Who are the 99%?

As #occupy continues to go through media cycles (largely based on police violence) it becomes clear that the 99% will no longer remain silent. Who are they? The Washington Post answers the question from the other side.

Taken literally, the top 1 percent of American households had a minimum income of $516,633...

The number looks large but attainable. Then comes the real shock.

When you look at the disparity in net worth, things look even more skewed. Wealthier Americans have assets — in home equity, stocks and other investments — that generally outstrip their cash income. Average wealth of the top 1 percent was almost $14 million in 2009...

Yikes! Nobody in my circle of friends can boast that. The flip side is even scarier.

By contrast, the poorest households were experiencing declines in net worth even before the recession hit. In 2007, the bottom 20 percent of households had an average (negative!) net worth of –$13,800 in 2007, which fell further to –$27,200 in 2009. Altogether, “average wealth of the bottom 80 percent was just $62,900 in 2009 — a dropoff of $40,900 from 2007,” EPI writes. That means the wealthiest 1 percent held an average of 225 times the wealth of the average median household in 2009 — a ratio that was 125 in 1962.

Big numbers make the head spin. Visual!

Remember, that first group is NEGATIVE!

Who are the 99%? Just about everyone. Why are they speaking out? Because you don't become one of the 1% by working hard and lining up for Black Friday bargains.

More numbers and pictures at the New York Times.

UC Davis Incident

Watch the whole thing. What do you see? What reactions do you have?



Did you watch it? If not, do so now!

Then continue with this news article.

Officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters...

After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.

At some point the people of this country accepted this behavior from the police. Now that people carry a pocket video camera with them at all times the behavior looks different. I read the above news story and compared it to what I saw in the video.

UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza has said the decision to use pepper spray was made at the scene.

"The students had encircled the officers," she said Saturday. "They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out."

Is that what you saw? What are your reactions now?

Constitutional Law

I have a radical idea.

The ACLU and the NRA should become a single entity. Join forces/resources. Fight the good fight together.

Honestly. I like them both.

The Occupation is Over; Long Live #Occupy!

The three most news worthy #occupy camps in three days all with mayors talking about health and safety issues. Just coincidence. Move along.

We should all be glad for this. The 1% has shown their hand. They say the word and the politicians leap. Spread the word and laugh.

Laugh because #occupy is far from gone. #ows got right back in the park. #occupyportland is still holding daily GA's. A contingent from #occupyoakland marched five miles to support Berkley. A movement that had settled into a simmer came roaring back into national news.

Are you enjoying this as much as I am?

Oakland Police Department Lies

The lies of the Oakland Police Department disturb me.

From the Guardian...

(I)nterim police chief, Howard Jordan, was similarly defensive when he spoke to reporters, denying that his men had used rubber bullets or flash-bang grenades, as some protesters alleged and adding: "It's unfortunate it happened. I wish that it didn't happen. Our goal, obviously, isn't to cause injury to anyone."

How can someone lie in the face of such condemning evidence? It certainly looks like a flash-bang grenade was tossed right in the middle of those protestors trying to help out a fallen protestor; a Marine who survived two tours in Iraq only to return to the United States and get his skull fractured for peaceful unarmed protest.



While on the topic of the Occupy Movement...

Several people have complained recently about protestors destroying parks. We could debate that point. I choose not to. Assume their occupation destroys the parks they inhabit. Better a few trampled parks than one trampled United States Constitution (First Amendment). Anyone else have good responses to these types?

Libyarated

BBC News - Libya's new rulers declare country liberated. Crowds cheered as one leader that wasn't elected announced the death of another leader that wasn't elected.

I am as misinformed about the meaning of 'Liberated' as I was about the phrase 'Mission Accomplished'.

Obama Pulls Out

US pulls out way too late. Says, "Don't worry, baby. I'm sure everything will be fine."

BBC: All US troops to leave Iraq in 2011.

So when Obama promised an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, he meant that he would get around to it when election season started up again? Lame!

Occupy Wall Street Lunatic 'Fringe of the Fringe'

The Forbes 'Occupy Wall Street' Gaining Respect...From Wall Street? article by Kenneth Rapoza is poor journalism.

The left wing lunatic 'fringe of the fringe' is gaining respect from the very source of the movement's disdain: Wall Street itself.

A 'news' article calling a movement of thousands in New York and hundreds of thousands if not millions showing solidarity as the movement turns into Occupy Everywhere can not be called lunatic 'fringe of the fringe'. This seems like a deliberate attempt at belittling the very movement the article purports to report support for.

Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up through divide and conquer strategies remains to be seen, but the movement, which got its start in the editorial offices of Adbusters, a non-influential magazine based in Vancouver, continues to spread around the world.

Send Mr. Rapoza back to school! First and foremost, this would make a fine example of a run-on sentence in any grammar book. The poor use of commas further complicates comprehension. The opening line, "Whether it fizzles out or gets busted up..." assumes unknowable foreknowledge. It again belittles the protests and assures the reader that this too shall pass into obscurity before any results are achieved. Calling Adbusters a non-influential magazine flies in the face of all evidence. The Occupy Wall Street idea started there and has spread around the globe over the past month. While the magazine may have played almost no role in organizing the event, their influence is evident.

Did Forbes and Mr. Rapoza deliberately publish propaganda? Are they shitty journalists? Do we have to choose?

Keeping things in check

Abolish the minimum wage. Institute a maximum wage of no more than 10x what the lowest paid workers make. Watch the lowest paid workers earn more than they ever thought possible.

Customer Service

One way to view the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy America demonstrations...

This is a customer service call. The citizens subscribe to a service called American Democracy. They are unsatisfied with that service. So they are calling out the service providers. They aren't clear on what the service provider needs to do, just what the failings of that service are and that they better do something because the service sucks.

Dear Service Provider,
Make It Right!

The Occupation Continues

What's it all about?

Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread From New York to San Francisco - Businessweek

“They’re just a bunch of wacko leftists trying to get on TV,” said Onel Delorb, 33, an unemployed office worker from the Bronx. “It’s my fault that I’m not doing anything for work. It’s not government’s fault.”

He said the demonstrators undermined their credibility by carrying iPhones and iPads made by Apple Inc., which is valued at $350 billion.

A valid point. Or it is a further indicator of how giant corporations fleece the population by over-charging for their goods. Having watched a lot of the live feed, I could also argue the protesters made wise investments in tools that have allowed them to become their own media outlet and spread the word. No major media outlet filmed policeman Anthony Bologna pepper-spraying innocent protesters. The protesters did it for themselves and spread it around the world in an instant. They aren't trying to get on TV because they don't need the TV.

Using the products of corporations against them. Definitely revolutionary*.

* In the sense that many revolutions are initially armed by the forces they come up against.

Truth be Told

After ten years of intense government surveillance of the citizenry, the public is turning the surveillance back on the watchers.

There is an attempt to edit history. I will do my best to not let them get away with it. I hope you will too.

How? By making certain as many people as possible know about it. Check out The New York Times. The originator highlights the times but also check out the authorship.

Then from the BBC you have to wade through a dozen paragraphs about demonstrator disorderly conduct before getting to this.

BBC News - Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested

Some of the protesters said police had allowed them on to the roadway and were escorting them across when they were surrounded and the arrests began.

We can't keep them from rewriting the page but we can keep them from rewriting history.

One Bad Pig in a System of Swine

Since September 17 a group of demonstrators has been practicing deliberative democracy while occupying Wall Street in NYC. The demonstrators have been heroically peaceful. Unfortunately, others have not.

Occupy Wall Street: 'Pepper-spray' officer named in Bush protest claim | World news | guardian.co.uk

The Guardian has learned that the officer, named by activists as deputy inspector Anthony Bologna, stands accused of false arrest and civil rights violations in a claim brought by a protester involved in the 2004 demonstrations at the Republican national convention.

In case you think that perhaps there was some provocation for Bologna's actions, watch this excellent piece that shows what happened.

Anthony Bologna should not have a badge.

Taxing the Rich Benefits the Rich

People opposed to taxing the rich don't understand why it is such a fabulous idea.

From a BBC News article:

"This administration's insistence on raising taxes on job creators and its reluctance to take the steps necessary to strengthen our entitlement programmes are the reasons the president and I were not able to reach an agreement previously, and it is evident today that these barriers remain," (House Speaker Boehner) said.

Let us assume that the rich are the job creators. I don't buy into this but millions of the citizenry do. Rather than argue with them we will, for argument's sake, play along.

The rich, as mythically heroic job creators, currently don't have a need for all of the workers available. They benefit from having such a large pool to pull from. So it's only fair that they pay for this benefit since they have the means to do so. They can pay for people to sit around waiting until the job creators have need of them for their next adventure. They can pay to keep them healthy since debilitated job applicants would do them no good should they decide to create some jobs. They can even pay to educate them so when they create those jobs they have the best possible pool to pull from. They can even pay for people to sit around and do absolutely nothing because it is cheaper to do that than to finance the criminal justice system that will have to deal with those whose options have completely run out. Ten years obviously isn't long enough for the rich to create those jobs they were talking about. Let's give them more time to hatch those grand ideas that will turn into jobs for people by having the rich pay for people to wait it out.

A little wealth redistribution can go a long way. Help the rich help themselves. Demand higher taxes on millionaires and corporations!