Occupy "Your City"

[2namelt]

The protest didn't go so well in Saskatoon

http://www.saskabush.com/content/2011/1 ... rotesters/

[bmc]

[HS-748 2A]

Bill Whittle sums it up pretty good..

http://www.youtube.com/embed/OAOrT0OcHh ... ransparent

[Shiny Side Up]

Bill Whittle sums it up pretty good..

http://www.youtube.com/embed/OAOrT0OcHh ... ransparent

So does Bill Maher.

[LisaS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX6H07vvWM&sns=fb

[Siddley Hawker]

Bill Maher is pretty funny in a 1% kind of way.

[Colonel Sanders]

You realize that in 20 years, it will be fashionable for hundreds
of thousands of middle-aged people to nostagically claim that
they "were there" at an Occupy event, even if they never left
their parent's basement and were on World of Warcraft the
whole time.

[Shiny Side Up]

You realize that in 20 years, it will be fashionable for hundreds
of thousands of middle-aged people to nostagically claim that
they "were there" at an Occupy event,

Only if it actually causes change, which at this point seems unlikely probably because there are so many kids who couldn't be bothered to get out on the street.

[Rowdy]

A good 'idea' in theory.. but without any actual leadership and without any firm stances, this just screams idiocy. How many arrests? How many drug related deaths? How much sexual misconduct and rape has happened at these 'sites' so far?

If it werent for the city elections in vancouver.. this wouldnt have festooned as long as it had there.

You want change? Get a group together and lobby your local MPs for change. Rally a LARGE group of TAXPAYERS together and boycott a group/mp/party etc. Cancel all of your credit cards.. stage a walkout.. avoid purchasing goods from the companies who received bailout packages that shouldnt have. Effect change... dont just grow a beard, sleep in a tent, heckle cops and screw around on some city property..

[Expat]

It just might happen next. Social media and inet communications are aowerful tools, and may become the only way forward for the 99%.
OWS has shown that there are a lot of people in the same predicaments.
There is a lot more information passed, and organization taking place on the web.

[Siddley Hawker]

Great post Rockie.

If it werent for the city elections in vancouver..

I wonder how many of the happy campers bothered to vote.

[Go Guns]

Somewhat related.

[Wilbur]

Absolutely nothing will come from this "occupy" movement because they are nothing but a rabble without a common or even real cause to rally around. They will soon disperse back to their previous lives as either street people or professional protesters. The few who do not fall into either of these two categories will come to their senses, get jobs, rejoin the mainstream, and go back to supporting those greedy corporations with credit card purchases of $5 coffees, IPads and cellphones.

[Shiny Side Up]

The few who do not fall into either of these two categories will come to their senses, get jobs, rejoin the mainstream, and go back to supporting those greedy corporations with credit card purchases of $5 coffees, IPads and cellphones.

I love the misdirection attempted very often of this sort. Wake up. The people protesting aren't just after corporations in general, they're specifically after those that repeatedly commit what are essentially crimes against the populace and go relatively unpunished. No one is mad at Starbucks, No one is mad at Apple. These corporations, whether you like them or not, are running on a capitalist model. They are making a product and competing by the merits of their work. They are mad at corporations like J.P. Morgan and Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo. Go ahead take a bit of time to read the pages about how these institutions regularly make attempts to screw the taxpayer. Here's my favorite from the J.P. Morgan and Chase page.

Mortgage overcharge of active military personnel

In January 2011, JPMorgan Chase admitted that it wrongly overcharged several thousand military families for their mortgages, including active duty personnel in Afghanistan. The bank also admitted it improperly foreclosed on more than a dozen military families; both actions were in clear violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act which automatically lowers mortgage rates to 6 percent, and bars foreclosure proceedings of active duty personnel. The overcharges may have never come to light were it not for legal action taken by Marine Capt. Jonathan Rowles, a fighter pilot. Both Capt. Rowles and his spouse Julia accused Chase of violating the law and harassing the couple for nonpayment. An official stated that the situation was "grim", and Chase initially stated it would be refunding up to $2,000,000 to those who were overcharged, and that families improperly foreclosed on have gotten or will get their homes back. Chase has acknowledged that as many as 6,000 active duty military personnel were illegally overcharged, and more than 18 military families homes were wrongly foreclosed. In April, Chase agreed to pay a total of $27 million in compensation to settle the class-action suit. At the company's 2011 shareholders' meeting, Dimon apologized for the error and said the bank would forgive the loans of any active-duty personnel whose property had been foreclosed. In June 2011, lending chief Dave Lowman was forced out over the scandal.

Maybe its time someone deserved jail time over something like this. Canadians though have been fortunate enough that our horrible "socialist system" watches out for us a bit better, though don't for a second think that they're not trying. Read what the CIBC has been up to. Note that up here the Government has already spent your tax dollars to insure against these guys in the form of the CDIC. Not that Canadians don't have stuff to protest about - just not as much as our friends south of the border do. If the people here are only protesting to show support for the people down there and bring a wider support for their cause, then that alone to me is cause enough. Its nice to see people acting with a more global mindset.

You want change? Get a group together and lobby your local MPs for change. Rally a LARGE group of TAXPAYERS together and boycott a group/mp/party etc. Cancel all of your credit cards.. stage a walkout.. avoid purchasing goods from the companies who received bailout packages that shouldnt have. Effect change...

You're right in that it needs to move past the public demonstration stage, though the public demonstrations themselves do serve a purpose. If anything they've made people like Wilbur here vaguely cognizant that people are unhappy about stuff out there and for every Wilbur there's at least another person who's willing to at least give their message a second look.

[Siddley Hawker]

No one is mad at Starbucks,

They should be for selling their slop at five bucks a pop.

[bmc]

[Expat]

+1

[Expat]

Bill Maher is pretty funny in a 1% kind of way.

I just hope to never fall that low, as to find this twit funny.
expat

[Shiny Side Up]

Bill Maher is pretty funny in a 1% kind of way.

I just hope to never fall that low, as to find this twit funny.
expat

Whether you find him funny or not he often does have a point. While on the humor side I'll admit that he has hits and misses, he holds the same sentiment as the other one you just gave a big ol' +1 to. Personally I wish Carlin was here for the whole occupy thing, he'd have some interesting stuff to say.

[Expat]

I haven't watched him in 7 years. That explains,,,

[Siddley Hawker]

Actually I think there's a very fine line between political satire and condescending prickery. I can't remember George Carlin ever crossing it, but Bill Maher is a frequent flier.

[Rockie]

"Condescending prickery"....I like it.

While Bill Maher may indulge to get laughs, Bill Whittle defines it just by breathing.

[Shiny Side Up]

Further thought on this matter:

You want change? Get a group together and lobby your local MPs for change. Rally a LARGE group of TAXPAYERS together and boycott a group/mp/party etc. Cancel all of your credit cards.. stage a walkout.. avoid purchasing goods from the companies who received bailout packages that shouldnt have. Effect change...

Would any of the above actually effect change any more? Part of the problem is that groups/mp/parties are squarely in the pocket of many corporate interests. In Canada, all of the political entities have shown this right from the Federal down to the Municipal level. Cancelling cards, walkouts and avoiding purchasing goods only works if they can also be organized en masse.



Say what you want about Maher, but you have to give him credit for going down and seeing it for himself.

I haven't watched him in 7 years. That explains,,,

OT a bit, but I'd have to say Maher's act has certainly matured. I wasn't a big fan of Politically Incorrect, but his newer Real Time certainly has less "smarminess" and more reason.

Actually I think there's a very fine line between political satire and condescending prickery. I can't remember George Carlin ever crossing it, but Bill Maher is a frequent flier.

You didn't watch some of Carlin's last stuff then, where I think he knew the end was getting closer and decided to really let people know what he thought. He does get pretty close, though as a master of the art he walks the line very finely. Noticeably though, Maher has changed his act since Carlin's passing, to reflect a lot of Carlin's view. But that's just maybe me. Either way there's a certain humanity that both of them have which lies behind their act. Guys like Bill Whittle worry me in that there doesn't seem to be that same value behind their presentations, only a seething disdain. He isn't able to veil his hatred of the subject behind his polished outer veneer of reason. The only difference between Whittle and a Glenn Beck is Whittle at least maintains his composure on the subject and doesn't turn into some raving lunatic.

[Siddley Hawker]

You didn't watch some of Carlin's last stuff then, where I think he knew the end was getting closer and decided to really let people know what he thought. He does get pretty close, though as a master of the art he walks the line very finely. Noticeably though, Maher has changed his act since Carlin's passing, to reflect a lot of Carlin's view. But that's just maybe me. Either way there's a certain humanity that both of them have which lies behind their act. Guys like Bill Whittle worry me in that there doesn't seem to be that same value behind their presentations, only a seething disdain. He isn't able to veil his hatred of the subject behind his polished outer veneer of reason. The only difference between Whittle and a Glenn Beck is Whittle at least maintains his composure on the subject and doesn't turn into some raving lunatic.

Fair comment SSU. I first began to follow Carlin after he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show as the Hippy Dippy Weatherman. I have a couple of his albums and watched some of his Hobo appearances, but my affection for Carlin comes mainly from his books. What I liked about Carlin was, he took no prisoners from either side of the political spectrum and reserved a special venom for the politically correct. I don't know much about Maher. My opinion is probably swayed by his comments on 9-11. I watch neither Fox nor CNN, so the other two are little known quantities. I do believe the two best social commentators out there right now to be Lewis Black and Dennis Miller. Miller's Rant books and Black's Me Of Little Faith and Nothing's Sacred are well worth the price.

[Shiny Side Up]

Well and here's Lewis Black's opinion as well.



His point is interesting about how we critisize often the younger people of today for sitting on their tushes, but then when they do get up and do something people have the nerve to tell them "you're doing it wrong".

Incidentally, youtube has really been a boon for checking out some of these guys stuff, where before you'd have to wait for something on HBO. The interviews are some of the most interesting stuff Carlin especially when he talks about his process. OT but for your viewing pleasure.



edit: Posted this before, but again, this man was a prophet before he dies, this being some of his last work. Seen it comming.