Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Pre-Trial - President Obama Says Bradley Manning 'Broke the Law'
WATCH THIS BEFORE THEY SHUT IT DOWN!
btw........................Obama defends Wikileaks and opposes internet censorship (not)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Economic downturn took a detour at Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — When Representative Ed Pastor was first elected to Congress two decades ago, he was comfortably ensconced in the middle class. Mr. Pastor, a Democrat from Arizona, held $100,000 or so in savings accounts in the mid-1990s and had a retirement pension, but like many Americans, he also owed the banks nearly as much in loans.
Today, Mr. Pastor, a miner’s son and a former high school teacher, is a member of a not-so-exclusive club: Capitol Hill millionaires. That group has grown in recent years to include nearly half of all members of Congress — 250 in all — and the wealth gap between lawmakers and their constituents appears to be growing quickly, even as Congress debates unemployment benefits, possible cuts in food stamps and a “millionaire’s tax.”...................
Economic downturn took a detour at Capitol Hill
Reminders of 1999 WTO - Ex-Seattle police chief: ‘Appalling’ to use tear gas on peaceful protesters
LISTEN HERE:
Ex-Seattle police chief: ‘Appalling’ to use tear gas on peaceful protesters | The Raw Story
A former Seattle police chief says that the post-9/11 militarization of police forces across the U.S. has led to the abuse of non-violent activists in the Occupy movement.
Author and activist Norm Stamper told BBC that he resigned as Seattle’s police chief after the tear gas used on demonstrators at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting caused a passive protest to turn violent.
“After the tear gas, many previously non-violent demonstrators turned much more active, much more militant and in some cases violent in response to the violence they experienced,” he recalled. “We saw what looked and felt very much like a war zone over the next three days and in effect we started it.”
“The cop in me had made that decision not to step in and stop it,” he added. “But as police chief, I should have done precisely that, and I will regret forever that I didn’t do it.”
The War at Home: Militarized Local Police Tap Post-9/11 Grants to Stockpile Combat Gear, Use Drones
November 17, 2011
Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper on Paramilitary Policing From WTO to Occupy Wall Street
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Timcast OccuCopter wishlist
Tim Pool's OccuCopter XMAS LIST!
If you would like to help the project we can use the following items!
If you would prefer to donate money to the project, you can do so at
http://wepay.com/donate/timcast
OccuCopter Presents go here --> 529 77th, Brooklyn NY 11209
Contact Team OccuCopter (Tim, Sam, and Geoff) here ---> 323.427.7412
More info - http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/OccuCopter
ArduCopter kit - 589$
https://store.diydrones.com/ArduCopter_3DR_Quad_KIT_Electronics_p/kt-ac3dr-03.htm
Clear Wireless 4G hotspot with a year of service;
Hotspot - 100$
1 year of service - 600$
Old Laptops
Old Cell Phones (preferably USB smartphones)
Old Flat screen monitors
Wii, XBOX, Ps3 controllers
GoPro HD camera - 300$
http://pastebin.com/XWfGB41m
Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down
Does your government have an Internet kill-switch? Read our guide to Guerrilla Networking and be prepared for when the lines get cut.
Take Your Tech Off the Grid
Start a Revolution With Your Personal Tech
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Occupy Congress Jan. 17th, 2012
It's time for the American People to send a message to Congress. Ordinary citizens are not being represented by their elected leaders.
Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/occupy-congress-on-jan-17-largest-occupy-protest-ever/2011/12/02/gIQAAGLgKO_blog.html
FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Congress-January-17th-2012/203536356392018?sk=wall
Ode to Capitalism:
http://odetocapitalism.com/2011/12/02/occupy-congress-january-17th-12/
Government Blocks Access to Manning Hearing
http://www.nationofchange.org/government-blocks-access-bradley-manning-s-hearing-1324658122Private First Class Bradley Manning is facing life in prison or even the death penalty for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about US wars and diplomacy to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks. Some of the documents in question are now posted online and have been the fodder for news articles and public discussion about world politics for well over a year. This case will show much about the United States’ tolerance for whistle-blowers who show the country in an unflattering light. Are we a nation that tolerates criticism and values transparency? Or are we willing to crack down on whistleblowers of conscience? Unfortunately, the military is taking steps to block access by the media and the public to portions of the trial, robbing the world of details of this critically important trial.Private First Class Bradley Manning is facing life in prison or even the death penalty for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about US wars and diplomacy to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks. Some of the documents in question are now posted online and have been the fodder for news articles and public discussion about world politics for well over a year. This case will show much about the United States’ tolerance for whistle-blowers who show the country in an unflattering light. Are we a nation that tolerates criticism and values transparency? Or are we willing to crack down on whistleblowers of conscience? Unfortunately, the military is taking steps to block access by the media and the public to portions of the trial, robbing the world of details of this critically important trial.
http://www.nationofchange.org/government-blocks-access-bradley-manning-s-hearing-1324658122
http://www.firstpost.com/world/mannings-legal-strategy-could-lead-to-plea-deal-167827.html
http://www.nationofchange.org/government-blocks-access-bradley-manning-s-hearing-1324658122
http://www.firstpost.com/world/mannings-legal-strategy-could-lead-to-plea-deal-167827.html
This moment is so extraordinary
Compassion is Our New Currency
Usually at year’s end, we’re supposed to look back at events just passed -- and forward, in prediction mode, to the year to come. But just look around you! This moment is so extraordinary that it has hardly registered. People in thousands of communities across the United States and elsewhere are living in public, experimenting with direct democracy, calling things by their true names, and obliging the media and politicians to do the same.
Usually at year’s end, we’re supposed to look back at events just passed -- and forward, in prediction mode, to the year to come. But just look around you! This moment is so extraordinary that it has hardly registered. People in thousands of communities across the United States and elsewhere are living in public, experimenting with direct democracy, calling things by their true names, and obliging the media and politicians to do the same.The breadth of this movement is one thing, its depth another.
The breadth of this movement is one thing, its depth another.....
NATO Forced to Admit Air Strikes Killed Dozens of Libyan Civilians, Contradicting Initial Denials
NATO Forced to Admit Air Strikes Killed Dozens of Libyan Civilians, Contradicting Initial Denials
NATO has admitted for the first time Libyan civilians were killed and injured during its seven-month bombing campaign that led to the ouster and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The acknowledgment came after a New York Times investigation revealed at least 40 civilians, and perhaps more than 70, were killed by NATO air strikes, including at least 29 women or children. Others were killed when NATO warplanes bombed ambulance crews and civilians who were attempting to aid the wounded injured in earlier strikes. We speak to New York Times senior reporter Eric Schmitt, who co-wrote the investigation with C.J. Chivers. "We only saw a small sampling of the strike sites that may have been affected, so the death toll is probably much larger," Chivers says.
"It would be hard to convey in words the visceral anger toward the United States now being felt and expressed in Pakistan. The sense that a deadly U.S. attack on a border post near the Afghan border was deliberate rather than friendly-fire has resulted in a halt to NATO supplies through that nation."
http://worldmeets.us/ http://worldmeets.us/thenationpk000150.shtml#ixzz1hXm3pbf1
"It would be hard to convey in words the visceral anger toward the United States now being felt and expressed in Pakistan. The sense that a deadly U.S. attack on a border post near the Afghan border was deliberate rather than friendly-fire has resulted in a halt to NATO supplies through that nation."
http://worldmeets.us/ http://worldmeets.us/thenationpk000150.shtml#ixzz1hXm3pbf1
Government, Enron-Style
Long silent and now contradictory, President Obama needs to deliver a clarifying speech about our financial markets and the rule of law.
Strongly recommend this piece at the Huffington Post by Jeff Connaughton, a former aide to Senator Ted Kaufman. Jeff is one of the smartest guys on the Hill and is particularly strong on issues surrounding Wall Street and the regulatory system. In this piece, he takes apart the oft-stated mantra that what Wall Street firms did during and after the crisis was maybe unethical, but not illegal.
Strongly recommend this piece at the Huffington Post by Jeff Connaughton, a former aide to Senator Ted Kaufman. Jeff is one of the smartest guys on the Hill and is particularly strong on issues surrounding Wall Street and the regulatory system. In this piece, he takes apart the oft-stated mantra that what Wall Street firms did during and after the crisis was maybe unethical, but not illegal.
He takes particular aim at Barack Obama, who recently tossed that line out on 60 Minutes in what I thought was one of the real low moments of his presidency. Here’s Jeff’s take:
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/obama-and-geithner-government-enron-style-20111220#ixzz1hQCCPBmthttp://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/obama-and-geithner-government-enron-style-20111220
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-connaughton/obama-wall-street-laws_b_1157915.html?ref=email_share
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers 1971
Watch The Most Dangerous Man in America Trailer on PBS. See more from POV
Synopsis
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that America’s role in the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg and a who’s-who of Vietnam-era movers and shakers give a riveting account of those world-changing events in POV’s The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers by award-winning filmmakers Judith Ehrlich (The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It) and Rick Goldsmith (Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press). A co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary | POV.
Please note: This is an encore broadcast. Not all PBS stations choose to rebroadcast encore presentations. Please check local listings two weeks before June 7 to see whether this show will be airing. The Most Dangerous Man in America had its premiere broadcast on POV on Oct. 5, 2010..Thursday, December 22, 2011
In cowardly fashion, Albany Mayor Jennings sent his storm troopers to evict Occupy Albany.
Today at around 2 PM, in cowardly fashion, Albany Mayor Jennings sent his storm troopers to evict Occupy Albany. For the past several days representative of the occupation met with city staff and were lead to believe that this would not happen. The police handed those present an order to leave. They were given 10 minutes then trucks entered the park and people’s tents, personal belongings and other property of Occupy Albany was loaded into trucks and taken away.
Calls went out and hundreds of people started arriving. The large 20 person info tent was surrounded by occupiers to try and stop the cops from taking it. The cops left that one for last and when they came to get it in force; we picked it up in the air and marched with it across the street to the Albany city hall where a rally was held. Then we took over the streets and marched with the tent throughout the downtown area of the city to cheers from all who saw us.
When we returned with the tent to the park and started to hold a GA, the cops violently attacked us with horses, clubs and pepper spray. Several people were hurt, a couple went to the hospital including a news reporter for ABC who may have been seriously hurt.
We held a press conference which included occupiers and the presidents of the Troy Area Labor Council and the Albany Labor Council.
It was all caught on the TV camera and all the media was there. FOX news in Albany preempted its regular programming and carried the entire thing live. People seeing the news coverage started to come to the site to support the occupation. A large group marched to the police station where the arrested occupiers were held and surrounded it. The cops came out with pepper spray and clubs and surrounded their own station to protect it.
Albany Mayor Jennings announced a press conference but quickly called it off when he heard that occupier where coming.
Our occupation was evicted but we won the sympathy of many in Albany and the mayor and police have been exposed to many. We will be meeting to plan our next steps.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
It's the longest night of the year. Tomorrow, Lets REALLY wake-up!!!
“We are our brothers’ keeper.”“We are our brothers’ keeper.”
Juan Antonio Frias y Escalante "An Angel Awakens the Prophet Elijah" 1667
Adam Lindemann - THE PRINCE OF THE ONE PERCENT
"OCCUPY WALL STREET Arte Povera, the semiotics of powerlessness, exploded all over the world, from Moscow to Boise to Oakland to Cairo"
Charlie Finch
"There’s little doubt that the art world still seems like it’s barreling off a massive binging spendthrift cliff. The art-buying behavior of the super-rich and the merely wealthy, coupled with obscene prices paid for a more or less preapproved group of around 75 celebrity artists, seems less and less relevant -- and more odious. Yet art fairs, insane as they are, are still ways for artists and art dealers to maybe make money; gallerists to create connections with one another; newer dealers to heighten their profiles; the general public to see art outside a museum; and the art tribe to have a giant sleepover, stay up late together and (as I often say) touch antennae. Instead, Lindemann wants them to be hermetically sealed and purely transactional, because keeping the rabble out makes everything run smoother.
Here’s his proposal for fixing these events. First, “art fairs should be for collectors only; if you’re not coming to buy art, get the hell out.” Translation: stay away, the 99.9999 percent of you without money. Ditto the 0.0001 percent who can afford to buy but aren’t going to right now. Who’s allowed in: a selection of dealers who work at the very top end of the price range, plus a few hundred people with cash burning holes in their pockets, all of whom can stand around impressing each other. Next, there should be “gallery dinners only, preferably with a.......
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
‘OCCUPY OAKLAND’ INJURED VETERAN ASKS DEFENSE SECRETARY FOR PRIVATE INTERVIEW BETWEEN BRADLEY MANNING AND U.N. TORTURE INVESTIGATOR
WASHINGTON, DC – A popular campaign on Change.org launched by veteran Scott Olsen is calling on Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to grant the UN Special Rapporteur for Torture private access to accused Iraq War whistle-blower Bradley Manning to discuss the conditions of his detainment.
http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/OCCUPY_OAKLAND_INJURED_VETERAN_ASKS_DEFENSE_SECRETARY_FOR_PRIVATE_INTERVIEW_BETWEEN_BRADLEY_MANNING_AND_UN_TORTURE_INVESTIGATOR/54154
Sign the Petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/secretary-of-defense-grant-un-rapporteur-on-torture-juan-mendez-access-to-bradley-manning
Countrywide Gave Four Members Of Congress Discounted Loans
WASHINGTON — Four House lawmakers received VIP discounted loans from the former Countrywide Financial Corp., the lender whose subprime mortgages was largely responsible for the nation's foreclosure crisis, according to congressional investigators.
"Between January 1996 and June 2008, Countrywide's VIP unit gave discounted loans to employees of the federal government, including the U.S. Congress."
He added, "My staff is also aware of the possibility that loans with VIP benefits were conferred to other members and serviced by a separate loan processing branch."
The ethics committee determines whether House members violated standards of conduct, including a virtual ban on gifts. The committee also can refer cases to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation.
It was previously revealed that Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., while still a senator, had received VIP loans from Countrywide. Both said they did not know they were getting unique deals and Dodd maintained he received no preferential treatment.
Others named as recipients of the VIP program were James Johnson, former head of Fannie Mae who later stepped down as an adviser to Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, and Franklin Raines, who also headed Fannie Mae. Still other "friends" included retired athletes, a judge, a congressional aide and a newspaper executive.
The Senate's ethics committee looked at the Dodd and Conrad cases and cleared them of wrongdoing, but warned that they should have exercised better judgment.
The committee said the senators should have questioned why they were in the VIP program, because it should have raised red flags.
The Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2010 said that Mozilo would pay a $22.5 million penalty to settle charges that he and two other former Countrywide executives misled investors as the subprime mortgage crisis began. Mozilo also was banned from ever again serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.
He also agreed to pay another $45 million to settle other violations for a total settlement of $67.5 million that was to be returned to investors who were harmed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/19/countrywide-congress-discounted-loans_n_1157486.html
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