Mary Jane Colombo
       

This is one of the better west coast streams, he’s in Oakland right now, doing interviews.

Occupy Portland’s Official Livestream H/t to BOHICA

NYC Official Livestream:

Oakland protest bigger than expected
Port shutdown live broadcasts
Long Beach police threaten dog bites
Iraq Veterans Against the War marching

This video is on youtube Here

laist.com reports:
“The Occupy movement is occupying the Port of Long Beach today as part of “Occupy the Ports,” a coordinated West Coast port shutdown. A few hundred protesters gathered at Harry Bridges Park near the Queen Mary at 5am and marched to a SSA Marine dock facility. With a goal to “to disrupt and blockade the economic apparatus of the 1%,” occupiers are disrupting business at SSA Marine, which is partially owned by Goldman Sachs.”

The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) arrived at the scene about an hour after the protest began. Police have declared the protest unlawful assembly and are ordering protesters to stop blocking the road and move back to Harry Bridges Park. Riot gear police are also on the scene. Occupy L.A. tweeted this morning, “LBPD threatening tear gas, rubber bullets and dog bites.”

from sfgate.com:

(12-12) 07:27 PST OAKLAND — A group of protesters have succeeded in stopping a line of big-rigs from entering the Port of Oakland this morning during their march to shutdown the busy cargo terminal.

Organizers have pledged to march to the port and shutdown the terminal, one of the busiest on the West Coast. Some unions, including the one representing Oakland teachers, are supporting the day-long strike while others, like the longshoremen’s union, say shutting down the port will harm hard-working stevedores and truck drivers.

from veteranstoday.com:

On December 12th, the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) Bay Area Chapter will march with the 99% as Occupy movements along the West Coast stage mass mobilizations to shutdown the hubs of commerce owned by the 1%.
Members of the IVAW Bay Area Chapter will Occupy the Ports to draw attention to the financial and human costs of the wars, and the ways in which veterans have been impacted by the economic and social issues raised by the Occupy movement.
These issues include the challenges of veterans re-entering civilian life after war and trauma and during economic recession, and looming cuts to veterans’ health care and VA services.
They also hope to help make veterans’ and service members’ participation in this movement more visible and deliberate.

Posted by Dave Id on Indybay.org

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.

West Coast port shutdown
Occupy movement
Occupy our homes targets big banks
San Francisco sit-lie law
Rose Parade protest January 2
From Russia with love

This video is on youtube Here

The Boise Weekly takes center stage today, saying

“As anti-Wall Street protesters attempt to regroup and settle in for winter after a series of police raids that stripped much of the movement of its signature camps, protesters on the West Coast are staging a comeback.

On Dec. 12, Occupy movements from Seattle to San Diego say they will shut down their local ports, temporarily stopping the flow of capital on the West Coast. Organizers say they aim to disrupt the business of the “1 percent” — in this case, the corporations that own shipping terminals and do business at the ports.

If successful, shutting down the West Coast port system would be a massive show of power for a movement that in some cities seems to have lost some of its momentum along with the camps. It would also mark the first time the loosely organized and very decentralized Occupy movements have coordinated in a major way.

The action comes at a pivotal moment for the two-month-old movement, with protesters facing down a chill both from dropping temperatures and authorities who are increasingly losing patience with tents outside City Hall.

In recent weeks, police have cleared large encampments in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and elsewhere. In Boston, protesters were ordered Thursday to clear out by midnight.”

Dailyfinance.com says:

“Occupy Our Homes Targets Big Banks Over Shady Mortgage Practices

A spin-off group from Occupy Wall Street, called Occupy Our Homes, has formed to reverse and stop foreclosures. Lately, the group has been using some creative tactics to raise awareness about the banking practices that led to the housing bubble

Earlier this week, Occupy Our Homes protesters in cities across the country united in a day of action, which included reoccupying vacant properties and moving in people without homes — in some cases, those homes’ former owners. Protestors also shut down several auctions and ran off bidders, preventing dozens of homes from being sold that day.

In Atlanta, the members of the Occupy Our Homes movement helped one man convince the auctioneer to talk to his lawyer, and ultimately got his house taken off the auction block.

The protestors also had some success in getting banks to delay foreclosures and work with their clients on loan modifications. For example, Chase agreed to postpone the foreclosure sale of a California family’s home and to discuss a loan modification. In Seattle, executives at Aurora Loans and Freddie Mac agreed to negotiate with a couple in a possible modification of their loan.”

In the San Francisco Examiner:

“Cops toss sit-lie law at Occupy SF:

Although San Francisco’s sit-lie law has been used only sparingly against the problematic vagrants who were its intended target, the regulation is now the latest police enforcement tool for dealing with the sidewalk dwellers of the Occupy SF movement. The law prohibits sitting or lying on The City’s public sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.”

and in the Burbank Leader:

“Pasadena police officials met with represenatitives of the Occupy movement to ensure a large demonstration planned for the Rose Parade on Jan. 2 doesn’t interfere with the event.”

And from Russia with Love, the New York Times online:

“Thousands of Russians thronged the center of Moscow on Saturday, protesting the government of Vladimir V. Putin.
In Bolotnaya Square, crowds choked footbridges. Protesters lighted flares during the demonstrations and denounced the outcome of the Dec. 4 parliamentary vote.

Sergeant Shamar Thomas
The Newt and the Donald
Real politics
Occupy
Shutdown
Keith Olbermann
SVU

This video is on youtube Here

Today in the New York Times, Friday December 9, 2011, there is very little of interest. The Newt is still selling books, American free enterprise at work, and so is the Donald. HL Mencken said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.” Any questions that politics as usual is an utter farce? Here is real politics at work…although big Chris doesn’t seem to think so.

The LA Times has occupy wall street occupying the Law & Order set in DC. Lehigh Valley Morning Call says no room at the inn in Bethlehem. NBC New York says NYU will be offering a course on the occupy movement. New York Daily News has more on the Law & Order SVU shutdown. Earlier, Mariska Hargitay said “I’m so excited to see what he’ll do next.”

Keith Olbermann has the best tv interview I’ve seen.

Sergeant Shamar Thomas may be the leader the movement has been looking for.

Shamar pointed out to the mob of police officers who were intimidating the protesters that there was “No honour” in their actions and said “It takes a coward to harm an unarmed civilian” he went on to say “This is not a war zone, these are unarmed people, it does not make you tough to hurt these people.”

“If you want to go fight, go to Iraq and Afghanistan, Leave these people alone, they are US citizens, why are you doing this to our people?” said Seargent Thomas who then asked where in their (The NYPD officers present) contract does it justify hurting US citizens.

“I’ve been to Iraq 14 months for my people and you come here to hurt them, they don’t have guns, it doesn’t make any sense, how do you sleep at night? there is no honour in this, your here to protect them, protect us.”

“You’re all walking around in riot gear like this is a war, these people don’t have guns.”

Sergent Shamar Thomas is now an American hero not just for his service to his country but for his service to his country in defending civilians at home

Occupy foreclosures
Time magazine top news story
Homelessness and occupation
Re-occupying San Francisco
Port shutdown Dec 12
Elizabeth Warren
Influencing 2012 elections

This video is on youtube Here

The New York Times, Thursday December 7 2011, has Britain standing by, Blagojevich going away, pills pulled, dems flogging, and carriages in the park.

Elsewhere in the real world, cnnmoney says yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus. Even though it may seem nebulous, the movement against corporate America is developing a structure, and……….hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are frustrated enough to keep showing up,

More or less alphabetically, bing is boring, boston deadline by this guy, CNN has beavis and butthead, financial times does talk about protecting people from foreclosures, Google news on guns for money, hotair.com with a cool story…more later…huffington post, tweedledum and tweedledee, also from huffington yay! Elizabeth Warren, LA Times sports and stocks, Morris Daily Herald says occupy movement is “engaged”, msnbc on sports and corruption, New York Daily News on homelessness and occupation, New York Times front page online…why am I still subscribing?…also the Times, occupy faces setbacks, occupywallst.org defending against eviction and re-occupying San Francisco, San Francisco Examiner tensions running high, and Yahoo news hoping Congress acts. Good luck with that from Reuters.

On to a pretty good story, Time magazine has named the Occupy Wall Street movement as the top news story of 2011.

Time says:

On Sept. 17, a couple hundred protesters demonstrating against the excesses of corporate execs and the pervasive influence of high finance in U.S. politics set up camp in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and refused to leave. It was an unlikely occupation, one without leaders, agendas or even a clear sense of goals, but it soon was echoed in myriad cities across the U.S. and the world. To some, Occupy Wall Street is the left-wing iteration of the Tea Party, directing their rage not at big government but at the big banks that gutted the world economy and took billions in bailouts from the U.S. government while awarding themselves hefty bonuses.

But many in the movement see their cause as part of a more global zeitgeist, in keeping with the anti-austerity demonstrations in Europe and the leaderless uprisings of the Arab Spring. The Occupy movement has remained leaderless, amorphous and spontaneous — demonstrators carry signs advocating everything from financial reform to healthcare reform to a ban on fracking — it’s still unclear what sort of real lasting political effect the movement can have. But the sheer persistence of the occupations, galvanized by incidents of heavy-handed policing in New York and California that shocked the nation, have given the protesters’ appeals for economic justice a weight that may play a real role in the upcoming presidential election.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101369_2101667,00.html

Afghanistan
The newt
West Coast port blockade schedules
San Francisco eviction
New Orleans federal court order
New York police investigation
Protesting Putin in Moscow
Maine judge ruling

This video is on youtube Here

Just to prove it exists today, here’s the front page of the New York Times, Wednesday December 7, 2011. It shows horror in Afghanistan, and gives the newt top billing, while calling President Obama a “populist”. Later on they say he is “pushing an agenda”……….. Times you are going off my list. Thanks to Henry Shively of fromthetrenchesworldreport.com for posting a list of coordinated West Coast port blockade schedules, copied and featured as text on the previous post here. Fromthetrenches refers us to westcoastportshutdown.org, where Houston Texas occupiers plan to shut down that port in solidarity, and which publishes the schedule for the Seattle shutdown on December 12 and has instructions for the Oakland waterfront blockade, also december 12. occupyportland.org and shutdowntheport.org have meeting schedules and contact info for Portland. occupyseattle.org has the schedule for the Seattle port shutdown.

In online news, usatoday.com covers the san francisco eviction and the arrest of 70 sleeping campers. nymag.com covers occupy east new york, saying there were more white people there than in several decades. wwl.com says that new orleans occupiers are back, not a lot of them, but they are protected by a federal court order. Huffington Post focuses on occupy our homes, reclaiming vacant houses. Even foxnews.com reports New York police don’t want their conduct investigated………. pretty lukewarm photo, though. Christian Science Monitor has 5,000 protesting Putin in Moscow. Businessweek says a Maine judge will rule by tomorrow.

Here are some photos from the movement.

Posted in rollin' on the river | Comments Off