hunger and mountains of debt share their struggles with the world.

Republicans vying for the presidency can't wait to line up and take potshots at the nascent movement, eager to downplay the struggles of the "99 percenters," as they rake in piles of campaign cash from corporate, financial and even secret donors. Mitt Romney said it was "dangerous, this class warfare." Not to be outdone, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain said "if you're not rich and unemployed ... don't blame the banks. Blame yourself."

The corporate-owned media, who had previously been blacking out coverage of Occupy Wall Street (probably because it wasn't a Tea Party protest), now takes to the airwaves every day in attempts to smear and discredit the movement at every opportunity. On his own show, Sean Hannity told one occupier she didn't "believe in freedom." On Fox News, Ann Coulter called the Wall St. occupation "The beginning of totalitarianism." MSNBC's conservative morning host Joe Scarborough openly mocked the protests on the air before being called "part of the problem" by a CNBC reporter at the New York Stock Exchange. Jon Stewart did a bang-up job exposing the media's hypocrisy in its coverage of the movement.

Despite such unflinching criticism and excessive smear campaigns, the message of the occupation movement is still getting through. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) says it is disingenuous to dismiss the movement as a leftist "fringe" element, given the diversity of occupiers' beliefs and backgrounds. After the official dedication of the memorial to her father in Washington, Martin Luther King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said the occupation's fight for economic and social justice for the other 99% of Americans is a cause her father would have gladly fought for. After Occupy Wall Street brought thousands to Times Square, a decorated marine openly confronted dozens of NYPD officers over allegations of police brutality, vowing to protect his fellow citizens from injustice, even if it came from their own law enforcement officers. All the officers could do was listen to him, and ask him to move on and be silent.

America has reached a turning point. Occupy Wall Street, after only a month, has gained global attention and unstoppable momentum. It is no longer up to the system's political power-brokers, whose incompetence was on full display during this summer's manufactured debt-ceiling crisis. Nor is it up to the system's titans of finance, industry or capital. If those groups want to have a say in what the future holds, they'll eventually be forced to come to the occupations themselves, and meet with ordinary Americans on their own terms.

---

Carl Gibson, 24, of Lexington, Kentucky, is a spokesman and organizer for US Uncut, a nonviolent, creative direct-action movement to stop budget cuts by getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. He graduated from Morehead State University in 2009 with a B.A. in Journalism before starting the first US Uncut group in Jackson, Mississippi, in February of 2011. Since then, over 20,000 US Uncut activists have carried out more than 300 actions in over 100 cities nationwide. You may contact Carl at carl@rsnorg.org.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

10 Craziest Things Said About Occupy Wall Street

Photo Credit: AFP/Frederic J. Brown

10 Craziest Things Said About Occupy Wall Street by Lynn Parramore

From theories about the Muslim Brotherhood, to protesters as closet conservatives, it was truly difficult to narrow this list down to only 10. 

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. -- Proverbs 26.5

What an embarrassment of riches we found in compiling this list. So far, Occupy Wall Street has outlasted, outmaneuvered and generally flummoxed critics at every turn. The peaceful, patient protesters march on, while those who support the status quo turn apoplectic. The following selections are by no means comprehensive, but here, in no particular order, are 10 of the craziest things we've heard so far about the movement that has taken an abusive system by its lapels and said: "Enough already!"

1. What, Me Worry?

The out-of-touch medal must go to Wall Street financiers whose tenuous grasp of reality leads them to conclude that the protests have nothing to do with them. You might think that the name of said protest would serve as subtle hint. But apparently obtuseness is as plentiful as arrogance on Wall Street. The smartest guys in the room have taken a smoke break.

In a recent New York Times report, one Wall Street champion sums up his view: "'I don't think we see ourselves as the target,' said Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents the nation's biggest banks and insurers in Washington. 'I think they're protesting about the economy. What's lost is that the financial services sector has to be well capitalized and well financed for the economy to recover.'"

What's lost, Mr. Bartlett, is your mind if you think that the protests have nothing to do with you and your rapacious clients.

2. The Anti-Semitic Meme

David Brooks earns a slot here for promoting this nasty little meme, having launched it on the op ed page of the New York Times, no less.

After dismissing the protests as "inconsequential," he observes that "this uprising was sparked by the magazine Adbusters, previously best known for the 2004 essay, 'Why Won't Anyone Say They Are Jewish?' -- an investigative report that identified some of the most influential Jews in America and their nefarious grip on policy."

Hmm. The movement seems to be "consequential" enough to panic Brooks into scaring up a seven-year-old magazine article in support of his smear campaign. Accusations of anti-Semitism are a tired ploy of conservatives who have severe allergic reactions to popular movements. Perhaps if Brooks actually attended any of the gatherings and marches, he might ask the Jewish OWS protesters how they feel about his charge.

They are plentiful in the 99 percent.

3. The Billionaire's Lament

It took the high-rolling mayor of New York, whose fortune has levitated from sale of his "Bloomberg boxes" to Wall Street, to accuse the protesters of picking the wrong target. Guess you gotta defend your constituency! In a mind-bender of an interview with radio host John Gambling, Mayor Bloomberg complains of unfeeling attacks on the impoverished souls toiling in the financial district. "The protesters are protesting against people who make $40,000 and $50,000 year and are struggling to make ends meet."

Really? It should be pretty obvious that the protesters are not pointing the finger at Wall Street receptionists. The median salary of a stockbroker is $80,000 per year, and of course it only goes up from there.

Memo to Mayor: Gargantuan Wall Street salaries helped tank the economy. And even as regulators have tried to rein in bonuses, banksters simply jack up base pay rates. At Goldman Sachs, the base salary for managing directors has jumped to $500,000 from $300,000 since the crisis. If that's "struggling," we'd like to sign up for it.

4. The Communist Conspiracy Kooks

Deserving of a whole list all his own, the certifiable Glenn Beck serves up the latest in a long history of right-wing attacks on anything that ordinary people do to improve their lot. In the world according to Beck, the protesters are card-carrying Communists who wish to destroy the global economy.

But that is not all. They are planning the "violent overthrow of the United States government" and are bent on killing Democrats, Speaker Pelosi, and basically "everybody." Warming to his theme, Beck offers a sinister prediction: "Capitalists, if you think that you can play footsies with these people, you're wrong. They will come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you...they're Marxist radicals...these guys are worse than Robespierre from the French Revolution...they'll kill everybody."

Never mind that the protesters are nonviolent and express no allegiance to any political group. If you like your lunacy served undiluted, it's hard to beat Beck.

5. The Muslim Brotherhood Cometh

Wherever you find wingnuts, chances are you'll stumble on somebody obsessed with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Cairo-based Islamist group that looms larger in the psyche of American paranoids than it does in that of Egyptians. But to a certain stripe of conservative, the Brothers are poised to take over the planet. Starting with sunny Orlando.

The Tea Party Tribune alerts readers to what "may be a move by a Muslim activist to take over control of 'Occupy Orlando,' in the 'spirit of the Arab Spring.'" This suspicion gives rise to grave -- if somewhat incoherent -- concerns: "Is it really possible for a 'strange' group of Muslim Brothers to take their anti-American, anti-Jewish hatred into our country and be welcomed, even into meetings with President Obama...ah...yes, it's happening right under your nose, folks! And it may be happening in Orlando, Florida."

The "intel" proving this nuttery consists of a video featuring Tom Trento, the leader of anti-Muslim group United West, following around American-Muslim attorney Shayan Elahi at an Occupy Orlando gathering. (The Florida Independent reports that GOP Senate hopeful Adam Hasner calls Trento a "good friend." Yuck.) Helping readers to "connect the dots," Trento links the man's presence to references to the Arab Spring on the Occupy Orlando website. Bingo! The whole movement must be a nefarious plot for the Muslim Brotherhood to take over America. "Something to think about," says Trento.

Yep. And the fact that Trento is bonkers.

6. Secret Funding

Aggravated by the well-established fact that right-wing billionaire David Koch has backed the Tea Party, conservatives are predictably trying to claim that liberal billionaire George Soros is secretly financing Occupy Wall Street.

It's no surprise that Rush Limbaugh would jump on this wagon. But Reuters lent credibility to this baloney with a widely criticized report. The evidence? Reuters reporters Mark Egan and Michelle Nichols claimed that some people sort of said something about Soros: "There has been much speculation over who is financing the disparate protest, which has spread to cities across America and lasted nearly four weeks. One name that keeps coming up is investor George Soros, who in September debuted in the top 10 list of wealthiest Americans. Conservative critics contend the movement is a Trojan horse for a secret Soros agenda."

(Note: this excerpt is reprinted from Alex Pareene's Salon report as the original story seems to have been scrubbed). Plus, they claimed, Soros gave some money to the magazine Adbusters a while back (Pareene debunks this) and "some of the protesters share some ideological ground" with the billionaire. So there!

The news wire reversed the story when more thorough journalists called bullshit. Then it tried to bury the whole shameful episode. But here's betting on Dawn of the Dead returns of the lie throughout the right-wing media machine.

7. Cosmic Convergence

On to the "Dirty Hippies/Druggies" caricature. We might easily paint Wall Street as playground for cokeheads and hookers, but we will refrain.

Perhaps the suggestion that the protests are Woodstock Redux suggests a lack of imagination more than insanity. But pundit Lowman S. Henry, writing for the PennLive.com news organ of Central Pennsylvania, drives this meme all the way to Crazyville: "The Occupy Wall Street protest is the latest incarnation of the Haight-Ashbury gang transported from San Francisco to New York. Loosely gathering under a mutual disdain for the nation's financial community, the group appears to be a hybrid between Woodstock and a college political science class. The lawlessness and arrests have it tilting more toward the former."

There's more. According to Henry, the protesters have been paid to call for a change in "cosmic consciousness" by union organizers. Moreover the public has been horribly deceived by the media into believing that Occupy Wall Street is a "spontaneous outpouring of Plebian anger aimed at the rich in America." The idea!

Henry sure looks like an expert on psychedelics. What we'd like to know is, what is he smoking?

8. All the President's Protesters

Spend five minutes at Zuccotti Park, and you will notice that many of the protesters are openly critical of Obama -- as they are of a whole swath of politicians. Nevertheless, people like presidential hopeful Herman Cain, aka "The Herminator," are painting the movement as a tool of the Obama reelection campaign. He plainly admits that his evidence for this is exactly zilch. But does that stop the Herminator? Of course not!

In a Wall Street Journal interview, Cain asserts: "I don't have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself...."

Sounds like 99 percent crap to us.

9. This is What Ignorance Looks Like

The rejection of business-as-usual politicking among Occupy Wall Street protesters has quite a few knickers in a twist. Observing the recent Occupy the London Stock Exchange rally, Slate's Anne Applebaum blanks out on her country's own history and accuses the protesters of undermining democracy: "In New York, marchers chanted, 'This is what democracy looks like,' but, actually, this isn't what democracy looks like. This is what freedom of speech looks like. Democracy looks a lot more boring. Democracy requires institutions, elections, political parties, rules, laws, a judiciary, and many unglamorous, time-consuming activities, none of which are nearly as much fun as camping out in front of St. Paul's cathedral or chanting slogans on the Rue St. Martin in Paris."

Mm-kay. Last time we checked, American democracy kicked off when protesters demonstrated in the streets against an unjust system. They distributed pamphlets. Gathered at rallies. You know, roused the rabble.

Applebaum might wish to peruse the Declaration of Independence, which OWS's Declaration of the Occupation of New York City echoes in many ways, such as its focus on abuses of power. The author of the original document, Thomas Jefferson, thought that a rebellion every 20 years or so was just the thing for a democracy: "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical....It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."-- Thomas Jefferson to James Madison (Jan. 30, 1787).

And just when did using the bathroom at McDonald's become glamorous?

10. Conservatives Like Us

The Occupy Wall Street protests have become sort of a Rorschach test in which people tend to see their own grievances and philosophies. That's one of the strengths. But staffers at the American Enterprise Institute?

Whoa! But it's true. The conservative think tank sent a couple of fresh-faced, polar-fleeced staffers to find out just what the heck was going on down in Zuccotti Park. Surprised at how "articulate" and "concerned" the protesters seem to be, the staffers chat up protester Edward T. Hall, who seems to advocate state's right in matters like health care. Conclusion? The entire movement is "a bunch of people that are conservatives, they just don't know it."

Finding evidence of their free-market fundamentalism everywhere in the camp -- from its "order" to its water filtration system -- the staffers praise the can-do spirit and "entrepreneurship." They ride away -- is that a taxi or a limo? -- resting easy that the movement will soon embrace the wisdom of Ayn Rand.

Their feeling of solidarity is not altogether silly. Until they rise up the think-tank career ladder, they, too, are in the 99 percent.

Lynn Parramore is an AlterNet contributing editor.

Propaganda Check: Servitude

© mercola.com

The Occupy Wall Street movement has already experienced some major blows, and they seem to be increasing. Many messengers are attempting to confute the broad spectrum such as the Rabbi Michael Lerner who delicately defines the movement as taking a inside Democratic position rather than a broader position which would encompass all people, especially those on the right just as much as those on the left, not really a division between them at all. These divisions hide the corporate state that is the target, and for this Lerner seems to understand the dilemma well. However, the corporations in bed with the Federal Reserve have mounted a direct attack which will undeniably wrought much harm to the American people. This defiance is the grand bigotry in action knowing full well it manifests that which is in the midst, an aberration of wealth as the almighty greed to exist without restraint.



We know damn well what is happening and restraining these freaks is being defended by those who depend on their insanities. The lotus eaters need the feed that is generated as fear over and over inside our perception of what is happening so that it prevails in our senses. If the lotus eaters were to attempt to make sense, their mask is made visible. These people are a real danger to the movement as their perception is different in that the socialist array that is raping America is unseen to them as an excuse to fear it, which is part of the ploy that must be maintained. They don't see community as a form of healing rather they use fear to reject the social nature that should accumulate human rights which has been completely reformed into a police state. This is like feeding the wolves who have now begun to prowl around the movement. They seem to lack compassion and empathy which is a charactierstic of psychopathology. Much is to be learned.

Occupy Chicago After Arrests: We Will Re-Occupy

Occupy Chicago After Arrests: We Will Re-Occupy by Jake Olzen

“Bring five friends with you next time,” announced Ashley Bohrer, 23, beaming with pride at Occupy Chicago’s Monday afternoon General Assembly (GA), “and have them bring five friends with them!” This is how Occupy Chicago (or perhaps better recognized by its Twitter hashtag #OccupyChi) is growing through social networking – both in person and via digital media. Bohrer, a graduate student at DePaul University working on a Ph.D. in philosophy, has been with the occupation since nearly the beginning.

“Don’t criticize the movement, say we are
doing things wrong unless you are out
here with us shaping the movement,”
said one activist. And indeed there is
space for all voices to be heard—at the
General Assemblies and in committees—
in a way that reflects the vision of sharing
power and sharing wealth that keeps
Occupy Chicago going.

“I’m upset. I’m angry. I have a personal story—like most of the people here—it’s different but I have massive student debt. I have a job but I live below a living salary.” Bohrer is animated and articulate as our conversation is interrupted numerous times by others seeking interviews, other activists sharing updates about their committee work, and people stopping by thanking her and Occupy Chicago for their presence. As the local manifestation of the global occupation movement—see Occupy Together—sparked on Wall Street, Occupy Chicago has been at it almost just as long. Monday, October 17 marked Day 25 of an ongoing presence in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank at Lasalle and Jackson in Chicago’s financial district. Over the weekend, after having been told it could not keep a permanent camp at the bank, the GA agreed to relocate its occupation—while maintaining a regular presence at the bank—to Grant Park. At the corner of the park known as Congress Plaza (Michigan and Congress), nearly 2,300 Occupy Chicago supporters rallied in support of the movement. The Chicago Tribune, recounting the events of the evening, reported that 175 people were arrested on a municipal ordinance violation that states Chicago Parks close at 11 p.m.

After Chicago Police had issued a number of very clear warnings—and people moved across the street while maintaining vigil for those choosing to be arrested—cops began to clear the park of personal belongings, tents, and arresting occupiers. The arrests were orderly and professional—good practice for CPD and the City of Chicago who will be hosting the NATO-G8 Summit in May 2012. Occupy Chicago and the National Lawyers Guild, who lends legal support, have put the number of arrests at over 250. Bohrer was one of those arrested and it was her first time participating in civil disobedience. Those arrested were detained, processed, and released on a bond of personal recognizance, but not until early Sunday morning. Supporters waited outside the jails, in the rain, until the last of Occupy Chicago activists were released.

At meetings the next day, one could see the weariness of the experience. But they returned—and with enthusiasm! Twenty-year-old Illinois Institute of Art student Juan, from the Chicago neighborhood Little Village, was a little bummed he had not been arrested. It would have been his first time doing civil disobedience and he is ready.

“Human rights are something I believe in,” said Juan passionately. “If we aren’t being heard, no matter what your race, your class, I believe in civil disobedience.” Juan also acted as facilitator for Monday’s afternoon GA and has camped out for 15 or 16 nights of the occupation. “This [Occupy Chicago] is less about specific demands or grievances. It’s more about a new community being formed of people who are socially awake and know something is wrong. We all have different opinions but are united in that we believe the system is fucked up.”

A week ago, the Chicago Tribune printed a list of “demands” from the GA. While these “demands” reflect general principles discussed that the GA is working on democratically passing through its modified consensus process requiring 90% majority for passage, Occupy Chicago has no plans of relenting in its indefinite presence at the Federal Reserve nor its 24/7 occupation. Its presence in the heart of Chicago’s Loop has been an interruption to the way the interests of the financial sector have dictated the structure and content of the political establishment. The police regularly issue warning to Occupy Chicago to vacate the public-private park (much like Zuccotti Park where #OccupyWallStreet is camping out) next to the Chicago Board of Trade kitty-corner from the Federal Reserve where activists like to gather and hold meetings. While there are differences of opinion about how Occupy Chicago should conduct itself, criticism from inside and outside the movement is not taken lightly. “Don’t criticize the movement, say we are doing things wrong unless you are out here with us shaping the movement,” said Juan. And indeed there is space for all voices to be heard—at the General Assemblies and in committees—in a way that reflects the vision of sharing power and sharing wealth that keeps Occupy Chicago going.

So what’s next for Occupy Chicago? How will the City and the movement respond to the arrests? “It is a morally reprehensible and politically unsustainable system we find ourselves in,” said Bohrer. “The arrests do not negatively impact the ideas or spirit of the movement. It [the arrests] just makes more visible the state apparatus [that protects the financial sector]. Our civil disobedience protest is against the way the political and economic system co-constitute each other. We will re-occupy.”

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License