Occupy Wall Street

https://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/

the threads on documenting wall street folly can stay on topic, but this is its own thing to track now

should have happened september 2008. I think it's understandable why it didn't, coming right on the eve of a chance to vote for change.

http://i51.tinypic.com/296i2iq.jpg

JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple.

http://digg.com/news/world_news/jp_morgan_chase_donates_4_6_million_to_nypd_to_deter_occupywallstreet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XqWEPwuIYtA

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2011/10/01/live-blog-for-occupywallstreet-day-fifteen-huge-demonstration-held-at-nypd-headquarters/#comments

& just in case you blinked, it's only been a few weeks since 1253 people were arrested in front of the White House for Tar Sands Protests and there are more planned, next one on November 6

http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-keystone-pipeline-revolt-why-mass-arrests-are-just-the-beginning-20110928

didn't mean to sound snarky -- I only say 'blinked' because I absolutely blinked, I just found that out tonight clicking through the maze

Wall Street Mocks Protestors by Drinking Champagne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PiXDTK_CBY

I mean if this isn't nearing "bust out the guillotines, M. Robespierre" then we are doomed.

eh its sad to say but these protests have given no one any reason to take them seriously

easy to point fingers when you ain't doing shit u cynical loser

like, I'm sure they'd appreciate your expert advice on media relations.

lol irony

anyway what im talking abt isnt media relations or messaging particularly although those could use some work for sure, before that youve got to understand how civil disobedience works, the concept seems to have degraded over time from a strategic provocation to everyone showing up chanting shit playing drums and 'making their voices heard' - then theres the larger issue of wether this country is atm ripe for large scale protest to break out and really have an effect which im p skeptical of

i have to say that banker champagne video is p darkly hilarious, theyre def showing more self awareness than the protestors, it kind of points out the problem w/everyone constantly looking for villains

not that there arent villains, i just think its possible to look a lil deeper than that

The bankers look fairly restrained in comparison to their counterparts in London who sprayed champagne and threw banknotes out of their windows during large-scale protests a few years ago. They were apparently told not to repeat it during subsequent protests as their employers could see that it's nagl. False humility is much more effective than brazen dickishness.

i convinced myself to like these guys last night.

tho if bankers threw enough money out their windows it could solve some of these problems

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.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

THEY

the right to assemble is a pretty great freedom that a lot of people in the world don't have, I think it's worth supporting in and of itself w/o necessarily looking to future consequences or playing 11th dimensional chess

hey theyre the ones w/a list of demands maaan

also thanks to the power of the ~internet~ the actions of a few thousand are receiving way more amplification than it would have ten years go. can't decide if that's a good thing or bad thing but props for making it to the front page of the NYT for a few days running

yeah i was wondering what the role of social media is in all this cause the protesters are getting way more bang for their buck than the much much larger iraq war demonstrations did

I went every day this week so I guess to some extent 'I'm part of this.' most peoples' critiques are otm but at the same time I think making attacks on wall street + income inequality regularly enter the media narrative is 'a good thing'. also one of the few subjects where the hard left is pretty clearly w/ the majority of the american public, so it's a good one to focus on. I think, regardless of what happens, it's good precedent for things in the future because I think a public face of the hard left is 'a good thing'.

obv it is far from perfect but it's hard to judge a *genuinely spontaneous event* for not being better planned. which is what it comes down to. or to judge the far left for representing itself w/ anarchist hs students and hippies when *those are the only people showing up*.

it's pretty interesting to watch something that's unorganized slowly organize itself. yes there are huge drawbacks w/ the no leader (it seems like some are slowly emerging) and no message (I think 3-4 days ago it was small enough that a pared down message coulda come out of the process but I think it's prob not gonna happen now.)

yeah i was wondering what the role of social media is in all this cause the protesters are getting way more bang for their buck than the much much larger iraq war demonstrations did

yeah crowds are hilariously small for how much attention this is getting, it's building fairly slowly and I still expect it to mushroom for something or another. but in a lot of ways the way this is using the internet is the most fascinating aspect and why this seems so 'big'. like, this is a post-location protest movement. I mean before yesterday it was never much more than 1.5k and that many people is really not particularly impressive in manhattan.

adbusters would be bummed if they knew how much this all depends on one mcdonalds bathroom

Occupy Handicapped Stall

i for one am shocked that ice cr?m's first post itt begins with 'eh'

adbusters would be bummed if they knew how much this all depends on one mcdonalds bathroom

― iatee, Sunday, October 2, 2011 10:55 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

loll

easy to point fingers when you ain't doing shit u cynical loser

― sleeve, Sunday, October 2, 2011 8:38 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i for one am shocked that ice cr?m's first post itt begins with 'eh'

― thank you BIG HOOS, you brilliant god-man (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Sunday, October 2, 2011 11:06 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://i.imgur.com/oEsRO.gif

<3

I went every day this week so I guess to some extent 'I'm part of this.' most peoples' critiques are otm but at the same time I think making attacks on wall street + income inequality regularly enter the media narrative is 'a good thing'. also one of the few subjects where the hard left is pretty clearly w/ the majority of the american public, so it's a good one to focus on. I think, regardless of what happens, it's good precedent for things in the future because I think a public face of the hard left is 'a good thing'.

― iatee, Sunday, October 2, 2011 10:50 AM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

agreed m/l, im curious to see should this movement mature what the message becomes, because income inequality isnt really the problem, its a symptom

man these guys sure did shut down wall street! on a saturday no less! tremble brokers tremble!

^always the best look for the elite left

iatee pretty much otm from what i can tell

that's a great zing balls you should consider posting it in some online newspaper comment sections, it'll get a bunch of 'like's

maybe i'll go protest some business while it's closed and wonder why i don't get any results.

tbf this probably will be more effective than wisconsin.

tbf they have also been there during business hours

maybe i'll go protest some business while it's closed and wonder why i don't get any results.

throw a few rocks thru the windows while you're there, for best results during non-business hours.

less effective than tea party i'd guess though.

B-b-but the Masters of the Universe work like 700 hours a week! THEY NEVER STOP SAVING OUR ECONOMY.

balls otm, markets should be open on a sunday, and a saturday too

you know what traders are doing over in china while american traders are not trading on a sunday? trading and making money

they never stop using the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

less effective than tea party i'd guess though.

― balls, Sunday, October 2, 2011 11:34 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah been think abt like how can we do a lefty tea party, now thatd be some shit

srsly tho does anyone know what this is in reference to?

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

From this snarky New York Times piece on Occupy Wall Street, the most tedious zing:

One day, a trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Adam Sarzen, a decade or so older than many of the protesters, came to Zuccotti Park seemingly just to shake his head. “Look at these kids, sitting here with their Apple computers,” he said. “Apple, one of the biggest monopolies in the world. It trades at $400 a share. Do they even know that?”

Y'see, they say they hate Wall Street and yet they use products made by companies whose shares are traded on Wall Street, and they probably DON'T EVEN KNOW that Apple is a big company. They should be growing their own organic computers. The writer seems to think that this is such a logical death blow that she makes this her final paragraph.

persuade ppl to vote in large enough numbers that politicians actually take you seriously? ie. not wisconsin.

lmao http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Home/article/ny-13.htm?TB_iframe=true&height=580&width=850

it seems p retarded to judge this on the basis of 'effectiveness' or 'seriousness'

they prob drink corporate water

they never stop using the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press

lol srsly?

lol kinda sad hw quickly they can get those numbers, but cool

got nothing else to do but hang black bikini underwear out to dry and watch shitty television

Did not realize that the "99%" refers to the fact that 99% of Americans are anarchists/communists, rather than simply a population defined growing economic & political inequality. Should we criticize Tea Partiers for driving on public roads to their protests?

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, October 14, 2011 11:30 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes IMO

― do not wake the dragon (DJP), Friday, October 14, 2011 11:30 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

no IMO

the kinds of unfair slurs being thrown at OWS are on the same level as those thrown at the first Tea Parties. IMO it's the same 99% fed up that things aren't fair and tired of the corruption at the top of big government and big business and they keep ending up in these stupid, demonizing arguments where they use the flakiest members of the opposition as strawmen to kick in the teeth of the whole group. Meanwhile the people at the top are lol%ing all the way to the bank. It sucked two years ago and it sucks now. All the energy of these 99%ers that goes into mocking the 53%ers... such a shame.

(the 53%ers missing the point in the first place is also a shame)

otm

but the condescension... it just FEELS so good

yeah sorry, if you are shouting about how you want the government out of your life while complaining about the roads/public transportation/etc or talking about how you want to use the GI Bill to pay for college or how you were educated by a public school, you are a moron and I will mock you until the day I die or the day you read a civics book

Yeah, I know a couple of Tea Party folks who probably would fit in just as snugly in Occupy Wall Street.

xpost yeah those people are morons but making those people illustrative of what the first Tea Parties were about is a mistake.

mocking the 53%ers

I know this may sound like quibbling but I'd rather we remain basically respectful of 53%ers as we should of all ppl. That doesn't mean that we can't mock what they say.

ed kain is one of my favorite dudes

i feel like he 100% "gets" "it"

ows and "it" in general

like yes i know there are "PUT JESUS BACK IN OUR BALONEY" and "END THE FED" and "STOP TAXES" idiot Tea Partiers and now all that early energy has been coopted by the regular ol dickhead GOP and we get Herman Cain refusing to hire a Muslim wtfstupidity. but mostly, early on, when it was at it's peak of popularity, it was people watching the government give billions upon billions of dollars to banks and other corporations that just.. sorta... floated away.

And if OWS isn't defended and protected by the masses of people who are enthusiastic about it right now, it'll go away or be just another niche of the regular ol dickhead DNC..

The Occupy movement has advanced a new math, in which the one percent has ripped everyone off. Most people in that large ripped-off group don’t understand how we got here. If we want people to understand better, we will try to establish forums in which recent history gets explained, in simple terms, to people of various tribes.

(Or do we prefer our favorite pastime—calling average folk names?)

...

People don’t understand what happened. We liberals have rarely tried to tell them. If we want to explain, it has to be simple—and we can’t start by saying they’re very bad people, though this is our tribe’s favorite tale.

Many folk will be able to process the truth. Does our tribe know how to tell it?

bam

Tribe? Oh come on...

Nice to see the crisis averted this AM. Wonder how long it'll last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9D33hr4CW0&

^ fucking rad

#chea

hope this cop gets fired or worse
http://vimeo.com/30550909

Tribe? Oh come on...

C'mon yourself. So much of American politics resembles college football, it's not even funny.

is it time for a new OWS thread? this one is getting pretty hueg

Seconded.

thoided

*wavy fingers held up over heads*

why don't we leave the thread for 4 hours so it can be cleaned?

no lying down in the thread when we come back

*wavy fingers held up over heads*

― Primm Slim, Robot Sheriff (kingfish), Friday, October 14, 2011 4:46 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

guy on occupyDC live feed: "I came here on day one a journalist to cover this occupation, but I've completely lost my objectivity, left my post, and joined this movement wholeheartedly."

this thread, united, can never be defeated

we will permalink our posts together and form a nonviolent barrier

lol

Occupy Wall Street 2: Occupy Everything

call me bloomberg if u must

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVIXSxhWTBA/TivCS0HnD8I/AAAAAAAAAI8/0EWy03B6S-Y/s1600/food-riot-police5.jpg

http://oi56.tinypic.com/kamvy9.jpg

lol wrong style sheet bro

"wrong"

n00b style sheet

"¡No pasarán!"

n00b style sheet

― ice cr?m, Friday, October 14, 2011 1:09 PM

n0 way dude what kinda batshit css are u on

I use the black one

old.css - current default style is a slap in the face to the ilx aesthetic imho

u old

ilx has gone to hell these days

#occupyold.css

ok tried old.css and its nostalgic but kinda gross #throwbackjersey

for the record i meant 'wrong stylesheet' for tricking me into think the thread had been locked - old.css 4 ever tho

'I know this may sound like quibbling but I'd rather we remain basically respectful of 53%ers as we should of all ppl. That doesn't mean that we can't mock what they say.'

agreed. I assume everyone saw this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/12/1025555/-Open-Letter-to-that-53-Guy

(assuming yes because it's the most shared diary on dkos ever or something now). It's a great takedown but the tone is very very reasonable. That said, the people who should probably read it probably never will because it's on dkos.

Occupy Wall Street 2: Occupy Everything