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Occupy Seattle has a demand. That the Seattle City Council vote to remove the city's money from Well's Fargo to a local Washington State bank or credit union. One of the council members has introduce this idea to the agenda for next Monday at 2:00 PM. If it passes, it could be the start of something big. I would love to see local and state municipalities remove their funds from Big Banks. And of course, no mention in the local newspaper.
Jennifer
You know those bronze statues are hollow...just like Reagan was. He may have started out on the correct path but unfortunately he got influenced, as his mind degenerated, by rapacious capitalists. I think he ended up with as much space between his ears as the statue has. Somehow, I don't think we have heard the last of attacks on that statue. They'll probably have to post an around the clock guard which would end up costing them a lot of money to keep people from attacking it.
Convince Americans to buy a $40 American made sweat shirt? First of all...do they even really make sweatshirts in America anymore? Thanks to the greedster corporate bandits, that value profit more than their own country, we are left with buying only what we can barely afford....because many of us have no other choice because we can no longer to afford to pay "premium patriotic" prices for things.
Besides it isn't beneath the criminal corporate greedsters to trick us into thinking something is made in America when it is actually made in a foreign sweat shops using child labor. They've been doing that for many years now. They'll call a car an American car even though most of the parts come from China or elsewhere. One thing is certain..that the American CEOs are selling out their country and then they blame the poor for a condition that they created..
The criminal elite started this economic war against their fellow Americans at least 30 years ago and I believe that they have committed both economic treason and violence culminating in thousands of American deaths when they planned, engineered, and carried out the 911 "attacks". I believe that 911 was very much related to our economic downfall. These people knew that their schemes were going to be very public and needed to make the people very afraid of some foreign bogey man to be able to institute more controls over the people that they swindled.
The failed Laissez Fair casino capitalism system has let us all down and we need to return to a highly regulated capitalist system. We have to convict and force these criminals to give back what they stole and throw the bums in jail.
Let's see, Christmas time, termination of unemployment benefits, "decrease the surplus population," sure sounds like a republican-attitude/strategy to me.
I don't normally pull for criminal activity, but I'm glad he got away. A shame about the lack of success, though...
I have an autographed picture of Nancy and Ronald Reagan... he was a friend of my father in law and a nice man and a mediocre actor. And seriously, Reagan signed it in pencil! That act alone says something about the man. Clueless.
As much as we think Bush was a cypher for Cheney and Rove et al. Reagan was an empty vessel to be filled by the likes of Milton Friedman (the true villian of the past 30 yrs) and all of the politicians (mostly GOP but plenty of Dems) and corporate "citizens" who decided to destroy our great country in the name of patriotism (greed).
A star on Hollywood Blvd was pushing Reagan's limits, but now we have libraries, hospitals, schools, highways etc, named after the star that vicariously has destroyed our economics. Most likely for good... unless you can convince your neighbors that they will have to pay $40 for an American made sweatshirt, instead of one for ten bucks at Target that is made in, pick 'em: Pakistan, sri lanka, china , mexico, india, malaysia, etc, etc, etc...
Nowhere in the area, suuure!..... My advice Thom, next time make it 3:00AM and use a Peterbilt 379 with a logging chain attached.
By the way, each penny minted before 1982 contains about 3 cents worth of copper.....just saying!
bipolar: in response to question 1, people often raise their voices when they want to emphasize something. This is natural. In response to question 2, Thom is a patriot who clearly loves America. If you listen to him and research the points he makes, you will necessarily conclude that Thom has a very clear understanding of the concepts this country were built on. Concepts such as true freedom, democracy, the ability to realize dreams. These concepts have been seriously corroded in the last few decades. Criticizing the ugly path that the corporate cleptocrats have put us on is not hating America; it is a perfectly justifiable response to the criminal erosion of what America was and could have still been. I hope I have not overstepped my bounds by speaking on Thom's behalf. For what it's worth, I think you need to pay closer attention to the message.
I admit I voted for ' Shining City on a Hill ' Reagan ' I like many was taken by his charm ..Now I see that Reaganomics 1981 deregulation - 1986 total amnesty for cheap illegal wages with wide open borders , huge unfunded debt and top tax rate going from up to 75 % to 35 % ..Reagan selling guns to Iran.. was the start of a long slow road to total disaster... 2008 global crash / depression 700 billion TARP scam on taxpayers Housing crash .. much of it due to deregulating of Banks / lenders Banks became predatory, labelled their JUNK mortgages as TRIPLE AAA ! Then they sold them to unsuspecting investors world wide -making billions on ' scam mortgages ' . Wall St's Greenspan agreed with that policy as did Rubin Sommers & all the Goldman trained Fed boys who ran our economy.. into the ground Bush even told Fannie Mae to make more loans to low income buyers Zero down Interest only ARM mortgages became wildly popular as lenders told naive first time buyers ' Not to worry values will keep going UP / you can just refi in a year Most of those loans defaulted I saw it all up close as a Realtor . Lenders called them ' Liar loans ' Buyer Beware
Shorter days for early voting / DMV's closed down so old folks can not get there for a State ID / change the way Electoral College votes are counted / Lie cheat steal spread vile rumors -vile name calling..Hitler Anti Christ Kenyan Mao Mao hater of whites - anti US Fascist Socialist Whatever it takes the GOP will do it with glee ! Used to vote GOP Never again as long as I live . Cantor McConnell & Boehner are disgusting greedy.They have NO core beliefs except ' Corps are people and MONEY is Speech '
I fear what the GOP will do iF they win . More corp cuts- more deregulation - deep cuts in education- cuts for disabled, mentally ill, school programs for at risk kids..Pell Grants - .school lunches.. Talk about acting like the the Anti Christ !
Jesus said " feed the hungry - heal the sick '
We should all claim that we attempted to tear down the Reagan statue in Newport Beach. I am Sparticus.
Two questions
1. Why do you raise your voice when you are trying to make a statement?
2. You seen to hate America. Why don't you move out?
Video of police provocateurs --
Thom, hope you're reading the blog :) I believe you mentioned during the first hour of the show that you've seen video of provocateurs dressed as protestors or anarchists who vandalize property and are later seen walking away with the police "as if they were one of them". Could you post a link if you have one?
Meanwhile, on our local corporate "news" station (KCBS-AM 740 San Francisco) they went with a story (right after you mentioned the provocateurs) about how the former chief of the Oakland PD was upset about the property damage caused by, and I quote, the "violent Occupy Oakland protests." So that's the line the corporate media, even here in the "liberal" Bay Area, continue to push.
"A rising tide lifts all boats" except those that are anchored to the bottom.
The discovery of universal realities is never religious. Therefore, when we begin to realize that there exist planets with civilizations on them similar to our own, then such a discovery is certainly not a religious one. In this case the discovery was made when "those who look like us" visited us, and not us visiting them. We could not find them on their planets without their type of transportation devices, therefore, "they" are coming to us, telling us about themselves.
Palindromedary, if one thinks that the wisdom found on this planet, or world, is the height of intelligence then that one is sorely mistaken and there would be no hope for the entire human race. - Cygnus1
I hear that there is a new statue of Reagan at National Airport (I refuse to call it by any other name.) For the record, I do not propose destruction or defacing of the statue.
However, as an act of counterprotest, I would welcome the placement of a marker commenorating the 1981 firing of PATCO members (the airtraffic controllers union) by Reagan. That act made the renaming of National an even more ironic and bitter pill to swallow for organized labor in this country.
Not letting people leave a building could be considered kidnapping. Do you remember when O. J. Simpson wouldn't let a guy leave his hotel room? He was charged with kidnapping.
I am so frustrated right now. I'm a social worker, a writer, and a policy academic by training. On one hand my natural inclination is to warn the movement to be very careful to keep a non-violent image. I would remind people that sometimes mass movements start out progressive and populist and end up going to the extreme right. I am presently reading the history of the rise of Fascism in Italy. Hitler bombed the German government, blamed it on the left and used the subsequent popular anger to take power. I want the movement to resist violence. I'm conflicted on rejecting the big tent strategy though. This is where we tell them to stop trying to please everybody and get rid of the Ron Paul folks etc. This is where we tell them to stop waiting for a reform mode that all sides can sign on to, but forgive me, I am the writer that is sitting on just such a model. My Firewall Economics is designed to provide a good guaranteed safety net for everybody and still give the speculating capitalists plenty of markets to exploit. Socialism for necessities and capitalism for luxuries. If there is a model that can satisfy the movement's insistence on consensus then this is it. I'm frustrated because their justifiably rational fear of having their movement diverted discourages me and others who have legitimate models for reform from approaching them with proposals.
The slogan for the entire Democratic Party in this election cycle should be "Something Versus Nothing".
11/11/11 -------
That is a lot of oneness, an opportunity missed is an opportunity lost. ??
September 17th is the day Occupy Wall Street began. If you look back to occurrences on that day in the history of the United States and the world, it is THEE perfect day for it to have started as so many very important beginnings happened on that particular date. If September 17th history is any indication, we may someday be making it into a national holiday. We will be remembering September 17th fondly and trying to forget all the damage that Reagan and the next 30 years of Reaganomics caused. Here’s the list of events occurring on September 17th that goes back almost 400 years that seems to have an amazing thread to it.
September 17th Events in History:
1630- The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded, which will become the cradle of the American Revolution.
1787- The U.S Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the hope that a government and nation was created that truly responded to the will of just WE THE PEOPLE.
1814- Francis Scott Key finishes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later set to music to become “The Star Spangled Banner”. (All countries need "theme music." I wish ours was changed to "America the Beautiful.")
1858-The black slave Dred Scott dies. The year before the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that Scott, and by extension all black slaves, were ruled property and not people and that slaves did not in fact become free in a free state. (The Supreme Court would again turn logic on its head in the 2010 Citizens United decision to rule that property, corporations, are essentially people.)
1862- The American Civil War Battle of Antietam is fought. The Confederate Army is forced to retreat back into Virginia. It is the victory Lincoln and his cabinet decided they needed earlier that summer to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. All black slaves thus begin the road to freedom and equality. It is the beginning of Dred Scott's vindication as well. The Battle of Antietam is the bloodiest single day in American history with over 25,000 casualties. Not to discount their sacrifice in any way, but the 1% American oligarchy has been bleeding us dry far too long. They have caused needless pain and suffering that has led to things like the lack of healthcare, that could be easily given to everyone, that annually costs the lives of 45,000 people.
1978-The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt, the needed first step to ultimately one day achieve peace in the Middle East.
1980- After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk. Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established. This is probably the first step in the ending of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union’s ultimate collapse.
1993- 13 years to the day later, the last Russian troops leave Poland.
2001- The New York Stock Exchange Reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
2011- 10 years to the day later, the Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zucotti Park, New York City. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the movement that truly establishes the government the U.S. Constitution intended, a government and nation of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE and for the PEOPLE that will never perish from the earth. Hopefully, it is also the beginning of eliminating greed, social and economic inequality, poverty and creating a better, greener, renewable sustainable earth with peace, harmony, plenty to eat and all are free to pursue happiness and their dreams.
Jim L
Sonora, California
P.S. One other date I didn't include as it probably can't be viewed as a really significant beginning:
1778- The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe, the Delaware Indians. (I think corporate "personhood" could have started at this much earlier date. The Delawares had to have traded something to the U.S. in the treaty. Perhaps it was those notoriously lax Delaware corporation laws that to this day Delaware is most famous for?)
Thom: I remember when the religious fanatic called for the end of the world sometime in May of this year. On your show you stated that you planned to stand by Reagan's grave just in case the resurrection had arrived -- just so you could smack him one and show him the damage he'd done. That was priceless. Hope the man who tried to take the statue down was making a political statement rather than just being down and out.
Without nuts and bolts from another planet, or at least a teleportation device, I get kinda dreary eyed with anything that sounds like religion. God said this..the aliens said that...it really gets into the realm of hocus pocus and total non-sense. I can't say that I even really believe that Reagan briefing...but it looks like someone really put a lot of work into it. But I don't totally disbelieve it either.
"Don't get on that space ship! That book they gave us...we've decyphered it...'.How to Serve Man'....it's a cook book!!!"
Just more theatre...
The bill was introduced back in January and has been hanging around for over nine months waiting for the strings-pullers to decide when the time was right for another bit of ridiculousness to distract from other things.
Try to train yourselves to shield your eyes from the bright, flashy things so you can see what's trying to slink around in the shadows under the cover of it.