Occupy Wall Street Sign of the Day
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Too Cool for Jazz Hands
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Best "We the People" Petition EVER
So, the White House developed a project called "We the People" where citizens can create a petition and then, if they get 5K signatures the White House would ... well, they really wouldn't do much of anything. In response to this bullshit project, a clever fellow citizen has created the best petition ever:
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Keynes and the Holy Trilogy* (Repost)
The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.
~ John Maynard Keynes
You must unlearn what you have learned.
~ Yoda
[W]e’re living in a Dark Age of macroeconomics.
~ Paul Krugman
[T]he Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.
~ Obi-Wan Kenobe
* All unidentified or unlinked quotes herein are from Paul Krugman, "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?" Additionally, even when not directly quoted, significant portions of the following essay are paraphrased from Professor Krugman's article.
Occupied Media: Interview With NEDAP's Josh Zinner
Occupied Media's next installment in its #OWS interview and teach-in series is with attorney and co-director of NEDAP, Josh Zinner. Josh witnessed the effects of the endemic mortgage fraud as it ripped through New York's communities; he does an amazing job describing the mechanics of the scam and how we got where we are today. We also discuss whether there should be criminal prosecutions - a resounding yes from Josh on that issue (the people, like Josh, who watched this fraud as it was happening are particularly adamant that the crooks who crashed the world economy and devastated communities should not escape criminal prosecution). Josh also shared his thoughts on the financial-sector reforms that are necessary to keep us from repeating this nightmare. Finally, we pull back from the housing and financial sector issues to discuss, in general terms, what needs to be done to fix our wrecked economy.
I'm Back! - Live Blogging #OWS - 11/9/11
November 9, 2011
Occupy Wall Street Sign of the Day (I thought it fit with yesterday's elections - I really am hopeful that Wisconsin and OWS are turning the political tides)
Occupy Wall Street Sign of the Day (I thought it fit with yesterday's elections - I really am hopeful that Wisconsin and OWS are turning the political tides)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
11/7/11 - No Minimal blogging today
Hey everyone, I need to take a break from the blog to get something else done. Should be back tomorrow. In the meantime, check out my most recent essay.
And here's the new Chris Hedges.
Update: Here's an Occupy Wall Street Sign of the Day (and I might get to a few updates through the day, but it will be LIGHT).
And here's the new Chris Hedges.
Update: Here's an Occupy Wall Street Sign of the Day (and I might get to a few updates through the day, but it will be LIGHT).
Sunday, November 6, 2011
No War But the Class War: Is Political Realignment Possible?
Have you ever suddenly realized that several ideas that have been rolling through your mind are connected? People who regularly write and think about ideas live for such aha moments. In fact, I think Aldous Huxley had such experiences in mind when he cleverly described “[a]n intellectual” as “a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex.” Although I certainly won’t claim to be in that rarefied ether, I did recently have a minor moment of clarity with respect to three ideas about OWS that have been preoccupying me (ha, preoccupying).
The first comes from a recent interview with Larry Mishel of EPI - who is brilliant and charming and very deserving of all of the praise he’s been getting lately (the interview is currently being edited and will be posted soon). Anyway, during the interview, Larry (we’re on a first name basis) said something that I immediately knew was correct, but that I hadn’t heard articulated: He said that he used to think of our system as broken, but it’s not; it’s functioning exactly how it is supposed to function. The 1% haven’t broken our government; they’ve captured it. And having captured it, they’ve designed it to work for their benefit and against the interests of the 99%.*
As soon as I heard this, I knew it was correct and that it has all kinds of implications (which I’m just starting to think through). But before I get to what I think the primary implication is, there’s a second idea, which is based on something Digby said. But because she said it in the context of a larger debate, it requires a bit of set up.
