I WILL own all of these.
Still wondering what Occupy Wall Street is protesting? The common thread is institutional inequality. Here are some infographics. (Images via.)
Edit: I got some questions about this line in the first infographic: “Of the 93% of people who support the protests, only 12% are unemployed.”
This poll found that 93% of those who view OWS favorably also support the protesters’ right to camp out in parks. So support among a general audience for OWS isn’t 93%; support among OWS supporters for the right to physically occupy public space is 93%.
The graphic, then, seeks to show that very few park-occupiers are unemployed — take that, Newt Gingrich! — and that people who tell protesters to go get a job are either ignoring facts that are politically inconvenient or don’t know what they’re talking about in the first place. Whoever made the graphic could have presented this connection better.
This is a point I’m particularly interested in after reading this nice piece of commentary, which I more or less agree with: “Unfortunately, the movement is coming dangerously close to being about the right to camp anywhere anyone wishes to. And that’s not really a big deal at all.”
A homeless man at the bus stop just told me what a good day he was having
because he was going to get to shower and shave. Also, he recently pawned some of his things and was able to buy his daughter minutes for her phone. He was beaming.
Reevaluate your life and what you’re complaining about today.
US Senate To Vote On Bill That Will Allow The Military To Arrest Americans On American Soil And Hold Them Indefinitely
Since Occupy Wall Street began, American police officers have arrested thousands of people for exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest. On Monday or Tuesday, the US Senate will vote on a bill that would give the President the ability to order the military to arrest and imprison American citizens anywhere in the world for an indefinite period of time.
A provision of S. 1867, or the National Defense Authorization Act bill, written by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin, declares American soil a battlefield and allows the President and all future Chief Executives to order the military to arrest and detain American citizens, innocent or not, without charge or trial. In other words, if this bill passes and the President signs it, OWS protesters or any American could end up arrested and indefinitely locked up by the military without the guaranteed right to due process or a speedy trial.
This bill was written in secret and approved by committee without a single hearing. Senate Republicans support the bill and enough Democrats support it to give it a great chance of passing. This provision does have opponents. President Obama has threatened to veto the bill and even Ron Paul is concerned enough to bring it up during one of the GOP debates. An amendment called the Udall Amendment has been offered by Democratic Senator Mark Udall that would delete the dangerous provision.
If you are an American citizen, protect your constitutional rights. Call your senator and tell them to approve of the Udall Amendment. No American citizen should be arrested by the military and held indefinitely without charge or trial. It’s not conducive to American values and would give the military and the government more power over the American citizenry. The last time Americans had to deal with an overreaching military was during the Revolutionary era. Because of that, the Founders included the 3rd Amendment to ban the quartering of troops during times of war and peace. Once again, Americans are under threat of dealing with a military that has more power than it should have. And it could cost us most of the freedoms we tend to take for granted.
America is NOT a battlefield. America is a free country and American citizens should not ever be arrested by the military and certainly not without being charged or getting a trial. This provision would cast aside the Constitution and put the liberties of American citizens here at home and around the world at serious risk. Please call your senator or visit this link, because this is a risk Americans cannot afford to take.
I was there to take down the names of people who were arrested… As I’m standing there, some African-American woman goes up to a police officer and says, ‘I need to get in. My daughter’s there. I want to know if she’s OK.’ And he said, ‘Move on, lady.’ And they kept pushing with their sticks, pushing back. And she was crying. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he throws her to the ground and starts hitting her in the head,” says Smith. “I walk over, and I say, ‘Look, cuff her if she’s done something, but you don’t need to do that.’ And he said, ‘Lady, do you want to get arrested?’ And I said, ‘Do you see my hat? I’m here as a legal observer.’ He said, ‘You want to get arrested?’ And he pushed me up against the wall.
“
| — | Retired New York Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith, working as a legal observer after the raids on Zucotti Park this Tuesday, via Paramilitary Policing of Occupy Wall Street: Excessive Use of Force amidst the New Military Urbanism. (via lukehackney) |
![sisterspock:
thedailywhat:
Instantly Iconic Photo of the Day: 84-year-old former school teacher Dorli Rainey is helped away from the scene of an Occupy Seattle protest at Westlake Park after being doused with pepper spray.
Rainey was among dozens of protesters hit with the “less-than-lethal agent” after refusing to move from the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street following a march of solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.
Rainey, a longtime presence in local politics, wrote The Stranger an email afterward, saying she stopped by the protest on her way to a public meeting on a transportation issue.
“Knowing that the problems of New York would certainly precipitate action by Occupy Seattle, I thought I better check it out,” she wrote, “especially since only yesterday the City Government made a grandiose gesture to protect free speech.”
Her email continues:
Well free speech does have its limits as I found out as the cops shoved their bicycles into the crowd and simultaneously pepper sprayed the so captured protesters.
She credits an Iraq vet with saving her from being trampled. “In the women’s movement,” she concludes, “there were signs which said: ‘Screw us and we multiply.”
Video of the incident below:
[seattlepi / slog]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lurdirPxsl1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Instantly Iconic Photo of the Day: 84-year-old former school teacher Dorli Rainey is helped away from the scene of an Occupy Seattle protest at Westlake Park after being doused with pepper spray.
Rainey was among dozens of protesters hit with the “less-than-lethal agent” after refusing to move from the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street following a march of solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.
Rainey, a longtime presence in local politics, wrote The Stranger an email afterward, saying she stopped by the protest on her way to a public meeting on a transportation issue.
“Knowing that the problems of New York would certainly precipitate action by Occupy Seattle, I thought I better check it out,” she wrote, “especially since only yesterday the City Government made a grandiose gesture to protect free speech.”
Her email continues:
Well free speech does have its limits as I found out as the cops shoved their bicycles into the crowd and simultaneously pepper sprayed the so captured protesters.
She credits an Iraq vet with saving her from being trampled. “In the women’s movement,” she concludes, “there were signs which said: ‘Screw us and we multiply.”
Video of the incident below:
dog vs. godzilla [video]
YOU BIG SILLY!
DYING
Oh my God, the last frame, “quick! While he’s not looking!” … This is the best kind of thing.
DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY.
This is so freaking adorable.
This would be how my dog would react to that toy. Except that my dog would not be clever enough to fool the toy with this amazing Scooby-inspired maneuver.
“I don’t think it requires us to go negative in the sense of us running a bunch of ads that are false, or character assassinations,” Obama said, as reported by Univision.”It will be based on facts.”
“We may just run clips of the Republican debates verbatim,” he added.
I love it when our president is snarky.
