Saturday, October 08, 2011

99% vs. 1% -- The Latest on Occupy Wall St. Movement: 853 Cities Across the World Shoring Up for the Long Haul

- Friday, October 7

9:22 PM Occupy Cincinnati kicks off tomorrow, and supporters are getting prepared. The group has permits for up to 2000 protesters, according to the KY Post, and while it expires at 1 AM Sunday morning, a Facebook message indicates protesters intend to stay for the "foreseeable future."

Worcester, Massachusetts, is preparing for its own protests, beginning Sunday afternoon at 1:30 PM on Worcester Common. They will be joined by 1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East—Massachusetts' largest health care union—while students at Brandeis University, outside of Boston, are planning their own on-campus protest.

And in Utah, Congressman Jason Chaffetz stopped by Occupy SLC to show support—in contrast to Orrin Hatch, who believes OWS to be "alarming." Organizers in Salt Lake expect their protests to last at least a month, according to the Salt Lake Tribune:

For Karo Christensen, a Web designer from Bountiful, the goal is to occupy "until we start seeing a change in the country" — politicians listening and making the changes the group would like to see happen, such as getting corporate dollars out of politics and having the government take over the Federal Reserve.

The broad discontent fueling this growing movement centers on corporate greed and lack of government responsiveness to "the 99 percent."

"There’s a growing number of people who can’t find work and can’t do things," Christensen said. "The government doesn’t seem to be helping us with any of that stuff, but they jump on the chance to help the [top] 1 percent with anything that goes wrong."

8:23 PM Reason TV has an excellent video from the ground in New York that counters all those silly reports that say the protesters don't have clear goals. The people they interviewed seem to know exactly what their objectives are—including raising taxes on the rich to fund education, and forming a clear collective bond. Really great work on their part, a must-watch:.........................

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