Occupy Wall Street -- just venting

[PamNY]

That looks like some of them.

I haven't seen the scary guy lately -- I think he may have been invited to leave.

[PamNY]

A little more detail on Batman's visit to my neighborhood. Might be a good time to go out of town -- but getting around in a car won't be fun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/ny...l?ref=nyregion

[Trek420]

I agree with the aims of OWS but am a little nervous because I work here:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_192112...rce=rss_viewed

[channlluv]

I LOVE that the Occupy people have overcome the removal of generators with bikes hooked to batteries, and those ten bikes are creating double the energy of the gas-powered generators.

Nice.

[Trek420]

Nice! I took the day off for OWS Oakland. I needed the time to fax things to my credit union. I'm breaking up with my bank. Bye bye Wells Fargo mortgage, hello big savings.

[zoom-zoom]

We're planning to shut down our checking account with a large-ish bank and switch everything to our CU account, too.

Down with banks!

[Trek420]

I'm a long time credit union member (checking and savings) but had a major bank for the mortgage. They've refused to refinances my 1st while offering rates for much less for new owners.

My CU said "yes". It will save us a LOT.

Yesterday as I left work the nurses union was marching past. You can't see from the picture but it was a long line, several blocks long of nurses walking single file on the sidewalk and not impeding traffic in any way.

I love a good picket line chant as much as the next gal. Maybe more than the next gal.


I fell in with them, lent my voice and we marched to BART. Then I went on the way home.

[shootingstar]

I find it interesting that in Portland, OR the segments of the cycling community are actively organizing to support their Occupy ..ie. by organizing a bike swarm to protect the encampment, ....

bikeportland.org has the info.

Meanwhile last weekend I met a municipal politican locally in town when I was in the same bakery as he. He is a regular cyclist himself and big on designing/modifying communities to be more liveable which includes cycling infrastructure. He thought the cycling advocacy group's issues/desires would get all lumped in and confused with local Occupy Calgary.

Seems like there maybe differences in objectives per Occupy group across different cities.

I honestly believe that the original Occupy Wall St. is great to make issues of social justice, widening gaps of economic disparity, visible to the general public as a statement.

But fighting Wall St. and the financial sector that pays the minority CEOs, stockbrokers who get lots in their pockets, etc. ...requires sophisticated tactics long term head on to dismantle tax incentives that enrich the big corporations. All the mumble jumble covers up sophisticated, complicated corporate tax laws that on a technical point gives more avenues for corporations not to pay the govn't more tax. Ask anyone who is a corporate tax lawyer or an licensed accountant for a major corporation.

Sometimes I wish I didn't learn of certain things....after working for major international accounting firm that catered heavily to corporations worldwide.

The homeless issue is in some areas (in CAnada) caused partially by the greedy local real estate industry that is driving up the sale/value of homes and lack of co-op housing, affordable (safe, clean) rentals. Most certainly this is true for Vancouver, Calgary (more expensive now than it was only 8 months ago) and Toronto.