Day: October 5, 2011

And The Demands Are!

Looks like today is …..all occupation, all day……

Too many people have said that the occupation is just not all that….why?  The protesters have not given a list of demands or principles for what they are doing……..personally, I think that this is an organic movement that shows the utter frustration of the young and the middle class……but still there are those who feel that the movement MUST have demands for what they are doing….

It seems that a movement without leaders took all the bitching to heart and somewhere within the bowels of the protests someone issued a list of demands….and these are:
The “Occupy Wall Street” protesters have listed 13 proposed demands from their website.

Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending “Freetrade” by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.

Demand four: Free college education.

Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.

Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.

Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America’s nuclear power plants.

Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.

Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.

Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.

Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books.” World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the “Books.” And I don’t mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.

Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

Now the media and those that are concerned about the lack of demands can now eat and sleep in peace…..yes, we have demands!  Any thoughts?  Are these demands realistic?  Are these just a lumping of causes just to shut the critics up?  Thoughts?

Protests To The Right, Protests To The Left

Intro:  This was written back in August and saved as a draft because there was much going on and I just never got around to publishing it…….

I will not be writing about the riots in London and the possibility elsewhere.  I want to establish here and now….because there seems to be some confusion about my stance….that the riots in London were committed by thugs and criminals and NO where should that be condoned, regardless of what lead to the civil dissension it quickly went from something into a orgy of thugs and thieves…..none of which will do anyone any good.

We have all seen the photos and the footage of the horrible riots that tried to burn down London…again committed by criminals…..and there are some in the US saying that it could happen here….most notably those radical right “people” that are doing everything possible to stir up a brainless majority against the government…..but in rational thought or should I say, “In Saner Thought” (damn that would be a great name for a blog) let us look at conditions here in the good old US of A…..

Michael Synder of BLN.com always seems to have a list to help explain things….I like that….we Americans can understand things better with a list…..

#1 Going to the state fair used to be such a fun thing for American families to do.  But now no place is safe.  The following is how one local ABC News affiliate described the “flash mob” attacks that took place at the Wisconsin state fair recently….

Milwaukee police said that around 11:10 p.m., squads were sent to the area for reports of battery, fighting and property damage being caused by an unruly crowd of “hundreds” of people. One officer described it as a “mob beating.”

Police said the group of young people attacked fair goers who were leaving the fair grounds. Police said that some victims were attacked while walking. They said others were pulled out of cars and off of motorcycles before being beaten#2 According to a new Rasmussen survey, 48% of Americans believe that reductions in government spending are “at least somewhat likely” to result in civil unrest inside the United States.  Unfortunately, perception often greatly influences reality.

#3 U.S. consumer confidence is now at its lowest level in 30 years.

#4 Joblessness among young Americans is at an epidemic level, and when rioting does break out it is usually young people that are leading the way.  That is why the following statistics from an article in The Atlantic are so troubling….

One in five Americans are between 15 and 29-years old. And one in five of those Americans are unemployed. For minorities and the under-educated, the picture is much worse. Black teenagers have an unemployment rate of 44 percent, twice the rate for white teens.

#5 We are starting to see mindless violence in a lot of areas that used to be considered safe.  In Kansas City on Saturday night, three young people were hit with bullets as they walked the streets of the Country Club Plaza.  Mayor Sly James was about 50 yards away when the gunfire erupted.  Authorities in Kansas City are considering a stricter curfew for that area.

#6 “Flash mobs” have become such a problem in Philadelphia that the mayor has imposed a strict curfew on young people.  Now all teens between the ages of 13 and 18 must be indoors by 9 o’clock at night.  The mayor also says that teens need to start pulling up their pants….

#7 All over the United States we are seeing that many struggling Americans will do just about anything for money.  For example, in Detroit recently three masked men crashed a vehicle through the entrance of a gas station and took off with an entire ATM machine.

#8 Desperate people do desperate things.  Many of America’s “forgotten poor” are trying to survive any way that they can.  For instance, a group of vagrants recently set up “a makeshift camp” near Prospect Park lake in Brooklyn. According to the New York Post, many nearby residents have been disturbed by what these “drifters” are doing to survive….

#9According to CNN, sales of safes and vaults are absolutely soaring right now.  One store owner told CNN that she believes that she is selling a lot more safes now because people are scared that civil unrest could be coming….

“Folks are worried about the decreasing value of the dollar, burglaries on the rise in their neighborhoods … and even the possibility that the unrest we are seeing in other parts of the world slipping over to our country.”

#10 Over the past 100 years, the American population has moved steadily into our big cities and the surrounding suburbs.  This has created virtual “ghost towns” in our rural areas from coast to coast.  Back in 1910, 72 percent of Americans lived in rural areas.  Today, only 16 percent of Americans live in rural areas.  But when you crowd huge masses of people close together that makes riots and civil unrest much more likely.

There seems to be a few indicators we need to keep an eye on……because any civil disobedience can quickly morph into the orgy of violence that has gripped London…I do not want to be in the same category as those mindless twats that listen to conserv talk radio….but we need to keep a close eye on the situation….it could explode in a moments notice…..

But is there just a few variables that indicate that a mass revolt could be possible?

Yes, there is……..these from stratrisks.com…….

Variable 1.) Volatile Economies There has been far too little guidance from administrations when it comes to our fluctuating economies. They are in place to uphold the status quo, even if that may be a pipe dream. The governmental bean counters and economists have not provided any rational explanations to calm the populace during this colossal economic catastrophe. We have seen the stock market falter, the housing market bubble burst, erosion of the middle-class and crushing debt which burdens us all. What we need is not a speech or a pep rally. What we really need are clearly defined economic goals, tougher rules on risky investment bankers and enforcement on speculators who have turned their business into a political weapon. Most officials won’t have the clout or will to make the changes necessary to get their houses in order.

Variable 2.) Confidence/Trust

Who will trust the conductor who let his train get off the rails? Most people go about their daily lives clueless about the world around them. They rely on their elected civil servants to run the ship while they enjoy the cruise. If the waves are taking the ship off course or their captain can’t lead them properly there will be problems. Government officials are aware of this and that is why there are constantly polling the populace, it is like mother’s milk for them. If the people do not trust their leaders then who will they trust? They may trust the loyal opposition, who might move the masses in a different direction. I like to call them in this science experiment, ‘free radicals’. Those radicals may lead the people to protest or remove the leadership. In Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen and Syria they spurred the people to action but what happened to that momentum?

Variable 3.) Foreign Policy, War and Domestic Policing

It is said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Today our leadership focuses on fence mending and foreign conquest while the house is exposed to visible dangers. We see the ramp up towards war, watch the bombs being dropped and later see that country being rebuilt with our money. We travel on dilapidated roads and brides, obviously getting the notion that their priorities are not where they should be. Our friends and family members are overseas fighting and dying in unnecessary and causeless wars. Our government officials may glean data through focus groups and polling that we are not trilled with their actions. Instead of directly interfacing with the people they hire more police officers and create a vast domestic intelligence apparatus. This only makes matters worse and the leadership is attacked on all fronts as their actions are unjust. The government is now illegitimate and will be either voted out of office or worse.

There are so many things that are similar in the US to conditions that have lead to a revolution in the past……..and as things get worse….and they will get worse….the closer we move to a popular uprising in form or another…..

Occupy Wall Street is just the beginning……..but the people need to be aware that agitators WILL infiltrate and WILL cause this beginning to end badly……and with violence…….watch your backs!