tagged w/ Banking
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozemL3Oq21w
http://www.archive.org/details/LesVisibles-TheBigTicketItem
Heretic Productions presents "How Can so Many People be so Incredibly Blind? (The Big Ticket Item)
Download mp3 of this essay on politics and free speech
http://www.archive.org/download/LesVisibles-TheBigTicketItem/LesVisiblesBigTicketItem..mp3
You ask yourself, just how twisted, indifferent and malevolent can some people get before the universe begins to construct an international gallows franchise everywhere there needs to be one. Each day we see unknown wannabees and the usual suspects, vying and competing to see which of them can be registered and remembered as one of the greatest assholes of our time.
You’ve got Olympics scale competitors, like Janet Nazipolitano and Skull Chertoff. Even their own criminal associates have passed an inflexible law that these two are not allowed to breed. Of course, if you know more about them, you would realize that restriction is unnecessary. There are all kinds of rich people like Jane Harman, Jay Rockefeller, John Kerry, John McCain and others who weren’t satisfied to just spend their spouses or parent’s money and live high on the cannibal hog. They needed, through some terrible compulsion, to also be able to fuck with the lives of others for personal amusement. Why else would you go into public service if you already possessed the payoff for which people go into public service?
Of course there is the vanity of public exposure and personal importance and when you look and act like the serial killer version of Lyle Lovett or a poor man’s Hannibal Lector in Depends, then I guess Nature is telling you, you gotta do what you were designed to do, badly, or worse. There are a few who go into it just for the celebration of pure evil, like Joe Lieberman or Chuckie Schumer but they got those Satan does vaudeville genes.
Sometimes, I sit back and ask myself; where are and who are the good guys? Maybe Ron Paul is a good guy, maybe. We are damn well going to see whether he is now or not because he is in the catbird seat for where his caterwauling has led him. I guess I’d like him better if he didn’t sound like a perpetual member of the Vienna Boy’s Choir, which leads me to Dennis Kucinich, as a logical progression, I think. I begin to think the testosterone shortage is ubiquitous until I get a load of Jessie Ventura. He could be the real deal if he doesn’t turn into a TV personality to the extent he forgets what he came here for.
Alex Jones is not a good guy and neither is Noam Chomsky. I used to think that Chicago prosecutor might be good guy but apparently not. Back in the day, I thought Bill Clinton was a good guy, just to show you what a Holden Caulfield sort of callow youth I was. When he got chummy with George, (Hail Satan!), Bush Senior, I got the message. I mostly think Jimmy Carter is a good guy but everyone stops short of telling it like it is and most of you who read here and at the other fine emporiums of what’s actually going on, know what it’s all short of. I’m not obliquely referring to Kucinich here so, don’t think that. Get it? Never mind, cue Randy Newman.
Contwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ozemL3Oq21w... more
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The campaign just released a list of its top money bundlers, showing they’ve raised at least 75 million dollars – and the most prominent money bundlers are in California. It is also a state with one of the highest rates of unemployment, foreclosures and homelessness.
Don’t expect the Obama’s to stop by any of the neighborhoods suffering from those issues, though.
“If they were to come to places like this in South Central Los Angeles, or to Downtown LA to Skid Rows, they would be surprised at the reality,” said Carlos Marroquin, a homeowners advocate and Occupy LA activist, ahead of another visit from the Obamas.
There are many stark realities in Los Angeles that the President and first lady do not get to see, and many voices they do not hear.
“All you have to do is look at the people that are homeless. All you have to do s look at all the people being laid off,” said Osiris, a Los Angeles resident.
“We’re on our way down and it may be down the drain maybe for good," said Gary Boatright, a homeless man living on the streets of Skid Row. He is one of the city’s 50 thousand homeless.
“I don’t think much of them coming to LA or anywhere else. It’s what they do, not what they say,” said Boatright.
He along with community activists, argue the White House hasn’t done enough to address our nation’s increasing wealth gap.
“The issue of homelessness and poverty in America is obviously not a priority of the Obama administration. Basically poor people are being kept invisible,” he added.
Poverty has risen in California every year since President Obama came into office. Today 6 million live below the poverty line and 1-in-5 Californians lack health coverage.
“Unfortunately President Obama has been a huge disappointment to a lot of us,” Boatright said.
The campaign just released a list of its top money bundlers, showing they’ve raised at least 75 million dollars – and the most prominent money bundlers are in California. It is also a state with one of the highest rates of unemployment, foreclosures and homelessness. Don’t expect the Obama’s to stop by any of the neighborhoods suffering from those issues, though.
“If they were to come to places like this in South Central Los Angeles, or to Downtown LA to Skid Rows, they would be surprised at the reality,” said Carlos Marroquin, a homeowners advocate and Occupy LA activist, ahead of another visit from the Obamas.
There are many stark realities in Los Angeles that the President and first lady do not get to see, and many voices they do not hear.
“All you have to do is look at the people that are homeless. All you have to do s look at all the people being laid off,” said Osiris, a Los Angeles resident.
“We’re on our way down and it may be down the drain maybe for good," said Gary Boatright, a homeless man living on the streets of Skid Row. He is one of the city’s 50 thousand homeless.
“I don’t think much of them coming to LA or anywhere else. It’s what they do, not what they say,” said Boatright.
He along with community activists, argue the White House hasn’t done enough to address our nation’s increasing wealth gap.
“The issue of homelessness and poverty in America is obviously not a priority of the Obama administration. Basically poor people are being kept invisible,” he added.
Poverty has risen in California every year since President Obama came into office. Today 6 million live below the poverty line and 1-in-5 Californians lack health coverage.
“Unfortunately President Obama has been a huge disappointment to a lot of us,” Boatright said.The campaign just released a list of its top money bundlers, showing... more
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"Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank buys financial assets to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy"
In other words, the Private Central Federal Reserve Cartel is implementing the same policy from the past few yearsthat has changed nothing. Oh and Obama runs nothing.
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The central bank of the United States believes that America is still a ways from economic recovery, which could soon prompt the Federal Reserve to announce a new round of quantitative easing, or QE3.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed the economic status of the US on Wednesday and experts predict that the grim statement he offered suggest that QE3 is just around the corner.
"The framework makes very clear that we need to be thinking about ways to provide further stimulus if we don't get improvement in the pace of recovery and a normalization of inflation,” Chairman Bernanke said at a conference Wednesday. He added that unless the US sees a major economic recovery anytime soon, the Fed would be needed to step up to the plate.
According to the chairman, the purchasing of bonds to boost the economy is “an option that is certainly on the table”
Speaking Wednesday, Bernanke said that the Fed would keep interest rates low until at least 2014 and said that hopes of the American economy finally seeing a recovery were faltering. “If there’s a need to let inflation” return “a little more slowly to target in order to get a better result on employment, then that’s something that we would be willing to do,” Bernanke said."Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by central... more
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Financial Dictator of America and head of the Federal Reserve Private Banking Cartel statement following January meeting.Financial Dictator of America and head of the Federal Reserve Private Banking Cartel... more
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In other words the Federal Reserve Private Banking Cartel is out of bullets to "help" the economy, but we've suspected that they were going to be worthless for like four years now.
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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will likely not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, much later than it had said previously, as it nurses a still-sluggish economic recovery.
The Fed, after a two-day policy meeting, repeated its view that the economy faces "significant downside risks" but it offered little to suggest it was close to launching another round of bond-buying to prop up growth.
Many investors had expected the Fed to push its expectations for the first rate hike into 2014, but few had thought it would be late in the year. After every previous policy meeting dating back to August, the Fed had said rates were not likely to rise until mid-2013.In other words the Federal Reserve Private Banking Cartel is out of bullets to... more
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Fortune-teller or engineer of the collapse?
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Billionaire investor George Soros has a new prediction for America. While it might be as dire as it gets for the financial wiz, this bet concerns more than just the value of the buck. According to Soros, there's about to be an all-out class war.
Soros, 81, previously bet against the British pound in the early 90s and made $1 billion off its collapse. In the years since, he’s remained active in investing, but also in advocacy. He’s helped keep Wikipedia afloat thanks to impressive contributions and through donations to the Tides Center, has indirectly funded Adbusters, the Canadian anti-capitalist magazine that put Occupy Wall Street on the map.
Speaking to Newsweek recently, Soros neglected to acknowledge his past successes, but instead offered a word of warning: a period of “evil” is coming to the western world.
“I am not here to cheer you up. The situation is about as serious and difficult as I’ve experienced in my career,” Soros tells Newsweek. “We are facing an extremely difficult time, comparable in many ways to the 1930s, the Great Depression. We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”
Soros goes on to compare the current state of the western world with what the Soviet Union was facing as communism crumbled. Although he would think that history would have taught the globe a thing or two about noticing trends, Soros says that, despite past events providing a perfect example of what is to come, the end of an empire seems imminent.
“The collapse of the Soviet system was a pretty extraordinary event, and we are currently experiencing something similar in the developed world, without fully realizing what’s happening,” adds Soros.
Soros goes on to say that as the crisis in the Eurozone only worsens, the American financial system will continue to be hit hard. On the way to a full-blown collapse, he cautions, Americans should expect society to alter accordingly. Riots will hit the streets, says Soros, and as a result, “It will be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.”Fortune-teller or engineer of the collapse?
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Billionaire investor George... more
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I'm confused...didn't the US's credit rating just get downgraded?
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The U.S. government has informed Israel that it will recommend that Congress approve a three-year extension of loan guarantees to Israel, worth $3.8 billion. The announcement came after several months of worry in Israel that the loan guarantees would not be extended, despite Israel's request.
Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Nides and Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Neil Wolin announced the American decision at a meeting with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Monday. According to a senior U.S. official, the two emphasized to Ayalon that the recommendation to extend the guarantees through September 2015 would receive wide support from both parties in Congress and would be approved without any problems in the near future
"The U.S. is a true friend and ally of Israel," Ayalon said. "The partnership between the two countries is a natural one. Extending the loan guarantees strengthens the international position of the Israeli economy and will allow the government to continue to raise funds at lower costs."I'm confused...didn't the US's credit rating just get downgraded?... more
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Iceland is free. And it will remain so, so long as her people wish to remain autonomous of the foreign domination of her would-be masters — in this case, international bankers.
On April 9, the fiercely independent people of island-nation defeated a referendum that would have bailed out the UK and the Netherlands who had covered the deposits of British and Dutch investors who had lost funds in Icesave bank in 2008.
At the time of the bank’s failure, Iceland refused to cover the losses. But the UK and Netherlands nonetheless have demanded that Iceland repay them for the “loan” as a condition for admission into the European Union.
In response, the Icelandic people have told Europe to go pound sand. The final vote was 103,207 to 69,462, or 58.9 percent to 39.7 percent. “Taxpayers should not be responsible for paying the debts of a private institution,” said Sigriur Andersen, a spokeswoman for the Advice group that opposed the bailout.
A similar referendum in 2009 on the issue, although with harsher terms, found 93.2 percent of the Icelandic electorate rejecting a proposal to guarantee the deposits of foreign investors who had funds in the Icelandic bank. The referendum was invoked when President Olafur Ragnur Grimmson vetoed legislation the Althingi, Iceland’s parliament, had passed to pay back the British and Dutch.
Under the terms of the agreement, Iceland would have had to pay £2.35 billion to the UK, and €1.32 billion to the Netherlands by 2046 at a 3 percent interest rate. Its rejection for the second time by Iceland is a testament to its people, who feel they should bear no responsibility for the losses of foreigners endured in the financial crisis.
That opposition to bailouts led to Iceland’s decision to allow the bank to fail in 2008. Not that the taxpayers there could have afforded to. As noted by Bloomberg News, at the time the crisis hit in 2008, “the banks had debts equal to 10 times Iceland’s $12 billion GDP.”
“These were private banks and we didn’t pump money into them in order to keep them going; the state did not shoulder the responsibility of the failed private banks,” Iceland President Olafur Grimsson told Bloomberg Television.
The voters’ rejection came despite threats to isolate Iceland from funding in international financial institutions. Iceland’s national debt has already been downgraded by credit rating agencies, and now those same agencies have promised to do so once again as punishment for defying the will of international bankers.
This is just the latest in the long drama since 2008 of global institutions refusing to take losses in the financial crisis. Threats of a global economic depression and claims of being “too big to fail” have equated to a loaded gun to the heads of representative governments in the U.S. and Europe. Iceland is of particular interest because it did not bail out its banks like Ireland did, or foreign ones like the U.S. did.
If that fervor catches on amongst taxpayers worldwide, as it has in Iceland and with the tea party movement in America, the banks would have something to fear; that is, the inability to draw from limitless amounts of funding from gullible government officials and central banks. It appears that the root cause is government guarantees, whether explicit or implicit, on risk-taking by the banks.
Ultimately, such guarantees are not necessary to maintain full employment or even prop up an economy with growth, they are simply designed to allow these international institutions to overleverage and increase their profit margins in good times — and to avoid catastrophic losses in bad times.
The lesson here is instructive across the pond, but it is a chilling one. If the U.S. — or any sovereign for that matter — attempts to restructure their debts, or to force private investors to take a haircut on their own foolish gambles, these international institutions have promised the equivalent of economic war in response. However, the alternative is for representative governments to sacrifice their independence to a cadre of faceless bankers who share no allegiance to any nation.
It is the conflict that has already defined the beginning of the 21st Century. The question is whether free peoples will choose to remain free, as Iceland has, or to submit.
Read more at NetRightDaily.com: http://netrightdaily.com/2011/04/iceland-declares-independence-from-international-banks/#ixzz1kEPvGBazIceland is free. And it will remain so, so long as her people wish to remain... more
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Former Citi Group Investment Banker Is Obama's New Chief of Staff
It has been less than a month since Jacob (Jack) Lew kindled the National Menorah in front of the White House. When he did so, Lew was director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (a position he had also held under the Clinton administration). Now, President Barack Obama is appointing Lew as White House’s new Chief of Staff.
Seeing as how sentiment against the unmitigated profits of Wall Street reached fever pitch over the last year, one would think President Obama would be wise to consider resumes from other corridors of power to choose from when deciding upon a new chief of staff. And maybe he did!
In the end, however, he decided upon Jacob Lew. Here are some fun facts about Jacob Lew:
•Prior to his appointment as a deputy secretary at the Department of State, Mr. Lew was Chief Operating Officer of CitiGroup’s Alternative Investments group.
•Do you know what Alternative Investments are? They’re things like hedge funds, who buy things like credit default swaps! Credit default swaps are essentially the ability to buy insurance on someone else’s house in one hand as you hold anything else—the adjustable-rate mortgage you know they can’t pay off, or the capacity to sell that mortgage and therefore generate more mortgages like it, or a gasoline can—in the other hand. This is what Jacob Lew invested in!
•In 2008 and the beginning of 2009, Mr. Lew took in $1.1M from CitiGroup.
•This included a $900,000 bonus.
•Mr. Lew doesn’t think financial deregulation was one of the problems adding up to the financial crisis that has persisted since 2008.Former Citi Group Investment Banker Is Obama's New Chief of Staff
It has been... more
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After promoting war on Iraq through false weapons of mass destruction stories the New York Times is promoting war on Iran through false weapons of mass destruction stories.
NY Times reporter Steven Erlanger lies about the recent IAEA report on Iran. Steven Erlanger became the Jerusalem buearu chief in July 2004. The Big Lie is as follows:
The threats from Iran, aimed both at the West and at Israel, combined with a recent assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran’s nuclear program has a military objective, is becoming an important issue in the American presidential campaign.
The November 18 IAEA report (pdf) does not say that Iran's program has a military objective.
It quotes from a UN resolution that expressed "concerns about the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear programme", later says it had "identified outstanding issues related to possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme" and repeats similar language several time. All the outstanding issues the IAEA mentions predate 2003.
Nowhere does the IAEA claim that Iran's nuclear program has a military objective. The New York Times just made that up.After promoting war on Iraq through false weapons of mass destruction stories the New... more
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Many of you know I have a bit of a hatred for PayPal after they banned me for running a raffle that I didn't know wasn't something you were supposed to do with them. They didn't tell me to stop they just told me I was banned for life along with anyone in my house or anyone who ever will live in my house if I decided to sell it. A friend of mine turned me on to Venmo today and I have to admit, it's much better than PayPal and will probably shut them down.Many of you know I have a bit of a hatred for PayPal after they banned me for running... more
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Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray
http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Technology-56895-Stream-Pepper/product-reviews/B0058EOAUE/ref%3Dpatrick.net%26ie%3DUTF8%26showViewpoints%3D1
Hahaha! Here's a sample review:
"Whenever I need to breezily inflict discipline on unruly citizens, I know I can trust Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray to get the job done! The power of reason is no match for Defense Technology's superior repression power. When I reach for my can of Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray, I know that even the mighty First Amendment doesn't stand a chance against its many scovil units of civil rights suppression.
When I feel threatened by students, no matter how unarmed, peaceful and seated they may be, I know that Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray has got my back as I casually spray away at point blank range.
It really is the Cadillac of citizen repression technology."Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray... more
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A gaggle of ‘occupy’ sympathizers interrupted a question and answer session at a Ron Paul town hall gathering in Keene, New Hampshire Monday, proceeding to heckle the congressman in the form of a strange collective chant.
Taking hold of the microphone at the gathering, a man near the center of the audience stood up and declared “mic check”, before reeling off a pre-prepared speech, each line of which was collectively repeated by a group of so called 99 percenters.
“We are the 99 percent. We will be heard,” said the man. “There are criminals on Wall Street who walk free. There are protesters in jail. There is something wrong with this system.” he concluded.
The Congressman responded to the protesters by stating that he has been part of the 99% for a long time and has consistently rallied against the bailouts handed to Wall Street special interests.
It is not exactly clear whether the ‘occupy’ sympathizers were taking issue with Ron Paul’s campaign or simply using the event to get publicity.
For these people to heckle Paul, a man who has never taken any donations from Wall Street banks, and endorse Obama, whose 2008 campaign was financed almost exclusively by the likes of Goldman Sachs displays a frightening lack of awareness.A gaggle of ‘occupy’ sympathizers interrupted a question and answer... more
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I mean, it's not like the military hasn't been running drills for a financial collapse and subsequent uprisings thirty year or anything.
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The Alternative Futures Symposium in Chantilly, Va. was all part of the U.S. Army’s Unified Quest 2012 exercise, the latest in a series of annual war games that in recent years has focused on America’s response to a global financial meltdown in which average citizens took to the streets en masse.
In November 2010, CNBC’s Eamon Javers had this to say about last year’s exercise: “Ever since the crash of 2008, the defense-intelligence establishment has been paying a lot of attention to global markets and how they can serve as a threat to U.S. national security interests.”
Javers went on to report: “The Army is having a very interesting yearlong exercise called Unified Quest 2011. In that war-gaming series, the Army is looking at the implications of a large-scale economic breakdown in the U.S. that would force the Army to keep domestic order amid civil unrest and deal with global fragmented power and drastically lower budgets.”I mean, it's not like the military hasn't been running drills for a... more
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"In March 2010, Wachovia (which had been absorbed by Wells Fargo in December 2008) copped a plea for laundering some $378.4 billion from Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. “Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor of the case. (Sloman did not provide an estimate of the bank’s fees generated from its illegal practices.)
In keeping with the federal government policy of coddling the nation’s biggest banks, the Wachovia/BofA fine was for $160 million, less than 2 percent of the bank’s 2009 profits of $12.3 billion; also in 2009, Well Fargo secured a federal bail out of $25 billion. Crime pays.
Other U.S. banks that have been implicated in questionable money laundering schemes include Israel Discount Bank of New York, Harris Bank in Chicago and J.P. Morgan Chase.""In March 2010, Wachovia (which had been absorbed by Wells Fargo in December... more
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The next time someone throws out the ole Freddy and Fannie or Barney Frank caused the financial crisis bull shit, refer them to this article by thelonggoodbye:
Jeff Dunetz at Big Government must have passed the right-wing media journalism test. He follows in the same hollowed ethical standards as Andrew Breitbart himself, James O’Keefe and Kevin Pezzi. Dunetz swears this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but - Blame Barney Frank for the Recession, Not George Bush
Frank aggressively fought reform efforts by the Bush administration. He told The New York Times on Sept. 11, 2003, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s problems were “exaggerated.” Exaggerated? Thanks to Fannie and Freddie the housing market collapsed and we fell into this “great recession.”
That paragraph is 99% meaningless nonsense. Republicans controlled the House in 2003 and Tom The hammer Delay of K-Street infamy was House Majority Leader. The House, unlike the Senate is ruled by simple majority. Delay controlled the agenda and Bush 43 was in the White House. Frank could have set himself on fire and still had absolutely zero effect on any Republican attempts to legislate new regulations or create regulatory reform. Fannie and Freddie did not cause the housing bubble or the Great Recession. The numbers don’t add up. In addition Fannie and Freddie did not have that kind of power. Most of their loans were not subprime.
Read the entire article here:
http://thelonggoodbye.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/the-myth-of-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-barney-frank-the-housing-bubble-and-the-recession/The next time someone throws out the ole Freddy and Fannie or Barney Frank caused the... more
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A good Press TV news segment from when the Occupy Wall Street first began. I didn't see it posted before so I am posting it now.
If you are the 99%, you can speak in vague terms all you want about the corporations, the corporate greed etc, but you are not allowed to actually identify who the 1% really are. If you do, other protesters will call you names.
Skip to 4m10s in the video and listen to the first guest give a good overview of Occupy Wall Street and then the other two guests telling the host that Occupy Wall Street protesters should isolate people who try to recognize and identify who the 1% really are.A good Press TV news segment from when the Occupy Wall Street first began. I... more
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BANK TRANSFER DAY advises supporters to close accounts with banking institutions before November 5th in the same manner said accounts were opened: independently, with respect, without signage. Aggression & disruption don't serve this peaceful movement. #louderthanwords #banktransferdayBANK TRANSFER DAY advises supporters to close accounts with banking institutions... more
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