Occupy Wall Street protest in New-York

[WhoWee]

Label this post IMO - my bold.

My wife and I took our 12 year old daughter to a lunch buffet yesterday. We sat with friends and their 12 year old boy (in my daughter's class at school). The little boy kept talking about the Occupied movement - he wanted to know who the 1% people are and if the restaurant was owned by them?

His dad kept trying to change the subject, but I was curious. The boy was concerned about what would happen if the 1% went on strike and closed their businesses - out of the mouth's of babes.

At this point his dad started to explain about banks (boy has a savings account - concern followed) and stock brokers (more concern because grand pap has a stock broker). Then he asked me.

I explained the mall and plazas were owned by 1%, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and Baseball. Then he asked about the internet, TV, radio, and movies - then his dad took over the conversation.

Dad explained the 1% weren't going on strike - nothing to worry about. The boy turned to me and said he was going to be a 1% guy after college. I wished him luck and our wives changed the subject to the fall concert.

 

[mheslep]

Things just keep getting more and more interesting in the eToys case I mentioned way back ago:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/29/1021278/-Its-Official-Goldman-Sachs-Rules?via=user



But yeah let's focus all of our attention on the protesters and not condemn the REAL criminals walking away completely free stealing millions of dollars from all of us.

How do you determine who the real criminals are? By reading "laserhaas" from the DK?

 

[gravenewworld]

Laserhaas is the mergers and acquisitions lawyer that has been on the case.

 

[WhoWee]

Things just keep getting more and more interesting in the eToys case I mentioned way back ago:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/29/1021278/-Its-Official-Goldman-Sachs-Rules?via=user

But yeah let's focus all of our attention on the protesters and not condemn the REAL criminals walking away completely free stealing millions of dollars from all of us.

Since you brought up Solyndra and investigating criminal activity - as per ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/obama...ra-deal-inside/story?id=14691618#.Trfop_QoExw

"Obama Fundraiser Pushed Solyndra Deal From Inside"

"An elite Obama fundraiser hired to help oversee the administration's energy loan program pushed and prodded career Department of Energy officials to move faster in approving a loan guarantee for Solyndra, even as his wife's law firm was representing the California solar company, according to internal emails made public late Friday.

"How hard is this? What is he waiting for?" wrote Steven J. Spinner, a high-tech consultant and energy investor who raised at least $500,000 for the candidate before being appointed to a key job helping oversee the energy loan guarantee program. "I have OVP [the Office of the Vice President] and WH [the White House] breathing down my neck on this."

Many of the emails were written just days after Spinner accepted a three-page ethics agreement in which he pledged he would "not participate in any discussion regarding any application involving [his wife's law firm] Wilson [Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati]."

Read Steven Spinner's Ethics Agreement

The $535 million loan to Solyndra was ultimately approved in 2009 and for months was touted by President Obama as a model of his efforts to create new jobs in the emerging field of clean energy. But in late August, the company abruptly shut its doors and days later declared it was filing for bankruptcy. Now the loan is the subject of multiple investigations, by Congress and by the Department of Justice."


I agree - let's appoint a special counsel and get to the bottom of this fiasco!


I guess someone already thought of that?

http://news.yahoo.com/us-rep-appoint-special-counsel-solyndra-loan-235412113.html

"The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Monday called for an independent investigator to look into a $528 million loan approved by the Obama administration for a now-bankrupt solar energy company.
Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, said an outside lawyer is needed to determine "whether politics played a role" in the Energy Department loan for California-based Solyndra Inc., which declared bankruptcy this month and laid off its 1,100 workers.
"An independent examiner will uncover the truth about whether politics played a role in influencing the Obama administration to favor Solyndra over more financially stable loan applicants and thus ensure the integrity of the bankruptcy process for all creditors," Smith wrote in a three-page letter to Attorney General Eric Holder."

 

[MarcoD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b66u-mzfBPE

 

[WhoWee]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b66u-mzfBPE

"The genocide of the middle classes"?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/14/us-usa-taxes-middleclass-idUSTRE68D3QD20100914

"Economists generally align the group according to earnings, even if there is no standard established range.

"Most people tend to think of themselves as middle class unless they're (billionaire investor) Warren Buffett or really poor," said J.D. Foster, an economist and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Foster regards the upper 20 percent of earners as "upper income" and the lower 20 percent as "lower income." He regards the 60 percent in the middle as middle class, with household incomes roughly between $25,000 and $100,000.

Median household income in the United States was $52,175 in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau."

 

[WhoWee]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...eath-article-1.973027?localLinksEnabled=false

"Vancouver mayor vows to shut down ‘Occupy’ site after suspected overdose death

Woman was found unconscious in a tent, days after man survived heroin O.D."

"Police kept mum about the cause of death, but a source told the Vancouver Sun that the situation resembled an incident on Thursday when an American man was rushed to a hospital after overdosing on heroin at the site.

At a press conference at the site on Saturday night, mayor Gregor Robertson said the encampment had become too dangerous to remain open.

"This is second critical incident in two days - obviously there is a serious problem here," Robertson said, according to the Toronto newspaper.

"Having people die … is not OK." "

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

People are supposed to take their money out of big banks and put it in credit unions. I think that's as a part of the occupy wall street protests, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I like the idea. I think it's a win-win for the protesters, the big banks, and the credit unions. The people who are most likely to switch are those that are being ill-treated by the bank. They are being ill treated because they are money losers for the bank. I doubt the banks would go so far out of their way to antagonize their profitable customers. These customers will get better treatment at the smaller banks and the smaller banks will take a step in the direction of becoming big banks. The only problem I see is that these accounts will probably cost the smaller banks even more than they cost the big banks because of scaling issues and at the same time, the smaller banks may not have enough profitable customers to cushion the blow. The end result might be even worse service.

 

[WhoWee]

So - did anyone run out and change banks?

 

[Evo]

So - did anyone run out and change banks?

Nope.

 

[ThinkToday]

OWS is just another progressive/socialist movement that has been tied to the renamed ACORN organization and all the corporation haters. As soon as the tie was made, the new "ACORN" rev'd the document shredders up full tilt and removed all ACORN labels, signs, etc. to the back room. Even their own workers said they were paid to protest for OWS. Oh, and do not forget the nation’s largest union, SEIU, and they are key to OWS too... not like they have any conflict of interest there. I bet their exec's work for free to benefit the union, lol.

For the 51% of Americans that don't pay taxes, GTFO of my pocket and go get a better job... or perhaps your 1st job. If you want to buy a house, get a job FIRST and buy something you can afford. No one with a job should get away without paying some tax. If you don't have a dog in the fight, you have no reason to give a damn about the other guy, his family, or company which is paying for the 51% moocher crowd. Perhaps, if everyone paid something in tax, they’d begin to care about what services the government (we) pay for and think necessary. E.g. NEA, if the art is so bad it can’t sustain a fan base, it should follow the evolutionary path to extinction.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I changed to a credit union ~5 years ago. The local bank started charging fees for everything, even though they had enough money to build new branches in other towns every year or two. When we started out with them, they would do anything for a good customer - not now. When we sold our last (too-big) house, we simply stuck the check in that bank, and I started shopping around for money-market accounts. I found one that paid over twice the interest rate as the local savings bank, and arranged to establish an account with them. When I went to the local bank to get a check made out in my name to that account, the teller said she couldn't issue checks that large. I asked her to bring out the manager so I could get my money out of that account, and the manager took her own sweet time coming out of her office. Then, she started giving me a hard time for taking MY money out of the bank to try to earn some interest on it. I was patient until about 15 minutes into her pleading and excuses, then I got loud and said that because of this kind of crappy service, I would soon be moving all my smaller accounts (checking, savings, CDs) to the credit union so they'd never see another cent from me. Due in part to all the delay in my line, there were plenty of people in the lobby to hear me. I got my check and she signed it without saying a word.

A year or so afterward, a fellow who buys and selectively cuts large tracts of land, then resells the land (a VERY well-to-do fellow) asked the loan officer for a $1M line of credit so he could buy some new wood-harvesting equipment, and they refused him. He went across the street to talk to the owner of all the new auto-sale businesses in the region. That fellow was also a long-standing member of the bank's board. When the loan officer again refused to issue the line of credit in his presence, they lost a senior board member and two of their largest depositors, plus all the car-financing business that their board member had directed their way. The two of them went to another bank in town, set up new accounts and had all their money transferred to them. My defection didn't make a dent in their bottom line, but those two guys really hurt them. The former board-member owns dealerships of all kinds (except Saab) so you can't buy an American branded vehicle of any type in this region without buying from his dealerships. For almost 100 years, his family had a lock on GM vehicles of all kinds, then he bought all the others, too. Ford, Jeep, Dodge, and their related brands. I haven't bumped into the bank president (he was a year behind me in HS) to ask him how the auto-loan part of their business is going.

Sorry for the long rant. I used to be able to call that bank and get a personal loan for a few thousand dollars just on my word, so it was pretty galling to be treated like a faceless number.

 

[gravenewworld]

Looks like SEC members have been up to fishy things in order to help cover up the massive amounts of fraud that their friends on Wall St. have been doing for quite a while:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/business/watchdog-finds-sec-erred-in-destroying-records.html

Darcy Flynn, the S.E.C. enforcement lawyer, has claimed that more than 9,000 records related to preliminary investigations were destroyed. Ms. Flynn said they included inquiries into Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Mr. Madoff.

Mr. Kotz’s report mentions documents related to Lehman Brothers and Mr. Madoff. It says that from 1992 through July 2010, 10,468 preliminary inquiries were closed without developing into formal investigations.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-17/wall_street/30020167_1_sec-goldman-sachs-documents

The SEC, which recently launched a whistle blower program that offers financial rewards for people who report securities violations, now has one of its own attorneys alleging that the agency destroyed thousands of documents involving banks and hedge funds, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi reported.

The allegations come from SEC attorney Darcy Flynn, who is a 13-year veteran with the agency. According to the report, Flynn claims the SEC has been destroying records relating to the investigations of financial criminals since 1993.


Some of the records that were allegedly destroyed involve Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, SAC Capital and Madoff.

What's more is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who is also the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has requested that the SEC look into the allegations.

"From what I've seen, it looks as if the SEC might have sanctioned some level of case-related document destruction," Sen. Chuck Grassley said. "It doesn't make sense that an agency responsible for investigations would want to get rid of potential evidence. If these charges are true, the agency needs to explain why it destroyed documents, how many documents it destroyed over what time frame and to what extent its actions were consistent with the law."

Ironically, the new whistle blower program the SEC launched allows company employees who report securities law violations to the agency to be eligible for financial reward if their tip leads to an enforcement action and a fine of more than $1 million.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817

Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?
Matt Taibbi: A whistle blower says the agency has illegally destroyed thousands of documents, letting financial crooks off the hook.

And how many American lost their entire life's savings, homes, and jobs after the economy tanked in 2008? Meanwhile these white collar criminals continue to walk away completely free AND keep the millions they swindled while tax payers have to bail them out when their games start to unravel. I guess that's what happens when you have a revolving door between the regulators and the regulated.


God freakin bless the protesters. This crap has to stop. Is this a democracy or a complete farce?

 

[Evo]

God freakin bless the protesters.

What, exactly, have the protestors accomplished? I haven't heard of anything.

 

[gravenewworld]

What, exactly, have the protestors accomplished? I haven't heard of anything.

What have you accomplished? At least they are starting to raise awareness of the rampant corruptions plaguing our system.

 

[Evo]

What have you accomplished? At least they are starting to raise awareness of the rampant corruptions plaguing our system.

I've accomplished many things, although it makes no sense for you to ask.

I don't think they've done even that. What's in the news is when they get arrested for violence and drug overdoses. That's the awareness they are raising, that they're trouble.

There are positive things these people could be doing like write in campaigns to their representatives.

 

[mheslep]

Laserhaas is the mergers and acquisitions lawyer that has been on the case.

Oh? I see LH has been involved in some law suits, but how do you know he/she is a lawyer, or doing M&A, or even know his/her name?

 

[dlgoff]

What, exactly, have the protestors accomplished? I haven't heard of anything.

Now Evo. This thread wouldn't have been possible without them. I'm an old hippie so, "Power to the People".

 

[WhoWee]

Now Evo. This thread wouldn't have been possible without them. I'm an old hippie so, "Power to the People".

Sure dlgoff - Right ON!

IMO - all they've done is help aging hippies reminisce about the good old days.

 

[OmCheeto]

I've accomplished many things, although it makes no sense for you to ask.

I don't think they've done even that. What's in the news is when they get arrested for violence and drug overdoses. That's the awareness they are raising, that they're trouble.

There are positive things these people could be doing like write in campaigns to their representatives.

bolding mine

I've decided to change my view of the whole situation. It is not the crack whores and heroin addicts that have infiltrated OWS, it's the other way around.

OWS has invaded the sacred territory of one sector of what is worst about about America.

Heroin addicts have been overdosing in our inner cities for decades. Only now it's fashionable to badmouth OWS for the problem. I've been watching these kids die before my eyes for the last 20 years. It's been really sad, but I've always felt powerless.

I tried to post something a couple of nights ago, but the forum must have been down for maintenance. Let's try it again...

The Occupy hand signs...weird but it seems to be working...have the aliens invaded?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_hand_signals

That is kind of weird.

Evo's new "You guys are off topic!" signal:

But I think aluminum foil is required for evidence of alien invasions.

Anyways, I found the following article refreshing:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/s-hard-animals-occupy-wall-street-zuccotti-park-luxury-a-warm-office-article-1.972785?localLinksEnabled=false"
Protesters are not the uncooth pack that some would like you to believe they are.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, November 5 2011, 7:37 PM
Jimmy Breslin
...
On Friday, the New York Post runs a front page that screams:

“Occupy Wall Street animals go wild. ...”

...

Underneath the headline, a big photo of a bald man in blue throwing a left hand at some much younger guy in the park. Inside the paper, there were two pages showing a fight between two senseless and homeless men. Following were two more pages of people being called morons and animals.

But actually walking around Zuccotti Park, you find the scene pleasant and moderate. The large crowds coming here now are filled with children walking in front of their parents.

...
Sitting in chairs with their laps filled with wool were two women who had been in this park from the start, 37 days as of yesterday. Here is Marsha Spencer who lives in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan. She sits with hardly a word out of her as these big needles in her hands work on thick wool face masks, knitting colorful lines of red and blue into a white background.

Sitting a couple of feet away with the same concentration was Karin, and her last name is hers and not yours. She is from the East Village and knits here every day.

We stop when the sky becomes too dark for us to work our needles, Karin said.

This is molestation? Lawlessness? These are animals? Morons?

That’s another kind of story, all right.

See everyone! OWS'ers aren't a bunch of rapists and looters. They're knitters.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Breslin" , 81 years old journalist, author, and resident of NYC.

Among his notable columns (perhaps the best known) was the column published the day after John F. Kennedy's funeral, focusing on the man who had dug the president's grave. The column is indicative of Breslin's style, which often highlights how major events or the actions of those considered "newsworthy" affect the "common man".​

 

[WhoWee]

bolding mine

I've decided to change my view of the whole situation. It is not the crack whores and heroin addicts that have infiltrated OWS, it's the other way around.

OWS has invaded the sacred territory of one sector of what is worst about about America.

Heroin addicts have been overdosing in our inner cities for decades. Only now it's fashionable to badmouth OWS for the problem. I've been watching these kids die before my eyes for the last 20 years. It's been really sad, but I've always felt powerless.

I tried to post something a couple of nights ago, but the forum must have been down for maintenance. Let's try it again...



That is kind of weird.

Evo's new "You guys are off topic!" signal:

But I think aluminum foil is required for evidence of alien invasions.

Anyways, I found the following article refreshing:



See everyone! OWS'ers aren't a bunch of rapists and looters. They're knitters.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Breslin" , 81 years old journalist, author, and resident of NYC.

Among his notable columns (perhaps the best known) was the column published the day after John F. Kennedy's funeral, focusing on the man who had dug the president's grave. The column is indicative of Breslin's style, which often highlights how major events or the actions of those considered "newsworthy" affect the "common man".​

Are you still trying to get banned - or are you back?

 

[OmCheeto]

Are you still trying to get banned - or are you back?

Just spreadin' the hippie retro-love vibes to let the kids know, that there are geriatric hippies out here, that have their backs.

It we go down, we all go down, together.

cue the Omusic...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABCIseO8Zo

 

[Evo]

Om, I only said that what people see in the media are the violence and the drug overdoses.

What's in the news is when they get arrested for violence and drug overdoses. That's the awareness they are raising, that they're trouble.

The press they get is bad press. It's not helping.

 

[lisab]

Om, I only said that what people see in the media are the violence and the drug overdoses.

The press they get is bad press. It's not helping.

Especially when so many media consumers are not properly skeptical. If the media outlet they're watching matches their political leaning and worldview, they believe every word.

 

[WhoWee]

Especially when so many media consumers are not properly skeptical. If the media outlet they're watching matches their political leaning and worldview, they believe every word.

The press isn't all bad - here's a "chick flick" moment.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/an-occupy-philadelphia-wedding/

"An Occupy Philadelphia Wedding"

 

[ThinkToday]

Except in the 60s & 70s hippies were largely non-violent. Yea, we had the black panthers, SLA, etc., but they weren't hippies. Even the war protestors were better behaved than these OWS nuts. Although, the anarchist folks are probably a factor in the mood changes of some protestors. Have you listened to these nut cases being interviewed on the news? It would be funny if they weren't serious. The guy yesterday saying he's communist and American has to be taken down. Then there is the “corporations get away without paying taxes” crowd. omfg. Anyone out there think all business large and small don’t pass the increase in taxes off to customers or just move away to a lower tax state?

 

[daveb]

The guy yesterday saying he's communist and American has to be taken down.

Really?? So only your definition of "American" is what is allowed?

 

[Evo]

Really?? So only your definition of "American" is what is allowed?

What do you mean? What did he define?

 

[daveb]

What do you mean? What did he define?

It's that sentence

The guy yesterday saying he's communist and American has to be taken down.

Why would someone who is Communist and American need to be "taken down", as if they are mutually exclusive?

 

[ThinkToday]

"he's communist and American has to be taken down", bad edit, I meant America and not American.

So how much credibility do you give to the rant from a group that thinks the "fix" is to take America down? I don't see pushing the destruction of the country as a "fix". Do you?

FYI, he looked like a 50/60ish American male representing this "group". Looked like an average middle aged guy, but wow, the things he said. Not all these people are wild-eyed young people bent on taking down corporate America... some are older, and if they had a job, they'd probably be quite and happy to be making a living.

As for my definition of American, speak your mind. It is American. I can always change the channel. But, when you lose the audience, your words mean zip, since only you are listening. Points of view can debated, but a unilateral rant is what people do when trying for force themselves on others. Screw em. Oh, and the guy wants to destroy America, so that makes him un-American by definition. duh.

 

[WhoWee]

"he's communist and American has to be taken down", bad edit, I meant America and not American.

So how much credibility do you give to the rant from a group that thinks the "fix" is to take America down? I don't see pushing the destruction of the country as a "fix". Do you?

FYI, he looked like a 50/60ish American male representing this "group". Looked like an average middle aged guy, but wow, the things he said. Not all these people are wild-eyed young people bent on taking down corporate America... some are older, and if they had a job, they'd probably be quite and happy to be making a living.

As for my definition of American, speak your mind. It is American. I can always change the channel. But, when you lose the audience, your words mean zip, since only you are listening. Points of view can debated, but a unilateral rant is what people do when trying for force themselves on others. Screw em. Oh, and the guy wants to destroy America, so that makes him un-American by definition. duh.

I saw the "interview" - not certain anyone else on the planet is on the same wavelength as that fellow?

 

[edward]

"he's communist and American has to be taken down", bad edit, I meant America and not American.

So how much credibility do you give to the rant from a group that thinks the "fix" is to take America down? I don't see pushing the destruction of the country as a "fix". Do you?

FYI, he looked like a 50/60ish American male representing this "group". Looked like an average middle aged guy, but wow, the things he said. Not all these people are wild-eyed young people bent on taking down corporate America... some are older, and if they had a job, they'd probably be quite and happy to be making a living.

As for my definition of American, speak your mind. It is American. I can always change the channel. But, when you lose the audience, your words mean zip, since only you are listening. Points of view can debated, but a unilateral rant is what people do when trying for force themselves on others. Screw em. Oh, and the guy wants to destroy America, so that makes him un-American by definition. duh.

WOW that is the type of right wing rant I usually only see in my local online newspaper. Do you wish to substantiate anything with a link or are we to just supposed to take your word for it??

Edit: The same goes for post 921.

 

[OmCheeto]

Om, I only said that what people see in the media are the violence and the drug overdoses.

The press they get is bad press. It's not helping.

The "they"(underlined mine) is what I've been trying to figure out. But I agree, the press this "event" is getting is very bad.

and perhaps I was bold dyslexic way back when...

God freakin bless the protesters.

What, exactly, have the protestors accomplished? I haven't heard of anything.

What have you accomplished? At least they are starting to raise awareness of the rampant corruptions plaguing our system.

I've accomplished many things, although it makes no sense for you to ask.

I don't think they've done even that. What's in the news is when they get arrested for violence and drug overdoses. That's the awareness they are raising, that they're trouble.

There are positive things these people could be doing like write in campaigns to their representatives.

Both here, and on the media, because of OWS, I've been hearing ideas that you would only here at PF.

The above may not seem logical: "The stuff you've been hearing at PF is only heard at PF"?
But sometimes garbage I've(et al) spewed out, bears repeating, as, as far as I'm concerned, is not garbage.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Om, I only said that what people see in the media are the violence and the drug overdoses.

The press they get is bad press. It's not helping.

We don't even see that down here. There is practically zero Occupy Wallstreet coverage in my (large/popular) city. Yet, I turn on the internets and it's all over the place. I read an article the other day about the police putting undercover cops into the protest to cause problems so they could clear out an area/park/whatever!

I guess there's no time to report on that sort of stuff, what with all the http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/11/dancing-with-the-stars-who-was-ejected.html" (Seriously, whtn is I4 not congested).

 

[daveb]

LOL, you want me to link things in the current news! omfg, get off your lazy butt and Google it. Typical liberal always wanting others to do the work for you.

Perhaps you are unaware of https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=113181" . To quote:

2) Citations of sources for any factual claims (primary sources should be used whenever possible).
3) Any counter-arguments to statements already made must clearly state the point on which there is disagreement, the reason(s) why a different view is held, and cite appropriate sources to counter the argument.
4) When stating an opinion on an issue, make sure it is clearly stated to be an opinion and not asserted as fact.

You made a post with a factual claim, so you need to back up that claim.