Monday, October 31, 2011

I'm with Russell Simmons calling for Bruce to come to Occupy Wall Street. Now is not the time to be silent.


I am with Russell Simmons we need Bruce to visit occupy Wall Street as these college age kids and everyone else try to throw their "so-called-leaders" off our back and bring democracy back to our people.

Says It All. Of course the main stream media like to call him the independent. The independent of the 1% I guess that makes him the.5%

From John Sherffius

Time Warp (Official Video) Rocky Horror Picture Show

Occupy Chicago - Oct 27th 2011

Pretty coherent to me.

GOLDMAN SUX?Giant Squid Strikes Againat Occupy Wall Street's Credit UnionGoldman Sachs Intensifies Threat on Credit Union

GOLDMAN SUX?Giant Squid Strikes Againat Occupy Wall Street's Credit UnionGoldman Sachs Intensifies Threat on Credit Union

Officer Friendly

Officer Friendly

Very funny. Serve and protect who?

New York Police Are Redirecting 'Drunks' And 'Aggressive' People To Occupy Protest | ThinkProgress

New York Police Are Redirecting 'Drunks' And 'Aggressive' People To Occupy Protest ThinkProgress

Got to love the New York mayor using the drunks and agressive people to destroy than the people's movement than doing anything to solve the city's problem. You would only worry about that if you were really the city's representative not somebody who purchased the position.

Rich Eskow: It's Time To Accept The Fact That The Post Is No Longer A Reputable Newspaper

Rich Eskow: It's Time To Accept The Fact That The Post Is No Longer A Reputable Newspaper

Eric Cantor rakes in Wall Street donations

Eric Cantor rakes in Wall Street donations

Wall Street's well paid henchman.

Picket and Occupy Warning to Employers etc

Picket and Occupy Warning to Employers etc

Greg Mitchell of The Nation Magazine, who has done one of the best blogs on Occupy Wall Street, is back up and running again.

7:10   And...he's back.   This live-blog went dead starting early Saturday afternoon when the surprised HalloStorm hit the northeast, including my town just north of NYC.  Power went out and still out and perhaps for awhile.  I posted a notice here Saturday night and even got one link up yesterday from a very crowded B & N with very slow wi-fi.  Now at a Starbuck and seems pretty good, can also head to a friend's house nearby.  So check back often and see how I am doing.  Thanks for the jokes about need to OccupyAGenerator.

Ernest Hemingway, Labor Journalist? - The ITT List

Ernest Hemingway, Labor Journalist? - The ITT List

Big Banks and Pay Day Lenders

Occupy Oakland move to endorsing a general strike

From Crooks and Liars

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Person who helped with Nixon's crimes says that occupy Wall Street will end badly. I thought Pat Buchanon liked populism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/pat-buchanan-occupy-wall-street_n_1066143.html#ooid=UwNXV4Mjpy4-7By6tig6f7tNFOjqCoqv

Time's Up! Energy Bike Powers Occupy Wall Street



Does the people's mayor have a problem with bicycles?

A Cold Play on Occupy Wall Street



New York's Billionaire mayor steals generators of people practicing their right to protest. Once again proving that he certainly doesn't work for ordinary New Yorkers. When do they go to clean the park again? Probably if this stunt doesn't work. Yet Bloomberg respects free speech I wonder how much it costs.

Bloomberg To Host Sunday Dinner To Urge Super Committee To Cut $4 Trillion, Let The 99% Eat Cake

Bloomberg To Host Sunday Dinner To Urge Super Committee To Cut $4 Trillion, Let The 99% Eat Cake

Occupy Baltimore Wins Support of Police and Fire Fighters Unions

#OWS Guest Post: Denver Police Use Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, Batons and Pepper Spray On Protesters

#OWS Guest Post: Denver Police Use Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, Batons and Pepper Spray On Protesters

Susie's Presidential Cat Bowl



Another quality video by Susie Sampson. Makes as much sense as anything.

Snow and tough police action fail to deter - 'Occupy Wall Street'

A good graphic for occupy movement

Fox's Liz Trotta Sneers at Amy Goodman and Democracy Now for Supporting #OWS Movement

Fox's Liz Trotta Sneers at Amy Goodman and Democracy Now for Supporting #OWS Movement

This is a hoot. Democracy Now is against, as the this Fox puppet says, the "liberal" mainstream media for not being liberal enough. She never tells us which one she's talking about the one controlled by GE, Disney, Viacom, or Time Warner. Shut Fox off, it will hurt your brain.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Schools Matter: Michelle First

Schools Matter: Michelle First: What costs $50,000 and makes you nauseous? Michelle Rhee's speaking contract

Who knows what pertinent information she'll bestow on the public. Her $50,000 is more than many teachers might make in a year. Yet she can bestow her information in one simple picture. After all teaching is for suckers.

 I hear Michelle is blowing into Boston on November 9 at 7:00 PM. at Symphony Hall.

Occupy Oakland: Michael Moore Full Speech 10.28.2011

Wall Street - By Jerry Levinsky

Bank of America's Death Rattle

AFL-CIO President Trumka Denouces Proposed Cuts to Social Security, Medi...

What the Costumes Reveal - NYTimes.com

What the Costumes Reveal - NYTimes.com

REGULATION VACATION CELEBRATION!



Funny piece.

Goldman Sachs v. Occupy Wall Street: A Greg Palast Investigation



Excellent piece.

Caitlin Curran The Takeaway: Public Radio Freelancer Fired for Occupy Wall Street demonstration

Caitlin Curran The Takeaway: Public Radio Freelancer Fired for Occupy Wall Street demonstration

I guess you can't work for public radio and support Occupy Wall Street despite the fact that the public supports it. It must be like when politicians who supposedly work for the public don't have to listen to anything they say.

The bankers' blockade of WikiLeaks must end | James Ball | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The bankers' blockade of WikiLeaks must end James Ball Comment is free guardian.co.uk

Jimmy Fallon and Brian Williams slow jamming Occupy Wall Street

http://video.aol.com

OWS Judge Refuses to Book Arrested Protesters Occupy Nashville



The police will be back another day to drag more peaceful protestors out. Useful use of our tax dollars.

For Undocumented Workers, It's Not-so-Sweet Home Alabama



Alabama taking a stand on immigration and putting themselves out of business. How to get by without it's cheap immigrant work force.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Amy Goodman and Christopher Hedges on Charlie Rose





Wanna See a Real Ass Kicking (Itself)? Read the Dems' 'Super Committee' Proposal

Wanna See a Real Ass Kicking (Itself)? Read the Dems' 'Super Committee' Proposal

We've loved that super committee from the beginning. Unelected who knows what they stand for?

How does Occupy Wall Street no it is winning the argument?

Yesterday Peggy Noonan, who has spent thirty years writing love letters to Ronald Reagan the architect of Republican style class warfare, writes and op-ed piece in the Wall Street journals complaining about bureaucrats being too close to money centers and the income gap. And Joe Scarborough, faithful mouthpiece for the status quo argues that closing loopholes is a more effective manner than raising the 1% tax rate at closing the wealth gap (that up to a month ago he could have cared less about). As a matter of fact, neither of these people even seemed to acknowledge that there was any difference between their mega-strata salaries and nearly everyone else's depressed wages. Keep the camps open I think it has done a world of good for these two loyal mouthpieces souls.

#ows Takes The Streets In Solidarity With #occupyoakland | OccupyWallSt.org

#ows Takes The Streets In Solidarity With #occupyoakland OccupyWallSt.org

The serfs in New York are rioting how will the duke's men take control. That's what happens when you feed them endless democracy pablum they might actually believe it.

Occupy The DOE



There couldn't be a better group to shout down. They had to get up and walk out because education belongs in the back room where it is away from the public's eye. Indifference is the key support to educational "reform."

From Occupy Wall Street blog at the nation

10:50 What a mess. Oakland mayor, after saying she'd speak at GA tonight (see down below), now exits, saying would send recorded speech! Not sure whether she backed out, or told not welcome (that's what she says), but hoo-boy.... Award offered via Paste Bin for info on police officer who cause Olsen's injury... Vigils all over the country, to many to mention.

NYPD Sergeants Union Blasts Protesters In Oakland For Violence

NYPD Sergeants Union Blasts Protesters In Oakland For Violence

When you're losing the public relationship war you should probably just shut up.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Mayor Quan: Stop the Police Brutality at OCCUPY OAKLAND

Mayor Quan to Speak at Occupy Oakland - Pulse of the Bay - The Bay Citizen

Mayor Quan to Speak at Occupy Oakland - Pulse of the Bay - The Bay Citizen

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Says She Will Minimize Police Presence And That She Supports The Movement | ThinkProgress

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Says She Will Minimize Police Presence And That She Supports The Movement ThinkProgress

Welcome to 99% leave the police at home.

Thirty Years of Unleashed Greed | Common Dreams

Thirty Years of Unleashed Greed Common Dreams

Occupy Wall Street on the Move | Common Dreams

Occupy Wall Street on the Move Common Dreams

Life Among the 1% | MichaelMoore.com

Life Among the 1% MichaelMoore.com

There's America—and Then There's Washington - The Atlantic

There's America—and Then There's Washington - The Atlantic

A good article.

GENERAL STRIKE & MASS DAY OF ACTION – NOVEMBER 2

GENERAL STRIKE & MASS DAY OF ACTION – NOVEMBER 2

Big Banks Don't Want Your Money, Unless You Pay Them to Keep It -- For Real | BuzzFlash.org

Big Banks Don't Want Your Money, Unless You Pay Them to Keep It -- For Real BuzzFlash.org

Something I long ago predicted as interest rates fell like a stone and I bet the federal government backs the banks
.

Occupy Oakland, before and after it was torn down by police

Occupy Oakland, before and after it was torn down by police

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Occupy Denver

Occupy heads to the school board

http://vimeo.com/31119914

The Elizabeth Warren Photo That Should Put Scott Brown On Extreme Notice

The Elizabeth Warren Photo That Should Put Scott Brown On Extreme Notice

Denver weather turns wintry; Occupy protesters say they fear they will die - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Denver weather turns wintry; Occupy protesters say they fear they will die - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Glenn Greenwald on Occupy Wall Street, Banks Too Big To Jail and the Att...

Glenn Greenwald on Two-Tiered US Justice System, Obama's Assassination P...

Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes | World news | guardian.co.uk

Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes World news guardian.co.uk

Protester Brings Occupy Wall Sreet To Super Committee (VIDEO)

Protester Brings Occupy Wall Sreet To Super Committee (VIDEO)

Who let the American people in while they do the people's business?

Veteran shot in the face by police projectile at Occupy Oakland protests



Iraq War Vet seriously wounded at Occupy Oakland. From one war zone to the next but it definitely isn't class warfare.

From Huff Post:
WASHINGTON -- The Oakland Police Department fired tear gas on Occupy Oakland demonstrators Tuesday night as they marched through downtown, determined to reclaim the camp that officers destroyed that morning. As the marchers zigged and zagged in search of safe ground, authorities bombarded and barricaded the activists into a drawn-out stalemate that resulted in further arrests.
The local police's use of force seriously injured an Occupy activist and Iraq War veteran.
Scott Olsen, 24, remains sedated on a respirator, in stable but critical condition at Oakland’s Highland Hospital after being hit in the head with a police projectile.
Olsen's roommate, Keith Shannon, 24, told The Huffington Post that Olsen is still in the emergency room.
"Right now, he's under sedation," Shannon said. "He walked into the hospital." But soon after his arrival, Shannon said, doctors found that there was swelling in Olsen's brain and put him under. He did not get a chance to talk to his friend. "They are waiting for a neurosurgeon to examine him to see if he needs surgery or not," Shannon said. If he doesn't need an operation, he'll be moved to the intensive care unit.

post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/iraq-vet-oakland-police-tear-gas_n_1033159.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

Gov. Chris Christie’s Budget Cuts Put 4,000 New Jersey Police Officers Out Of A Job

Gov. Chris Christie’s Budget Cuts Put 4,000 New Jersey Police Officers Out Of A Job: pIn the name of “no taxes,” Republicans have slashed state budgets across the country, forcing schools to sell advertising space, firefighters to lose their jobs to prison labor, and cities to decriminalize domestic violence in order to save money. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie (R) instituted severe cuts to education funding, public employee benefits, [...]/p

Maybe they can get the remaining policemen to protect those that want to slash their tax cuts some more and put the rest out of a job. The last policeman there don't forget to close the police station door.

Police fire tear gas at protesters | Video | abc7news.com

Police fire tear gas at protesters Video abc7news.com

From the The Nation Occupy Wall Street blog of Oakland

Witness: "A protester just threw $$$ at the police line yelling 'will you protect us now?'"... As noted earlier, besides live coverage below, local ABC has continuing coverage from overhead. ... Reports of multiple people struck by...something...and on the ground.... other trying to avoid being arrested or kettled

Oct. 25 Kasich on SB5 Poll.mov



Can't the Koch brothers and other like them, just buy that bill. Oh from what I've heard that is what they are attempting to do.

From Crooks and Liars a $7,500 dollar fundraiser while people are getting teargassed: no class war here. Move right along nothing to see here.

"Heighten the contradictions" is what activists used to say back in the Sixties. And tonight, while President Obama was in San Francisco hosting a $7,500-a-plate fundraiser, people are getting teargassed in Oakland, just a few miles away - for alleged health and safety violations. You can't get much more of a contradiction than that.
It's being reported that Occupy Atlanta, Occupy Baltimore, Occupy Clarksville, Occupy San Diego have all been served by police with eviction notices for midnight tonight.

Occupy Oakland Protest: Police Fire Tear Gas And Beanbag Rounds, Clear Out Encampment (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Occupy Oakland Protest: Police Fire Tear Gas And Beanbag Rounds, Clear Out Encampment (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

More from Oakland.

Tear gas! Thrown at Occupy Oakland!



Police use tear gas in Oakland. I guess that makes this the new ground zero of the class war that isn't really happening.

Monday, October 24, 2011

No Plans to Drop Occupy Protest Charges: City Hall | NBC Chicago

No Plans to Drop Occupy Protest Charges: City Hall NBC Chicago

Rob Emmanuel believes in first amendment rights as long as it's before 11:00 P.M.

I think I've seen this seen in psycho

PHOTOS: MA Bridge Carrying 50,000 Vehicles/Day Appears Ready to Collapse

PHOTOS: MA Bridge Carrying 50,000 Vehicles/Day Appears Ready to Collapse

The Glouchester Mass. bridge makes you feel plenty safe.

New York cops defy order to arrest hundreds of ‘Occupy Albany’ protesters | The Raw Story

New York cops defy order to arrest hundreds of ‘Occupy Albany’ protesters The Raw Story

LennonWainwright.m4v

'Occupy Main Street': Rich People Protest The 99% (VIDEO)

'Occupy Main Street': Rich People Protest The 99% (VIDEO)

Michael Moore Occupies Wall Street - CNBC

Michael Moore Occupies Wall Street - CNBC



Full video

From occupy Chicago after the mass arrests

9:25  For those who think doing civil disobedience is a lark,  and protesters just get a ticket and go home, listen up.  From Occupy Chicago:  "They still haven't released the nurses who were arrested last nigh."  You may recall the human chain around the medical tent.  " One of the holding cells with about 30 men had no working sink. Their requests were ignored for 5 to 6 hours....An epileptic girl needed her meds. We yelled for an hour before anyone came and then they ignored for another hour....We yelled for about sixteen hours to make a phonecall before they finally let some of us...This protester asked different police officers 86 times politely to make a phone call. Ignored all night.....
"We were given no food until noon today after yelling for hours they gave us a bologna sandwich.....Most of those of us who were in jail were not even allowed a phone call even though we asked for one repeatedly.....Two of the people who did get a phonecall report that the bondsmen were playing videogames instead of working on our paperwork....None of the men were given toilet paper for the past twenty hours. "

Breaking news! tom tomorrow

Breaking news!

CHART: How Income Inequality Skyrocketed And The 1 Percent Profited From The Decline Of Unions

CHART: How Income Inequality Skyrocketed And The 1 Percent Profited From The Decline Of Unions: pThis evening, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) will give a speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business about how to address income inequality, likely trying to capitalize on the 99 Percent Movement he once derided as unruly “mobs.” Although exactly what policies Cantor will suggest to deal with this social problem [...]/p

From the nation's blog Greg Mitchell reports number of arrest. Sometimes it is hard to keep track because so many cities around.

12:05 AM @OccupyArrests, which is keeping tally, just now raised numbers to 2382 arrests in past six weeks. BTW, five reportedly remaiin jailed in Chicago for 24 hours now because were also arrested last week.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Anonymous-Operation Fox Hunt:Anti Fox News Campaign

Kathy Bates I Want Obama 'To Stand Up on His Hind Legs and Fight These ...

Fox Panel Pushes for Privatizing the United States Post Office | Video Cafe

Fox Panel Pushes for Privatizing the United States Post Office Video Cafe

Fox already out there pushing with analysis that a mile wide and an inch deep.

What the Right Fears Most About Occupy Wall Street | Addicting Info

What the Right Fears Most About Occupy Wall Street Addicting Info

The $1 Trillion Student Loan Rip-Off: How an Entire Generation Was Tricked into Taking on Crushing Debt That Just Enriches Banks | | AlterNet

The $1 Trillion Student Loan Rip-Off: How an Entire Generation Was Tricked into Taking on Crushing Debt That Just Enriches Banks AlterNet

Truthfully what is driving this movement. From the article:

It’s a huge mess.
Some people have noticed that “student loan
debt” comes up a lot among the Wall Street Occupiers and the members of the 99
percent movement. Often, older people, who either attended school when tuition
was reasonable, or who didn’t attend college at all in an era when a high school
diploma was enough of a qualification for a stable, middle-class career, tend to
think this is all the entitled whining of spoiled kids. They don’t understand
that these kids accepted a home mortgage worth of debt before they ever even had
a regular income, based on phony promises, and that the debt is inescapable,
regardless of life circumstances or ability to pay...

''' The impossibility of escaping student loan
debt is why
an industry sprang up
to foist useless, overpriced degrees on vulnerable
people. It’s a scam, but a profitable one, and respectable enough for major
establishment players to feel comfortable making a killing on it.
Like, for instance, Kaplan University, a
chain of for-profit colleges built on
winning free government student aid
money and attracting suckers to borrow small fortunes.
The crooks are shameless. The Fiscal Times
asked a
bunch of predictable brain-dead airport bookstore luminaries
(Dr. Oz! Mort
Zuckerman!) to share one idea to “solve our fiscal crisis.”

This was once called indentured servitude and a political class, that doesn't bother service its members, doesn't feel responsible. They basically serve nobody.

McConnell: Not My Job To Prevent Firefighter, Police Layoffs | TPMDC

McConnell: Not My Job To Prevent Firefighter, Police Layoffs TPMDC

The question is what exactly is his job if it isn't to represent his constituency.

130 arrests as Occupy Chicago protesters defy order to leave park; 11 arrests in Cincinnati - The Washington Post

130 arrests as Occupy Chicago protesters defy order to leave park; 11 arrests in Cincinnati - The Washington Post

Eddy, ex cop in New York City, on #OWS



Very interesting. He has a very cynical view from what he has seen from his days in the city. He thinks they shouldn't protest that they should talk but he also thinks there is no way Bloomberg would talk to them. He spends a lot of time talking about all the people who skim off the top, see the occupy movement in the same light, but doesn't deny Wall Street from making as much as they cxan bexcause they're taking all the chance. It's like he doesn's see them as poswibly skimming off the top to make their progfits. Or what type of chance did Steve Forbes, who was born into his fortune, have to take.

What the NYPD Really Thinks of Occupy Wall Street | Mother Jones

What the NYPD Really Thinks of Occupy Wall Street Mother Jones

From article: "We are all in this together," says an off-duty cop—let's call him Jim—who described himself to me as a 99 percenter and supporter of the occupation. Jim says he believes that most of his fellow officers feel the same. "We have no problems with what goes on there," he says.Jim has stubble, thinning hair, and circles under his eyes. He's been posted to Occupy Wall Street since Day One, and all the mandatory overtime is wearing him down. "I'm really working hard for this," he says. "I'm getting yelled at, I'm getting cursed out; I'd rather be at home with my family right now.""We are in a union as well," says one NYPD veteran, "and we are not rich."And yet he understands that the same group that's squaring off against him at Zuccotti is fighting for his future. A 10-year NYPD veteran who helped escort people out of the Twin Towers on 9/11, Jim has seen his retirement fund cut in half by a declining stock market, from $40,000 to $20,000. He worries that his kids won't be able to afford college or find jobs. And he's frustrated about not being able to talk about it openly. "We're getting lost in the shuffle," he says, pointing out that other public-sector unions, unlike his own, have backed OWS. "We are in a union as well, and we are not rich."

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Chomsky's conclusion at Occupy Boston



End of Chomsky speech in Boston "people with power don't give it up unless they have to."

From friend of blog Chris picked up from occupy LA

Just heard a mom explain to her little daughter what this movement is about "well honey, 1% of monsters are eating 99% of the cookies"

Wal-Mart won't offer health insurance to some part-time workers

Wal-Mart won't offer health insurance to some part-time workers

Willie Nelson gets behind Occupy Wall Street movement



Willie ane Pete Seeger behind you what else could you ask.

Pete Seeger and Occupy Wall Street Sing 'We Shall Overcome' at Columbus ...



Seeger has been there done that. Rallies one more Time.

Sign of the Times - Arrests in the WI Assembly Gallery; 10 Cops, Really?



Thank God Wisconsin though it can't afford anything at least can afford 10 policemen to protect the assembly from people wearing signs on a regular piece of paper pinned to their shirt.

Senators Who Blocked Latest Jobs Bill Have Combined Net Worth Of $400 Million | Political Correction

Senators Who Blocked Latest Jobs Bill Have Combined Net Worth Of $400 Million Political Correction

This is shocking for some they don't see things the same way as occupy Wall Street. I wonder why. Clean out the lot of them.

What Do Marco Rubio, Immigrants For Sale, And A Sh_t-Ton Of Cash Have In Common?

What Do Marco Rubio, Immigrants For Sale, And A Sh_t-Ton Of Cash Have In Common?

Excellent interview. Immigrants for sale and they say we have no growth industries.

Wall Street Protests The Occupy Movement


From Brandon W, NewYorker.com

London's St Paul's Cathedral shuts due to protest

Pretty good assessment of Wall Street movement on Countdown

Pete Seeger and Pals Attend (Occupy Wall Street) NYC Protest Action - Democratic Underground

Pete Seeger and Pals Attend (Occupy Wall Street) NYC Protest Action - Democratic Underground

Its like old times. When 92 year old Pete Seeger walks empires tremble.



Cornel West Arrested: Activist Allegedly Arrested Taking Part In Occupy Wall Street Protest In New York

Cornel West Arrested: Activist Allegedly Arrested Taking Part In Occupy Wall Street Protest In New York

Thank god the US is keeping this professor under control. He threatens the country how... by giving too many inflated Cs.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Big Money, Bad Media, Secret Agendas: Welcome to America's Wildest School Board Race | The Nation

Big Money, Bad Media, Secret Agendas: Welcome to America's Wildest School Board Race The Nation America's deep pockets buy those who'll promote their form of school reform.

Eric Cantor speech at University of Pennsylvania abruptly canceled - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com

Eric Cantor speech at University of Pennsylvania abruptly canceled - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com

Cantor will only speak to crowds that already agree with him. That is free speech.

Hundreds target Wal-Mart chairman outside DC fundraiser - Oct. 20, 2011

Mark Sanford To Fox News: Ex-South Carolina Governor Joins Network

Mark Sanford To Fox News: Ex-South Carolina Governor Joins Network

No doubt he'll be a family value commentator as well as expert guide to Appalachian Trail which runs via Argentina.

From the Daily Kos The Rise of Poverty of 2010

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Greeks back austerity bill as police clash with protesters — RT

Greeks back austerity bill as police clash with protesters — RT

More Real News from Greece

More on Greek Crisis from Real News

ATHENS ERUPTS: Violence as Parliament votes



Athens is boiling over.

Radio Show Distributed By NPR Fires Host After She Takes Part In Protests

Radio Show Distributed By NPR Fires Host After She Takes Part In Protests: pOn Tuesday, Roll Call ran a story noting that Lisa Simeone — a radio personality who hosts the shows World of Opera and Soundprint — has been taking part in and serving as an informal spokeswoman for anti-war protests in Washington, DC known as October 2011 (which are separate from the Occupy D.C. demonstrations). The [...]/p

Repeal The Romney Rule | Sign the Petition at theromneyrule.com


A devastating add and largely true. I love the picture at the start of this it makes "Middle Class" Mitt look like the weasel he is.

See Mitt Romney say his health care reform plan would be good for the nation

See Mitt Romney say his health care reform plan would be good for the nation

I think it's such a shame that "Middle Class" Mitt has to debate anyone. It strikes me that he has a real debate going inside his mind.

Chris Hedges & the Demands of Most Americans - A Moment of Clarity


This guy is brilliant we could have had best education and best medical for all the money spent on war but we instead chose to pour it down a rat hole (Iraq and Afghanistan)

Naomi Wolf: How I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Naomi Wolf: How I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street Comment is free guardian.co.uk

Athens Roils: Greeks Riot Over New Austerity Measures | TPM Media

Athens Roils: Greeks Riot Over New Austerity Measures TPM Media

Some good pictures of occupy Athens.

Author Naomi Wolf Speaks Out About Her Arrest At Occupy Wall Street Protest

Author Naomi Wolf Speaks Out About Her Arrest At Occupy Wall Street Protest

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Labor Poised to Defeat Kasich, Anti-Union SB 5 in Ohio | FDL News Desk

Labor Poised to Defeat Kasich, Anti-Union SB 5 in Ohio FDL News Desk

Labor looking good in Ohio.

Some images from Athens







AFP: Greece strike begins with thousands on streets

AFP: Greece strike begins with thousands on streets

Occupy Greece 20,oo0 they believe.

Leaked Memo: The Corporate Board Rooms Fear the Occupy Movement Occupying their Board Rooms Targeting Individual Executives | October 2011

Leaked Memo: The Corporate Board Rooms Fear the Occupy Movement Occupying their Board Rooms Targeting Individual Executives October 2011

While their minions in the media joke their bosses prepare behind the scenes

Danny Meyer and Sotheby's Create Misery.mp4


A little more uncomfortable for the well heeled in and around New York. It's getting more difficult for them to do one thing during the day and pretend they didn't know about it at night.

Romney to Gingrich: The Individual Mandate Was Your Idea

Romney to Gingrich: The Individual Mandate Was Your Idea

For God sakes will somebody send these guys into a time out.

Chris Hedges: "This one could take them all down." Hedges on OWS w/ Occu...



Absolutely wonderful analysis from somebody who has seen this in other countries. Chris Hedges.

Chris Hedges: "What happens is in all of these movements ... the foot soldiers of the elite -- the blue uniformed police, the mechanisms of control -- finally don't want to impede the movement and at that point the power elite is left defenseless ... the only thing I can say having been in the middle of similar movements is that this one is real, and this one could take them all down ... I can guarantee you that huge segments of those blue uniformed police sympathize with everything that you're doing." -- Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges brings his 20 years of experience as a war correspondent, having covered movements and revolutions throughout the the world, to the discussion.

One thing that the power structure in this country has failed to do is by attacking the cops and their future through its pension system they have failed to even ensure the loyalty of "the foot soldiers of the elite" in order to capture short term gain from them.

Naomi Wolf, Feminist Author, Cuffed At Occupy Wall Street Protest

Naomi Wolf, Feminist Author, Cuffed At Occupy Wall Street Protest

First they came for Cornell West now Naomi Wolf is taken in.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Erin Burnett Panel Drowned Out by #OWS Protesters

Erin Burnett Panel Drowned Out by #OWS Protesters

Here is the tape of Erin Burnett wasting some more air time talking about nothing and being drowned out by the story they are trying to ignore.

Occupy CNN coverage of Republican Debate Tonight. They really need a closet where no real people can get at their coverage

8:04 PM – TodayProtesters Interrupt CNN's Pre-Debate Coverage
Loud protesters shouting, "We got sold out!" were interrupting CNN's pre-debate coverage, their voices louder than the anchors who were trying to talk about tonight's debate. The protesters, according to CNN's Erin Burnett, were speaking out against economic injustice and Wall Street.
-- Amanda Terkel

Full Story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/republican-debate-gop-debate_n_1016853.html#liveblog

From Occupy Boston Mike Peters and the new third party



Victoria Jackson goes to Occupy Wall Street



Most People say the real one was more annoying

An INTENSE moment of TRUTH with MAINSTREAM Media



Couldn't agree more.

Occupy Wallstreet gets a new ally

John McCain: Elizabeth Warren Relies On 'Special Interest Allies'

John McCain: Elizabeth Warren Relies On 'Special Interest Allies'

John "Put the dang fence up" McCain stumps for Scott "Wall Street's favorite legislature" Brown and says Warren is too much in the pocket of special interest. You know unlike the none-
special interests that have put millions in his bank account.

Athens braced for 'mother of all strikes' | Business | The Guardian

Athens braced for 'mother of all strikes' Business The Guardian

Occupy Wall Street has allies.

Susie on Social Security and the Romney-Perry Showdown!


Corporations have feelings too.

NYPD Cop Punches Protester at Occupy Wall Street, 10/14/11


A second cop under investigation from 10-14

Bank of America reports $6.2 billion profit for third quarter, but must have your $5

Bank of America reports $6.2 billion profit for third quarter, but must have your $5

Please just leave your five dollars at the door.

7,500 Hits

Thanks to our loyal readers - LP

Monday, October 17, 2011

Ironic Times - October 17, 2011

Ironic Times - October 17, 2011

Good poll 76% want anyone else on the Republican side

New Legislation Would Shut Down U.S. Education System, Give Each American Student $3,000 To Start Own Small Business | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

New Legislation Would Shut Down U.S. Education System, Give Each American Student $3,000 To Start Own Small Business The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Too close to the truth.

Pretty Simple

From The Texas Observor with thoughts and observation from LP

(This something I've thought of when I gave a student the computer version of credit recovery from pearson. It was American History that resembled Trivial Persuit For Credits. you couldn't get the answer wrong. You just kept trying until you Got It right.  Then I learned that It was wrong to socially promote someone, but if you gave Pearson money It was ok).

It’s not hard to imagine Pearson’s vision of utopia.
Pearson is a London-based mega-corporation that owns everything from the Financial Times to Penguin Books, and also dominates the business of educating American children. The company promotes its many education-related products on a website that features an idyllic, make-believe town. It’s called Pearsonville, and it looks like the international conglomerate version of SimCity. In this virtual town, school buses whizz through tree-lined streets, and the city center features skyscrapers and a tram. Tabs pop up to show you just how many Pearson products are available. A red schoolhouse features young kids using Pearson products to learn math (with Pearson’s enVision Math) and take standardized tests online. Nearby, at the Pearsonville high school, students use the company’s online instructional materials to study science. The high school also features online testing. Pearson online courses are available at the town library. At the model home, parents can use Pearson’s student information system to track their children’s grades. The “test centre,” not shockingly, provides even more testing options. It’s a beautiful little town. A Las Vegas-style sign welcomes you, while a biplane flies through the sky trailing a Pearson banner behind it.
It’s a computer-generated reality. But when it comes to Texas education, it’s not far from the truth.
Pearson, one of the giants of the for-profit industry that looms over public education, produces just about every product a student, teacher or school administrator in Texas might need. From textbooks to data management, professional development programs to testing systems, Pearson has it all—and all of it has a price. For statewide testing in Texas alone, the company holds a five-year contract worth nearly $500 million to create and administer exams. If students should fail those tests, Pearson offers a series of remedial-learning products to help them pass. Meanwhile, kids are likely to use textbooks from Pearson-owned publishing houses like Prentice Hall and Pearson Longman. Students who want to take virtual classes may well find themselves in a course subcontracted to Pearson. And if the student drops out, Pearson partners with the American Council on Education to offer the GED exam for a profit.
“Pearson basically becomes a complete service provider to the education system,” says David Anderson, an Austin education lobbyist whose clients include some of Pearson’s competitors.
With the prevalence of companies like Pearson operating in Texas and many other states, the U.S. education system has become increasingly privatized. In some cases, the only part of education that remains public is the school itself. Nearly every other aspect of educating children—exams, textbooks, online classes, even teacher certification—is now provided by for-profit companies.
Public education has always offered big contracts to for-profit companies in areas like construction and textbooks. But in the past two decades, an education-reform movement has swept the country, pushing for more standardized testing and accountability and for more alternatives to the traditional classroom—most of it supplied by private companies. The movement has been supported by business communities and non-profits like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and often takes a free market approach to public education. Reformers litter their arguments about education policy with corporate rhetoric and business-school buzzwords. They talk of the need for “efficiency,” “innovation” and “assessment” in the classroom.
The mingling of business and education blurs the line between learning and profit-making. Some education reformers advocating for increased reliance on testing also lobby for the large testing companies. It’s often difficult to tell if lawmakers stick with education policies because they’re effective, or because they’re attached to high-dollar contracts.
Take Anderson, who works for HillCo Partners, the high-powered Austin lobbying firm, and who represents many of the industry’s heavy hitters, like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. After a career in teaching and another at the Texas Education Agency, Anderson has been a part of the industry for years. One of his clients, Educational Testing Services, administers the test Texas teachers must take to get certified—which amounts to a coveted $70 million contract from the state. Anderson explains that the privatization of education has developed organically. As lawmakers demand more from school districts—more testing, more data management, more data analysis—the districts have often turned to corporations to handle these complex components. Those relationships quickly become inextricable.
“You have companies that have grown up either by expanding business or adding new business to sort of fill that void,” Anderson says. “Well, once something is established, if a program has a set life, the company that is now doing that work wants to figure out a way to extend that beyond the life of that project. And as a result you get this burgeoning business-education complex that includes companies that once upon a time might have been textbook companies, or test companies, that now do so many more things.”
Educating kids has become big business—an immensely profitable industry. As governments cut funding for schools and seek more “efficiencies,” the privatization of education is growing more ubiquitous. Think Pearsonville.

In 1998, Pearson hired a new CEO from Texas, Marjorie Scardino. She joined a company with a diverse and haphazard set of interests; in addition to the Financial Times and Penguin Books, the mega-company owned everything from Madame Tussauds wax museums to a stake in investment bank Lazard. Scardino sought to focus the company on one broad industry—education. Soon after Scardino’s arrival, Pearson bought Simon & Schuster’s education businesses and opened a new, overarching company—Pearson Education. Two years later, in a controversial move, Pearson acquired the Minnesota-based testing company National Computer Systems for $2.5 billion and began expanding into assessments. By 2004, Scardino ranked 59th on Forbes’ list of the “100 Most Powerful Women in the World.” By 2009, she was 19th.
Her timing was excellent. The education field was facing new and vehement demand for more testing and accountability in schools. Texas had been leading the way in state-mandated standardized testing, and by the time Pearson acquired National Computer Systems in 2000, the company had already signed a $233 million contract with the Lone Star State. With the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001, all states were required to use a standard test to determine how students were learning. Pearson continued buying testing companies, including the testing services division of Harcourt. Last year, Pearson signed yet another contract with Texas to create the latest iterations of the state’s testing system, the new and more rigorous “end-of-course” and State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams.
Pearson now creates the tools to grade the tests and the software to analyze student performance. That’s in addition to textbooks, remedial learning resources, GED courses and online classes. (Pearson officials refused comment for this story.)
But despite Pearson’s prevalence in nearly every sector of public education, state officials say they maintain oversight. The Texas Education Agency monitors Pearson’s test development and often works side-by-side with the company. Gloria Zyskowski, the deputy associate commissioner, says the agency communicates with Pearson almost daily. She says that TEA uses a transparent bidding process to contract the work and follows a strict series of steps to build and score the tests. In creating test questions, the agency recruits teachers and former teachers to sit on an advisory committee. Pearson employees facilitate advisory committees, but the company isn’t writing the test questions by itself.
But when the company—like many for-profits—wants to get its way in education policy, Pearson isn’t shy about deploying high-powered lobbyists. Pearson pays six lobbyists to advocate for the company’s legislative agenda at the Texas Capitol—often successfully. This legislative session, lawmakers cut an unprecedented $5 billion from public education, including funding for a variety of programs to help struggling students improve their performance on state tests. Despite the cuts, Pearson’s funding streams remain largely intact. Bills that would have reduced the state’s reliance on tests didn’t pass. The Texas Senate refused to pass any bills that would have diminished the role of testing, a stance some Capitol sources attribute to Pearson’s lobbying, while others give the credit to pressure from reform advocates.
Who’s responsible may not matter. The interests of corporate lobbyists and reform advocates are often the same. It’s difficult to separate the businessmen from the believers.
In a narrow sense, Pearson’s lobbying efforts simply reflect a company protecting its profits. But in a wider view, Pearson is part of a larger education-reform effort that seeks to improve public education through free-market principles. Often that means non-traditional educational approaches like charter schools and online learning. The movement includes a lot of earnest folks, eager to improve public schools and do what’s best for kids. But their efforts have earned a fortune for companies like Pearson. It’s become difficult to determine where the educating ends and the profit-making begins.

“I’m going to stick my neck out, and don’t take it personally.” So began Houston state Rep. Scott Hochberg. It was close to midnight, and Hochberg was presiding over the ninth hour of a House Public Education Committee hearing late in the session. Hochberg, a Democrat, is widely seen as the Legislature’s education policy guru. One of the final witnesses of the night was about to testify—Sandy Kress, another well-known name in Texas education circles...

(Kress is another one who has profited from leave no child left behind. Where Bush was a Republican and Kress was a Democrat and he has made a small fortune for himself advocating for the children.)

... But before Kress spoke, Hochberg went on the offensive. “Dr. Kress, a question was asked of me last time you testified here,” Hochberg said. “And that was whether you currently have any interests or any connections with any companies involved in the testing process.”
It was an awkward moment. Kress is a giant of the education reform movement. As board president of the Dallas Independent School District in the early 1990s, Kress became a vocal and controversial advocate for testing. He’s pushed for more standards and more assessment for decades and was a key architect of No Child Left Behind. He believes testing helps schools do a better job educating students. But he also lobbies professionally for the biggest testing company in Texas. Normally, he identifies himself as a representative of advocacy groups. This time, however, Hochberg wasn’t going to let him off easy. Kress was there to criticize House Bill 500, which would have significantly decreased the stakes on new tests the state will roll out this year.
“We do have a relationship with one company,” Kress said, “and you know, I’m not testifying on their behalf.”
“But just for full disclosure, who is that?” Hochberg pushed.
“Pearson.”
“So you, in your occupation as a lobbyist, represent Pearson Publishing, which, among other things, sells us these tests?”
“That’s correct,” Kress said.
“But you’re not testifying on behalf of Pearson tonight?”
“That’s correct,” Kress said again—before beginning his lengthy argument against the bill.
In a sense, it was a debate over wording. The interests of testing advocates and testing companies like Pearson are often one and the same. Kress is the most prominent example of how big business and education policy have intertwined.



(There should be no reason that someone shouldn't profit just because you advocate for the children.)

Kress is part of the large and very powerful education reform movement. The movement began in the early 1980s, when some parents and businesses grew concerned about how American students compared to global competition. Many became concerned that public schools weren’t sufficiently educating poor and minority children. Kress, among many others, called for more standardized testing and pushed districts to show how children in different racial and economic categories were performing. The movement eventually yielded the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, requiring that schools not only test students every year, but that schools show progress in closing achievement gaps. The federal law required states to use standardized tests, but allowed states to decide which test to use—leaving testing companies to battle it out for state contracts. The testing hasn’t yet done much to close the achievement gaps, but it has given schools a tremendous amount of assessment data on each student.
“The bottom line is we have a heck of a lot more transparency than we did before,” Kress says. “It’s worth all the gold in the world to know how your child is doing year by year.”
The broad movement goes beyond testing. Many reform advocates see themselves as pushing against the educational status quo, and contrast their “innovations” with traditional public schools. Challenges to the old system are necessary, many reformers argue, because school districts aren’t going to change of their own accord—and many schools have been failing to educate too many kids.
The movement advocates for charter schools and letting parents pick which schools their children attend. But most of these new directions stem from testing and student data. The data is generally required to prove both problems and solutions. Philanthropies like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation give out multi-million-dollar grants to help school districts gather and track information about students. The tests, reformers say, are key to understanding what works and what doesn’t.
The emphasis on testing opened the door to more for-profit companies. In addition to the big testing contracts, No Child Left Behind requires schools that fail to meet requirements three years in a row to offer free tutoring. Companies soon rushed in to fill the need. By 2008, according to a PBS documentary, tutoring for standardized tests amounted to a $4 billion industry. Charter schools can subcontract their entire operations to for-profit companies.
Kress doesn’t understand why people are so worried about the role of for-profit companies in areas like testing. “School districts have for a long, long time relied in a good substantial part on the private sector,” he points out. “The private sector has always made things for the school and sold them to them, whether it’s school desks or built their schools.” In the education world, whether it’s testing or other products, Kress says, “the companies are there to serve their customers. And their customers are a combination of the agency and school districts out there.”
Andrew Erben, who serves as president of the Texas Institute for Education Reform, says the more private companies take an active role in public education, the better. “I think it’s a great idea for businesses to get involved in the advocacy and maybe in the delivery of some of the education products,” he says.
Without pressure from outside advocates, Erben worries, school districts wouldn’t do nearly as much to improve. “I think the education establishment wants to protect the structure and function of the current system,” he says. “Any innovation or deregulation is met with some resistance.”
This market-based approach to education has become increasingly controversial. Teachers groups never liked the reliance on high-stakes testing. But recent opposition to testing and other “innovations” has come from all quarters, including advocates who once were reformers but who now wonder what the changes have accomplished.
“We may have kicked over the canoe when it came to testing,” says former state Commissioner of Education Mike Moses. He is hardly anti-test—as commissioner in the late 1990s, he sought to gradually expand testing to every grade between third and 11th, and he still believes testing is an important tool for evaluating and diagnosing schools. But he also concedes that the emphasis on testing may have gone too far. “I used to be called a reformer,” he says. “I don’t know that I’m called a reformer anymore.” Moses, now an advocate at the education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas, worries that the increasingly high stakes of the tests has made them too powerful. “I think that the testing programs have grown to a level that they get their own momentum,” he says. “They kind of perpetuate themselves.”
Others are more strident in their criticism of testing. The problem, opponents say, is that from testing to charter schools, the reform movement has begun to pick apart public schools as we know them in favor of the private sector. “The current movement distrusts educators,” says Ed Fuller, an education researcher and vocal critic of standardized tests who just left the University of Texas for the Pennsylvania State University. “They’re trying to create a system that’s educator-proof. The way you do that is to have testing and accountability, more and more and more of it. Because we don’t trust educators to do what’s right, to make good judgments about what kids know and what they can do.”
Fuller points to the book Measuring Up by Harvard professor Daniel Koretz, which argues that students learn test-taking strategies that pollute testers’ ability to see what the students actually know. “The whole issue is that any test at the kind of level that it’s at, especially with it being multiple choice—you can sit down and teach a kid how to pass it without them understanding the concepts behind the test,” Fuller argues. He’s particularly critical of the number of multiple-choice questions that Texas state assessments feature, but says few in the Legislature want to hear about the drawbacks of such exams. The combination of Pearson’s power and reformers’ influence, he says, makes it difficult for legislators to assess testing’s efficacy.
But as Texas prepares to phase in an entirely new testing regime, designed by Pearson, many in the reform camp argue that the new tests will address some of Fuller’s concerns. Unlike the old tests, called the TAKS, the new tests will align with specific courses in high school and put a heavy emphasis on testing kids to determine if they’re ready for pursuits in the work force or higher education. TEA official Zyskowski says the new tests will include several essays and written responses and fewer multiple-choice answers, especially in math. “We’ll also look at data about how students at varying levels of performance on those tests do in their first year in college,” she says. The agency is also going to compare students’ performances on the state tests to performances on the ACT, SAT and AP tests.
For Kress, the new tests are a victory. “That didn’t come from Pearson. That didn’t come from Harcourt,” he says. “That came because colleges and businesses and parents are saying we want our children to get good-paying jobs.”
Kress argues that despite budget cuts, testing shouldn’t be reduced because it’s the best way to tell where the problems are. “The assessment is what gives you the knowledge, the tools,” he says, comparing the process to diagnostic medical work like blood testing. That sounds convincing, but what do we make of the fact that Kress is also paid to further the financial interests of the nation’s leading testing company? Pearson doesn’t think testing should be cut either, but for less high-minded, more bottom-line reasons.
Testing has given communities an inside look at what is and isn’t working in schools. Efforts to erase achievement gaps between races have drawn attention to those gaps, while pressure to perform ensures that schools don’t ignore struggling students.
But after more than a decade of high-stakes testing and billions in testing contracts nationwide, it’s not clear if kids are learning more or just learning how to take tests. The achievement gaps are still with us.
Some reformers are now turning their focus to a more radical approach: virtual schools.
The idea of learning on the computer seems modern and high-tech. But it also removes students from the last vestige of truly public education—the school building itself. With no school building and no state-employed teachers, some of these new virtual schools redefine the very idea of public education.

In August, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an ultra-conservative think tank, sponsored a panel discussion on the future of virtual learning. The room was packed with staffers for state lawmakers and company representatives. The idea of learning outside a traditional classroom has potentially widespread appeal for home schoolers, and high achievers and rural students whose high schools don’t offer AP statistics or Chinese classes, part-time students juggling jobs and coursework, and even, as Republican state Rep. Jerry Madden suggested, for kids locked up in prison who could spend their days earning credits.
There are currently two ways that Texas students can access virtual courses. In 2009, the Legislature created the Texas Virtual School Network, a catalog of online classes available to high school students throughout the state. The network was a favorite talking point for Gov. Rick Perry on the campaign trail in the 2010 governor’s race, and presumably will be again as he runs for president. The state allows high-performing school districts and state-run educational service centers to offer online high school classes on any state-recognized subject. 
When a student enrolls in an online course, the student’s home district pays for the course. For example, a student in the small Muleshoe ISD in West Texas could take a virtual class offered by the larger Spring Branch ISD near Houston, and Muleshoe would pay for it. Though the virtual classes are offered and paid for by public school districts, many of the classes themselves are contracted out to private companies.
The other way students can take virtual classes is through one of three full-time virtual schools in Texas. These schools offer all-day online education as early as third grade. These virtual schools may appear to be part of a publicly funded school system, but they are allowed to subcontract their operations to for-profit companies specializing in virtual learning. For instance, the Texas Virtual Academy was, until recently, technically part of a charter school called Southwest Schools. (Texas Virtual Academy is now operating out of a different charter school.) But Texas Virtual Academy is more private than public. Its curriculum is handled by the company K12 Inc. Even the teachers are employees of K12 Inc. Students take online courses offered and taught by employees of for-profit companies.
Yet David Fuller, the head of Texas Virtual Academy and a K12 employee, refers to his school as “public.” “The wonderful thing is that because we are a public school, we’re going to receive the same make up as any other public, bricks-and-mortar school,” he says. In fact, the only thing public about Texas Virtual Academy is its funding.
Texas Virtual Academy was also rated “unacceptable” by state standards for last school year, and some advocates have concerns about virtual schools’ effectiveness, particularly for young students. School testing expert Ed Fuller argues that virtual schools and courses have serious limitations, particularly for at-risk kids. He cites a recent study by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, which studied virtual schools in Pennsylvania and found they underperformed traditional schools.
While the verdict on virtual schools is still out, reformers like Erben, an advocate with Texas Institute for Education Reform, hope to see virtual education expanded. It’s much cheaper, by and large, than traditional classroom instruction and, according to proponents, offers more innovative ways for students to learn. As the state struggles with long-term budget challenges, virtual learning will likely become an increasingly appealing option for lawmakers looking to save money—or increase “efficiencies”—as the number of students continues to rise.
Lobbyist David Anderson remains worried. “Ultimately in public education,” he says, “when you have something as significant as the education of the child or of a generation of children, you want to make sure that, to the greatest extent possible, decisions are being made based on reliable and valid information, and decisions are being made for the right reasons.” He says students and parents must now contend with a business-education complex in which industries perpetuate ideologies, and ideologies keep industries afloat.
Anderson compares it to the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned of. Which makes sense, since Pearsonville does have a 1950s feel.

The orginal posting is here:  http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-pearson-graduate

For another post take a look at Pearson paying superintendants to travel the world: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/education/10winerip.html?_r=1&sq=FREE TRIPS RAISE ISSUE FOR OFFICIALS IN EDUCATION&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1318889004-H3YHUCQ2CFaS0C6VV2RxrA

(It is clear education can be very profitable as long as you have nothing to do with the students).

The Rich Say the Funniest Things: Laughing Until You Die of Hunger | BuzzFlash.org

The Rich Say the Funniest Things: Laughing Until You Die of Hunger BuzzFlash.org
Good page on the double talk coming out of our "supposed" leaders.

Another episode of Meet "The Republican" Press.

MR. GREGORY: Good morning. Today we go inside the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll out this week shows that Herman Cain is the front-runner, ahead of both Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Mr. Cain, a businessman, syndicated columnist, radio talk show host and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza turned presidential candidate is the man of the moment, and he's joining us this morning as part of our Meet the Candidates series.
Mr. Cain, welcome to MEET THE PRESS.
MR. CAIN: David, I'm delighted to be here.
MR. GREGORY: Your big idea is to throw out the tax code.
MR. CAIN: Yes.
MR. GREGORY: Tax reform is a way to create jobs and spur economic growth.
MR. CAIN: Yes.
MR. GREGORY: The reality of the 9-9-9 plan is this, I'll put it up on the screen, it is to have a 9 percent corporate income tax, 9 percent personal income tax, 9 percent sales tax. Everything else is gone.
MR. CAIN: Yes.
MR. GREGORY: The reality of the plan is that some people pay more, some people pay less. This is how The Washington Post reported it on Friday, we'll put it up on the screen. "Experts see surprise in Cain's 9-9-9 plan. The `9-9-9' plan that has helped propel businessman Cain to the front of the GOP presidential field would stick many poor and middle-class people with a hefty tax increase while cutting taxes for those at the top, tax analysts

The national press didn't have much time for the mass arrests at the occupy Wall Street or the fact that the crowds basically closed down Times Square with such important breaking news of people representing Romney, Perry and Cain. Here's a little of the breaking news.

wah, wah, tax cuts, wah, wah, wah, less regulation, wah, wah, wah, 999.

Here's the audience tuning in to the earth shattering news.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Occupy Wall Street: Why Baby Boomers Don't Understand the Protests - The Daily Beast

Occupy Wall Street: Why Baby Boomers Don't Understand the Protests - The Daily Beast

This is a very strong article of what is at the heart of the occupy movement. My first semester of college was less than four hundred dollars and the cost of books wasn't all that much. We are turning our kids into indentured servants and they are rioting not to have to work off their indenture.

AS IT'S HAPPENING - Occupy Times Square - approx 5:40pm - 10.15.11



A longer version on Times Square yesterday.

From Occupy Boston

Bo Diddley's son arrested in Bo Diddley Plaza 'occupation' | World news | guardian.co.uk

Bo Diddley's son arrested in Bo Diddley Plaza 'occupation' World news guardian.co.uk

I think he was trespassing in the park named after his father.

Romney's Raised More Than Five Times As Much Money From Wall St. Employees As Obama | ThinkProgress

Romney's Raised More Than Five Times As Much Money From Wall St. Employees As Obama ThinkProgress

This is shocking in reality I think Romney is a corporation posing as a person.

Off facebook

Occupy Santa Cruz - Bank of America refusing to close account



Earlier it was Citi-Bank (in New York) that did this. I guess their they took their customers money and too bad. You think they would just be happy of losing their own money and taking their own customers' tax dollars.

On the front lines in Times Square, NYPD in full fight mode

On the front lines in Times Square, NYPD in full fight mode

Good first person account.

washington square park arrests



Woody would be proud. He had been through enough of these himself.

From Paul Szep

UPDATE 1-About 175 arrested overnight in Chicago protest | Reuters

UPDATE 1-About 175 arrested overnight in Chicago protest Reuters

The number of people arrested grow. Still know bankers behind bars.

Progressive Caucus of the NYC Council at #OWS

SNL Mocks Bloomberg Over Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)

SNL Mocks Bloomberg Over Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)

Occupy Wall Street crashes Bloomberg cocktail party, and WSJ pays me a HUGE compliment

Occupy Wall Street crashes Bloomberg cocktail party, and WSJ pays me a HUGE compliment

Good article of how Occupy Wallstreet crashed Bloomberg's party at 55 Wall Street.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

AS IT'S HAPPENING: Occupy Wall Street - "Times Square, NYC" - 10.15.11



28 seconds of Occupy Broadway from above.

Times Square

Police have Occupy Times Square heavily barricaded - Occupy Wall Street

RUPERT MURDOCH HECKLED AT BY OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS crookreport.c...



This is just what education needs, that beacon of political enlightenment, Fox news taking over education or the former governor of Florida Jeb Bush because Florida is so light years ahead of the other states in education. Anybody can be an education reformer? No data necessary. The race for public dollars continues.

Occupy Assange: 'Corrupt banks, corrupt cash'



Wiki leaks behind occupy movement.

Elizabeth Warren's Story

Zuccotti Park owners received nearly $700,000 in gov't handouts since 9/11 terrorist attacks

Zuccotti Park owners received nearly $700,000 in gov't handouts since 9/11 terrorist attacks

I guess technically this makes this a public park. The question comes back who do public employees work for the people who bought the government or the public.

Real Time with Bill Maher (10-14-11) - "We are the 1%" Protest Signs [Oc...



Cute

Michael Moore's Plea to Police Officers to Join #OccupyWallStreet (10/14...



Michael Moore's appeal to the police

Motorcycle cops run over a man's leg @ #Occupy Wall Street



Even on a day of victory the police run over a person with a motorcycle and then arrest him.

Occupy movement goes global - in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk

Occupy movement goes global - in pictures World news guardian.co.uk

Some international pictures of the movement.

Michael Moore Talks #OccupyWallStreet on The Last Word with Lawrence O'D...



Excellent piece. I particularly like comment by NYPD officer the mayor didn't clear the park because he's afraid of Youtube.

Friday, October 14, 2011

AD: Marlene Speaks Out



This something that LP covered earlier. This Ohio woman wanted to make sure you knew which side of the issue she was really on.

Writers who support the movement

http://occupywriters.com/

#OCCUPYWALLSTREET WINS! Bloomberg backs down, protestors stay in park


That petulant brat Michael Bloomberg never would have bought the mayor's office if he had known he couldn't tell the serfs what to do. Let's here more from the mainstream media about how independent he is.

Mainstream media vs. Occupy Wall Street -- the battle


Very good piece of journalism. Different from real journalism.

This was a shock. The Mayor's girlfriend was on the board of Brookfield Properties: The company that asked the mayor to move the protestors that he doesn't want in the park anyhow

Wow! Brookfield Properties owns Zuccotti Park (which earned them a height bonus of their building at One Liberty Plaza) (a park formerly known as Liberty Square until renamed). Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the protesters Wednesday to offer assurances they would not be evicted. Bloomberg's girlfriend, Diana Taylor, is on Brookfield's board of directors, according to the property owner's website.

Original context: http://occupywallst.org/forum/brookfield-properties-owns-zuccotti-bloombergs-gir/

According to BBC: this is a tactic that has been used in the past to break up protests.


The BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says the police were standing around the outskirts of the protest and it may be that the authorities decided there were just too many people to be able to get them out in an orderly manner.
'Be warned'
Activists had sent an email to supporters on Thursday asking them to join the group at 06:00 EDT (10:00 GMT) on Friday to "defend the occupation from eviction".
They said on a Facebook page: "Be warned, this is a tactic that [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg has used to shut down protests in the past, and a tactic used recently in similar protests throughout Europe."

Start Quote

Both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party feel a deep frustration and a distrust of the elite who make the rules. There is a common feeling that the system is unresponsive to the needs and wishes of the people”
Representatives of Brookfield Propertiesdistributed its cleaning notice on Thursday. Some were escorted by police.
The park regulations existed before the protests began but have not been enforced.
They include a prohibition on lying down on the ground or on benches, using sleeping bags or tarps, or the storage of personal property.
New York City councillors joined protesters at a news conference on Thursday evening, calling the effort to move the protesters a "ruse" backed by Mr Bloomberg.
As protesters pre-emptively scrubbed the park on Thursday, some questioned the need to clean the space at all.
full story here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15300491