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16 Feb 2012 23:41

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Politics: Occupy Wall Street files paperwork to become a Super PAC

  • Occupying from within the system: Today, OWS created a super PAC called the “The Occupy Wall Street Political Action Committee.” John Paul Thornton is the treasurer of the committee. “It’s going to be fairly democratic. We’ll take opinions on how much candidates need and in what areas,” Thornton said. The point of this super PAC is to raise money … to stop politicians from raising too much money. “I am out to get the bloated amounts of money out of politics but to do that, we need to support candidates looking to do that,” Thornton said. source

22 Nov 2011 14:35

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Politics: President Obama speaks to Occupy after jobs speech interruption

  • For a lot of the folks who have been in New York and all across the country in the Occupy movement, there is a profound sense of frustration about the fact that the essence of the American dream, which is if you work hard, if you stick to it that, you can make it, feels like that’s slipping away. And that’s not the way things are supposed to be. Not here. Not in America.
  • President Obama • Responding to an interruption by Occupy protesters during a jobs speech in New Hampshire. After protesters “human-mic’d” themselves into the President’s attention (“Mr. President, more than 4,000 peaceful protesters have been arrested…”), he gave the above response, which seems both significant and somewhat lacking. That the President would directly address the protesters and cast himself on their side, in a way, speaks to the now nearly unstoppable influence the Occupy movement is having on the public discourse. At the same time, though, what Obama chose to say was fairly customary “American dream” rhetoric that didn’t address their specifically stated concern over the arrests of their comrades. source

17 Nov 2011 21:09

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U.S.: Breakdown: Arrests today during Occupy “Day of Action” protests

  • 400 estimated arrests in “Day of Action” protests nationwide
  • 300 estimated arrests in New York City alone, where emotions run high
  • 99 estimated arrests at the Brooklyn Bridge, a symbolic place source

17 Nov 2011 18:51

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U.S.: Day of Action: Protesters arrested for sitting at base of Brooklyn Bridge

  • 80+ arrested at Brooklyn Bridge during today’s protests source
  • » The second notable set of Brooklyn Bridge arrests: In something of a return to its roots for the Occupy movement, a number of protesters got arrested while attempting to head towards the Brooklyn Bridge, which mimics a protest from during the early part of the Occupy movement, in which over 700 people got arrested by the NYPD for walking on the iconic bridge. But the tone during today’s “Day of Action” protests was different — those who got arrested did so for sitting at the base of the bridge, while many others stuck to the pedestrian path, staying off the road.

17 Nov 2011 10:32

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U.S.: Occupy Wall Street descends on Wall Street on two-month anniversary

  • 50+ people arrested near Wall Street this morning source
  • » An attempt to prevent trading: A number of protesters, many from Zuccotti Park, tried to prevent traders from reaching the floor of Wall Street, but trading started at the usual 9:30 a.m. despite this. Protesters held up signs that said such things as “Tear down this Wall Street” and shouted phrases like “We aren’t afraid of your nightsticks,” in reference to the NYPD. “We’re not going to go away,” one protester, Davie Field, told the New York Times. “You can slash our tents and kick us out of the park, but we’ll keep coming back every day.”

16 Nov 2011 21:41

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Politics: Thousands of OWS’ library books missing after raid

  • Looking to check out a book while you Occupy? Until the dismantling of the Zuccotti Park encampment earlier this week that was a fairly simple proposition, thanks to the “People’s Library,” which was some 5,000 volumes strong. The library’s entire setup was confiscated by police during the raid, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office insisted via Twitter that the books would be available to be picked up today. The Occupiers charged with retrieving the books were incensed to find, however, that thousands of their books were missing or destroyed. Several laptops kept around the library are missing, as well; the proprietors of the OWS Library Twitter condemned Mayor Bloomberg thusly: “So @MikeBloomberg you lied, so where is the #OWSLibrary? Because it’s not at the Sanitation Garage.” source

03 Nov 2011 14:28

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Politics: Occupy Oakland to discuss chaos from last night’s protests

  • It’s not us, it’s a bunch of guys who wear black masks. It’s messing with our movement. They leech off our numbers — they only show up when there’s a rally.
  • Oakland Occupier Michael Porter • Talking about the chaotic elements of last night’s protests, which culminated in the early morning break-in of a vacant building, eliciting teargas and flash grenades from the OPD. Porter’s comment on this is interesting — there have been reports of graffiti sprayed throughout the city bearing conflicting messages, such as “kill cops” versus “non-violence works better.” The protest’s General Assembly is expected to address this today. source
 

25 Oct 2011 00:04

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U.S.: Occupy Chicago: Nurses union protests controversial Grant Park arrests

  • cause Early Sunday, police arrested two members of National Nurses United who cared for protesters at Occupy Chicago, in the process ignoring Grant Park’s closing time of 11 pm. They were among 100 people arrested.
  • reaction After getting out of jail on Monday morning, the nurses were joined by more than two dozen fellow union members outside of Mayor Emanuel’s office on the fifth floor of Chicago’s City Hall, causing a bit of an emotional scene. source
  • » Hiding a story from the media? The nurses arrested suggest that police were trying to hide an awkward scene from the cameras. “We were among the last protesters released, for no good reason that we can tell, except for they clearly knew when the media cameras had left,” said Jan Rodolfo, the Midwest director for NNU. “We were tearful and exhausted and shell shocked.” Rodolfo was among those arrested; her court date has been set for November 15.

10 Oct 2011 19:18

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Politics: Wallace Shawn joins Occupy Wall Street

  • Getting in the act: That Wallace Shawn (he of “The Princess Bride” and a notable dinner with a guy named Andre) chose to align himself with Occupy Wall Street shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody familiar with the man’s politics — he lent a hand to Michael Moore for a few scenes of “Capitalism: A Love Story,” for example. That said, the ever-expanding sphere of Occupy Wall Street’s influence continues to draw in bigger organizations (support from major unions) and famed personalities (hey look, it’s Mark Ruffalo) — as we mentioned, even a GOP presidential candidate, albeit the hopelessly unknown Buddy Roemer, plans to stop by. We’ll take this guy over Kanye any day of the week. source