#OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

[Laodicean]

VIDEO: Occupy Baltimore “mic checks” Karl Rove during Johns Hopkins speech

http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2011/11/16 ... ns-speech/

[brainpanhandler]

This probably deserves it's own thread. If it becomes a distraction here we can start one.

Alleged gunman shot by police at UC Berkeley dead
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press – 10 minutes ago

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — An undergraduate student shot by campus police after brandishing a loaded gun at the University of California, Berkeley died at a hospital hours after the confrontation, a university spokesman said Wednesday.

Christopher Nathen Elliot Travis, 32, had just started his first semester at Berkeley after transferring from another school, and had been attending classes at the prestigious Haas School of Business, spokesman Dan Mogulof said.

University officials said a staff member first saw the man carrying what appeared to be a gun in an elevator at the business school after 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The staff member called police at 2:17 p.m., saying she saw the man remove the gun from a backpack.

Police officers tracked the suspect into a Haas computer lab. The suspect raised the loaded gun and was shot by an officer at about 2:22 p.m., roughly five minutes after the initial call, according to the school.

At the time, four students were between the officer and the suspect, UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said Tuesday. None of the students was hurt, and Mogulof said there was no evidence to suggest Travis had any intentions to harm others.

Bill Travis, the suspect's father, sobbed during a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press from his home in Lodi, Calif. He said he learned his son had been shot Tuesday night, and didn't wish to make any further comment.

As Twitter lit up with concerns and rumors about what had happened following the shooting Tuesday afternoon, news helicopters arrived on the scene and began buzzing overhead.

At 2:53 p.m., campus authorities sent out the first alert to the Berkeley community, saying there had been a shooting at Haas Business School and that police on the scene had the situation under control but that the area should be avoided, said Claire Holmes, an associate vice chancellor for public affairs. Another warning went out at 2:59 p.m. saying the only suspect was in custody.

A third alert went out nearly an hour later, said there was no longer a threat and that campus activities had returned to normal. The official UC Berkeley Twitter account later posted a link to an official university statement describing the incident and saying that Haas had been reopened.

When asked whether the school's emergency alert system was effective given the reporting delay, Holmes said she felt the school had done an admirable job.

"I think that given the situation, you're balancing the urgency to get something out with the knowledge that you currently have, and not creating a situation where people are overly concerned and doing things they shouldn't be doing," she said. "It went out as soon as it was possible."

It was the first on-campus shooting since 1992. In that earlier incident, an Oakland police officer fatally shot a machete-wielding activist from nearby People's Park who had broken into the former chancellor's mansion on the north side of campus.

Mogulof said Wednesday that the suspect was taken to an Oakland hospital, where he died later Tuesday.

"It's a very fast moving investigation," he said. "There were an enormous of witnesses who police had to interview so that's why it's taken this long to get the information out."

Staff, students and administrators gathered at the business school Wednesday morning for a meeting about the shooting. Grief counselors were on hand and classes were held as scheduled Wednesday.

School administrators issued a statement directing students where to find their belongings left behind Tuesday afternoon after the temporary evacuation of the school and cancellation of classes.

The shooting occurred as anti-Wall Street activists were preparing another attempt to establish an Occupy Cal camp after a failed effort last week led to dozens of arrests.

ReFund California, a coalition of student groups and university employee unions, called for a campus strike, and protesters planned a rally and march to protest banks and budget cuts to higher education.

More than 1,000 students, campus employees, faculty and other demonstrators filled an outdoor plaza Tuesday after many took part in morning teach-ins.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 7135bc9b9e

[MinM]

This probably deserves it's own thread. If it becomes a distraction here we can start one.

Alleged gunman shot by police at UC Berkeley dead
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press – 10 minutes ago

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — An undergraduate student shot by campus police after brandishing a loaded gun at the University of California, Berkeley died at a hospital hours after the confrontation, a university spokesman said Wednesday.

Christopher Nathen Elliot Travis, 32, had just started his first semester at Berkeley after transferring from another school, and had been attending classes at the prestigious Haas School of Business, spokesman Dan Mogulof said...

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 7135bc9b9e

A 32-year old; first semester transfer student; UnderGrad @ Cal Berkeley.

Nothing about that story smells right.

[brainpanhandler]

Seriously fails the sniff test. It reeks. I mean it could hardly kill more birds with one stone. Crazed lone gunman brandishing loaded gun at prestigious California university with a long history of radical protest quickly and safely dispatched with no loss of life except the bad guy by a highly efficient police force protecting and serving the community. It's not very artful, but I suppose effective on the dullards.

[eyeno]

Occupy Wall St.: Retired Philly police captain shows up in uniform in solidarity at Zucotti

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-ne ... at-zucotti

A retired Philadelphia police officer has appeared at Zuccotti Park to show his solidarity with the protesters, and the Occupy Wall Street movement a day after police rousted and evicted the two-month old encampment. Upon his arrival in full police chief uniform, the officer quickly drew the attention of some of New York's finest, who approached him to see what he was all about.

He was almost arrested on the spot for becoming "confrontational."

The unamed officer, now a retired gentleman farmer, spoke to his choice to retire and live a more simple lifestyle. "Souless people should not be in power." he says to the livestream commentators. Anticipating his imminent arrest the former police chief expected he might be charged with impersonating a police officer, as he no longer worked for the Force. However he pointed out that he hadn't excercised any attempt to behave like an officer, such as tell anyone what to do, so he should be OK.

"I mean I'm following you!" he joked, "You guys are the heroes!"

When asked if he had a Facebook page the dapper chief responded;

"Believe it or not, I'm not looking for any notoriety! I just want a quiet life, but this was too important not to show up for."

Police officers suddenly appear behind the tall imposing chief in full dress regalia. They asked a protester to get up - no sleeping in the park was the order.

The livestream commentators give the officer their lawyer's number - he doesn't have one he says. They talk about what route he should take to get the subway back to where he is staying. He is a retired Captain, he tells them.

"The cops don't know what to do with me...I mean can you imagine how bad it will look - the photos of them arresting a Police Captain?" the unknown ex-copper laughs. "Google the 'Inside Job' by Ferguson," he says - that will explain everything you need to know about the 1%. They sit on gold toilets up there."

The protesters were traumatized by police at 1 a.m. when they raided the camp forcibly early Tuesday morning. Despite this, the Park was full of people milling around at the time of this article's publication at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday. Earlier, a judge had ruled that the Mayor's demands were to be followed, and no structures could be erected in Zuccotti. However the livestream has mysteriously gone down, according to the site, which is replaying last night's footage of the raid. I watch, fascinated.

http://www.livestream.com/occupynyc
MichelleDevlin is based in Innisfil, Ontario, Canada, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.
Report Credibility

[Laodicean]

Occupy Wall St.
In less than 12 hours the NYSE will be surrounded. See you there.

[Jeff]

Occupy Wall St.
In less than 12 hours the NYSE will be surrounded. See you there.

[Saurian Tail]

My letter to US Representative Eric Cantor ... will be sending letters supporting OWS to my Senators next:

Just to follow-up ...

I received a generic form letter response from Eric Cantor. No surprise there as my email to him was pretty harsh. I sent emails to both Senator Webb and Senator Warner expressing support for OWS and received fairly detail responses (copied below).

Thank you for contacting me about concerns with the regulation of the financial sector and related protests across the country. I appreciate hearing from you.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, I worked for 19 months with my bipartisan colleagues on the Committee, constituents and consumer representatives, the private sector, and the Administration to reform the way Wall Street works. On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and the Consumer Protection Act into law.

My number one priority during consideration of the bill was to end "too big to fail" so that in the future when a large company fails, taxpayers won't end up paying for the mistakes of that company and the financial marketplace. Senator Corker (R-TN) and I worked closely together to find compromise on systemic risk oversight and the creation of an orderly liquidation process for all large firms that default – ensuring that no firm will be too big to fail ever again. In the final version of the legislation, bailouts to individual companies are specifically prohibited.

In the wake of the financial crisis, I supported the broad goals of legislation to enhance consumer protection, streamline regulation to reduce cracks in the system, and require regulation of firms that have previously had none. Although I do not believe this legislation is perfect, Dodd-Frank addressed the causes of the crisis through improvements to consumer financial protection and bank oversight, and closing regulatory gaps. As implementation of the bill proceeds, I look forward to continued committee hearings and discussions to better protect our financial system from events like those in 2008.

I believe that the crisis in Europe is proof that it is important to remain vigilant in the United States about the global economy. During consideration of Dodd-Frank, I also worked towards creation of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to put in place a forum where regulators monitor potentially systemic risks both within our borders and globally. You can see more on my work in international economic issues as the Chairman of the Banking Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance at http://www.banking.senate.gov.

Again, thank you for contacting me. For further information or to sign up for my newsletter please visit my website at http://warner.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the Occupy Wall Street Movement, accountability for financial institutions, and consumer protection. I appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns with me.

The reckless practices on Wall Street that led to the financial collapse of September 2008 were the product of greed and poor government oversight. These failures cost millions of American workers their jobs and risked the United States’ economic position in the world. That is why I supported the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203). I believe we must act to prevent another financial crisis and future bailouts. Americans need a reformed financial system that restores an appropriate degree of regulation and control over Wall Street and our banking system.

The financial reform legislation establishes a strong, independent consumer protection agency that has the ability to conduct meaningful oversight and put consumers first, while exempting smaller banks and other businesses from potentially onerous regulation. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act includes multiple provisions to help ensure that executive compensation is held to a reasonable level. For example, the legislation requires all applicable financial institutions (including depository institutions, broker-dealers, credit unions, investment advisors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) with more than $1 billion in assets to prohibit incentive-based pay for executives, employees, directors, or principal shareholders deemed to be excessive, or that could lead to material financial loss for the financial institution.

As a matter of fundamental fairness, I have worked to further improve regulation of reckless Wall Street compensation practices. For example, I introduced the Taxpayer Fairness Act to recoup excessive bonuses paid by Wall Street banks and other firms that benefited from billions of taxpayer dollars. The bill would have imposed a one-time, 50% excise tax on the bonuses of employees above $400,000 who work for institutions that received more than $5 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Unfortunately, however, the bill did not receive a vote in the Senate.

As the U.S. Senate continues to address important issues facing Virginia and our nation, please be assured that your views will be helpful to me and my staff. I hope that you will continue to share your views with us in the future.

I would also invite you to visit my website at http://www.webb.senate.gov for regular updates about my activities and positions.

Thank you once again for contacting my office.

Sincerely,

Jim Webb
United States Senator

[Project Willow]

A message from Rich Lang, the clergyman who was pepper sprayed last night

....
The police were once conceived to be a citizen force created to serve and protect the public. Today however, the police have been militarized and view the populace as enemy combatants, as threats to their well being. The police, like our Armed Forces, are well trained, disciplined and exceptionally talented. They follow a chain of command and are increasingly apprenticed into a culture of institutional conformity. Because America has always affirmed the right of dissent, the role of the police is to keep the peace. They are trained to enter the protesting arena as unfeeling protectors of property and people. What has changed in our time is that the police are entering the arena of protest as agents of provocation. They push and shove at will, they ride their bicycles up the backs of protesters, they engage in verbal abuse. Their commanders allow this breach of discipline. Their comrades silently condone the bullying. The police become the agitators encouraging violence. It is as if they are spoiling for a fight --- a fight mind you against the citizenry, against the youth, the unemployed, and those who are trying to return America back to its promise, and dare I say it, return America to its covenant with God, “we hold these truths to be self evident …”

http://www.facebook.com/notes/bob-beatie/a-message-from-rich-lang-the-clergyman-who-was-pepper-sprayed-last-night/275435582499401

[Project Willow]

Capt Ray Lewis Joins OWS Protest,Gives Message to NYPD and Slams The Greed 1% from Zuccotti Park

They always want to take out the leaders. If someone says, "Who's the leader of this group?" That's a cop.

[Project Willow]

Colonel West at Occupy Seattle.

I wish I had known about this too, but unless you're daily and nightly in the tents at SCCC, it's unlikely you will have any idea what is going on.

[Laodicean]

.^Spread that far and wide.

[Project Willow]

^It's an awesome speech, notice my typo however. I think I'll leave it.

[Project Willow]

You have GOT to see this video! I do not know how to embed it. That gorgeous octogenarian who was pepper-sprayed appeared on Olberman and she is beyond description!

Occupy Seattle: Octogenarian activist Dorli Rainey on being pepper-sprayed by Seattle police, importance of activism


http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/occupy-seattle-octogenarian-activist-dorli-rainey-on-being-pepper-sprayed-by-seattle-police-importance-of-activism

Eighty-four-year-old activist Dorli Rainey tells Keith about her experience getting pepper-sprayed by the police during an Occupy Seattle demonstration and the need to take action and spread the word of the Occupy movement. She cites the advice of the late Catholic nun and activist Jackie Hudson to “take one more step out of your comfort zone” as an inspiration, saying, “It would be so easy to say, ‘Well I’m going to retire, I’m going to sit around, watch television or eat bonbons,’ but somebody’s got to keep ’em awake and let ’em know what is really going on in this world.”

"I remember Goebbels ."

[Laodicean]