OWS

We are all the 99%

For event updates: occupywallst.org

Offical Website: http://www.nycga.net/
thedailywhat: Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Several thousand protesters — including hundreds of teachers — took to the streets of Oakland today, answering Occupy Oakland’s call for a general strike — the city’s first since 1946. Several businesses, including Men’s Wearhouse (above), closed their doors in solidarity. Some cynics, however, suggested their real reason for closing was most likely a concern for property — and they could be right. At least five business, including a Wells Fargo branch, a Bank of America, and a Whole Foods store, had their windows smashed or spray-painted by protesters. No arrests or injuries were reported. On Twitter, Mayor Jean Quan made note of Oakland PD’s now-infamous raid on Occupy Oakland, tweeting that she was “working w/ OPD chief to ensure general strikers get message across w/o conflict that marred last week’s events.” She added: “It’s my hope that the general strike is peaceful and places the issues of the 99% front and center.” Occupy Oakland protesters are currently blocking the city’s port in hopes of shutting it down. Unconfirmed reports estimate the number of participants has swelled by several thousand since this morning. Follow @OccupyOakland, The Oakland Tribune, and The Lede for the latest updates. You can watch a livestream of the ongoing protests below: [photo: @mattoyeah / atlantic.]

thedailywhat:

Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Several thousand protesters — including hundreds of teachers — took to the streets of Oakland today, answering Occupy Oakland’s call for a general strike — the city’s first since 1946. Several businesses, including Men’s Wearhouse (above), closed their doors in solidarity.

Some cynics, however, suggested their real reason for closing was most likely a concern for property — and they could be right. At least five business, including a Wells Fargo branch, a Bank of America, and a Whole Foods store, had their windows smashed or spray-painted by protesters.

No arrests or injuries were reported.

On Twitter, Mayor Jean Quan made note of Oakland PD’s now-infamous raid on Occupy Oakland, tweeting that she was “working w/ OPD chief to ensure general strikers get message across w/o conflict that marred last week’s events.” She added: “It’s my hope that the general strike is peaceful and places the issues of the 99% front and center.”

Occupy Oakland protesters are currently blocking the city’s port in hopes of shutting it down. Unconfirmed reports estimate the number of participants has swelled by several thousand since this morning.

Follow @OccupyOakland, The Oakland Tribune, and The Lede for the latest updates. You can watch a livestream of the ongoing protests below:

[photo: @mattoyeah / atlantic.]

Occupy Wall Street - Our One Demand

Dylan Ratigan

heathermarielocke:

fashionyblog:

These people are doing something amazing. And seeing them weathering the storm with all their fiery, joyful music…. I find that really touching/empowering. Long live the occupation!

I BELIEVE!!!

College debt shows up a lot in these stories, actually. It’s more insistently present than housing debt, or even unemployment. That might speak to the fact that the protests tilt towards the young. But it also speaks, I think, to the fact that college debt represents a special sort of betrayal. We told you that the way to get ahead in America was to get educated. You did it. And now you find yourself in the same place, but buried under debt. You were lied to.

—

“Who are the 99 percent?,” Ezra Klein, The Washington Post (via hold-a-wolfs-ears)

The school I attended is being sued by the government for fraud. This isn’t some small-time hack school. It’s the Art Institute, a chain of for-profit colleges with real accreditation and campuses all across the country. They knowingly loaned huge amounts of money to low-income students who they knew could never afford to pay it back. They kept students who they knew didn’t have the skills to get proper job placement in their chosen field. And they happily gobbled up the federal loan money and left these students to the wolves, such as Sallie Mae, who is faced with a class-action lawsuit. They make a profit when students default on their loans.

They didn’t just lie to us. They concocted a scheme to get rich off of our misery. They profit by destroying our lives.

(via amydentata)

(via ch1llp1ll)

thedailywhat: Occupy Wall Street News Update of the Day: The NYPD may be attempting to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement by employing an extremely shady tactic: Encouraging “lawbreakers and lowlifes” to link up with protesters at Zuccotti Park. According the the New York Daily News, a physical line has been drawn between the pretenders and the honest-to-goodness demonstrators, with the “real” 99 Percenters occupying the east side of the park, and the “stragglers” setting up camp on the park’s west side. “The west-side anarchists are in 70s-punk costumes,” reports the Daily News’ Harry Siegel, “and to the extent that they have discernible politics, many of them would be more fairly described as nihilists.” Siegel says that the freeloaders — who are mostly there to take advantage of the free food and supplies provided by legitimate activists — have been known to start fights and engage in open-air drug sales, to the detriment of the movement. Two “drunks” Siegel spoke with claim they were “encouraged” by NYPD officers to “take [their illegal activities] to Zuccotti.” Members of the Community Affairs Working Group say they’ve heard similar accounts. The New York Department of Correction has denied outright the rumor that it was sending newly released prisoners to Zuccotti Park, and an NYPD spokesman responded to the Daily News story by saying, simply, “it’s false.” Meanwhile, Occupy Wall Street protesters were forced to weather their first significant storm over the weekend without any generators, as the dreaded “snowtober” pummelled the city with record-breaking flakes. Any grumbling, though, was drowned out by the sounds of merriment and musical instruments giving the howling winds a run for their money: Further Reading/Viewing: OWS organizers have officially filed the necessary paperwork to trademark “Occupy Wall Street”; protesters marched down Wall Street dressed as heroes and villains as part of an event dubbed the Occupy Halloween parade. Check out some snapshots from the festivities below:  [nydn / salon / gawker / observer / gothamist.]

thedailywhat:

Occupy Wall Street News Update of the Day: The NYPD may be attempting to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement by employing an extremely shady tactic: Encouraging “lawbreakers and lowlifes” to link up with protesters at Zuccotti Park.

According the the New York Daily News, a physical line has been drawn between the pretenders and the honest-to-goodness demonstrators, with the “real” 99 Percenters occupying the east side of the park, and the “stragglers” setting up camp on the park’s west side.

“The west-side anarchists are in 70s-punk costumes,” reports the Daily News’ Harry Siegel, “and to the extent that they have discernible politics, many of them would be more fairly described as nihilists.”

Siegel says that the freeloaders — who are mostly there to take advantage of the free food and supplies provided by legitimate activists — have been known to start fights and engage in open-air drug sales, to the detriment of the movement.

Two “drunks” Siegel spoke with claim they were “encouraged” by NYPD officers to “take [their illegal activities] to Zuccotti.” Members of the Community Affairs Working Group say they’ve heard similar accounts.

The New York Department of Correction has denied outright the rumor that it was sending newly released prisoners to Zuccotti Park, and an NYPD spokesman responded to the Daily News story by saying, simply, “it’s false.”

Meanwhile, Occupy Wall Street protesters were forced to weather their first significant storm over the weekend without any generators, as the dreaded “snowtober” pummelled the city with record-breaking flakes.

Any grumbling, though, was drowned out by the sounds of merriment and musical instruments giving the howling winds a run for their money:

Further Reading/Viewing: OWS organizers have officially filed the necessary paperwork to trademark “Occupy Wall Street”; protesters marched down Wall Street dressed as heroes and villains as part of an event dubbed the Occupy Halloween parade. Check out some snapshots from the festivities below: 

[nydn / salon / gawker / observer / gothamist.]

(via heathermarielocke)

noroadslikethis: Not every OWS protester is an unemployed hippy who wants a free ride.  In fact, most people protesting are middle-aged, have full time jobs, and are still making less than $25,000 a year. Something to think about.

noroadslikethis:

Not every OWS protester is an unemployed hippy who wants a free ride.  In fact, most people protesting are middle-aged, have full time jobs, and are still making less than $25,000 a year. Something to think about.

(via heathermarielocke)