Occupy this

[Gob]

This'll make the buggers suffer!!

[loCAtek]

The Occupy Movement Finally Takes Steps To Legitimize Themselves And Name Their First Leader - Shelby The Dog






(Newser) – The Occupy movement has been pretty adamant about remaining leaderless, but Denver’s mayor has been pushing them to name one to deal with city officials. So the protesters put democracy to work and elected a leader: a Border Collie mix named Shelby. Shelby is “a smart and fun dog,” organizer Aaron “Al” Nesby assured his fellow protesters. Plus she “can breathe, bleed, and show emotion. These three things alone obviously prove she’s more like a person than a corporation.” Nesby nominated Shelby because he was annoyed when Michael Moore showed up and acted like the movement’s leader, he tells Westword. He figured a canine leader would be more down to earth. Shelby’s owner, 27-year-old filmmaker Peter Jentsch, promised to be her “bodyguard,” but not to speak at all in any meetings with officials. Shelby was elected by an overwhelming margin, but there were voices of dissent. “What assurances do we have that Shelby will not sell us out for belly rubs?” one occupier asked.

Well there’s one thing they are right about. Shelby is much more down to earth than the other members of the Occupy Movement, because you loony tunes are from outer fucking space. Walking all over the country and electing dogs as your leaders. Its like you’re going back in time. Worshiping animals and living outdoors.

[Andrew D]

Well, David and Graham still understand things better than the entire Republican congressional delegation ....

[BoSoxGal]

Wonderful post, Econoline!

[liberty]

Did the tea party do this kind of thing. It appears to me that tea part is a political organization and the Occupy is a revolutionary group. The tea party attempts to persuade and occupy to coerce. That is the impression that I have been getting.
____________________________________________________________________________________

..PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - Portland police warned on Friday that anti-Wall Street protesters in the city were fashioning makeshift weapons with wood and nails, in advance of a planned move by authorities to clear their two encampments over the weekend.

The statement from Portland police came a day after Portland Mayor Sam Adams, citing sanitation and safety concerns, gave demonstrators until 12:01 a.m. on Sunday to clear out their tents.

Demonstrators said this week they number between 500 and 800, and police confirmed the group numbers in the hundreds.

Police said the Occupy Portland demonstration, which has seen protesters camp out in two downtown parks, has been peaceful since it began over one month ago.

"We are committed to it remaining peaceful but very concerned about information that people are massing for and preparing for a confrontation," police said in a statement.

Details on possible plans for violence within the camps come from people inside the encampments who are concerned, Portland police Sergeant Pete Simpson said.

There are reports weapons are being made with wood and nails, that a hole is being dug in one of the parks and that pallets are being turned into shields, said police.

There are also concerns that demonstrators could climb trees during an eviction. "Removing people from trees presents unique challenges," Simpson said.

In reaction to the police warning, activists involved with Occupy Portland put out their own statement denying any plans for violence.

"The Portland Police have been engaging for the last several weeks in a campaign to defame and confuse the message of our movement by attributing the actions and statements of individuals to the movement as a whole, and they continue to do so," the activists' statement said.

Occupy Portland activist Adriane, who declined to give her last name, also disputed the information from police.

"I don't know anyone that is going to engage in violent behavior," she said.

But protesters are preparing for the possibility of being tear gassed by police and obtaining gas masks, she said.

Aside from the two downtown parks, the protest has also spilled over to a plaza owned by the federal government, and that camp will be included in the law enforcement action to clear out the encampments, Mayor Adams said this week.

Occupy Portland has emerged as one of several West Coast hubs of a nationwide campaign launched in September against what demonstrators describe as economic inequality, corporate excesses, high unemployment and bailouts of major banks.

The plan by Portland officials to close down the city's two protest camps is the latest by a major U.S. city aimed at closing similar sites that have sprung up across the country.

Clashes with police already have erupted in some other cities that have tried to remove camps of anti-Wall Street demonstrators, notably in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco.

Occupy Portland activists are planning a "family-friendly" potluck dinner and march on Saturday at 5 p.m.

"We need to spread calm and remain peaceful," Adriane said.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Tim Gaynor)

..

[rubato]

The "Tea Party" are stupid jackasses who have no hope of ever making the world better, even for themselves. They promote ideas which fuck them into economic meaninglessness.


yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

Wonderful post, Econoline!

Thanks, bsg.

It seems to me that the strongest proponents of capitalism (or any other economic system--e.g., socialism) are often unaware of the inherent weaknesses of the system and the problems which will not be automagically solved without a way of forcibly tweaking the parameters.

[Long Run]

Looks like the end of the long first chapter as many of the parks have been cleaned out of the occupiers. Be interesting to see if there is more to the story of the energy just fizzles out without a place to occupy.

[dales]

WE BRING GOOD THINGS TO LIFE........

Published on The Weekly Standard (http://www.weeklystandard.com)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GE Filed 57,000-Page Tax Return, Paid No Taxes on $14 Billion in Profits


John McCormack

November 17, 2011 1:11 PM





General Electric, one of the largest corporations in America, filed a whopping 57,000-page federal tax return earlier this year but didn't pay taxes on $14 billion in profits. The return, which was filed electronically, would have been 19 feet high if printed out and stacked.

The fact that GE paid no taxes in 2010 was widely reported earlier this year, but the size of its tax return first came to light when House budget committee chairman Paul Ryan (R, Wisc.) made the case for corporate tax reform at a recent townhall meeting. "GE was able to utilize all of these various loopholes, all of these various deductions--it's legal," Ryan said. Nine billion dollars of GE's profits came overseas, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. tax law. GE wasn't taxed on $5 billion in U.S. profits because it utilized numerous deductions and tax credits, including tax breaks for investments in low-income housing, green energy, research and development, as well as depreciation of property.

"I asked the GE tax officer, 'How long was your tax form?'" Ryan said. "He said, 'Well, we file electronically, we don't measure in pages.'" Ryan asked for an estimate, which came back at a stunning 57,000 pages. When Ryan relayed the story at the townhall meeting in Janesville, there were audible gasps from the crowd.

Ken Kies, a tax lawyer who represents GE, confirmed to THE WEEKLY STANDARD the tax return would have been 57,000 pages had it been filed on paper. The size of GE's tax return has more than doubled in the last five years.

Ryan used the data point to underscore the irrationality of the corporate income tax code. He also contrasted GE with UPS to make the point that the corporate income tax code doesn't make sense. "UPS paid a 34 percent effective tax rate," while its biggest foreign competitor, DHL, paid a 24 percent tax rate, Ryan said.

The problems with the corporate taxes occur because "Republicans and Democrats, both parties, sit in Congress and they're picking winners and losers," Ryan said. The solution, according to the Wisconsin congressman: "Get rid of those loopholes and lower tax rates by a corresponding amount. Don't lose revenue, but for every loophole you pull out, and deny a company from being able to get this little carveout, you can lower the rates so we can be more competitive with our competitors overseas. We want to stem the bleeding of jobs going overseas, of foreign companies buying U.S. companies and taking headquarters overseas."

Ryan is hopeful that President Obama will work with Republicans on corporate tax reform. "This is the one thing I think we've got some bipartisan agreement on," he said.

Update: GE responds.Source URL: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ge- ... 09137.html

[Gob]

Police arrested 10 protesters and pepper-sprayed a dozen more on Friday night, according to the University's student newspaper, The Davis Enterprise.

The police moved in on the demonstrators after the protesters refused the University's request to dismantle their camp.

The students, who were protesting tuition fee hikes, locked arms and refused leave their tent encampment.

In a letter to the protesters, University Chancellor Linda Katehi said they had given the University "no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal".

"We deeply regret that many of the protestors today chose not to work with our campus staff and police to remove the encampment as requested. We are even more saddened by the events that subsequently transpired to facilitate their removal."

Around 35 police offers wearing helmets and carrying batons and pepper spray were met with chants of "Shame on you" from 60 or more protesters.

Officers warned the protesters that they would be sprayed, before spraying many directly in the face with a heavy stream of pepper spray.

The move sparked anger from the surrounding crowd, which swelled to almost 150 people, forcing the police to retreat.

In the final minutes as the deadline to remove their camps approached, a dozen tents were pushed into a circle and ringed by protesters linking arms.

Eight men and two women, all but one a student, were arrested for failing to disperse and for disorderly conduct.

Paramedics later treated the eyes of 11 protesters, while two were taken to a nearby hospital.

The video footage (above) of the incident has been shared online across the globe.

[Grim Reaper]

I feel safer already.

[Gob]

[Gob]

A US university has suspended two campus police officers over the use of pepper spray on students at a peaceful protest on Friday in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Video of the incident shows police blasting seated protesters in the face with the chemical at close range.

The chancellor of the University of California, Davis, who had called in the police, criticised the use of pepper spray on the protesters.

However, she says she will not resign.

The demonstration was intended to show solidarity with protesters at another branch of the University of California, in Berkeley, who were hit with batons by police on 9 November.

The footage of the pepper spray incident, which has been circulated widely on the internet, caused outrage among students.

The protesters are seen sitting in a line on the floor with their arms interlocked, refusing to move.

They try to cover their faces as officers in riot gear walk along emptying canisters of the spray onto them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15809742

You have "campus police" over there? Are they real cops or pretend ones (glorified security thugs.)

[BoSoxGal]

They carry guns and have some arrest authority, like security guards. They are often better trained than mere security guards. The degree of arrest authority and general scope of powers varies by jurisdiction.

[Crackpot]

At My College there were two groups one was your basic mall cop the others were a branch of the county sherrif.

[rubato]

University of California police officers are equal to California Highway Patrol officers in jurisdiction and authority. Their training is equal to other police departments and many of them are ex-CHP, Sheriffs Deputies, and MPs.

Unfortunately, some of them act like LAPD officers.

yrs,
rubato

[dgs49]

As was demonstrated recently at Penn State, the primary role of "campus police" is to protect the University Family from embarrassment.

The extrapolation of "free speech," to include the "right" to occupy a public place indefinitely is utterly specious.

Say what you want, then get the hell out.

Our honorable history of civil disobedience INCLUDES acceptance of the penalties associated with breaking the law. These present-day tantrum-throwers want to be free to violate the law, and at the same time be immune from penalties or being forcibly prevented from continuing their illegal activities.

These are the products of American "higher education." They are the predictable result of what happens when the worthless sots of the Vietnam protests decide that since they cannot support themselves through gainful employment, they will survive in academe.

The chickens have come home to roost.

The roosters have come home to chick.

Or something like that.

[Grim Reaper]

The extrapolation of "free speech," to include the "right" to occupy a public place indefinitely is utterly specious.

The right to assembly doesn't come with a time limit.

These present-day tantrum-throwers want to be free to violate the law, and at the same time be immune from penalties or being forcibly prevented from continuing their illegal activities.

The campus cops, by using pepper spray in that situation, were themselves violating the law. California requires that pepper spray only be used in self defense, that cop was clearly in no danger when he was spraying protesters.

The cops were using excessive force, in defiance of state law. That's not a penalty to be accepted. That's an abuse of power that should result in severe punishment for those involved.

[loCAtek]

This may be a gray area, as police are authorized to pepper spray if the suspect is resisting arrest.(California Penal Code 148(a)(1)). and to disburse civil disobedience.

ETA: The police did issue the students a written warrant prior to the use of the spray.
The students were lock-armed and illegally blocking a public route.

[Liberty1]

The right to assembly doesn't come with a time limit.

But it doesn't come with immunity from other laws either,

SANTA CRUZ - County officials this week released a list of 93 complaints of disruptive and illegal behavior near the county's main offices and courthouse, adjacent to the Occupy Santa Cruz camp.

Since the camp was joined by dozens of tents that belong to the homeless, county workers and others have documented drug and alcohol use, public urination and defecation, littering, bathing in county restrooms, fights and more. Two pieces of artwork on display at the county building were vandalized - although county officials said it is not known who was responsible for i

.At least one incident on the county list wasn't noted by the Sheriff's Office: the discovery of an estimated 200 pounds of human feces near the county Veterans Memorial Building, just across the Water Street bridge from the camp.

The county called in a hazardous materials team to clean up the mess, and installed a security fence around the building, which is closed for renovations. There is no evidence that linked the excrement to the camp.

Environmental Health officials looked for obvious signs of ringworm and scabies among campers but did not test anyone, Clark said Friday

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19373284