Occupy Broadwayworld- Page 5

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 1:22pm

Goth's post proves my point.

Interesting article on the Daily Beast by John Avlon about the differences and similarities between the two movements:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/10/occupy-wall-street-this-is-not-the-left-wing-tea-party.html

Updated On: 10/10/11 at 01:22 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 1:45pm

FYI, I have seen plenty of messages sent out on the various Occupy hashtags that state that there are tea party members there and that of course Occupy is their thing too, being as how all but the tea party funders and TV shills are in the 99% too.

PJ, his false equivalencies are annoying:

Just as the excesses of the Tea Party obscured the real issue of dealing with the deficit and the debt, making common ground more difficult to achieve, in these early weeks of the Occupy Wall Street protests, we are seeing a rush to the ramparts. This threatens to obscure the very real reasons people should be angry at our screwed-up financial system that led to corruption and collusion and economic malpractice. We should have a fact-based debate about growing gaps between the super-rich and middle class in America, reinstating Glass-Stiegel or whether Harry Reid’s millionaire’s tax is the best way to pay for the Jobs Bill while beginning to pay down the debt. It’s not insensitive to say that comparing the U.S.A. to dictatorships while banging away in a drum circle isn’t the best way to get taken seriously.

A rush to the ramparts? Another tired invocation of drums?

Updated On: 10/10/11 at 01:45 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 2:22pm

You might like this one better, from Todd Gitlin in yesterday's Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/occupy-wall-street-and-the-tea-party.html?_r=1

I agree with Avlon about Glass-Steagall, which was repealed in 1987. That was the only thing that protected the United States from the power of the banks. It was a separation of powers between the simple commercial banks that take deposits from individuals and businesses and the "investment banks" that take risks.

Once Glass-Steagall was repealed, the banks began to merge and they started taking risks with mortgages and "mortgage-backed securities." That's when everything went screwy.

I wish there were a real movement to reinstate it. But, unfortunately, the idea of Glass-Steagall, the repeal of it, and the idea of reinstating it makes everyone's heads explode.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 3:33pm

Actually, it was repealed at the end of the Clinton administration, as part of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Phil Gramm was an advocate of removing the barriers, and Clinton went along with him and signed the bill. It is not clear to me whether Clinton really appreciated the consequences of the Bill he signed - it was trumpted for providing protections for consumer privacy, but in hindsight, at a very high cost.

The banking industry had been seeking repeal of Glass-Steagall since the mid 1980's.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 3:58pm

I'm learning a lot here, guys. Thanks for these posts.

[Q]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 7:24pm

"Occupy Wall Street Protests Rankle the Rich"

Link to ABC News

[nygrl232]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 7:34pm

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves." --Rev. John Henry Boetker

"This is bad for tourism." Mayor Bloomberg
Updated On: 10/10/11 at 07:34 PM

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 8:04pm

Yet, today's world it appears that the following would be much more reflective of what is going on:

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the middle class. You cannot strengthen the weak by destroying the opportunities for those without to rise and advance. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging public education and destroying a living wage. You cannot lift the wage earner up by subsiziing the wealthy at the expense of all others. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred among the middle class and the poor. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's opportunity. You cannot help the middle class by asking them to sacrafice without asking for similar sacrafice from weathiest among us." --YWIW

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 8:06pm

^ Brilliant.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 8:25pm

YWIW, is this gonna be a thing with you?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 8:52pm

I don't understand your point in juxtaposing the Boetker quote with what I presume is a made up Bloomberg quote. And YWIW's riff on the Boetker is much better than either.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/10/11 at 9:16pm

I did not think the quote provided was relevant. So I made up one on my own to what I think reflects what is going on.

So, I have no idea what "thing" you are talking about.

If it is trying to frame the discussion in a way that reflects what is going on, yeah, that will always be a thing with me and I will try to make time for it.

If you somehow think that I responded in the way I did because you posted it, well, honestly, I don't have time for those kinds of shenanigans.




Updated On: 10/10/11 at 09:16 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:27am

Nicely done, YWIW.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:35am

BPD clamping down on Occupy Boston right now, even though there is ample scanner evidence of officers who want nothing to do with the clamp down... Media has been told to leave the premises by BPD "because it's not safe," told they can't be there, but of course, they can.

Similar clampdown happening at Occupy Atlanta.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:45am

It looks like Atlanta will be OK tonight, but Boston looks like it might come to a head tonight. I hope the media stays, because that is one of the things that will keep the police in check. I hope everyone gets to continue to exercise their 1st amendment rights in a free and safe manner.

So far, LA has been far more welcoming of the protesters than some of the other major cities.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 12:52am

Boston has been too, until now. I'm watching on a live stream, and I just saw (what I found out on Twitter was) the Veterans for Peace group march into the encampment and circle the protesters who have linked arms around the tents. They're using themselves as shields for the protesters.

livestream: occupy boston

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 1:29am

Keep us posted Namo.

I read the same thing. Don't the cops know that the more they mishandle this the more sympathetic the protesters appear? Do they really think this will go away if they arrest a few in Boston?

Not very likely.

Danny Glover came by to the LA site and gave a very impassioned speech. City officials have given protesters ponchos and other supplies when it rains.

http://occupylosangeles.org/?q=node/401

And, the Facebook thread, which is also keeping track of evens in Boston and Atlanta.

https://www.facebook.com/occupyLA

Danny Glover's Support. Updated On: 10/11/11 at 01:29 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 1:35am

The term "paddy wagon" is racially insensitive, right? Well, whatever they're called, I just counted 17 pulling up to the encampment at Occupy Boston. I hope the protesters stay calm, I know as a group they're committed to non-violent civil disobedience.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 1:40am

Yes, I always thought the term referred to a police van full of suspects of a certain national origin (Irish I believe).

Here's hoping no one does anything stupid tonight.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:03am

Things have taken a bad turn. Tweets from the encampment say there have been lots of beatings, starting with the Veterans for Peace. Now there are reports of media being arrested and perhaps even some of the legal observers. Oh, and a report that the police are trampling on and standing in the plants on the Rose Kennedy Greenway which are the ostensible reason the second camp couldn't be set up there. To protect the plants. And now people are being beaten. To protect the plants that have been stepped on.

[Q]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:04am

The live feed went offline.

[Q]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:09am

The Global Revolution site still has live stream from the ground.
Link.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:31am

Thank you. I'd like to go to sleep but I can't.

[Q]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:39am

Trying to follow the chats is difficult. Seattle keeps getting mentioned, and the Occupy Seattle Facebook site does indicate that something's afoot. The mayor had given them 24 hours to re-locate to City Hall, but the police have arrived tonight telling them they can't wait.

And something happened in Atlanta, as well, but I can't find out what.

[Q]

Posted: 10/11/11 at 2:46am

The Dallas group has a Twitter account, and they're saying the police are about to begin a search of their camp.

This can't all be a coincidence.