Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

[pirate]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Other than the obvious disproportionality/paramilitary creepiness/borderline criminality of the police action, the other glaring thing is apparently there are still places where it hasn't penetrated the heads of authorities that they are on camera now when they are interacting with the public. You can't just swing a truncheon anymore.

exactly, no more good old days where Frank Rizzo could beat people up and get away with it

Then Wilson Goode went all Talking Heads on the Move people, which apparently is frowned upon in this establishment, and things just haven't been the same.

Darn you Steve Jobs and your iphone!!

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Then Wilson Goode went all Talking Heads on the Move people

Took me a minute.

 

[pirate]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Took me a minute.

probably too regional without me adding context....but near the top of terrible decisions regarding how to deal with protesters. Should be a training session for all police chiefs.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving btw.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

probably too regional without me adding context....but near the top of terrible decisions regarding how to deal with protesters. Should be a training session for all police chiefs.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving btw.

That wasn't the problem. I literally went through every track on Remain in Light in my head, first. "Hell is other albums."

Happy Turkey Day to all, indeed.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

This is a bridge too far for OWS I think.

A lot of those businesses I don't really see a greed problem. At least they provide a good or service to earn their profits. If you don't want what they offer, just don't shop there. Dick's Sporting Goods? What the heck did they do? Even Wal-Mart is working a lot to improve things.

I agree with them in that Wall Street needed a smack upside the head. A lot of these guys don't (yet.) Plus it'll get the "you're hypocrites because you have iPhones" and "OMG THEY WANT SOCHULIZM" wharrgarbl machines going again, which is the last thing they need.

Why couldn't they go after the oil companies, for instance? They're the REAL greedy ******** here.

 

[walrus]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

This is a bridge too far for OWS I think.

A lot of those businesses I don't really see a greed problem. At least they provide a good or service to earn their profits. If you don't want what they offer, just don't shop there. Dick's Sporting Goods? What the heck did they do? Even Wal-Mart is working a lot to improve things.

I agree with them in that Wall Street needed a smack upside the head. A lot of these guys don't (yet.) Plus it'll get the "you're hypocrites because you have iPhones" and "OMG THEY WANT SOCHULIZM" wharrgarbl machines going again, which is the last thing they need.

Why couldn't they go after the oil companies, for instance? They're the REAL greedy ******** here.

You forgot Dollar tree, all the 1%ers shop there

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

This is a bridge too far for OWS I think.

A lot of those businesses I don't really see a greed problem. At least they provide a good or service to earn their profits. If you don't want what they offer, just don't shop there. Dick's Sporting Goods? What the heck did they do? Even Wal-Mart is working a lot to improve things.

I agree with them in that Wall Street needed a smack upside the head. A lot of these guys don't (yet.) Plus it'll get the "you're hypocrites because you have iPhones" and "OMG THEY WANT SOCHULIZM" wharrgarbl machines going again, which is the last thing they need.

Why couldn't they go after the oil companies, for instance? They're the REAL greedy ******** here.

In rough order of evil:

1. Wall Street
1a. The Banks (insofar as they're even different anymore)
2. Oil Companies
3. Big Media
4. Military Contractors (I know, I know. I KNOW, dammit.)

I would choose to occupy / boycott / pepper spray / waterboard the boards of all of the above before I got to Sears.

It's a dumb tactic; completely agree.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

In rough order of evil:

1. Wall Street
1a. The Banks (insofar as they're even different anymore)
2. Oil Companies
3. Big Media
4. Military Contractors (I know, I know. I KNOW, dammit.)

I would choose to occupy / boycott / pepper spray / waterboard the boards of all of the above before I got to Sears.

It's a dumb tactic; completely agree.

Add the college/tuition machine to that list and you've about nailed it.

Capitalism by itself is not the problem. A side effect of capitalism is greed which IS the problem.

The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money. On the other hand, the problem with capitalism is eventually one guy ends up with all the money. We're just now trying to figure out what to do when that happens.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

It's a great way to turn a lot of people off to their movement. People are already going to be at DEFCON 1 since it's Black Friday. All they need is a bunch of smelly hippies screaming and yelling.

OWS has some of the dumbest organizers on earth.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money. On the other hand, the problem with capitalism is eventually one guy ends up with all the money. We're just now trying to figure out what to do when that happens.

Those are not the only possibilities.

 

[Bakunin]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Interesting tidbit I saw in an investing article today regarding election year market performance (which, btw, is generally good when an incumbent is running for re-election):

"Since 1901, during the 15 times the party in the White House was re-elected, the Dow was up 1.5% in the first five months of the year. When the party in power lost, the Dow was down 4.6% during that time."

So, I guess we'll know whether or not he'll be re-elected at the end of May.

 

[pirate]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

In rough order of evil:

1. Wall Street
1a. The Banks (insofar as they're even different anymore)
2. Oil Companies
3. Big Media
4. Military Contractors (I know, I know. I KNOW, dammit.)

I would choose to occupy / boycott / pepper spray / waterboard the boards of all of the above before I got to Sears.

It's a dumb tactic; completely agree.

What about the ABA? The lawyers, not the basketball players.

And tanning salons. The ABA and tanning salons, that's all I want to boycott.
And scrapbooking shops. The ABA, tanning salons and scrapbooking. That's all I want.

And Congress. That's right, I forgot Congress.

 

[duper]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

In rough order of evil:

1. Wall Street
1a. The Banks (insofar as they're even different anymore)
2. Oil Companies
3. Big Media
4. Military Contractors (I know, I know. I KNOW, dammit.)

I would choose to occupy / boycott / pepper spray / waterboard the boards of all of the above before I got to Sears.

It's a dumb tactic; completely agree.

There's got to be room for insurance companies in there somewhere too. Still before Sears.

 

[Tundra]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Simple solution: impose a trading transaction tax at the federal level. If you want to be an active trader or market-manipulating hedge fund, fine, knock yourself out - but you'll pay for the privilege of doing it. The tax doesn't even need to be that significant - a fraction of a percent might be sufficient (as that would be enough to erode the returns of high frequency traders).

It's been proposed and failed multiple times after the repeal in the 1960's.
And it didn't stop the bauble formation and eventual crash of 1929 (which was more about leverage 10x). You need to limit the leverage if you want to protect the financial system.

There is something wrong with congress ( supposedly representing the people) and Republican ideology in particular. One reason why I'm in favor of term limits. at least we'll get new blood and ideas and that's another reason to vote "against" Obama.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/04/financial-transaction-tax/

A financial transaction tax has been proposed twice in the last five years. Such a tax almost made it into the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill but there wasn't enough bi-partisan support to get it through committee.

A financial transaction tax is not a novel idea. Actually, the U.S. had such a tax from 1914 to 1966, when the tax forced investors to pay a small fee every time they executed a trade.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

There is something wrong with congress ( supposedly representing the people) and Republican ideology in particular.

This is true but I think it just comes down to perverse rewards. Members in general are rewarded when they favor undemocratic forces like Big Bidness. Republican Members in particular are rewarded by sticking it to Obama and the Dems no matter the collateral damage to the country.

The problem isn't the people in Congress, it's their incentives.

 

[pirate]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

There's got to be room for insurance companies in there somewhere too. Still before Sears.

I don't know, Sears is now offering the Kardashian Collection, or is it Kollection? That has to count against them big time.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

I don't know, Sears is now offering the Kardashian Collection, or is it Kollection? That has to count against them big time.

Fair point.

It is, indeed, Kollection.

I'm not up on Kardashian Lore. Which of these three is the one with the (known) sex tape? They are all vaguely reptilian.

For comparison:

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

In rough order of evil:

1. Wall Street
1a. The Banks (insofar as they're even different anymore)
2. Oil Companies
3. Big Media
4. Military Contractors (I know, I know. I KNOW, dammit.)

I would choose to occupy / boycott / pepper spray / waterboard the boards of all of the above before I got to Sears.

It's a dumb tactic; completely agree.

Where do lobbyists fit in the hierarchy of evil? They are the evil bile of the list above that feeds the idiot Congressmen and Senators.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Where do lobbyists fit in the hierarchy of evil? They are the evil bile of the list above that feeds the idiot Congressmen and Senators.

Lobbyists are just parasites naturally produced by a system of legalized bribery. Get big money out of politics and the lobbyists will jump to the next host. They'll go back to corporate law or the media or somewhere else where lack of scruples is rewarded.

It is impossible to kill them off, they are indestructible. It's only possible to limit their damage. Having corporations be able to contribute to election funds is as corrupt and absurd as allowing the defense and the prosecution to "contribute" money to judges sitting for their case. The only reason it's not illegal is the lawmakers personally benefit from the crime.

 

[joecct]

Re: Obama XXII: Occupy the White House

Lobbyists are just parasites naturally produced by a system of legalized bribery. Get big money out of politics and the lobbyists will jump to the next host. They'll go back to corporate law or the media or somewhere else where lack of scruples is rewarded.

It is impossible to kill them off, they are indestructible. It's only possible to limit their damage. Having corporations be able to contribute to election funds is as corrupt and absurd as allowing the defense and the prosecution to "contribute" money to judges sitting for their case. The only reason it's not illegal is the lawmakers personally benefit from the crime.

Ok, so which lasts longer after the Apocalypse? Lobbyists, cockroaches, or Twinkies?