Read My Lips...

This cordial and enlightening exchange on the subject of taxes occurred several days after the original post- in case you missed...

rgfb drefv said...

The 1% pays half of the taxes in the USA. That's far more than they should. You 99% morons are dumbest, lazy Nazi's in Western Culture, and do nothing but take and destroy and complain, despite the fact that you’re lucky to be alive in a free society. Fortunately, you sniveling brats are less that 0.99%

You want to make a better world? Then stop harassing freedom-loving, hard-working people, band together in a commune somewhere and take responsibility for your own survival.

Stan B. said...
"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." -billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley
As Martin A. Sullivan of Tax.com recently calculated, a New York janitor making slightly more than $33,000 a year pays an effective tax rate of nearly 25%. And the effective tax rate for a resident of the Park Avenue building named after Helmsley, earning an average of $1.2 million annually? A cool 14.7%.
And, of course, many corporations (talk about Lazy Nazis), who are now considered "persons" under law- thanks to Right Wing Supreme Court Justices (talk about Lazy Nazis), also don't pay any taxes whatsoever...

BTW- if you can't get your point across to people who can actually think without the childish, red neck, veins a popping, name calling intensity of your average, brain dead FOX "News" pundit- then by all means, go back to your precious little circle jerk of "ditto heads" (talk about THE VERY LAZIEST OF NAZIS).

Grinding Gears

I hope this West Coast port shut down serves to further unite labor- not alienate it. Personally, I wish Occupy would concentrate on getting the goddamn 1% to pay their bloody fair share of taxes, something that easily garners wide public support and approval when stated clearly and succinctly- unfortunately, this is not Russia, where people know when they're being pissed on. That would be a major victory that would pave the way for yet more action. 

The port shut down is quite the gamble- and Occupy is the only game in town, the only people conscious enough to bring attention to a system that is not only broken, but well beyond repair.

HOPE + CHANGE You Can Take To The Crapper

This is about as outrageous as it possibly gets... He's starting to make pretty speeches again, and say all the right things (while his Justice Dept. goes after pot smokers); but arrest, try and convict even one of the financial terrorists who swindled millions upon millions of dollars, homes and livelihoods from hard working citizens and rammed the 99% of this country headfirst into the toilet- surely you jest... (Make sure to see Part 2)

...as Federal prosecution of financial fraud falls to a 20-year low, over two thousand people have been arrested in connection with the Occupy Wall Street protests.

 

The Walk Of Shame &...

After signalling that she was scared shitless of the out of control students rioting outside her office- the same said rabid students at UC Davis somehow managed to restrain themselves from feasting on the Royal Chancellor's entrails as she was escorted to her car. One can actually sense this video does not portray just how eerie the whole scenario was in person.

        

And then, there's this ...

And So It Goes...

Meanwhile, the mayor of NYC is ignoring the restraining order from the judge that allows them to remain with their equipment and belongings; and as to the latter, which they were told they could reclaim- it's all been trashed and sent to the dump. The same shameless shirking of the law by those in power that profess to uphold it that initiated the whole movement in the first place.

Occupy SF (part VI)

The Signs Of Protest

Occupy SF (part V)

The Signs Of Protest

Occupy SF (part IV)

Naked Zeal

Occupy One Goal?

Photo courtesy: ©2011 John Montgomery

Now that Occupy has everyone's attention, should we perhaps concentrate on just one goal- one demand that could truly inspire, unite and actually bring out the 99% en masse? Namely, the fact that the 1% (incl corporations- who are now legally recognized as people in the US of A) must pay their fair share of taxes! Not that it would be nice, not that it's a good idea, but that they must do it- and do it now! 

Sure, every other Occupy demand is also eminently just, righteous and well, well overdue- but instead of just taking symbolic, philosophical stands, what if We The People finally said BASTA, and concentrated all our effort on just this one! So far, it's gone nowhere fast legislatively- but it's the one that would most easily garner (and already has) the widest nonpartisan public support and enthusiasm!

If we could get that one thing done, not only would it clear the deficit- it would also help pave the way for everything else that so desperately needs to get done...

PS-  Wrote the above a week before I found the photo, and the accompanying site...  Guess we got some like minded people out there- Let's do this!!!

The Grand Tour

Impressive indeed... Go to any Occupy Movement and yes, there are a lot of somewhat grungy looking kids all about- what would you look like if you made the sacrifice to camp out under same said conditions? But once you get your mind beyond that (if you can get your mind beyond that), walk around, tour the various stations, attend a general assembly and see just how incredibly efficient, organized and yes, well disciplined, they actually are. And remember, it's all voluntary (ie- not for profit)!

Why The +98% Are Still At Home...

Most Americans are frantically treading water just to stay afloat, they know the treadmill's broke, and broke bad, but they're scared shitless to get off. They're gonna ride that bad boy straight down to the rims. Just as we've been trained and told. To get off would brand us losers, and worse still, it would mean we were lied to- and we took it all in: hook, line and sinker. So we'll continue to stay the course, and continue to struggle with ourselves- and the others just like us, all around us. It's the only option we've been allowed to hear, prepared to believe and allowed to follow. A dumb and sorry lot are we.

There was, of course, that brief wink of recognition when we could connect the dots, could see through the lies- had the insight to recognize the enemy. And knowledge emboldened us to strike back, in that brief shining moment called the sixties. But when all was said and done, it was the 1% that had learned the most. Which is why our public school system descended into absolute shambles, and debt for college loans now actually exceeds that of credit cards. The dumbing down of America was the first well calculated step towards the economic enslavement of the 99%. Make them so outstandingly ignorant they don't even know who to blame. Hence religious fundamentalism in the body politic, the rise of the FOX, the utter lunacy of a Tea Party- the "equality" of corporate personhood. No conspiracy here; it was all done in broad daylight, under guise of law, one small and very conscious step at a time as that most treasured American Dream became more and more just that with every succeeding year, with every passing decade. Pretty soon we were just living on its fumes, living off the numbers the 1% created and worshiped- until even they could no longer pretend they added up. But we were too busy shopping to notice, or care.

The dream long dissolved and dissipated, we now lack the means (economically or morally) to deal with the reality left us.  So much so, that when the most innocent amongst finally point the way to a most obvious truth- we ignore, deride, and belittle them. And in our most bountiful ignorance, still court those who so gleefully, willfully sold us out, to somehow, ultimately save us. A lost and sorry lot are we.

Occupy SF (part III)

The Signs Of Protest

I had my reservations about posting these, being how ugly things have gotten in some places. But this ain't the place one comes to sample hard hitting photojournalism in the first place, is it? Admittedly, the commentary may sometimes strive for the jugular, but the personal visuals concentrate on humor and irony (hopefully). I let the serious pros handle the hardcore.

There's usually two sides to every story- if not two stories to every side. Besides, it's Friday.

The Beat Goes On...

They say that every movement needs its martyrs, that said, let's hope that two tour, Iraq vet Scott Olsen makes a full recovery. And that the needless, ill thought out attack under the cover of darkness designed to give Oakland mayor, Jean Quan, her political cajones backfires into the impetus that propels Occupy to the next level.

One of the truly beautiful aspects of this entire movement has been that for every negative action by the authorities, there has been a positive and more assertive reaction from the 99%. It's a chess game without impunity, where both sides must own their actions and take responsibility- exactly what the 1% have gotten away with for so very, very long...

Occupy SF (part II)

Signs Of Protest

The Literature Of Occupation

Occupy SF- 10/15

Occupy SF, the left coast offshoot of the original Occupy Wall St. movement had a rather impressive showing on 10/15, marching about downtown San Francisco. The majority of the nine forthcoming photos were taken then, and the one thing I particularly noticed, as I have in reports elsewhere, was the plethora of witty, original and humorous signs that participants fondly created, displayed and identified with.

Every demonstration and movement has its signs that serve to punctuate and identify causes, groups and issues. But the Occupy movement have taken it a step further, their signs go well beyond the more mundane sloganeering of yesteryear. Occupy participants seem to have a genuine affinity with their signs, signs that reflect their personal idiosyncrasies, philosophies and identities. The wit, creativity and humor that help define them go well beyond the usual overt political and economic criticisms. This movement, more than any recent other, has been most literate in what it has to say, and how it wants to say it...

Priceless!

Most pleas from the 99% for cops to take a long hard look at themselves and perhaps reconsider their actions and/or attitudes are greeted with a dismissive roll of the eyes or the macho glare and posture that emphatically states "you don't wanna mess with this." What manner of protester could possibly deliver a message of reflection to NY's Finest that renders them mute and paralyzed from equal measures: shame, fear, and perhaps even... momentary self enlightenment? How 'bout the likes of a decorated ex Marine who looks like he could easily dispatch anyone (or more) of them well within the proverbial New York Minute?

Sometimes (sometimes) it's not so much the message, as it is the messenger...

(Via HuffPo)

Grayson, Camp & The 99%

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We have 1% of the richest, greediest, filthiest people in the world v .001% of the 99- where's the rest of the 98+% that should be marching alongside in protest, shutting down and paralyzing every major city in this country and the next? And they call the OWS kids... slackers!? Yeah, I know we're all too damn busy just struggling to survive- point is, we'd all see a lot more return for that struggle if we simply united into a strong, indivisible front. The 1% delights in our innate ability to divide ourselves- they encourage it.

Where is the voice and membership of every damn union that's barely survived the purge? Where is the voice of Mr. Farrakhan who got out one million strong? Where are the preachers, rabbis and priests whose flocks have lost their homes, their jobs and well being? Where are the thousands of parents whose children attend long neglected public schools that can't properly educate their children for colleges they cannot afford? Where are the teachers whose workloads increase each and every year while their jobs are threatened, cut and privatized? Where are the elderly who can still raise holy hell? Where are the truck drivers and janitors, the food servers and sales persons, the plumbers and farmers- where is everyone who has seen their wages diminish, their health diminish, the future dreams and immediate needs of their own family and children delayed, denied and forgotten?

Why are you just watching- or worse yet, deriding? You can conveniently blame whatever struggling group of people you so choose- but it was the 1% that sent our jobs overseas, it's the 1% that still refuses to pay anything resembling their fair share of taxes- it's the 1% that are still giving themselves raises! And not one of the entire lot that so callously created this entire economic debacle has been charged, indicted or convicted. Is a Tea Party ignorant of our own history going to save you, or are you still betting on the eternal dance of Presidents from either side of one coin?

Think- Act- Demand- March!!! We can be... We must be... We are the 99%!

                                                           

A Tale of Two People

This is the movement and these are the people that Glenn Beck swears will kill everyone in America- this from the premier American hypocrite clown, writ large, whose inane rantings have actually inspired people to the point of violence and assassination. One misinterprets and misrepresents the Constitution, the others try to make sure it applies to everyone, equally...

Meanwhile, Facing Change has quite the slide show on Occupy Wall St...

Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein

Photo: Anthony Suau

The Video FOX Refused To Show...

(via HuffPo)

The 99%

I'm really getting tired of the media's hollow protestations that they don't know what these protesters "want." If they really don't know: a) what country do they live in, b) what world do they live in, c) how the hell do they call themselves "journalists?"

Are they really that unaware, that totally ignorant of the pain and abuse so many Americans are currently experiencing directly because of the predatory capitalism practiced by the scions of Wall St.? These young people are marching precisely because so many, so called journalists have time and time again abdicated their responsibility to uncover, expose and disseminate the truth- a truth as blatantly obvious as the smoke that filled the skies above the crematoria.