This is not surprising, since what is at issue is the dismantling of public education in California. Just six years ago, tuition at the University of California was $5357. Tuition is currently $12,192. According to current proposals, it will be $22,068 by 2015-2016. We have discussed this in my classes, and about one third of my students report that their families would likely have to pull them out of school at the new tuition. It is not a happy moment when the students look around the room and see who it is that will disappear from campus. These are young people who, like college students everywhere and at all times, form some of the deepest friendships they will have in their lives. (more…)
On November 23, the so-called “Super Committee” in Congress will decide on the future of America’s middle class – and whether it will stand with the 99% or the 1%. So a group of everyday heroes from Occupy Wall Street embarked on an incredible journey.
This morning, Up With Chris Hayes unveiled a major scoop: the show obtained a written pitch to the American Bankers Association from a prominent Washington lobbying firm, proposing a $850,000 smear campaign against Occupy Wall Street.
The memo, issued by Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, described the danger presented by the burgeoning movement, saying that if Democrats embraced Occupy, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street.… It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.” Furthermore, it notes that “the bigger concern…should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”
CLGC was pitching an $850,000 campaign of opposition research and targeted campaigns against politicians who supported the movement. It was written by two firm partners with close ties to House Speaker John Boehner: Sam Geduldig joined CLGC before Boehner became speaker, and Jay Cranford left Boehner’s office this year to join the firm. Another partner at CLGC is reportedly “tight” with the speaker. (more…)
Which of the richest 1% are using their wealth and power to keep down the other 99%? Vote now. We’ll make videos exposing the ones that you choose. www.whoarethe1percent.com
A disturbing videotape has surfaced showing a police officer in riot gear heavily pepper-spraying a group of student protesters who were seated on the ground on the UC Davis campus. The demonstrators had been there to participate in the “Occupy UC Davis” campus on Friday . The video — first released by NBC’s KCRA-TV – was shot by a witness and shows numerous observers watching in horror as a campus police officer douses the students in yellow mist.
“Police came and brutalized them and tore their tents down and all that stuff. It was really scary. It felt like there was anarchy everywhere,” student Hisham Alihbob told KCRA. Police told the TV station students had had until 3 p.m. on Friday to dismantle their tents from the university’s quad. University officials told the Sacramento Bee that protesters had also received written warnings to remove their tents.
As with many Occupy protests around the country, the demonstrators refused to cede to the cops’ demands and defied officials’ orders. A little more than an hour after the deadline, police arrived and were met with approximately 50 protesters who linked arms and surrounded their tent city, a university spokeswoman told the newspaper.
After a crowd of about 200 people gathered to watch the standoff, cops decided to pepper spray to keep the protesters at bay, the spokeswoman added.
But from the video, which has gone viral, it doesn’t appear that police were threatened at all. The protesters were sitting down on the ground with their heads bowed when a single cop raised a pepper spray can in the air and then walked down the line drenching them in it.(more…)
Today is a national day of action to mark the start of the third month of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Here in New York, organizers have been distributing posters reading “Shut Down Wall Street! Occupy the Subways! Take the Square!” As we broadcast protesters marched in various parts of the Financial District in an attempt to block the New York Stock Exchange from opening at 9:30 a.m. Labor organizers are planning protests at dozens of bridges across the country today as part of a campaign to highlight the need for increased spending on the nation’s infrastructure. In Portland, protesters are planning to occupy the Steel Bridge. In Seattle, an action will target the Montlake Bridge. In Washington, D.C., protesters will march on the Key Bridge. In New York, a 5 p.m. action is set at the Brooklyn Bridge. The protests come just two days after New York police raided Occupy Wall Street at Liberty Plaza and destroyed the encampment. Protesters have been allowed to return to the park, but without sleeping bags, tents or musical instruments. Democracy Now!’s Ryan Devereaux reports live from Wall Street, where protesters, with help from New York police, blockaded all streets leading to the Stock Exchange. “The plan is for sort of a three-pronged blitz on the Financial District, marches coming from all different directions, and trying to basically swarm the area with people,” Devereaux says. “The NYPD’s response has been equally robust. There are police vehicles, officers and barricades on every single street.”
Police Conduct Surprise Raid on OWS Encampment at 1am
After two months of holding New York City’s Zuccotti Park despite repeated threats of eviction, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) activists were forcibly removed from the site by hundreds of police in riot gear early Tuesday morning. OWS media teams managed to send out alerts via text and email, but by 1:00 a.m. police moved into the park, which had been occupied by protestors since Sep. 17, to clear it out for a “cleaning”. Police say protestors will be allowed to return, but without any of their equipment, sleeping bags or tents. The move was widely seen by organizers as a permanent eviction. (more…)
Hip-hop artist and clothing designer Jay-Z is being scrutinized for allegedly profiting off of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Last week, friend and fellow business mogul, Russell Simmons tweeted a backstage photograph of himself standing next to Jay-Z, who was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Occupy All Streets.” Simmons’s tweet and the tee, from the Jay-Z owned company Rocawear, quickly became an online sensation as people scoured the Net trying to get their hands on the shirt. However, (more…)
They do it all the time these days, send in cops to pose as Protesters and incite crimes and violence among peaceful protests to discredit and marginalize the movement as a whole. It’s called false flag, it’s deceptive and wrong, and it should be Illegal, but we catch them doing it all the time. Check out these cops trying to infiltrate the Occupy Oakland Movement.
Last night, Scott Olsen, a Marine who served two tours in Iraq, was struck in the head by a “nonlethal” projectile fired by the Oakland police. The round fractured his skull, leaving him in critical condition. Olsen had joined with other members of Occupy Oakland to peacefully protest the group’s eviction that morning. When a group gathered to help Olsen after he was hit, a police officer threw a flash bang grenade into the group from a few feet away.
Deeply disturbing video of the incident was captured by a local news crew and provides the clearest evidence yet of the lengths that authorities will go to to stop Occupy protesters from voicing uncomfortable truths about our economy.
Yesterday’s eviction in the predawn hours, and last night’s violence against protesters, are only the latest attempts to silence the voices of those who are speaking up for the 99%. But members of Occupy Oakland, who faced the most brutal crackdown yet, refuse to be intimidated. They’ve called for another peaceful gathering tonight to stand up for their First Amendment rights.
Filmed live at Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Pittsburgh by Director Paradise Gray, Jasiri X reconnects with super producer Cynik Lethal to provide a soundtrack for this growing movement that has taken the world by storm. We gonna Occupy!
LYRICS
Verse 1
The Power’s with the people don’t let these cowards deceive you (more…)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – It was another busy day for Occupy Wall Street protesters who held three marches throughout the city on Tuesday. Demonstrators started their day around 1:30 p.m. at Sotheby’s, joining a rally with union workers involved in a contract dispute with the auction house.
They moved to the Manhattan district attorney’s office Tuesday evening around 5 p.m. to call for an investigation into what they say was an “unprovoked assault” by a police officer last week. The group says activist Felix Rivera-Pitre was seen on a video being punched by an officer when protesters hit the streets after winning the right to stay in Zuccotti Park on Friday.
According to the New York Times, Rivera-Pitre’s lawyer Ronald Kuby said that prosecutors are still investigating the incident. (more…)
The campaign to marginalize and destroy the growing 99 Percent Movement is in full swing, with many in the media attempting to smear the people participating in the “occupation” protests across the country. However, several of the so-called journalists deriding, and in some cases sabotaging the movement, have paychecks thanks to a billionaire whose business practices have been scorned as among the worst of the financial elite.
As the New York Times has documented, Paul Singer, a Republican activist and hedge fund manager worth over $900 million, has emerged as one of the most important power brokers within the GOP. Now, it appears that the reporters financed by Singer are at the forefront of efforts to tarnish the reputation of 99 Percent Movement demonstrators: (more…)
Hip-hop artist and clothing designer Jay-Z is being scrutinized for allegedly profiting off of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Last week, friend and fellow business mogul, Russell Simmons tweeted a backstage photograph of himself standing next to Jay-Z, who was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Occupy All Streets.” Simmons’s tweet and the tee, from the Jay-Z owned company Rocawear, quickly became an online sensation as people scoured the Net trying to get their hands on the shirt. However, 
