Occupy Wall Street Started 5 Years Ago!

Occupy Wall Street started 5 years ago.

Concepts such as the 99% versus the 1% helped articulate our frustrations.

Money Out Of Politics!

A growing awareness of corporate power corrupting our democracy 

no doubt made Bernie Sanders' success possible.

US Entrepreneurial Spirit

 US entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in Santa Fe!

Slurp, Santa Fe's only airstream eatery got to be the coolest.

As cool as it may be, this eatery serves hot fare.

Half a curried chicken sandwich was perfection.

After hours outside our State Capitol,

in sympathy with the Occupy rally

(staged on the first day of our legislative season

to make our legislators aware 

that we the people, the 99% are watching)

I treated myself at Slurp.

Known for their soups and focaccia bread

made fresh on site and served with a smile.

 

slurp

444 Galisteo Street

Tel. 505 690 5994

I say the cutest enterprise in our town

deserves my shameless advertisement.

Appalling

Appalling, hypocritical Newt's audacity to run for the presidential nomination! Can anyone imagine an adulteress as First Lady? While he blasted Clinton's morals and touted Christian family values, Newt himself had secret affairs, had brought his mistress in to the home of his wife! Maybe some entitled 'white boys' can overlook such a sordid affair, but no woman voter ought to disregard a character as vicious, callous, deceitful and mean spirited as that of the former speaker of the house. Jon Stewart says it best as usual.

Boys will be boys no longer holds. Enough of white men's privilege! Enough already of outdated patriarchal values that make it o.k. for Newt to blast our sitting president, to call President Obama "stupid" simply for having refused to sign on to the further raping of the earth through the Keystone Pipeline. Yes, we need jobs, but not on cost of the environment. We need to further the healing of the environment and create green, environmentally sound jobs for real solutions.

Appalling, Mitt Romney's jitters in regard to revealing his tax returns. No, we, the majority, do not begrudge success, but we do hold financial success won on the backs of the poor (meaning unethical business practices, even if legal) against anyone that runs for public office. Off-shoring wealth to the Cayman Islands will not land any favors either with us, the voters, the 99%. Romney belongs to the 1%, no surprise the repugnant Republicans can even consider Mitt as presidential candidate.

Appalling finally, that our own Republican Governor Susana Martinez who looks like a nice enough lady, wants to reinstate the death penalty, wants to undo a decade of labor to abolish this outdated form of pure injustice and cruelty.

2012?

The merry happiness season has thankfully come to an end, hallelujah! Way too much emphasis on happiness for my taste. Beware what you wish for, it may come true! Happiness is so overrated. Anderson Cooper's giggles are cute, maybe because we know him as such a serious and courageous journalist, but I sure had no desire to join him and the far out, over the top Kathy Griffin on CNN for New Years eve. I used to giggle a lot, as a girl in school, anxious nerves I suppose.

My holidays were spent home alone, that is with my three furry companions. Distractions would not do, no music, not even TV and my Mom's antique church sing-along book stayed stashed away unopened, not much singing came out of my mouth this season. Well, there is usually some humming,  mostly unintentional, these days more of the nature of 'We Will Overcome'.

I do not recommend spending holidays home alone, but neither do I recommend spending such in the folds of dysfunctional families. It's a no-win situation unless one feels loved before and after  the hoopla of holidays, so then the duration of such may be born with some confidence and some dignity.

With the start of a new year it seems time for a new survey. My inquiry in to your feelings about Obama (note my leaving out President on purpose, because I am mad and terribly disappointed in him) yielded a surprising 57% in his favor (out of 7 votes I should ad.) So, with my new poll I wonder how you feel about the year 2012? (Please vote in the poll to your right, multiple times if you wish.)

No fair to ask you without offering an answer myself, so simply stated I am worried. While I found hope in the Occupy movement I no longer wish to be associated with our local Occupy encampment and our local dysfunctional group that makes safety and communication not an absolute priority. Still I identify myself with the 99% and with those that demand change and those that object on moral grounds. The 99% has become a slogan, has become a useful synonym that begs less for exactitude, but more to bring attention to the fact that a small minority has been abusing their super powers for their own gain and on cost of real, live, hurting people. The specifics will become clearer. Locally, our progressives are busy bees preparing for this upcoming legislative session which starts January 17the and goes on for 30 days. I am prepared to occupy committee hearings, are you?

Beyond the legislature, this being an election year, I have a horror, first of all of so much money spent, basically to buy votes, basically invested away from people in need. Money Out Of Politics already, this is obscene! I loath the drivel of the ever same pundits dissecting every  manipulative statement every word, every move and gesture intended more to hide then reveal truth by those most uninspiring presidential candidates, analyzed at absurdum by the media. How anyone can even conceive of Gingrich as president is beyond me. Ron Paul has some redeeming qualities, his uncompromising authenticity rings true, his stand against military proliferation and against meddling in foreign affairs could win my favors, but look at  his position on women's rights, even over their own bodies, abominable. Huntsman holds appeal, but for the right I am told his Mormon roots are unacceptable. A Tea Party person considered the United States a Christian nation, why am I surprised? 

 

Thankfully my furry friends are blissfully unaware of all such goings-on. I might like to join them, but I am afraid that sticking our heads in to the sand, spacing out and pretending nothing really matters, will not be the responsible thing for any of us to practice.

Benefits

I ran in to a couple the other day and learned that they no longer use the exclusive spa facility where I had seen them so often because membership price went up from $350 to $650/not per year, but per month!

Instead this couple, Republicans that no doubt oppose "Obamacare", joined a regular spa on cost of Medicaid! American tax dollars benefiting the needy?

Occupy Santa Fe Woes

After my attendance of our most recent GA, I kinda realized I was having trouble. In two full months now of involvement with the Occupy movement, I have not yet been able to express my concerns and contribute positively to the shaping of a still amorphous agglomeration of individuals in to an effective group of activists.

Yes, about 8 weeks ago I was able to influence the route of Occupy Santa Fe's march away from a narrow downtown street where it likely would have obstructed local business and created ill will, to a more visible path along a major flow of traffic through town. But as regards such obvious things of prime importance such as a good working, practical on-line presence, nope, no can do. No matter my posts on our various sites, no matter my mention to individual folks, no go. The Media working group concerned itself with big plans for video and radio transmissions, but seems to neglect the actual trouble with a smattering of sites: Facebook group and - page and - working group sites, plus additional two (no, not one, but two) sites for campers (with barely a post related to camp.) Then there is a rarely used website in existence that features working group sites not updated most in over a month, e-mail lists with their round robin plethora of e-mails ad absurdum and most recently a new yahoo group. These are only the sites I know of, there likely are more. All this makes efforts of organization cumbersome and dysfunctional and leaves newcomers at a loss of where to go for  their information and contributions. Why a central site is not a priority is beyond me. Why an updated agenda is not a priority is beyond me too. Why easy access to sites with capability of interaction is not encouraged, so as to create notices of events and to make efforts to let people know about plans and to inform about the progress of working groups is way beyond me.

Is it burn out already? My god-dess, we got a long road ahead of us if we are committed to the work of real change, rather then small change. I have been suckered in to what is called a Facilitation Work Group. The idea is to create templates to serve as basis for efficient facilitation of General Assemblies (GA) as well as training manuals for facilitators. The desire was to follow, but not imitate Occupy Wall Street procedures so as to serve our much smaller community. The benefit of trained facilitation has been obvious at every GA where such were amiss. Trouble is we got bogged down in minutia that I am afraid will stifle, rather then further the process of decision making in General Assemblies.

Odd that while I am normally shy and avoid the lime light, I have felt inspired, involved and committed with Occupy Santa Fe from the get-go. So facilitation seemed like  an arena I might be of use. I can be impartial, I have professional training to stay in an observer role and I have skills to follow process. I wish though I had better leading skills. I seem unable to really get my ideas across effectively and that is very frustrating to me. I guess it is my learning edge. I hope over time I will do better.

To my mind regular marches, preferably after lunch when families would be free to join in, would have kept us visible in the public eye. Instead we got buried in a part of our public park frequented mainly by transients and homeless folks. Others drive by, maybe notice the camp and at best wonder why. The Native American transient populace seemed to have laid claim to the real estate now occupied. They would get drunk and then belligerent and in this way would exhaust the campers in a seeming endless struggle to preserve their safe boundaries, their peace of mind and their sleep.

Of course my Cancer nature would find other means, more immediate ones, of being of service. I scored a whole chicken at the Farmers Market and made it in to chicken soup, my first one from scratch from a whole bird. (Reaching in to that bird to retrieve the innards was not as scary as I had imagined.) I  brought the steaming hot pot over to camp by 9 p.m. for something warm to eat during the cold night. I did got rave reviews and that felt very rewarding. But I also have brought over a pot of rice and lentils that then I had to discover hidden away, uneaten by the next day, what a turn off. Someone had made the decision that pancakes did not go well with brown rice. The whole pot with warm ready to eat food, made in part with vegetables from the adjacent community garden gone to waste, not to talk of the energy it had taken to make it.

 While these and similar struggles have been going on at Occupation sites across the globe and while many sites have been forcefully terminated, the spirit of resistance only will grow stronger forced underground. While for now less in the public eye, much does happen in working groups and there is no doubt a deep commitment for real change (rather then small change) by many fed up individuals.

An idea whose time has come can not be ignored. 

But the growing pains are many.

The Place NOT to be - WALMART!

 

- Research has shown Walmart pays an average wage of just $8.81/hour for their sales associates.

- Walmart is the world's largest private employer, with more then 21 million employees 

   (14 million associates in the US alone.)

- Despite the economy, Walmart continues to be profitable with 16.4 billion in net income for fiscal 2010.

- CEO  Mike Duke's compensation in 2010 was 18.7 million. 

- Walmart has been consistently anti-union.

- Walmart pays nothing ($0.00) in state corporate taxes in New Mexico

BUY LOCAL!

- For every dollar spent in a locally owned business, 45 cents stay within our Santa Fe economy.

- For every dollar spent in a non-local business, only 13 cents stay in our community.

- Locally owned business recycle a higher percentage of profits back into the local economy.

- Two major chains, when compared with local businesses, gave 75% less to charities than locally    

  owned businesses.

I have avoided Walmart for decades, but I will admit that many items can not be found from a local source, much less for a competitive price. So, if you do decide to shop at Walmart, at least do so not blindly, but know the facts, know the high cost of cheap shopping. (The above info was taken from  a Walmart Fact sheet off the internet.)

Our upcoming legislative session is the place to finally plug those corporate loopholes as regards  fair taxation and in so doing give local businesses a fair chance and the local economy a boost.

Finally the holidays are about people, not things. No need to shop 'til you drop. Just say no!

My Experience with Occupy

I want to explore still why I am so attracted to the Occupy movement, like I take to it like a Mermaid to water. But the influx of information, opinions and happenings are overwhelming. On top I feel like I ought to present a masterly dissertation in favor of the Occupy movement. But I am conflicted like with most anything and things keep on changing.  Even while I was writing my post 11.11.11 describing the progress of our local encampment, the fire department had been checking out the site and had ordered the disuse of propane, leaving the kitchen stranded for the weekend, well kinda. Charcoal grills that are part of the park are o.k. to use and of course the community came to assistance.

On my way home from the encampment through the Farmers Market on Saturday, I managed to score a whole chicken and proceeded to cook my very first chicken soup from a whole bird. I was scared to reach inside and deal with the innards, but my fear was unfounded, all was wrapped in plastic and much appreciated by my pups, but not our Pretty Kitty, he is a finicky eater for sure. I was ready to deliver the goods, a pot of steaming hot soup with vegetables from the community garden across the encampment, on my bike at night, but got a response from my post on-line and got a ride, appreciated in frigid winter temperatures. The feedback next day was glowing "the best soup ever" despite little salt and spice since some of the campers can not tolerate such and our "Chef" had suffered a stroke. Tough to camp out in winter temperatures after a stroke, but he insists it to be his choice. There would be beds and warm meals at the shelter, but he prefers to be an essential part at our occupation site.

The very next day one crotchety, senior part time camper told me that he wished I would do something on my visits to camp. We seem to have a lot of those senior, sinewy, seemingly uptight guys in our local occupation movement. I have been walking my pups to the occupation site and through the park twice daily most days now since the site at my nearby park got occupied. It is a good way to get a feel for things, relay some information and offer a helping hand where needed.

I want to state that I did not vote for establishing an encampment, I abstained, because I knew I would not be an occupier and because I am not convinced that the freedom to assembly includes the freedom to create tent cities in public places. 

There are those that abhor the mere mention of such doubts and want those voices to shut up and go someplace else. I find that offensive and unacceptable. Americans really seem to be unable to tolerate dissent. One dear senior expressed a wish for those homeless occupiers to get pocket money for cigarettes and time off, maybe to hang out in a warm coffee shop. While his desire no doubt came from his heart and his experience spending nights at the site, I find it wholly unacceptable to pay protesters. I always object to providing anyone with their drug of choice, be that cigarettes, alcohol, dope or donuts. My senior buddy stomped off upon hearing my remark, somewhat flippant I admit, and we have not communicated since.

At such times it is good to go back to basics, do what's in front, take the next step. Despite having caught a cold during our last General Assembly and despite my doubts about the legitimacy of a tent city in an urban environment, I took to the street with my erasable bulletin board the morning after the unnecessarily forceful clearing of the People's Park, the Occupy Wall Street encampment. I was mostly standing alone! Campers did not feel like it! There were never as many as even a dozen protesters in the main intersection where our protest were to be held, announced on line while the destruction of OWS still was in full progress! A movement that can not mobilize at a moment's notice seems to me is not a movement! Movement or not, I believe we are the 99%, maybe 99.99%! I might take to the streets, or rather side walks alone, because it is time!

I object to police brutality, to the devious secrecy of the military style police action, and to the thrashing of personal property including the public library, all hauled off in dump trucks (60 out of 5000 books do not restore what must have been an outstanding library donated in part by Pattie Smith.) If you have not done so yet, feel free to place your objections with Major Bloomberg by calling 1 212 639 9675.

We can not eradicate an idea whose time has come!

99 Versus 1 Percent

11.17.11, Noon: MoveOn coordinated civic action,

locally, across from Whole Foods,

near our Occupy Santa Fe encampment.

Moral Outrage Fuels The Occupy Movement

These last almost 2 weeks have been busy since the start of my involvement with Occupy Santa Fe/Occupy Wall Street, really Occupy Everywhere. The first day I arrived at the encampment across from the Bank of America, after that first big demonstration on October 8th, I simply joined a group of protesters and held up my own erasable board with my message. I live right near the birthplace of the nuclear bomb, Los Alamos, one of the wealthiest communities in the US, that of course thrives, due to their focus on military defense, rather then a focus on green sustainable invention in science. I am outraged at the money that flows in to military spending and I want it to stop!

Soon though I realized that there is wisdom in not making outright demands, yet. This now global movement just emerged. It is crucial to not splinter off in separate factions, to not alienate too many with our individual grievances. But it is time, it is truly time, we are overdue for a rising up and making our voices heard. This is what I believe. Injustice, not just economic, but social runs through the whole fabric of our American society, it is truly shameful.

George Lakoff is right when he calls the Occupy movement a positive and moral force that contrary to the Tea Party does not only care for it self, but includes the 99 percent (in Santa Fe we like to not be divisive and think of it as the 100%) as well as animal and environmental welfare along with world wide inclusiveness. The occupy movement does not hinge on camping out and partying, but it is about a deep moral outrage brought forth in a peaceful, non-violent manner, which may include civil disobedience.

The 99 Percent Declaration states a list of grievances, not approved by Occupy Wall Street, but certainly worth our contemplation and discussions. What follows are a few points of theirs of my choice:

1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office, from individuals, corporations, "political action committees", "super political action committees", lobbyists, unions and all other private sources of money or thing of value to be replaced by the fair, equal and total  public financing of all federal political campaigns. We categorically REJECT the concepts that corporations are persons or that money is equal to free speech because if that were so, then only the wealthiest people and corporations would have a voice.  

5.  A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require ALL citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax breaks, exemptions and deductions, subsidies (e.g. oil, gas and farm) and ending all other methods of evading taxes. The current system of taxation favors the wealthiest Americans, many of whom, pay fewer taxes to the United States Treasury than citizens who earn much less and pay a much higher percentage of income in taxes to the United States Treasury. We, like Warren Buffet, find this income tax disparity to be fundamentally unjust.

6. Medicare for all American citizens or adoption of a single-payer healthcare system. The Medicaid program, fraught with corruption and fraud, will be eliminated except for the purpose of providing emergency room care to indigent non-citizens who will not be covered by the single-payer healthcare system. 

12. Recalling all military personnel at all non-essential bases ...

20. An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan ...  
Finally, I do believe the US needs a 3. non-partisan, independent party, eventually.

We are the 99 Percent!
It is time.

We got the power in numbers.

We will be silent no more.

Occupy Santa Fe Encampment

Since the first demonstration last Saturday, Occupy Santa Fe has spontaneously created and manned an encampment right across the Bank of America. The big tent is stacked with art supplies for the making of signs and holds tables and chairs for peaceful assemblies. Meetings will be held 6 pm every day of this week until the big event next Saturday, October 15th, 10 am at the Round House. This will be an assembly from the people, for the people. No politicians or political parties will be allowed to take over with their agendas. There will be no PA system, but the human mic will be employed, same as it's done on Wall Street, with people repeating each sentence, so as to really take in the spirit and take to heart what is voiced.

Our Major and the police are well aware of these first stirrings of what we hope will be a movement for positive change. They have expressed their support. Will you join in and show your support? People are needed at this camp, day and night. I will be there again tomorrow 4-6 pm and expect to attend the evening meetings this week. I estimate about 50 concerned citizens showed up for today's meeting and I was glad to find myself among a very well functioning, organized, civilized, friendly group of spirited people. Check out this Occupy Together Field Manual.

We Are the 99 Percent

Occupy Santa Fe

In Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.

We are the 99%

Dr. Lakind, Protester and Activist

Awake!

Tax Cheat

Dad insisted on attending today's protest.

 Eloquent Jewish Mom

Objects in 3 Billion/Year Aid to Israel 

while Education is threatened with cuts.

Bank of Avarice

Corporate Personhood

Corporations and Congress

Balance the Budget on OUR Backs

 My neighbor Amba

wants corporate money 

out of politics and climate.

I could not agree more.

It's good to have like-minded neighbors.

It's about time people take to the streets!

They are, and not just in Santa Fe,

and not just the young,

or poor, or uneducated ones.

We Are the 99 Percent

It's about time

What we are witnessing can also be seen as a demand to finally have a conversation we were all supposed to have back in 2008. There was a moment, after the near-collapse of the world's financial architecture, when anything seemed possible. - Guardian

Bring back the troops!

Stop the occupations!

Close military bases across the world!

Why is the US still stationed in Germany?

 

 

The free market does not protect the worker.

We need unions!

 

Universal Health Care for all!

 

No one in their right mind 

can believe these protests are about Debit Card fees.

 Banks were given bail out money with no strings!

Executives received obscene and immoral bonuses,

while home owners were left to hang and dry.

They have taken homes

through an illegal foreclosure process,

despite not having the original mortgage.

We come to you at a time when corporations -- 

which place profit over people,

self-interest over justice, 

and oppression over equality -- 

run our governments.

Voila, a hotchpotch of slogans

taken off the net, mainly facebook,

not my original thoughts,

but all resonating in my heart.

Weather permitting I will take to the street tomorrow.

Will you?
We Are the 99 Percent

Occupy Wall Street

Eloquent Manifesto
dramatically read by Keith Olbermann
in text rather then video format, for now:

The statement issued from Zuccotti Park by the general assembly at Occupy Wall Street.

    "As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members. That our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors. That a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people, and the Earth, and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.

    We come to you at a time when corporations -- which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality -- run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here as is our right to let these facts be known.

    They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

    They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses.

    They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in workplaces based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

    They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

    They have profited off the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

    They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

    They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is, itself, a human right.

    They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut worker's health care and pay.

    They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people with none of the culpability or responsibility.

    They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams, but look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

    They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

    They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

    They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products, endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

    They determine economic policy despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

    They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

    They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

    They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives, or provide relief in order to protect investments that havealready turned a substantial profit.

    They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

    They purposefully kept people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

    They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners, even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

    They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

    They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

    They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.

    To the people of the world,

    We, the New York City general assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

    Exercise your right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

    To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

    Join us and make your voices heard."

Support Occupy Santa Fe

Occupy Santa Fe will hold a rally Saturday, October 8th,

at Bank of America, Saint Francis and Paseo de Peralta

10 am to 5 pm.

 Join!  
We Are the 99 Percent