Occupy Wall Streets Everywhere, including NYC, SF, & LA!

[Note: updates (through 10-7-11) from varied sources (which often include their own updates and live feeds) are posted at the end, fyi... One connected reader told me about the comprehensive and continuing Occupy Together site.]

10-7-11: BofA protesters arrested in LA after trying to cash a $673 billion oversized check for the People of California!

I sent off my final Oxford University draft (I wrote 3 different papers before I got the rants and irrelevancies out of my system!) 2 hours ago, and then went for a walk on a brisk, but partly sunny afternoon. I was relieved to have that paper done, and was plotting all the other things I have to do in the next 12 daze before heading “across the pond.” [I didn't know then that the last week would be consumed with some type of the "Eureka crud"; see this Burning Bridges post on all that.]

They know how to protest over there!!!

Just 2 blocks from my abode I bumped into 2 young couples, some kids, and a beauty of a Rotti named Fariah. The women were on their knees, spray painting piles of broken up cardboard boxes on the sidewalk with a message: “Day of fear for Wall Street; Day of Rage for Us! Sept 17^th”

Ya think???

Of course, I had to know what was going on! The small group of spray painters I meet then are plugged into an international movement to say NO to corporate elites! I can't believe I only just found out about the global protests planned to begin that weekend... We talked for a while, and they gave me a flyer that says the following:

“September 17: we mean business!

The American government of today is bought and sold by major corporations who control votes, lawmakers, and our tax dollars. They have no moral dedication to the people of this country, and have worked for years to destroy the middle-class and enslave the poor through impossible debts and mental pollution.

There is no justifiable reason in a country so rich and powerful that people should be starving, that children should go without education, and people should work their whole lives with nothing to show for it but debts.

Get used to it! If THE PEOPLE LEAD, then the "leaders" will follow...

The top 1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 93%. Something needs to change.

We will no longer choose to stand still while one of our country’s greatest achievements is skewed and vandalized by the actions of corporate giants.

We will no longer stay silent while our society is destroyed by the downward spiral of mass consumer capitalism. We will stand up for our rights and the rights of everyone that calls the United States home. And we will occupy the San Francisco Financial District. Will you join us? 555 California St, 2 pm, Bring your Tie!”

I began to realize that these protests are part of a global “people power” straegy to take back their lives from the 1% (financiers and speculators) that have used the consequences of their own crimes to demand cuts in public services like education, healthcare, and food for the other 99%. Demands of the latter include ending at last incredibly costly "wars" on "terrorism," (some) "drugs," and other misguided state policies against the 99% of peoples. A few of the facts on the above leaflet may be a bit off, but the overall message is spot on, and as national economies throughout much of the world begin to circle the drain, the facts may soon worsen to those that the flyer foresees!

How many trillions are we spending on all our "wars"?

For the overall Plan of Action, go to:
http://www.occupytogether.org/ 
&/or:

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html

Wow! The Golden Gate IS golden...

For the SF Action, see:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/18/18688160.php

Let's do Hollyweird...

For the LA Action, see:

http://usdayofrage.org/public-announcements/118-us-day-of-rage-call-to-action-and-planned-protests-for-sept17-and-occupywall-street-usdor-ows.html

For an analysis of the protests from "across the pond" (England), see:
http://jacobinmag.com/summer-2011/how-can-the-left-win/

I need a ride!!!

The Eureka couples told me that folks can pick up a ride on Saturday morning, 5 am, at the K-Mart on south 101; will I see you there?!?

Monday update (9-19-2011) on protests on NYC's Wall Street, from the NY Times...

Who knew that it is illegal for 2 or more persons to wear masks, to write on the sidewalk with chalk, or to impede sidewalk movement by pausing to tell a police officer that the press of people made it hard for him to walk?!? Note the readers' comments at the end of the article, deriding the Times for only writing about arrests, rather than any of the issues bringing people into the streets, and calling for this protest to be the beginning of something important and necessary.

Signs of the (NY) Times protests on Wall Street.

Arrested for telling a cop that it is too crowded to move any faster (see Times article for the series of photos related to this arrest...)!

Wednesday update (9-21-2011), commentary on NYC's Wall Street protest, by Amy Goodman!
Sunday update (9-25) from the NY Times heaps scorns the young protesters, while a smaller report suggests abuses of their civil rights...
Monday update (9-26) from the NY Times provides another charge of police misconduct during the protests, and a series of short videos suggest both the larger and more diverse demonstrators than media reports have presented.
Wednesday update (9-28) of Michael Moore talking with Amy Goodman on the spark that could become a movement, and an update on day 12 of the Wall St Occupation.
Saturday update (10-1): 700 arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge; these protestors are not giving up yet, and please note the readers' comments at article's end!
Sunday update (10-2): 15 days' of live streams, and many other news links; SF Chronicle update!
Monday update: NYT notes solidarity protests arising across America, including in LA (below)
Thursday update: Obama FINALLY expresses solidarity with protesters, and frustration with those rich folks that oppose his VERY modest proposals on taxes and jobs.

Are you here?

Tuesday update: (reporting on) the protests begins to mature..."
Wednesday's update (10-5): big labor unions and their workers join Occupy Wall Street protests in NYC and elsewhere!
Thursday's update from LA, in full:

Taking to the streets for a cause worth going to jail for!

"Hundreds of Occupy LA Protesters take over Downtown Intersection."

Police said Thursday that the number of protesters that had been picketing banks downtown has swelled to about 500 and that a march had taken over the intersection of 7th and Figueroa streets. Officers in riot gear were dispatched to the scene and arrests may be imminent if the protesters did not disperse, police said. The march was sponsored by the ReFund California campaign with support from Occupy Los Angeles protesters who have been camping outside City Hall since Saturday.

Protesters initially indicated to police that they would engage in acts of civil disobedience, causing authorities to redeploy officers from around the city to the area. On Tuesday afternoon, several dozen protesters with signs and a bullhorn picketed outside the Westwood home of a One West Bank executive. About 50 demonstrators showed up outside the home and stayed about 30 minutes as Los Angeles Police Department officers looked on." 


Friday's (final) update summary from Nation of Change, in full (feel free to add your own updates henceforth, in Comments:

Dear Readers, We look to the promise of real revolution as a person dying of thirst looks at a pitcher of water. Our people are desperate for change but at the same time they are cynical. We have seen too many would-be movements fail. We have seen how a lack of organization, or in-fighting, or the failure of media has sabotaged already outmatched causes before they could truly take root. With every arm of the corporatocracy wielded against the spark which just might grow to become a revolutionary blaze it is little wonder that so many before have failed. This month, we have watched the Occupation of Wall Street spread like wild fire to financial districts across this nation from New York to Los Angeles and many cities in between. Despite the doubt and cynicism of many the movement has continue to gain steam and defy all attempts to silence it. This month, October 2011, marks the eleventh year of our country’s longest war in Afghanistan and the onset of the 2012 US federal budget, which provides unlimited funds for war and corporate greed, while withholding funds for basic human needs. Yesterday, a new protest assembled at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “nonviolently resisting the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza to demand that America’s resources be invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.” We at NationofChange would like to urge each and every one of our readers who are able to step out of the homes and get down to Washington D.C. and join us in demonstrating for this worthy cause. Let us help spread the momentum of the occupation to new avenues for justice. You can learn more about the October 2011 protest or follow the protest at NationofChange.

Dear Readers, We look to the promise of real revolution as a person dying of thirst looks at a pitcher of water. Our people are desperate for change but at the same time they are cynical. We have seen too many would-be movements fail. We have seen how a lack of organization, or in-fighting, or the failure of media has sabotaged already outmatched causes before they could truly take root. With every arm of the corporatocracy wielded against the spark which just might grow to become a revolutionary blaze it is little wonder that so many before have failed. This month, we have watched the Occupation of Wall Street spread like wild fire to financial districts across this nation from New York to Los Angeles and many cities in between. Despite the doubt and cynicism of many the movement has continue to gain steam and defy all attempts to silence it. This month, October 2011, marks the eleventh year of our country’s longest war in Afghanistan and the onset of the 2012 US federal budget, which provides unlimited funds for war and corporate greed, while withholding funds for basic human needs. Yesterday, a new protest assembled at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “nonviolently resisting the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza to demand that America’s resources be invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.” We at NationofChange would like to urge each and every one of our readers who are able to step out of the homes and get down to Washington D.C. and join us in demonstrating for this worthy cause. Let us help spread the momentum of the occupation to new avenues for justice. You can learn more about the October 2011 protest or follow the protest at NationofChange.

Dear Readers, We look to the promise of real revolution as a person dying of thirst looks at a pitcher of water. Our people are desperate for change but at the same time they are cynical. We have seen too many would-be movements fail. We have seen how a lack of organization, or in-fighting, or the failure of media has sabotaged already outmatched causes before they could truly take root. With every arm of the corporatocracy wielded against the spark which just might grow to become a revolutionary blaze it is little wonder that so many before have failed. This month, we have watched the Occupation of Wall Street spread like wild fire to financial districts across this nation from New York to Los Angeles and many cities in between. Despite the doubt and cynicism of many the movement has continue to gain steam and defy all attempts to silence it. This month, October 2011, marks the eleventh year of our country’s longest war in Afghanistan and the onset of the 2012 US federal budget, which provides unlimited funds for war and corporate greed, while withholding funds for basic human needs. Yesterday, a new protest assembled at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “nonviolently resisting the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza to demand that America’s resources be invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.” We at NationofChange would like to urge each and every one of our readers who are able to step out of the homes and get down to Washington D.C. and join us in demonstrating for this worthy cause. Let us help spread the momentum of the occupation to new avenues for justice. You can learn more about the October 2011 protest or follow the protest at NationofChange.

Dear Readers, We look to the promise of real revolution as a person dying of thirst looks at a pitcher of water. Our people are desperate for change but at the same time they are cynical. We have seen too many would-be movements fail. We have seen how a lack of organization, or in-fighting, or the failure of media has sabotaged already outmatched causes before they could truly take root. With every arm of the corporatocracy wielded against the spark which just might grow to become a revolutionary blaze it is little wonder that so many before have failed. This month, we have watched the Occupation of Wall Street spread like wild fire to financial districts across this nation from New York to Los Angeles and many cities in between. Despite the doubt and cynicism of many the movement has continue to gain steam and defy all attempts to silence it. This month, October 2011, marks the eleventh year of our country’s longest war in Afghanistan and the onset of the 2012 US federal budget, which provides unlimited funds for war and corporate greed, while withholding funds for basic human needs. Yesterday, a new protest assembled at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “nonviolently resisting the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza to demand that America’s resources be invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.” We at NationofChange would like to urge each and every one of our readers who are able to step out of the homes and get down to Washington D.C. and join us in demonstrating for this worthy cause. Let us help spread the momentum of the occupation to new avenues for justice. You can learn more about the October 2011 protest or follow the protest at NationofChange.

Dear Readers,

We look to the promise of real revolution as a person dying of thirst looks at a pitcher of water. Our people are desperate for change but at the same time they are cynical. We have seen too many would-be movements fail. We have seen how a lack of organization, or in-fighting, or the failure of media has sabotaged already outmatched causes before they could truly take root. With every arm of the corporatocracy wielded against the spark which just might grow to become a revolutionary blaze it is little wonder that so many before have failed.

This month, we have watched the Occupation of Wall Street spread like wild fire to financial districts across this nation from New York to Los Angeles and many cities in between. Despite the doubt and cynicism of many the movement has continue to gain steam and defy all attempts to silence it.

This month, October 2011, marks the eleventh year of our country’s longest war in Afghanistan and the onset of the 2012 US federal budget, which provides unlimited funds for war and corporate greed, while withholding funds for basic human needs.

Yesterday, a new protest assembled at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “nonviolently resisting the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza to demand that America’s resources be invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation.”

We at NationofChange would like to urge each and every one of our readers who are able to step out of the homes and get down to Washington D.C. and join us in demonstrating for this worthy cause.

Let us help spread the momentum of the occupation to new avenues for justice. You can learn more about the October 2011 protest or follow the protest at NationofChange.