Occupy Wall Street -- just venting

[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.

[tangentgirl]

Thought I'd post this here. No matter where you stand in politicsland, this is pretty sweet:


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/occupy_nashvile_lovefest.html

(well, i suppose if you really really really really really really didn't like one side or the other you could say it sucks. but that's a lot of reallys.)

[PamNY]

Very charming and sounds kind of Southern.

The article mentions Nashville being designated "friendliest city." I have never found Nashville as friendly as it is reputed to be (I was born there, and visited often when my parents were alive).

[ny biker]

Last night in DC they protested around the Convention Center. Three protesters were hit by a car. Police did not press charges against the driver, because witnesses said the he had a green light and and the protestors were trying to close the road.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/11...say-68784.html

I don't think this protest was announced in advance, which would have given motorists a chance to avoid the area. The first time I heard of it was after it had already started, and I keep a close eye on traffic reports.

[PamNY]

So sad to hear about people getting hurt for any reason.

They aren't announcing the marches here. I dislike getting caught in them.

Our city council member has been wonderful about working with residents, but her staff told me there's no way to inform people about the marches that don't require permits. I hoped they could use Twitter or the city's emergency notification system to send out alerts, but they can't.

[PamNY]

Bike parking is at a premium in the neighborhood around Zuccotti Park. Here's one way to solve the problem!

[VeloVT]

Bike parking is at a premium in the neighborhood around Zuccotti Park. Here's one way to solve the problem!

That seems pretty risky.

OWS has occupied our city park here in Burlington VT, and marches down the pedestrian shopping arcade at noon every Sunday. There have actually been quite a lot of people participating. While I'm quite sympathetic to the problematic lack of regulation in the financial sector in the past 20 years, the protest (here at least) feels a lot like your garden variety WTO protest -- some people who want to save sea turtles, some people with "no blood for oil" signs, a whole lot of people chanting "you got bailed out, we got sold out" (who seemingly don't understand what would have happened otherwise)...

Anyway, someone just shot himself in the park, and it's going to turn very ugly shortly. The right blaming it on the city administration not taking a stronger stance on the "park occupation", the left arguing (rightly, in my view) that this incident could have easily happened in any of the cities with active "occupations" and the real issue is gun control/the fact that concealed weapons are legal here. In any case, it was a suicide by someone who was, from preliminary news stories, homeless, troubled, and without adequate support, and regardless of the "side" you support, it is a sad incident and unfortunate that it will certainly be highly politicized here.

The news tonight was this, the Paterno scandal, the Dover scandal - pretty depressing all around.