West Coast port shutdown December 12
San Diego
Los Angeles
Oakland
Portland
Tacoma
Seattle
Vancouver
Solidarity rallies
New York
Denver
Austin
Fannie Mae evictions to begin January 2
This video is on youtube Here
Not much of interest today in the New York Times, Sunday December 11 2011. We have tens of thousands in Russia protesting against Putin, and federal prisons beyond Guantánamo where terrorists are housed for $25,000 per year rather than $800,000 at Gitmo.
Of course the Times has to have this on Sunday, sex always sells. And gosh, are you undecided about God?
There is one reasonable article in the opinion section, and I quote:
“The 1 Percent Club’s Misguided Protectors
The Republican right is pushing back hard against the 99 percent movement and its focus on the widening chasm between the fortunes of the few at the summit of the income scale and everybody else. ”
“As President Obama said in his speech in Kansas last week, this strain of thought goes back to at least the turn of the last century when “there were people who thought massive inequality and exploitation of people was just the price you pay for progress.”
“The first chart … reveals the link between inequality and the sustainability of economic growth. Igniting growth is easier than maintaining it. They found that in high-inequality nations spurts of growth ended more quickly, and often in painful contractions.”
“Republicans might be tempted to dismiss such analysis as irrelevant to the United States, which is already highly developed. But as the second chart shows, inequality in America has soared over the last 30 years, approaching and even surpassing that in many poor countries. Today, America is an outlier among industrial nations. Its distribution of income looks closer to that of Argentina than, say, Germany.”
mlive.com reports “Occupy Our Homes: Southgate couple ready to face arrest by ignoring eviction order.
“Rob and Debbie Henry say they’ve tried to do right by their home lenders but still find themselves deep underwater. …We plan to stay here,” Debbie Henry said this morning outside her home in Southgate, which she has been ordered to vacate by January 2. “We’ll go to jail I guess.”
“The Henrys purchased their home in 2004 for around $140,000, with a 30-year loan from Countrywide Financial. They had no trouble making payments until July of 2008, when Debbie had a mild stroke.
With Rob continuing to work as a mechanic, the family contacted Bank of America (which had purchased Countrywide earlier that year) and got a trial loan modification.
For 10 months, the Henrys paid a reduced rate of $651, until the bank inexplicably returned their last check, explaining the couple could pay more than $30,000 or face foreclosure.
Bank of America sold the loan to Fannie Mae, and the couple received an eviction notice last week. The government-sponsored mortgage giant has pledged not to force families out of their homes during the holidays.”
Meanwhile plans continue for the coordinated West Coast port blockade tomorrow, December 12. Occupy is striking back in San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver and beyond, with solidarity rallies at New York City, Denver, Austin and more.