Occupy Wall Street?

[Atticus]

Got this chainmail today - its obviously fake but its funny

A Letter from Goldman Sachs
Concerning Occupy Wall Street

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)– The following is a letter released today by Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman of banking giant Goldman Sachs:
Dear Investor:
Up until now, Goldman Sachs has been silent on the subject of the protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street. That does not mean, however, that it has not been very much on our minds. As thousands have gathered in Lower Manhattan, passionately expressing their deep discontent with the status quo, we have taken note of these protests. And we have asked ourselves this question:
How can we make money off them?
The answer is the newly launched Goldman Sachs Global Rage Fund, whose investment objective is to monetize the Occupy Wall Street protests as they spread around the world. At Goldman, we recognize that the capitalist system as we know it is circling the drain – but there’s plenty of money to be made on the way down.
The Rage Fund will seek out opportunities to invest in products that are poised to benefit from the spreading protests, from police batons and barricades to stun guns and forehead bandages. Furthermore, as clashes between police and protesters turn ever more violent, we are making significant bets on companies that manufacture replacements for broken windows and overturned cars, as well as the raw materials necessary for the construction and incineration of effigies.
It would be tempting, at a time like this, to say “Let them eat cake.” But at Goldman, we are actively seeking to corner the market in cake futures. We project that through our aggressive market manipulation, the price of a piece of cake will quadruple by the end of 2011.
Please contact your Goldman representative for a full prospectus. As the world descends into a Darwinian free-for-all, the Goldman Sachs Rage Fund is a great way to tell the protesters, “Occupy this.” We haven’t felt so good about something we’ve sold since our souls.
Sincerely,

Lloyd Blankfein

Chairman, Goldman Sachs

[Fartman]

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7694

[Arrador]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66347.html

[somedude76]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66347.html

Quoted from the article;

“I am a young medical professional who BARELY makes it paycheck-to-paycheck because I have over $200,000.00 in student loan debt,” says another testimonial on the website Tuesday. “I pay almost $1,000 a month just in student loan repayment. I will have to do so for the next 30 years. How will I ever afford to buy a house, have children or save for the future?”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1bLzjDl9v

I'd really like to know more about this claim from the article. It's tough to swallow on the face of it.

200K in medical schooling? That ought to get you a decent job. I would think that 1,000$ a month would be very manageable for a medical professional who spent 200K on schooling. What are they a nurse after all that schooling? Did they graduate with a doctorate? What is going on here? I don't buy it.

1 trillion in unpaid student loans due? Fuck me!!

[Some Market Dude]

The biggest pyramid scheme in history crashing down. Enjoy the ride, bitches.

[Grim]

I pay over $1000 a month in school loans so I can pay them off quicker and its not that hard (if you are employed). What a whiny bitch.

Edit: And seriously, its not like anyone put a gun to their head and forced them to go to college and borrow money. They took a calculated risk to improve their futures. Suck it up.

[Fartman]

as i mentioned before, someone needs to teach these kids about personal finance at some point before
they're taking out $200k loans (esp. on something intangible like "education"..)

[Aurora148]

200K in medical schooling? That ought to get you a decent job. I would think that 1,000$ a month would be very manageable for a medical professional who spent 200K on schooling. What are they a nurse after all that schooling? Did they graduate with a doctorate? What is going on here? I don't buy it.

He is probably still a resident and therefore on quite a low salary grade, once he completes that he can go off and rake in the big bucks.

[Arrador]

The biggest pyramid scheme in history crashing down. Enjoy the ride, bitches.

I probably don't want to know what it means for those of us who worked and paid our way through college.

[Grim]

He is probably still a resident and therefore on quite a low salary grade, once he completes that he can go off and rake in the big bucks.

But still, as long as he isn't blowing all his salary on coke and hookers he shouldn't have ~that hard of a time paying it back. Plus, its not like he had no idea this was coming either. Again, what a whiny little bitch.

[Fartman]

But still, as long as he isn't blowing all his salary on coke and hookers he shouldn't have ~that hard of a time paying it back. Plus, its not like he had no idea this was coming either. Again, what a whiny little bitch.

maybe he'd rather spend that money on coke and hookers instead of paying it back

[Fartman]

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/10/pet...her-education/

[Atticus]

I walked through the "Occupy Ottawa" tents today on my way home from work. There was literally 12 tents and a bunch of stoners huddling together in the rain. Beside them was a big tent that had been blown over with a sign saying "Occupation Spiritual Centre."

I lol'd.

[Kosssaw]

Just out of curiosity what would you suggest?

Not voting republican

[Grim]

Not voting republican

Vote for Ron Paul. Real change we can believe in.

[Phey Onat]

Vote for Ron Paul. Real change we can believe in.

>implying...

[Atticus]

In today's paper - I cracked up.

[Grim]

Made me laugh at work. Luckily no one noticed.

[Fartman]

todays funny OWS stories

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/occupy_animal_farm_the_organiz.html

They’re imposing a structure on the natural flow of music," said Seth Harper, an 18-year-old from Georgia.
“The GA decided to do it ... they suppressed people’s opinions. I wanted to do introduce a different proposal,
but a big black organizer chick with an Afro said I couldn’t."

http://mrctv.org/videos/occupy-toron...friend’s-feet”

A man is arrested at Occupy Toronto after allegedly smelling a woman's feet and trying to get other protesters to drink urine.
The Protester who uploaded this video also left this comment on it claiming his girlfriend was groped by this man as well:
"He was also groping her? but I failed to mention due to being a bit emotionally tied up. Evidently the cop and I cleared it up
wish I could have reacted perfectly. If I didn`t get this evidence I feel those who were still in the tent would have discovered it."

[Manfred Hideous]

From your first link. "All occupiers are equal — but some occupiers are more equal than others"

I bet it smells like an animal farm about now, too.

[Fartman]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/they_want_lice_of_the_occu_pie_9xKCxcI4aectFYkafMb 8UJ#ixzz1bec2E3H5

"Even in Zuccotti Park, greed is good. Occupy Wall Street's Finance Committee has nearly $500,000 in the bank, and donations continue to pour in -- but its reluctance to share the wealth with other protesters is fraying tempers. Some drummers -- incensed they got no money to replace or safeguard their drums after a midnight vandal destroyed their instruments Wednesday -- are threatening to splinter off."

One occupier laments, "The other day, I took in $2,000. I kept $650 for my group, and gave the rest to Finance. Then I went to them with a request -- so many people need things, and they should not be going without basic comfort items -- and I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?"

lmao

[Grim]

“What can I do with $150?” said Smith. “We have three tons of wet laundry here from the rainstorm -- how do I get that done? We need winter gear, shoes, socks. I could spend $10,000 alone for backpacks people need. We raise all this money. Where is it?”

Maybe people should *gasp* buy their own clothes, do their own laundry, and bring their own backpacks. Where is Cartman when you need him.

“We don’t have the power for that. They have to go to the General Assembly. If it’s approved, we pay out that amount and make sure everything is accounted for,” he said.
Within the next few days, the Financial Committee will release a detailed report, he said.

I'm gonna die from laughter.

[Some Market Dude]

Priceless.

[Atticus]

Waiting for the headline: "Protestors die of malnurishment and hypothermia"

[Manfred Hideous]

These people are actually going to learn something from this experience. If you think about it, the OWS movement might mean a bunch of otherwise entitlement seeking fools learn how life works and put the lessons to better their lives.

BWAHAHAHA. Like these spoiled asshats are capable of learning anything.

[Grim]

Anti-Wall Street demonstrators of the Occupy Chicago movement stood their ground in a downtown park in noisy but peaceful defiance of police orders to clear out, prompting 130 arrests early Sunday, authorities said.

Demonstrators were taken away one by one and handcuffed with white plastic ties and. Some on the scene shouted: "This is what democracy looks like!"

Some said earlier that arrests only signal the importance of the Occupy movement. "This movement will not be a serious movement until we take a stand, and getting arrested is just one way of taking a stand," said Max Farrar, 20, a junior political science major at DePaul University, speaking Saturday to a reporter.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...097581,00.html

[Lysander]

Why is it that when a group you agree with is protesting they are just exercising their constitutional rights, yet when some one you don't agree with dares to protest they are entitled, lazy, hippies?

I personally know a a lot people of who are out of work due to no fault of their of own, people who worked harder than I ever have (I still have work, though I'm self employed). The entire Occupy movement has it's problems (and it's loud mouthed morons), but you're a fool if you think they don't have anything valid to complain about.

[Manfred Hideous]

Are your out of work friends looking for more work, or are they camped on someone elses private property, annoying the local residents with late night bongos? People who do work and find themselves out of a job tend to focus on becoming productive as quickly as possible rather than crying about how they graduated with a degree in wimminz studies and can't find a non service industry job.

Besides, people complained quite a bit when the Tea party protested, though they went home to their jobs after a day of waving signs. The people who complained about the tea partiers exercised their constitutional rights. Are you saying those of us ridiculing these lazy hippies don't have the same right to point and laugh?

Or perhaps you're wet and uncomfortable after waking to find out your organizing committee has a sizable chunk of donated wealth and they're not going to pony up to buy you an expresso and a pair of dry shoes?

[cloaky]

Are your out of work friends looking for more work, or are they camped on someone elses private property, annoying the local residents with late night bongos? People who do work and find themselves out of a job tend to focus on becoming productive as quickly as possible rather than crying about how they graduated with a degree in wimminz studies and can't find a non service industry job.

Besides, people complained quite a bit when the Tea party protested, though they went home to their jobs after a day of waving signs. The people who complained about the tea partiers exercised their constitutional rights. Are you saying those of us ridiculing these lazy hippies don't have the same right to point and laugh?

Or perhaps you're wet and uncomfortable after waking to find out your organizing committee has a sizable chunk of donated wealth and they're not going to pony up to buy you an expresso and a pair of dry shoes?

I must say having been in this position at the start of the year I spent 7 weeks applying for hundreds of jobs. I'm extremely well qualified in my field but still found it hard. I was not going to stop until I got a job, and i would have taken any job, even out of my field, if it meant I could continue to keep a roof over mine and my families heads.

[Lysander]

Are your out of work friends looking for more work, or are they camped on someone elses private property, annoying the local residents with late night bongos? People who do work and find themselves out of a job tend to focus on becoming productive as quickly as possible rather than crying about how they graduated with a degree in wimminz studies and can't find a non service industry job.

Besides, people complained quite a bit when the Tea party protested, though they went home to their jobs after a day of waving signs. The people who complained about the tea partiers exercised their constitutional rights. Are you saying those of us ridiculing these lazy hippies don't have the same right to point and laugh?

Or perhaps you're wet and uncomfortable after waking to find out your organizing committee has a sizable chunk of donated wealth and they're not going to pony up to buy you an expresso and a pair of dry shoes?

Most of my "out of work" friends would probably agree with you because they still believe in capitalism. They'll keep running the hamster wheel until they're on the street or working happily behind the counter at Mc Donalds.

I'm fine with you complaining about or making fun of Occupy, as long as you recognize it is, at least too a small degree, hypocritical. And I don't even mean that to be hostile, we're all hypocrites to some degree.

[Atticus]

I am a hypocrite. When people protest in my country, I make fun of them and call them to cut their hippie hair and a get a job. When people protest in another country (say Syria), I support them and believe they're truly heroes for standing up against oppression/tyranny.

What's the difference? Here, you can vote for change. There, you get shot for speaking out against the government.

[Some Market Dude]

That's exactly it. Are there numerous venues for addressing and solving these problems? Yes. Sitting around protesting in a functioning capitalist democracy is actually often the easiest and most useless response, whereas in most political systems it is the final course of action when all else has failed and people are pushed to desperation.

The original cause of this problem was people believing that every thing would just be sunshine and lollipops forever, and this is just another manifestation of that. It is ultimately a belief that there is some easy answers and we just need to force everyone through laws and taxation to get there.

However, I do dislike when people use polarizing language because it just devolves the discourse to childish us vs them fingerpointing.

[Manfred Hideous]

Most of my "out of work" friends would probably agree with you because they still believe in capitalism. They'll keep running the hamster wheel until they're on the street or working happily behind the counter at Mc Donalds.

I'm fine with you complaining about or making fun of Occupy, as long as you recognize it is, at least too a small degree, hypocritical. And I don't even mean that to be hostile, we're all hypocrites to some degree.

OMG, did you really say hamster wheel? You ARE one of the protestors, aren't you?

I'm fairly well trained and experienced in my field. In 2004/5 I was out of work for ten months. Yes, I had a severance but it ran out after three (every day of which I was sending out dozens of resumes). I took contracts and used my 401K to make ends meet. I moved out of state for several months when I did finally find a job and it paid a little more than half my original salary. It took me years to get back to my original income. I am happy to say that I didn't lose my house and I kept my kids fed the entire time. I don't feel entitled to my employer's money. I work hard and I am well paid (again). I can survive a downturn and when the boom returns, I'll ride it to the top of my potential.

I am not alone in this attitude. I'm able to look in the mirror and be satisfied that I am able to pick myself back up after life clocks me. Try it sometime; you might even stop crying about what you don't have and be proud of what you have managed to do without holding your hand out.

As for hypocrisy, it is not hypocritical to lampoon someone for having a belief I don't agree with or for making fun of them when the exercise their rights to free speech. Were I to say they shouldn't be *allowed* to speak, I would then be hypocritical. As it is, I am just heaping derision upon their bongo-loving whining. That's not hypocrisy. In fact I'm actually glad that some of them are just beginning to see how the world really works. It may well be some of our OWS protestors will be successful and productive in a decade. Perhaps we should force all of our privileged college kids to attend for a few weeks. Of course we really shouldn't force them to protest since that would be forcing a view on them they may not share. It might even be hypocritical.

[Arrador]

[spoiler=Life Is a Hamster Wheel][/spoiler]

[Lysander]

Personally, I think protest is pretty idiotic. The only thing more stupid is assuming that voting is any better.

If we lived in a system where wealth didn't guarantee and secure political power I would agree with you. But the fact is legislation, votes, laws, even law enforcement (JP morgan's 4+ million donation to NYPD) can all be bought and sold. This makes money, not the vote or the voter, the deciding factor in modern politics.

Telling people to "just go through the proper channels and everything will work out fine" is kind of a joke. They don't believe in the integrity of the "proper channels" and with good reason.

Edit: Dear Manfred. Allow me to clear a few things up for you. I am not now, nor have I ever been an Occupy protester. I too lost my job 2 years ago and I worked my ass off to start and maintain my own business. I'm still running it today and making enough (it's never enough right?) money to get by fairly well. But, I don't assume that just because something worked out well for me that it will work the same for everyone.

I know 3 other guys, of equal skill level, doing exactly the same thing as me, probably even working harder at it, who have been out of work for 12 months plus. If we somehow lived in a magical fair world your point of view might resonate with me. The fact is the game is rigged, the hardest worker/most skilled is not always rewarded. Going out and working your ass off doesn't always result in getting a job, sometimes it doesn't even put food on your table. Just because it's worked for the two of us doesn't mean it works that way every time.

[Atticus]

Move to Canada. We elect representatives who elect a Prime Minister who rules without checks or balances for four years. No one really cares what they do and doesn't vote to make any changes. But if we lose game seven of the playoffs, look out because we burn cities down.

[Grim]

Personally, I think protest is pretty idiotic. The only thing more stupid is assuming that voting is any better.

If we lived in a system where wealth didn't guarantee and secure political power I would agree with you. But the fact is legislation, votes, laws, even law enforcement (JP morgan's 4+ million donation to NYPD) can all be bought and sold. This makes money, not the vote or the voter, the deciding factor in modern politics.

Then don't vote for Obama next time

[Manfred Hideous]

Lysander, Working your ass off doesn't come with a promise of puppy dogs and unicorns. NOT working and whining about life pretty much DOES guarantee you'll be living above you mom's garage.

Guess what? Life's not fair. You can't legislate fair because someone (probably a PL member) will figure out how to use the mechanics (whatever they are) to gank your ass. Stop being a carebear and HTFU. People with lots of money will always be able to buy power. If we had a pure democracy, they'd be buying your vote directly and you would more than likely sell it.

Believe it or not, I agree with the sentiment that there's too much pol buying. DC has turned into a veritable slave market. The woman most hated by the left made the same accusations regarding the megacorps buying pols. Perhaps the fact that it was her shouting the warning, the was ignored by the media and the establishment on both sides don't want uppity talk like that.

[Some Market Dude]

How does sitting around in Wall Street address these structural concerns you're referring to? You're petitioning the government to have more power enact laws to change the government which is the source of corruption? The whole problem is that people believe that the government can control the economy like it's some huge whistling behemoth of gears and pulleys, thereby giving power to the very lobbies you decry; you currently have a president that ran with that as his platform and the economy has been a complete failure. The reason the economy is in the shitter is because people believed they could vote an economy into health, as opposed to working an economy into health.

Banks and corporations are controlling the government with the very power protesters want to give them more of.

[Lysander]

Lysander, Working your ass off doesn't come with a promise of puppy dogs and unicorns. NOT working and whining about life pretty much DOES guarantee you'll be living above you mom's garage.

Guess what? Life's not fair. You can't legislate fair because someone (probably a PL member) will figure out how to use the mechanics (whatever they are) to gank your ass. Stop being a carebear and HTFU. People with lots of money will always be able to buy power. If we had a pure democracy, they'd be buying your vote directly and you would more than likely sell it.

Believe it or not, I agree with the sentiment that there's too much pol buying. DC has turned into a veritable slave market. The woman most hated by the left made the same accusations regarding the megacorps buying pols. Perhaps the fact that it was her shouting the warning, the was ignored by the media and the establishment on both sides don't want uppity talk like that.

I love the "Life's Not Fair" argument. Let's apply the same logic to medical research. Why try to cure cancer? It's natural after all and only kills the weak people. Why bother with heart disease? It's natural that an organ might fail, and the rest of those people can just eat less fried chicken and exercise. Harden the fuck up and die already. Why should the rest of us care?

I understand that there will always be disproportionate levels of wealth. It's ridiculous to demand that every one have the same amount regardless of work or circumstance. People need too and enjoy competing for gain, nothing wrong with that. The problem is that our current system has become so incredibly imbalanced that it has for all effects and purposes ceased to be a Republic. We've allowed a natural system (competition) to balloon into Plutocracy.

No, we shouldn't burn Wall Street too the ground so everyone can hold hands and be equal in all. But that doesn't mean that our system is not out of balance. And it doesn't mean that Wall Street and the Federal Government are not guilty as charged.

We'll never have a perfect world or a perfect government, but that doesn't imply that what we do have is the best that can be done.

[Raketefrau]

I was in NYC over the weekend with my family, so we stopped by the park. It was all pretty relaxed, everybody was peaceful, and there were even cops giving people directions to the park. It's kinda freaky to see it happening literally across the street from the WTC, it's like a new growth that has come up from the soil at ground zero. Heavy on the "soil," this being Manhattan it's pretty dirty.

My 3 and 4 year olds thought it was awesome, so I didn't try to muck it up with any lessons about power of the people or anything, because, really, it's mostly just a commotion, and nobody loves a good commotion more than a 3 year old.

The thing that kills me is the charts showing the growth in executive salary compared to regular workers -- that's not something you can regulate, that's a mindset change these people have developed -- a greed that, I do believe, is fucking us all. Our economy is 60% consumer spending, but the bulk of our population can't spend right now, as the resources have pooled more and more at the top. We were able to cover it up with credit for decades, but then WHAM, the credit shit hit the fan.

So what's the gov't solution? Cheaper credit! Yeah! That'll really help a nation full of people WHO HAVE FUCKED THEMSELVES WITH THEIR CREDIT CARDS.

[Aeon221]

So you're saying that there are people on Wall who need their clothes washed?

I live two stops away and have access to a fuckload of washing machines. Time to earn a bunh of cash off some lazy faggots.

As far as the protestors, fuck those whiny stupid cunts. When I got out of college during the height of the crisis I got a shitty canvassing job. With hard work, networking and loads of bullshit I turned that into a well paid sales job after most of a year spent living on oatmeal and cigarettes. If they want to get real jobs, well, they can suck it up and find one while suffering like the rest of us.

And if they don't like it they can suck my dick.

[Tyrael]

hey hippies you're protesting in the wrong place

"Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.
The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046. "

I think that's because its expensive to live in that area and other federal employees live elsewhere

[poaw]

Earning 50-80k a year doesn't bring you anywhere near the top 1%.

[Fartman]

http://nplusonemag.com/monday-night-urgent-ows-message

Last night the drumming was near continuous until 10:30 PM at night. Today it began again at 11 AM. The drummers are fighting among themselves, there is no cohesive group. There is one assemblage called Pulse that organized most of the drummers into a group and went to GA for formal recognition and with a proposal.

[Grim]

lol

[Fartman]

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE DRUMMERS MAN BUT I DID NOTHING BECAUSE I WAS NOT A DRUMMER

[Malaclypse]

Yes. Sitting around protesting in a functioning capitalist democracy is actually often the easiest and most useless response, whereas in most political systems it is the final course of action when all else has failed and people are pushed to desperation.

Are seriously calling "our" (i.e. Western hemisphere) capitalistic system "functioning"? Given that in one way or the other for the past 3 years western governments (who are by neo-liberal standards not at al lto interfere with the economy) are bailing out said economy (all of a sudden governmental influence is highly appreciated) and/or are still dealing with the aftermaths, calling it a functioning one is daring at best. Not even to get into the actual "weight" a vote you pass up every 4 to 5 years actually is having these days.

One, opposing Wall Street can be interpreted as opposing capitalism, in other words they are anti-Capitalists. Anti-Capitalists obstructing public order and refusing obedience to law, that sounds like a rebellion against the basis of the United States government.

Apart from this beign a lot of bullshit rabble and tinfoil, the "anti-capitalisitc" theme is pretty outdated, especially when one of (or even the) biggest debtee of the US is the People's Republic of China. Seriously, when a good chunk of your currency is owned by a communist nuclear power, you got little ground to stand on making "anti-capitalistic" protests anti-gov ones (later ones are sanctioned by your constitution anyways).

[Some Market Dude]

I would very much consider it functioning. There are no insurmountable structural barriers to articulating and actioning change.

[Grim]

I would say western democracy functions only as well as we want it to. All the problems we have are our own fault as individuals, not the system.

No one forced you to buy that house with a loan you couldn't afford. No one forced you to invest in the stockmarket and lose your savings when it crashed. No one is forcing you to take loans and get an education. These are all choices we make, with a calculated risk associated with them. If it goes bad don't blame "washington" or regulators, or the people who loaned you money. In some cases they were pretty fucking dumb, but in the end you signed on the dotted line and ended up where you are today.

Sure we have problems, but they start at the bottom, not the top.