Video of cop's unprovoked assault on protester

As Karl Denninger pointed out, this is a clearly-documented act of felonious assault. Were you or I to do this we would be facing a felony charge.



Not all cops are like that, though. The Occupy Wall Street web site said there were unconfirmed reports that over 100 "police refused to come into work in solidarity with our movement."

Persistence pays off. People are starting to pay attention. Big unions and celebrities are taking up the cause and the protests are spreading to other towns. Will this be the American autumn? We will see.

UPDATE:

Wow. This just in from one of those towns -- San Francisco, where I lived when I started this blog! This is a *lot* of people for a workday.



To organize or find out if your town has an ongoing occupation, click here!

The War Against the Middle Class

Thom Hartmann comes out with some really eye-opening statistics in this video clip. One that really drives the situation home: since 1982, when the magazine was first published, Forbes' top 400 richest Americans increased their wealth by 1600 percent! That is, the 400 richest owned 91 billion dollars in '82, and now they own 1.5 trillion dollars.

Meanwhile:

• 46 million Americans live in poverty.
• Over 40 million Americans rely on food stamps.
• Over 50 million Americans are uninsured.

And these butt-wipes on Wall Street think they can stand on their balconies and mock the rabble below until the cows come home. Guess what, fellas? It's not cows coming home, it's chickens ... and they're coming home to roost.

Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore on Occupy Wall Street Media Blackout

Be a part of the solution

This movie (which premieres online on 11-11-11) looks pretty interesting ... I agree with what they say at the end: "Be a part of the conversation, be a part of the solution."



So often people think there's nothing they can do, they throw up their hands in hopelessness. I try not to turn away when injustice gets in my face. But I'm only human, and it hurts to look at ugliness and it hurts even more when I contemplate how complicit I've been in perpetuating that injustice.

I have to say there are times when I'm just despondent and I feel like saying, all right, that's it, this is not the country I took an oath to defend, that guy Troy Davis deserved a new trial at the very least, I give up on this country, let Hell take it (and don't get me wrong, there *will* be a reckoning for the evil this country has done) ... but when I get that way I'm letting the problem grab hold of me instead of grabbing hold of the problem. It's okay to focus on a problem (in fact it's vital that you focus on it) provided you are looking for a solution. If all you do is focus on how big and impossible the problem is, you're succumbing to fear and dodging responsibility at the same time. There's always a little something you can do. Focus on that, because anything else is wasted energy.

There's my little pep talk (mostly to myself) for the day ...

The 13 Most Evil U.S. Government Experiments on Humans

This isn't "conspiracy theory" ... it's conspiracy *fact*. The U.S. Government has been caught conducting some pretty vile experiments on the taxpayers' dime, and there are documents to back it up.

http://www.ranker.com/list/the-13-most-evil-u-s-government-experiments-on-humans/robert-wabash

Occupying Wall Street gets off to a slow start

I feel pretty guilty not being with these guys. The problem with these kinds of protests in America is that it's so big -- and it's a pain in the ass and prohibitively expensive to fly. It's probably more "effective" to just step away from the machine -- buy silver, take your money out of banks, don't feed the beast. I do what I can do. If you can't be with these people, please send your money or spiritual support to those who can.



From yesterday: New York Police Brutally Attack Peaceful Wall Street Protesters (Video)

Man Arrested at Ground Zero for Demanding Truth

Glad to see someone was out there this Sunday. It takes a very brave person to do this alone.

9/11: A Conspiracy Theory

From the Corbett Report Channel:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the 9/11 conspiracy theory in under 5 minutes.

George Carlin: the Illusion of Choice

I used to vote in every single election (almost always for a 3rd party candidate!). But I can tell you from working on Cindy Sheehan's campaign for congress that the system is rigged. That was also the message of that movie about Harvey Milk, as I recall. He kept running for City Council, but it wasn't until they passed a law to de-rig the system (and create fair voting districts) that he was actually able to get elected.

It's time to step out of the box that's been so carefully crafted for the American people. Republicans? Democrats? That's not much of a choice. We've got the same puppet master running the puppet show and they would have us all mesmerized by watching the puppets bash each other in the face.

Honoring the victims of September 11th

As we approach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the US mainstream media is predictably pumping out the the propaganda and prepping us for some kind of weird patriotic celebration of that day -- and it looks like it's going to be a very elite private party. No first responders or run-of-the mill survivors allowed. Never mind these people are still dying from breathing the toxins the EPA knew was in the dust.

We're going to be asked to laud the beneficiaries of those attacks (i.e. Bush, Giuliani) as "heroes," instead of honoring the victims. Who are the victims? Not just the people in the buildings when the towers collapsed, but the first responders as well, and all the innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan who were killed as "collateral damage" in occupations justified by these attacks.

How can we honor them? Those real heroes who ran into burning buildings, sacrificing their lives to try to save others? By starting another war? By forcing Americans to be virtually strip-searched at the airport? By legislating away even more hard-won Civil Rights? I don't think so.

If you want to honor those who lost their lives that day, start looking for the truth. We *know* we were lied to about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction." We *know* the Bush administration had no problem violating the Geneva Conventions on torture. We *know* that 1500 architects and engineers refute the official story of how WTC Building 7 came down. This September 11th, if you have doubts about the official story, share them with your family, friends and acquaintances. If you don't know much about the contradictions to the official story, take the time to educate yourself. There are many free documentaries offered on the web, like this one (only 15 minutes!).

Don't we owe it to the real victims of the 9-11 attacks -- honest and peace loving people -- to discover the truth? Then we can stop being victims.

Why did Republicans flip the stars on their elephant logo?

This happened around the year 2000. I know a bit about symbolism and it always struck me as odd that the supposed "God-fearing Republicans" would change their logo to include what I had thought were well-known Satanic symbols -- upside-down five-pointed stars. I see that Thom Hartmann has also noticed, and prescribes an "exorcism" for the Republican party: http://youtu.be/C0giVL4j8mQ

How dare these war criminals show their faces in public!

Jackals like Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush can only show their faces in public by the people's willingness to tolerate it. Here's the latest exploit by Code Pink telling Karl Rove to get lost, stop hawking his damn book and turn himself in for war crimes:

CodePINK 'Welcomes' Karl Rove @ Dallas Convention Center


Related:
Why are These Two Traitorous, Mass Murdering Assholes Still Free?

Corporations aren't people

Corporations have been exploiting the 14th amendment for years, claiming "personhood" (the right of free speech, due process, search and seizure protections, etc). But unlike real people, corporations have no conscience (they're not supposed to ... their bottom line is to make their shareholders money), can live forever, are considerably wealthier than most private individuals, don't need clean water or a healthy environment to survive ... and you can't even put them in jail. When it comes to cold-blooded killing, Philip Morris makes Dracula look like a piker. That's why I was happy to see Thom Hartmann's solution on What Really Happened today. It's time to roll out the death penalty for corporations!

9/11 Building 7 - Martin Noakes