Tag: OWS
Breitbart Takes A Dirt Nap
Propagandist Andrew Breitbart collapsed and died Thursday while walking near his home in Los Angeles, leaving behind a string of wrecked individuals and organizations...
Occupy Wall Street Takes on Corporate Oligarchy
The pro-democracy protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement overcame unfavorable weather and the absence of their former camps Wednesday to target the corporate...
New Yorkers Rally With OWS For Embattled Greece
More than 250 people took to the streets of Lower Manhattan on Saturday to support decent working people in Greece against banking interests that wish to shield investors as the underwater global economy dries out. The Zuccotti Park protest was one of dozens held around the world on International Mobilization Day.
The New York crowd was evenly divided between Greek-Americans and members of Occupy Wall Street, but they had a common goal: support Greek wage-earners against austerity measures that punish the 99% for the sins of financial and political elites.
"The Greek economy has fallen apart," said Stephane Christane, 53, of New York City. "This idea that we're getting a bailout to prevent a default is ridiculous. The country is already insolvent. With the package they're talking about it will still be insolvent in 2020. So, you have to wonder who is really being bailed out."
"I was there at Christmas and I saw things that I have never seen there - homeless people, soup kitchens and people picking through the trash," said Christane, a Columbia University administrator who was raised in Greece. "My father said these things haven't happened in Greece since World War II."
The New York crowd was evenly divided between Greek-Americans and members of Occupy Wall Street, but they had a common goal: support Greek wage-earners against austerity measures that punish the 99% for the sins of financial and political elites.
"The Greek economy has fallen apart," said Stephane Christane, 53, of New York City. "This idea that we're getting a bailout to prevent a default is ridiculous. The country is already insolvent. With the package they're talking about it will still be insolvent in 2020. So, you have to wonder who is really being bailed out."
"I was there at Christmas and I saw things that I have never seen there - homeless people, soup kitchens and people picking through the trash," said Christane, a Columbia University administrator who was raised in Greece. "My father said these things haven't happened in Greece since World War II."
Occupy Brings Working Class Outrage to Fashion Week
The arbiters of cool got a lesson in people power Thursday as Occupy Wall Street shined a public spotlight on the quiet sins of the $340 billion United States fashion industry.
Protesters clad in red eye makeup braved a chill rain and 40-degree temperatures to confront the beautiful people attending a Calvin Klein fashion show on the final day of Fashion Week in Manhattan. They lambasted the industry for moving millions of American jobs overseas to low-wage economies, which has caused an 82% decline in the number of U.S. apparel workers since January 1994. They also called it to account for indoctrinating generations of Americans with unrealistic body images, and fostering a covetous consumer culture that measures personal worth in price-tags and brand names.
"You are worth more than what you buy," protester Julie Goldsmith told bystanders and passing fashionistas. "The label on your handbag does not define who you are. You don't have to be a size zero to be a beautiful person."
Protesters clad in red eye makeup braved a chill rain and 40-degree temperatures to confront the beautiful people attending a Calvin Klein fashion show on the final day of Fashion Week in Manhattan. They lambasted the industry for moving millions of American jobs overseas to low-wage economies, which has caused an 82% decline in the number of U.S. apparel workers since January 1994. They also called it to account for indoctrinating generations of Americans with unrealistic body images, and fostering a covetous consumer culture that measures personal worth in price-tags and brand names.
"You are worth more than what you buy," protester Julie Goldsmith told bystanders and passing fashionistas. "The label on your handbag does not define who you are. You don't have to be a size zero to be a beautiful person."
Former Diplomat Sees Seeds of Participatory Democracy in OWS
The global financial crisis has provoked a profound and necessary questioning of the prevailing political and economic orthodoxy. So pervasive is this disillusionment with the current order that it is hard to find anyone prepared to defend it.
Disorder is the new order; disequilibrium rules, and old assumptions no longer hold.
As Kuhn’s theory might suggest, the rank contradictions of the current political-economic paradigm—gross inequality and massive environmental destruction—are so great that a new paradigm should emerge: a system of thought and method of political action that can address these ills, and indeed offer a better method of organizing and understanding human society.
As a diplomat in the British foreign service, I served deep inside one bastion of conventional politics—the world of international diplomacy. I helped propagate “top-down,” government-dominated politics across the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Disorder is the new order; disequilibrium rules, and old assumptions no longer hold.
As Kuhn’s theory might suggest, the rank contradictions of the current political-economic paradigm—gross inequality and massive environmental destruction—are so great that a new paradigm should emerge: a system of thought and method of political action that can address these ills, and indeed offer a better method of organizing and understanding human society.
As a diplomat in the British foreign service, I served deep inside one bastion of conventional politics—the world of international diplomacy. I helped propagate “top-down,” government-dominated politics across the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Ben & Jerry’s Endorses Occupy
Chubby Hubby's got some big brass balls.
The leaders of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream empire have endorsed the Occupy Wall Street movement,...
Money Manager: Occupy Wall Street’s Inequality Claims Resonate
For some, this economy is lots better.
We keep hearing that an economic recovery is underway. Yet for those who don’t have lots of money in the stock market, there’s been no economic recovery.
How many of you know that the market value of all U.S. listed stocks right now is $18.7 trillion. Not only is that almost a double from the March 2009 low, but the gain itself is just over $9 trillion. Let me repeat, the value of all US stocks is up by over $9 trillion in three years. Wow.
Obviously for such a huge gain the underlying US economy, particularly wages and salaries and employment must be doing so much better than it was back in early 2009. Right?
Wrong.
Early in 2009, after-tax take home pay for everyone who pays taxes was just about $5.9 trillion annualized. That was down from an all time peak of $7 trillion annualized at the beginning of 2008. The main reason after tax income was down so much was a plunge in capital gains – primarily from profits on home sales.
After three years of attempts at a recovery, take home pay is now around $6.3 trillion, up all of $400 billion annually since the early 2009 bottom, or 2% a year.
We keep hearing that an economic recovery is underway. Yet for those who don’t have lots of money in the stock market, there’s been no economic recovery.
How many of you know that the market value of all U.S. listed stocks right now is $18.7 trillion. Not only is that almost a double from the March 2009 low, but the gain itself is just over $9 trillion. Let me repeat, the value of all US stocks is up by over $9 trillion in three years. Wow.
Obviously for such a huge gain the underlying US economy, particularly wages and salaries and employment must be doing so much better than it was back in early 2009. Right?
Wrong.
Early in 2009, after-tax take home pay for everyone who pays taxes was just about $5.9 trillion annualized. That was down from an all time peak of $7 trillion annualized at the beginning of 2008. The main reason after tax income was down so much was a plunge in capital gains – primarily from profits on home sales.
After three years of attempts at a recovery, take home pay is now around $6.3 trillion, up all of $400 billion annually since the early 2009 bottom, or 2% a year.
Occupy Wall Street Activist Defends Nonviolence
By Zachary Maichuk
There is a conversation right now among the Occupy Wall Street activists in Oakland about whether or not to use...
Occupy’s Weak Spot: Energy Policy
By VJ Epstein
I learned something about Occupy Wall Street this week, which is that there are quite a few people in the...
Occupy Wall Street Exposed (hot pics inside)
Why are you here?
More to the point, why weren't you here yesterday when I posted a fantastic story revealing how government housing data...
