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]
7:30 Rep. Tom Tancredo on Hardball admits economy may NOT be so much of issue in Nov. so it may be race against "Obama and Zuccotti Park" people.
4:40 Mitt Romney remakes the Clint Eastwood halftime Super Bowl commercial.
4:30 Gawker: Giants Fans Occupy Zuccotti Park [5]-- Demands Unknown. "The crowd of peaceful, if slightly-scruffy demonstrators have no unified message, outside of a vague sense of elation over their team's victory in the world's most hyper-capitalist sporting event. Many, we assume, are unemployed."
4:20 In wake of today's court rulings: Which states allow gay marriages [6] and which don't?
2:00 Richard Cohen of Wash Post, so wrong on Iraq, now repeats and expands [7] in calling for attack on Iran (largely to defend Israel, of course). And he is known as a "liberal" columnist.
1:00 Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the Gregory Brothers help ACLU make fun and musical video on folks having the right to take photos and videos in public places (and at protests etc.) "Transparency is good for all....to monitor the government....Police infringing on First Amendment rights." Song sounds a blt like 1970s Kinks.
11:55 From my assistant Elizabeth Whitman: A Javelin Strategy & Research study found that the approximately 610,000 people who switched to a smaller banking institution [8] in the last three months of 2011 to protest potential debit card usage fees comprised only 11 percent of the 5.6 million people who switched banks during that period. However, while the proportion seems relatively small, noted the report, it pointed out that November 2011's "Bank Transfer Day," an effort that encouraged people to move their money to credit unions and smaller banks (it was not directly linked to Occupy Wall Street but certainly had ideological parallels), had a greater impact than similar movements in years past, such as the Huffington Post's "Move Your Money" day in 2008.
11:50 Bill McKibben: [9] How the Energy-Industrial Elite really has it in for our planet.... Former Sen. Russ Feingold [10]: Obama wrong to support movement against Citizens United ruling.
11:40 Krugman blogs [11]: GOP returning focus to "values" to distract attention from soaring incomes at top and income disparity.... AdBusters outlines [12]what's ahead at Chicago demos this spring...You think Birtherism dead? New poll f [13]inds 37% of GOPers still think Obama born in another land.
11:30 Interesting piece [14] at The Atlantic site on how Occupy and its sense of "place" has changed urban government. "At its core, Occupy Wall Street was a place-based movement. In commandeering urban public spaces as sites of protest, the movement marked an implicit challenge to the reigning model of urban governance in which place is irrelevant."
9:40 Evicted homeowner refuses to leave [15], supporters camp out in support... Despite threat, Pittsburgh camp still not evicted...
9:10 Obama comes out for constitutional amendment [16] on Citizens United, a pet OWS issue.... The Army's "gold-plated guns." [16] .... Joe Stiglitz's latest [17], on crisis in Europe. ... Obama has prime chance to reduce our nuclear arsenal [18], but will he do it -- in an election year?
9:00 Today's Occupy song pick of the day: One of the greatest American songs ever, Stephen Foster's "Hard Times (Come Again No More"). I posted other versions, from Dylan to Thomas Hampson, now here's the McGarrigle Sisters with guests including Rufus Wainwright and Emmylou Harris.
8:05 Gosh, Charles Dickens and Ronald Reagan share birthday. One exposed plight of poor, the other ripped "welfare queens" driving Caddys.
7:50 NYT on GOPers upset with [19] that Chrysler / Eastwood "partisan" Super Bowl ad allegedly backing bailouts and hintiing Obama needs another "half" to fiinish job.
7:45 Check out my brand new blog [20] on Beethoven, global Occupy brother #1.
12:05 Great weekly roundup [21] from the Occupied Wall Street Journal on actions around U.S. and latest debate and backlash over tactics and divisions. Includes this: "The mainstream media is now portraying the movement as split over tactics and conflicted about the role of black bloc affinity groups in direct actions. While these issues – like every other issue – are continually debated within the movement, portrayals of Occupy as divisible were met with widespread backlash."
From late Monday
Full schedule of events [22]for "Occupy KochTown" Feb. 17-19 in, naturally, Wichita. ... National Lawyers Guild [23]moves to quash subpoena for OWS Twitter user in New York.
Since this seems to be the Topic of the Day, here is an Infoshop guide [24], or as they call it, "Black Blocs for Dummies." Sample: "Isn't the black bloc just a bunch of young hooligans? Black blocs have been comprised of people of many different ages. While participants in black blocs tend to be young--reflecting the demographic of most protesters--there have been quite a few people over the age of 30 in black blocs. There have been reports of black bloc participants who are in their 50s and 60s."
From my assistant Elizabeth Whitman: "For those who want to join the growing movement for the greater good, The Green America blog [25] of GreenAmerica.org suggests ten reasons to break up with your mega-bank, including supporting local and small businesses and not funding climate change. What they call for echoes much of the changes or actions Occupiers have called for or rely on. They suggest some of the same empowerment tactics, such as switching from large commercial banks to credit unions."
Article causing big stir in the ranks (or some of the ranks) today: Chris Hedges at Truthout [26] calling the Black Bloc the "cancer" within or around Occupy. He calls the faction "a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power." Black Blocers "confuse acts of petty vandalism and a repellent cynicism with revolution."
Yes, there's now a Super Pac [27] sympathethic to staunchly anti-Super Pac OWS. And we're not talking about Stephen Colbert's...New documentary on how the banks Never Lose, you can watch all 48 minutes here [28]..... Bill Moyers and Michael Winship latest to ask, Saul Alinsky Who [29]?