Live-blogging OWS daily since October 1. Email: epic1934@aol.com. All times ET. See my e-book "40 Days That Shook the World: From Occupy Wall St. to Occupy Everywhere [1]." My very OWS-relevant "Journeys With Beethoven [2]" has just been published in print [3] and as e-book, my other books here. [4]
7:20 Cool new "When We Occupy" song via swell singer/songwriter Michelle Shocked (she was arrested in LA raid, so extra props due).
7:00 More views, not as critical as some, on the recent events in Oakland, here [5] from Viewpoint, and by local activist here. [6]
4:30 Great little video from Portland announcing/promoting February 29 (yes, there is that date this year) as national day of action to "shut down the corporations."
3:30 Alan Grayson calls for vote for Rep. Buck McKeon [7] as "Porker of the Year." But so much competition!
3:20 Occupy and the civil rights moevement. [8].. Anonymous speaks out [9] against Black Bloc tactics....
1:35 Pew: Low-income Republicans [10] join Dems in saying gov't does too little for poorer folks.... Could anything possibly be worse for the GOP than Trump endorsing Romney the day after Mitt's "who cares about the poor" statement?
12:35 Former colleague @KevinGosztola tweets: " Vehicle used by city in raid on #OccupyBuffalo [11] comparable to casspir, which was used against anti-apartheid protesters in South Africa." Photo at left.
11:25 Here's The Guardian's take on NY prosecutors [12] seeking Twitter records re: OWS for Malcolm Harris.
11:20 Marking Ayn Rand's birthday: That Atlas Shrugged movie was one of most panned of last year but that will not stop a Part II later this year. Rand apalling?
10:55 Occupy song pick of the day: Should Arlo re-make his dad's "Deportees" as "Self-Deportees" now, as per Mitt Romney? Anyway, here he sings the original with Emmylou. As with so much Woody, timely today.
10:50 In the past three months, over 5 million Americans have switched banks [13].
10:30 Our own Dave Zirin returns with more [14] on Super Bowl protests--wise or not?... Bob Scheer [15]: The Dems who unleashed Wall Street, and got away with it.
9:40 An historic analysis [16]: Yes, nonviolence works better than violence.... Even as it negotiates new rules--OccupyBuffalo [17] raided.
9:05 MoJo: Obama and his campaign have been running [18]...from climate change. Will that change?
8:15 How our combat troops' ailments add to medical backlog [19] in USA.... TPM on the Super-Pac dough [20] and amazing amount that comes in 100-grand chunks..... Corporate sponsorship [21] of the Komen fund and how to strike back vs. Planned Parenthood decision....Groundhog sees shadow, means 6 more weeks of the Adelsons backing Newt candidacy. Casino royale.
8:05 My new book on Beethoven's influence today [2]--including politically and re: Occupy--just out this morning in print edition [3], was available in various e-book editions a few days ago. Co-authored by Kerry Candaele and linked to his great upcoming Beethoven as universal hero film. Beethoven even rocked the biggest Occupy-related rally of the year -- over half a million in Madrid.
8:00 Andy Borowitz tweets: "Romney: 'I'm not concerned about the very poor. They're all working at my house.'"... More from Andy: "The fact is, I do care about poor people. I'm poor myself, when you compare me to Mark Zuckerberg." And: "Romney: People have no reason to worry about the poor until I'm President."
12:05 Jon Stewart [22] on Romney's "don't worry about the poor" statement....
From late Wednesday
Stephen Colbert tweets: "Mitt Romney is not a vulture capitalist. Vultures only eat things that are dead."
Josh Harkinson: Occupy Oakland focus [23] more anti-cop than anti-corp?
Laughable, but is anyone laughing? Over 400 arrests [24] in Oakland the other night lead to exactly....12 charges. NBC: "It appears that the mass arrest -- the biggest in the Easy Bay since 1982, when 1,200 people were taken into custody during an anti-nuclear demonstration -- will do very little to dampen revolutionary spirits: a reading of a list of 90 names of those arrested who will not be charged was punctuated by a call of f*** the police, the Bay Citizen reported."
NYT and other news orgs have some questions [25] for police about handling of journos at protests....High School students walk out and marchee to Union Sq today in NYC.... Occupy Detroit saves home [26] of couple facing eviction... Bill Moyers talks to [27] former CitiGroup head....He's baaaack: Interview with Bill Ayers [28], you know the former "terrorist" that Obama "hobnobbed" with.
Oakland arrestees claim brutal treatment [29]in jail.