OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Cin]

Occupy Wall Street turns to pedal power


The Occupy Wall Street protesters who were left without power after their gas-fueled generators were confiscated by New York City authorities on Friday may have found the idea solution in the [IMG][/IMG]form of a stationary bicycle hooked up to charge batteries.

Stephan Keegan of the non-profit environmental group Time’s Up showed off one of the bikes to The Daily News, explaining that OWS’s General Assembly has already authorized payment for additional bikes and that “soon we’ll have ten of these set up and we’ll be powering the whole park with batteries.”

Protester Lauren Minis told CBS New York, “We’ve got five bike-powered generator systems that are coming from Boston and we’ve got five more plus other ones that are going to supplement as well so we’re completely, completely off the grid.”

According to CBS, “Insiders at Occupy Wall Street say they expect to have their media center and the food service area fully powered and illuminated by Monday.”

“We need some exercise,” Keegan explained enthusiastically, “and we’ve got a lot of volunteers, so we should be able to power these, no problem. … We did an energy survey of the whole park, found out how much energy we were using. …. Ten will give us twice as much power.”

Keegan also boasted that the system is “very clean” and is environmentally superior not only to fossil fuel but even to solar panels, because it uses almost entirely recycled materials.

[Ebon]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Occupy Wall Street turns to pedal power


The Occupy Wall Street protesters who were left without power after their gas-fueled generators were confiscated by New York City authorities on Friday may have found the idea solution in the [IMG][/IMG]form of a stationary bicycle hooked up to charge batteries.

Stephan Keegan of the non-profit environmental group Time’s Up showed off one of the bikes to The Daily News, explaining that OWS’s General Assembly has already authorized payment for additional bikes and that “soon we’ll have ten of these set up and we’ll be powering the whole park with batteries.”

Protester Lauren Minis told CBS New York, “We’ve got five bike-powered generator systems that are coming from Boston and we’ve got five more plus other ones that are going to supplement as well so we’re completely, completely off the grid.”

According to CBS, “Insiders at Occupy Wall Street say they expect to have their media center and the food service area fully powered and illuminated by Monday.”

“We need some exercise,” Keegan explained enthusiastically, “and we’ve got a lot of volunteers, so we should be able to power these, no problem. … We did an energy survey of the whole park, found out how much energy we were using. …. Ten will give us twice as much power.”

Keegan also boasted that the system is “very clean” and is environmentally superior not only to fossil fuel but even to solar panels, because it uses almost entirely recycled materials.

lol this is awesome! I bet Bloomberg is furious.

[atomiczombie]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Take Five Minutes of Your Day to Keep Wall Street Occupied With This Amazing At-Home Activism Plan

I just gotta say this is an awesome idea and even though I don't get credit card offers, I am gonna ask my friends and family to save their envelopes for me.

[atomiczombie]

I just want to say thank you to everyone who is participating in this thread. You all inspire me and help me to keep up with the latest goings on. It's great that we all share this common passion for equality and justice.

[Sachita]

Originally Posted by SoNotHer

I like this, and I'd like to think I've started my own personal revolution some time ago in a number of ways and for a number of reasons.

The one thing I've seen at OWS protest is some conflation of issues. I saw signs, for instance, protesting fluoride in water. I don't happen to agree that flourish belongs in water. But putting up a sign about it at an OWS protest is a little off topic and makes the movement look fractured and unfocused.

lol I hear you. I started my revolution well over 10 years ago. Hell call me a rebel- save the whales, seals, planet, fuck the system.

But we are heading towards critical times and many people saw this coming long long ago. People are responsible for not only allowing it to happen but supporting the very venues that made it this way. Misinformed? Not always because we all have the right to research, investigate and not take things at face value. You're crazy to rely on agencies outside of yourself to protect every little thing. There is also good information amongst bullshit propaganda and its up to us to filter it, evaluate it and make choices. We've placed too faith outside of ourselves becoming lazy and overdependent.

As a universe we are full force in evolution and planetary change. If ever you were to become proactive and self sufficient, now is the time.

[Soon]

http://gawker.com/5855105/stephen-co...py-wall-street

[atomiczombie]

Thursday, November 17 · 10:00am - 11:30pm

Occupy Wall St.

On November 17th, Join the 99%

Resist austerity. Reclaim the economy. Recreate our democracy.

Occupy Wall Street, in solidarity with organized labor and the 99% around the world, will mobilize for a day of peaceful direct action to reject the economy that divides us and rebuild an economy that works for all. We will resist the banks and the government they control, reclaim our democracy, and recreate the society we want to see.

We call upon the 99% to join us in fighting austerity in the US and around the world.

Resist the 1% economy that drowns us in debt, forecloses on our homes, eliminates our jobs and closes our schools and hospitals.

Reclaim the economy for the 99%. Everyone deserves the opportunity to find honest work, live with dignity, and pursue a better future.

Recreate our democracy. We will start to create a society that is organized to meet human needs, not maximize corporate profit.

On November 17th, the 99% will reclaim our destiny from the 1% and fight back against their plans for austerity.

Join us.

Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Everywhere

occupywallst.org
nycga.net

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=241419422582978

[SoNotHer]

He's so good at injecting humor into anything. Thank you for posting this.

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

http://gawker.com/5855105/stephen-co...py-wall-street

[atomiczombie]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

http://gawker.com/5855105/stephen-co...py-wall-street

I saw that last night and it was hilarious!! Thanks for sharing.

[atomiczombie]

http://act.boldprogressives.org/sign...ail/?source=fb

[Ebon]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-ca...b_1035295.html

The Food Movement Must Fight a "Secret Farm Bill"

"The farm subsidy lobby and a handful of their powerful Congressional allies are working overtime to skirt normal democratic processes, write a farm bill behind closed doors and slip it into law through the congressional Super Committee. But their plan to write a secret farm bill is finally showing up on the political radar.

The San Francisco Chronicle's intrepid Carolyn Lochhead put it this way on the paper's politics blog yesterday:

Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are attempting a breathtaking end-run around the democratic process. They are hatching their own farm bill in private and plan by Nov. 1 take it to the new deficit Super Committee to be enacted whole, without votes in their own committees or in Congress.

Lochhead went on to predict that a secret farm bill, written by politicians from subsidy-heavy states, is certain to short-change California's diverse agriculture yet again. Add to the list of likely losers: conservation interests, local and organic food advocates, defenders of down-and-out Americans who depend on food stamps and just about anyone else who'd like the farm bill to do more than bankroll industrial-scale commodity farming -- GMOs, pesticides and all."

This is only part of the article.

[atomiczombie]

Just a bit of Occupy humor for the day. Hehe.

[Cin]

Report: NYPD steers drunks to Occupy Wall Street

Those found drinking in city parks are told by officers to "take it to Zuccotti," the Daily News reports

There’s a bombshell allegation buried in this story from Sunday’s Daily News: The NYPD is reportedly telling drunks to hang out in Zuccotti Park, apparently as a way to undermine the credibility of Occupy Wall Street.

Harry Siegel reports:

But while officers may be in a no-win situation, at the mercy of orders carried on shifting political winds and locked into conflict with a so-far almost entirely non-violent protest movement eager to frame the force as a symbol of the oppressive system they’re fighting, the NYPD seems to have crossed a line in recent days, as the park has taken on a darker tone with unsteady and unstable types suddenly seeming to emerge from the woodwork. Two different drunks I spoke with last week told me they’d been encouraged to “take it to Zuccotti” by officers who’d found them drinking in other parks, and members of the community affairs working group related several similar stories they’d heard while talking with intoxicated or aggressive new arrivals.

…

“He’s got a right to express himself, you’ve got a right to express yourself,” I heard three cops repeat in recent days, using nearly identical language, when asked to intervene with troublemakers inside the park, including a clearly disturbed man screaming and singing wildly at 3 a.m. for the second straight night.

Emphasis mine. Siegel added on Twitter that he has sourcing for the story beyond the two drunks cited above, though he did not elaborate.

The NYPD did not comment to the Daily News. I’ve asked them for a response to the allegations and I will update this post if I hear back.

In other NYPD-related news, hundreds of off-duty officers turned out in the Bronx over the weekend to protest corruption indictments against several of their fellow officers. The scene turned ugly, with the off-duty cops reportedly shoving a cameraman and taunting nearby welfare recipients.

[Cin]

"We Are the 1 Percent. We Stand with the 99 Percent."

Resource Generation and Wealth for Common Good today announced a new website for wealthy people to show their support for the Occupy movement. Already over 100 members of “the 1 percent,” including young entrepreneurs, business owners and wealthy individuals, have posted their support on the new website “We are the 1 percent. We stand with the 99 percent.”

“Those of us with more than we need and who believe in a more just distribution of resources can stand up and tell the truth about how the deck has been stacked in our favor. We need to say that we think it’s wrong too,” said Elspeth Gilmore, co-director of Resource Generation. “Just as the 99 percent has been a powerful rallying cry, the 1 percent has come to represent those who hold the majority of this country’s resources and have created—and benefited from—the financial and economic crises we now face. One hundred percent of us need a different world.”



"College graduate by 19. Masters degree by 22. I own 2 companies, 3 cars and make a quarter million a year on my own, with zero assistance. I have a negligible amount of debt, excellent health insurance and my son has never felt what it’s like to “need” anything. I am the 1%, and I don’t mind paying more in taxes. I stand with the 99%."] "College graduate by 19. Masters degree by 22. I own 2 companies, 3 cars and make a quarter million a year on my own, with zero assistance. I have a negligible amount of debt, excellent health insurance and my son has never felt what it’s like to “need” anything. I am the 1%, and I don’t mind paying more in taxes. I stand with the 99%."
http://resourcegeneration.org/

[atomiczombie]

Bank of America said today it's dropping plans to charge customers a $5-a-month fee to use their debit cards next year.

The second-largest U.S. bank announced the fee in late September, and customers responded with a flood of protests. Some threatened to leave en masse as part of Bank Transfer Day, Nov. 5.

"In response to customer feedback and the changing competitive marketplace, Bank of America no longer intends to implement a debit usage fee," Bank of America announced in a press release on the company website, adding:
"We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee," said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer. "Our customers' voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so."

Competitors JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo said Friday they would not impose monthly debit card fees on their customers, after both tested a $3 monthly fee in some states.

"SunTrust Banks Inc. and Regions Financial Corp. said on Monday they would end monthly charges and reimburse customers," Reuters reported.

LINK: http://money.msn.com/credit-cards/ar...a414&gt1=33045

Too little, too late.

[atomiczombie]

Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3


Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

From Liberty Forum

http://www.libertyforum.org/

It sure as hell sounds familiar to me.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

It sure as hell sounds familiar to me.

Does it sound more familiar than this?

Core Democratic Characteristics

• Democracy is government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all adult citizens, directly, or through their freely elected representatives.

• Democracy rests upon the principles of majority rule and individual rights. Democracies guard against all-powerful central governments and decentralize government to regional and local levels, understanding that all levels of government must be as accessible and responsive to the people as possible.

• Democracies understand that one of their prime functions is to protect such basic human rights as freedom of speech and religion; the right to equal protection under law; and the opportunity to organize and participate fully in the political, economic, and cultural life of society.

• Democracies conduct regular free and fair elections open to citizens of voting age.

• Citizens in a democracy have not only rights, but also the responsibility to participate in the political system that, in turn, protects their rights and freedoms.

• Democratic societies are committed to the values of tolerance, cooperation, and compromise. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit."

It's really sad, but looking at these one after the other, I can honestly say I see a real fascist bend to our so called democracy.

[Gráinne]

Well, that's it; I'll either be screamed off the board or banned for this.

I've been reading along this thread, as it is a current event, and I wanted to hear all sides. Some points I agree with, others, maybe not. I do hear and understand that there is fear and fed-upness about the economy, banking, and foreign wars, as well as a host of other issues. I understand that. I totally agree that there is a lot of apathy out there, and a lot more that all of us can do to effect change, whether it's OWS or through other means. Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in the world".

What I need to put out here on the table is that some (if not several) of us on this board came from, know someone who came from, or had family living under fascist or communist systems, or farther back, equally repressive royalty. Some of my family lies under Poland for being the "wrong" religion. Others on the other side of my family came from grinding poverty only to find "No Irish Need Apply" signs. I have a friend who can never go back to her country of origin, as it dissolved into civil war that still periodically breaks out. Make that two, in fact, but different countries of origin. Another friend's parents were exiled thousands of miles out of their homeland to central Asia. Many of my friends are still in the country they were born, or at least the land, but there was a revolution in seemingly five minutes that turned their lives and families upside down. All of them at one time or another have told me about thoughts of going to America.

I surely believe we have large problems and inequalities. I have to believe that we have the solutions, both individually and as a group. I'd be hypocritical if I didn't say that I've considered emigrating out of here. But, compared to a lot of other places, we're a lot freer with more opportunity for women and POC than in the not so distant past.

I also want to say I like and respect all of those on this board and in this thread. With all that said, there's something that gnaws in my gut when we're compared to the Jews (and many other groups) under Hitler, Russia under Stalin, the Yugoslavs under Tito, or the North Koreans today. It just hits me wrong. I just ask out of respect for all of those peoples, and many more, please not to call us "fascist".

If you're angry with me, so be it. I stand by my words.

[Corkey]

I don't think all of us are fascists. But from what Drew posted I find that in the US all 14 of the points of fascism are in fact a part of the way the US is being run. Socially as well as politically. Are all of us fascists? No, then again there are some who fit fascist to a tee.

My father fought against fascists, then he became a bigot, then his eyes got opened, and he changed his mind before he died. Change is inevitable, I just hope that we don't change for the worst.

No flame from me, and yes we in the US used to live very privileged lives, I really can't say that any longer.

[SoNotHer]

I appreciate the distinction you're trying to make.

However, I do think we need to a call a thing what it is. And wherever we want to start with this, we are living in a country that increasingly resembles fascism.

I can point to examples to support this, not the least of which include the brutal police response to OWS protestors, the nightmare that is Guantanamo, voting (machines, records and access), a large share of the tax dollar pie in support of endless military moves, the legalization of profiling (new anti-immigration laws), the privatization (and exponential growth) of prisons and much, much more.

My background is Polish, Turkish, Romanian, and a few other countries that have seen despots and systemic oppression. But I believe we can still have fascism in America in 2011 and call it that. And God help us if in our denial of that, it only grows.

Originally Posted by guihong

Well, that's it; I'll either be screamed off the board or banned for this.

I've been reading along this thread, as it is a current event, and I wanted to hear all sides. Some points I agree with, others, maybe not. I do hear and understand that there is fear and fed-upness about the economy, banking, and foreign wars, as well as a host of other issues. I understand that. I totally agree that there is a lot of apathy out there, and a lot more that all of us can do to effect change, whether it's OWS or through other means. Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in the world".

What I need to put out here on the table is that some (if not several) of us on this board came from, know someone who came from, or had family living under fascist or communist systems, or farther back, equally repressive royalty. Some of my family lies under Poland for being the "wrong" religion. Others on the other side of my family came from grinding poverty only to find "No Irish Need Apply" signs. I have a friend who can never go back to her country of origin, as it dissolved into civil war that still periodically breaks out. Make that two, in fact, but different countries of origin. Another friend's parents were exiled thousands of miles out of their homeland to central Asia. Many of my friends are still in the country they were born, or at least the land, but there was a revolution in seemingly five minutes that turned their lives and families upside down. All of them at one time or another have told me about thoughts of going to America.

I surely believe we have large problems and inequalities. I have to believe that we have the solutions, both individually and as a group. I'd be hypocritical if I didn't say that I've considered emigrating out of here. But, compared to a lot of other places, we're a lot freer with more opportunity for women and POC than in the not so distant past.

I also want to say I like and respect all of those on this board and in this thread. With all that said, there's something that gnaws in my gut when we're compared to the Jews (and many other groups) under Hitler, Russia under Stalin, the Yugoslavs under Tito, or the North Koreans today. It just hits me wrong. I just ask out of respect for all of those peoples, and many more, please not to call us "fascist".

If you're angry with me, so be it. I stand by my words.