DETROITER SEAN BROWN’S MOVIE “MY STEP KIDS”: LOCAL PREMIERE SAT. NOV. 26 4 P.M.

 

Please RSVP to attend, online at: bupfilms@yahoo.com , http://www.bupfilms.org  or facebook.com/bupfilmsinc

 

 

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BANKS FINANCING DRUG CARTELS: ADMITTED IN WELLS FARGO DEAL

 

Banks Financing Mexican Drug Cartels; Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal         

From: TRUTH IS TREASON  http://tinyurl.com/4xyj8jw

Posted on Jun 29, 2010

Source: New York Times 

The Wachovia Bank, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company, has agreed to pay $160 million to settle accusations that it laundered Mexican drug money. 

Under the agreement, Wachovia will forfeit $110 million, representing the proceeds of illegal narcotics sales that were laundered through the bank, the United States attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida said. 

The bank will pay an additional $50 million fine to the Treasury. 

Hayden’s Note:

Want to know the highly ironic part of all of this Mexican drug cartel / money laundering business?  Ultimately, the largest US bank of them all, the Federal Reserve, is taking their piece of the pie in the form of a $50 million dollar fine from Wachovia.  How’s that for money laundering? 

Drug money is cleansed through these smaller banks -> they “get in trouble” by the Justice Dept and Treasury -> they quickly agree to admit fault and pay a ‘penalty’ to avoid indictment or conviction-> the “fines” they pay reflect the amount of “drug money” -> which gets laundered once again through the Treasury and Federal Reserve -> Fed Reserve makes profit and interest from lending drug proceeds. Wow.

Source: Bloomberg  via Cryptogon

 That there is institutional collusion with drug traffickers is the stuff of Captain Obvious at this late stage of the game, but this Bloomberg piece is pretty good. 

Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal 

Just before sunset on April 10, 2006, a DC-9 jet landed at the international airport in the port city of Ciudad del Carmen, 500 miles east of Mexico City. As soldiers on the ground approached the plane, the crew tried to shoo them away, saying there was a dangerous oil leak. So the troops grew suspicious and searched the jet. 

They found 128 black suitcases, packed with 5.7 tons of cocaine, valued at $100 million. The stash was supposed to have been delivered from Caracas to drug traffickers in Toluca, near Mexico City, Mexican prosecutors later found. Law enforcement officials also discovered something else. 

The smugglers had bought the DC-9 with laundered funds they transferred through two of the biggest banks in the U.S.: Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp., Bloomberg Markets reports in its August 2010 issue. 

This was no isolated incident. Wachovia, it turns out, had made a habit of helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo & Co., which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers — including the cash used to buy four planes that shipped a total of 22 tons of cocaine.  Continue reading

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BANKS’ EARNINGS SURGE IN SUMMER

Gov. Snyder is threatening Detroit with an emergency manager while banks rake in $35 billion in last three months; he has already cut tens of thousands of Michigan families off public assistance. MAKE THE BANKS PAY!

Fewer institutions are on ‘problem’ list

Nov. 23, 2011  

 By Derek Kravitz

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Bank earnings rose over the summer to their highest level in more than four years, while the number of troubled banks fell for the second straight quarter, federal regulators reported Tuesday. 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the banking industry earned $35.3 billion in the July-September quarter. That’s up from $23.8 billion in the same period last year.

More than 60% of banks reported improved earnings

Happy Bankster

The better earnings and fewer troubled banks suggest that the industry is steadily improving from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. 

“Bank balance sheets are stronger in a number of ways, and the industry is generally profitable, but the recovery is by no means complete,” said Martin Gruenberg, FDIC’s acting chairman.

The FDIC also said there were 844 banks on its confidential “problem” list in the quarter, or roughly 11.5% of all federally insured banks. 

That was down from 865 in the April-June period, which was the first quarter in five years to show a decline. 

Banks with assets exceeding $10 billion drove the bulk of the earnings growth. 

They made up 1.4% of all banks but accounted for about $29.8 billion of the industry’s earnings in thethird quarter. 

Those are the largest banks, such as Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Most of these banks have recovered with help from federal bailout money and record-low borrowing rates.

FDIC officials say the bulk of the gains were because banks, especially credit card companies, set aside less money for potential losses. 

In the July-September period, banks put aside $18.6 billion. That’s the lowest amount in four years.

But the industry continues to struggle with flat growth in loans. Banks’ loan balances increased $21.8 billion in the third quarter. 

That was a modest gain. But it marked the second-straight quarter in three years that balances have grown, the FDIC said.

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STATEWIDE COALITION TO REPEAL EM LAW CONTINUES TO GROW AS DETROIT, FLINT BECOME TARGETS

 

By Michigan Forward,Repeal Public Act 4
 
Nov. 4, 2011

Stand Up for Democracy is announcing it has verified more than half of the 250,000 signatures the group wants to collect. Only 161,304 valid signatures are needed to freeze the emergency manager law and put it on the November 2012 general election ballot. Leaders representing more than 3,500 volunteers from across the state held a teleconference call today detailing many of their successes.

Rick-tator Snyder signs PA 4 into law

The petitions call for a vote to repeal the emergency manager law that gave them sweeping powers,including the ability to:

– Seize and sell public assets without a court order

–  Remove elected officials from office without due process

–   Dissolve or merge cities,townships and school districts without a popular vote

– Break binding contracts and eliminate collective bargaining rights at will

–  Close vital public services without a public hearing

“The law is a naked power grab byLansing politicians,” said Traverse City resident Amy Hardin,from Reject Emergency Managers, a member group of Stand Up for Democracy.

“This law has disenfranchised over 550,000 registered voters and counting,we must strike down this law immediately for the sake of Michigan Democracy. Emergency managers are dictators over local communities who rule with impunity;threaten our Democracy and local rights. Michigan’s communities can’t continue to sell public services,layoff employees and create local policy and ordinances without community input,” said Brandon Jessup,Chairman & CEO of Michigan Forward and member of Stand Up for Democracy. 

 “We’ve documented the ills of this odious law in our mini-documentary released on Labor Day. This coalition is the elixir for communities under the dictatorship of emergency management and those facing possible takeover we are champions for Democracy and we encourage all Michigan voters to with us.” Jessup said.

For more information go to http://StandUp4Democracy.com/,email us at  StandUp4Democracy@gmail.com or call 1-866-306-5168.

 

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RICK SNYDER & P.A.4 DEALT ANOTHER BLOW FROM MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT

Wanda Hill and George Moon oppose Public Act 4 at large rally in Benton Harbor, its first victim

 
posted this on November 3rd, 2011

Back in August, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder sought to bypass the normal court process and asked the Michigan Supreme Court to make a decision on the lawsuit challenging Public Act 4, the so-called Emergency Manager Law. (Details on the lawsuit filed by the Sugar Law Center and the Center for Constitutional Rights can be found HERE.)

Sugar Law Center proceeded to file a response challenging that request in September.

Today the Supreme Court spoke and the news, once again, is not good for the Governor. (I say “once again” because the Supreme Court already smacked down Governor Snyder just last week.) Instead of accepting Governor Snyder’s request to bypass the normal judicial process, they have asked both parties to submit briefs in support of their positions regarding the Governor’s request. The order is HERE (pdf).

It reads as follows:

The Executive Message of the Governor pursuant to MCR 7.305(A) was received on August 12, 2011, requesting that this Court direct the Ingham Circuit Court to certify certain questions for immediate determination by this Court. In lieu of acting on the Governor’s request at this time, we DIRECT the plaintiffs and the defendants to file with this Court by December 14, 2011, briefs, including a statement of facts, in support of their positions on the questions posed by the Executive Message of the Governor. The parties shall address:

  1. whether the requirements of MCR 7.305(A) have been met;
  2. whether the urgency of the request under MCR 7.305(A) is mitigated by MCR 7.302(B)(4)(b), which allows a party to request this Court to bypass review by the Court of Appeals after “a ruling that a provision of . . . a Michigan statute . . . is invalid”;
  3. whether 2011 PA 4 violates Const 1963, art 3, § 2 (separation of powers), or art 4, § 1 (legislative power), in its authorization of an emergency manager;
  4. whether 2011 PA 4 violates Const 1963, art 4, § 29 (local or special acts) by permitting an emergency manager to exercise powers of a local governmental unit;
  5. whether 2011 PA 4 violates Const 1963, art 7, § 22 (charters, resolutions, ordinances, enumeration of powers) by allowing an emergency manager to exercise powers of a local governmental unit;
  6. whether 2011 PA 4 violates due process rights set forth in Const 1963, art 1, § 17, or violates any right that is retained in Const 1963, art 1, § 23, by allowing an emergency manager to assume the power and authority of a local governmental unit;
  7. whether 2011 PA 4 violates Const 1963, art 7, §§ 21, 22, and 34 (provisions for local government) by allowing an emergency manager to assume the power and authority of a local governmental unit;
  8. whether 2011 PA 4 violates Const 1963, art 9, § 29 (Headlee Amendment) by requiring the local government for which the emergency manager is appointed to pay for certain costs associated with the emergency manager.

The Executive Message requesting the bypass remains under consideration.

While most of these items are pretty self-explanatory, the first couple warrant a bit of explanation. [I’m not an attorney so, if any attorneys out there spot something wrong in my analysis, please let me know.]

The first item references Michigan Court Rules (MCR) Subchapter 7.300 which cover the Supreme Court. Section 305 (A) allows parties to ask the Supreme Court to skip reviews by lower courts and the Appeals Court (which is the last stop for appeals before the Supreme Court) if “the question is of such public moment as to require early determination according to executive message of the Governor addressed to the Supreme Court”. Snyder’s request was an “Executive Message”. So the first item is basically asking “did he meet this requirement?”

The second item refers to MCR 7.302(B)(4)(b) which allows for appeal directly from a lower court to the Supreme court if it “is from a ruling that a provision of the Michigan Constitution, a Michigan Statute, a rule or regulation included in the Michigan Administrative Code, or any other action of the legislative or executive branch of state government is invalid”. In this case, we’re talking about a Michigan Statute (that’s what Public Act 4 is) so, if the Ingham Circut Court rules that it is invalid, the Snyder administration can then leapfrog the Appeals Court and go directly to the Supreme Court under this rule. So, the second item basically asks “is this ‘urgency’ made less urgent by the fact that the Snyder administration will be able to do this if the Circuit Court rules against them?”

The fact that the Supreme Court didn’t agree to Governor’s Snyder’s request suggests that his case is weak. The lower courts are normally the place where discovery happens; where both sides present their facts and arguments. These are then used in subsequent decisions. The Supreme Court seems to be signalling that things aren’t so cut-and-dry as the Governor suggests they are and that they need more information. If that is the case, it seems to me that they will be inclined to let the normal judicial process play out as it should. They’ve also made it clear that they are not lapdogs for the Republican Party. Recall that the Supreme Court has issued smackdowns to Rep. Paul Scott regarding his recall no less than three times recently as well.

The Sugar Law Center issued a press release welcoming this decision.

“Instead of immediately granting the governor’s request to take up this case, the Supreme Court is challenging the Snyder administration to address why an urgent appeal short-circuiting the normal judicial process is necessary ,” said Tova Perlmutter, Executive Director of the Sugar Law Center. […]

Sugar Law’s Legal Director, John Philo, said the appropriate place for the case for the facts to be developed and to be first heard is in Ingham County Circuit Court. Philo has asked the court to reject the administration’s request to bypass the trial court and make an immediate decision in the case.

“Initial fact-finding and critical evidence occurs at the circuit court level,” said Philo. “This is why we have an established judicial system and for the governor to want to skip that process is troubling.”

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CITY’S TOP CROOKS (MAYOR, COUNCIL), ERNST & YOUNG COOK THE BOOKS, DEMAND WORKERS, RESIDENTS PAY

 

VOD COMPILED CHART ABOVE, BASED ON ERNST & YOUNG REPORT

  • Mayor, City Council plan severe cuts based on faulty report
  • Even Ernst & Young disavows results: “reliance on this report prohibited by any third party”  

By Diane Bukowski 

Analysis  

November 21, 2011  

Mayor Dave Bing with buddies the Rev. "Swindell" Anthony and Confederate flag waving Kid Rock

DETROIT – Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council are basing their demands for up to 2,300 lay-offs, an increase in city income taxes,  privatization and/or regionalization of Public Lighting, D-DOT and Health, 10 percent wage cuts, and 30 percent health care co-pays (amounting in reality to a 300 percent increase in all health costs), on a financial report from Ernst & Young that  may be no more than another example of Wall Street cooking the books.  

The report claims the city will face a $44.1 million cash “shortfall” by June 30, 2012. But EY disowns the report in a disclaimer, prohibiting reliance on it by “third parties.” Their report also makes clear that the “shortfall” is primarily due to the city’s debt payments. 

Bing and the Council have talked about “shared sacrifice” from workers and residents, and even miniscule corporate cuts and taxes along with the $220 million the state owes Detroit (and, as Bing admitted on Channel 4’s “Flashpoint” Nov. 20, will not pay any time soon, such as before June 30.)  

Occupy Wall Street protesters target the banks

But the one entity they have left out of the discussion is THE BANKS!    

How could they miss that? What have tens of thousands of people been occupying Wall Street and more than 100 cities across the U.S. about? IT’S THE BANKS, STUPID!  

According to Ernst & Young’s figures, the banks will get over one half-billion dollars from the city this year. Previous analyses by VOD show that half of that is interest. SO MAKE THE BANKS PAY  the alleged $44 million cash shortfall out of the interest. After all, they got ftrillions from taxpayers in bail-outs.

In the 1930’s, Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy declared a moratorium on the city’s debt to the banks and campaigned for national legislation to allow it.

After his address to the city Nov. 16 (see video below) Bing published the EY report on the city’s website, first discussing it in an illegal secret session with the City Council October 26. (Click on Ernst Young Cash Flow Update[1] for the entire 29 PAGES of the report, which the  city paid EY $1.7 million to produce.)  

While this reporter is not an accountant or a rocket scientist, as most Detroiters are not, one really only needs common sense to review the report and see what’s wrong.  

Even Ernst & Young, a global auditing firm which faces lawsuits from New York and New Jersey for cooking Lehman Brothers’ books before the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, disowns the report.  

In a strict disclaimer, it states on page 29 that the “Cash Flow Forecast Report” is the product solely of City of Detroit management. (Are they afraid of being sued again?)

“With respect to prospective financial information relative to COD, Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) did not examine, compile or apply agreed upon procedures to such information in accordance with attestation standards established by the AICPA [American Institute of Certified Public Accountants] and EY expresses no assurance of any kind on the information presented. EY did not assist in the preparation or assembly of COD’s prospective financial information or in the development of any assumptions therein.”  

Robbing the poor to pay the rich: Council members (l to r) Gary Brown, Saunteel Jenkins and Charles Pugh have all demanded that tcity workers take more concessions

The disclaimer concludes, “Accordingly, reliance on this report is prohibited by any third party as the projected financial information herein is subject to material change and may not reflect actual results.”

(Excuse me–does that include third parties like the city’s unions and workers, who are to be at the table with first party Bing Nov. 22 to “negotiate” possible concessions, the city’s residents, and even — heaven forbid–the City Council?) 

VOD compiled a summary of key information from the report, which includes the city’s actual and projected receipts, disbursements, and debt payments, from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Review the chart above–hopefully it won’t spoil your turkey day.

For those who missed it, below is the video of Bing’s vaunted speech to the city Nov. 16. But, poor man, despite the fact that he demanded 1,000 lay-offs, a 10 percent wage cut and health care cuts from the city workers, the City Council and the city’s daily media declared him a total wuss with not enough backbone to bring in the guillotine.

More on what our illustrious City Council members views shortly.

 

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WITNESS AGAINST AIYANA STANLEY-JONES’ FATHER REFUSES TO TESTIFY

 

Charles Jones with his only daughter Aiyana during happier days

Charles Jones still held on murder charges, while Officer Joseph Weekley, who kllled 7-year-old child, is home with his family for Thanksgiving 

By Diane Bukowski 

Nov. 18, 2011 

DETROIT—Chauncey Owens is asserting his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in a murder case brought against Charles Jones, father of Aiyana Stanley-Jones,7. Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley shot the child to death during a horrendous Special Response Team (SRT) raid on her home May 16, 2010. 

The announcement was made today at the start of Mr. Jones’ preliminary examination on first-degree murder charges in the death of Je’Rean Blake, 17.  The prosecution had expected Owens, who is the fiancé of Mr. Jones’ sister LaKrystal Sanders, to be the main witness against Mr. Jones. Owens has already pled guilty to second-degree murder in the case. 

Attorney David Cripps and Chauncey Owens during court hearing April 11, 2011

“My brother is incarcerated over hearsay,” Mr. Jones’ sister Erica said after the hearing. “The police officer who killed my niece will be home with his family for Thanksgiving while my brother is in jail away from his family. My brother is only guilty of losing his child. That is jail time itself, never to see his only daughter out of seven children walk across the stage at graduation or be married, his little princess.” 

She, Mr. Jones’ mother Mertilla Jones, Aiyana’s mother Dominika Stanley, and at least 15 other family members and friends of Mr. Jones were present to support him, but were not allowed into the courtroom by court officers.

 Family members said that police conducted a second raid of Mr. Jones home in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he moved after Aiyana’s killing, during his arrest, holding guns on his toddlers and searching the place without a warrant. 

Among those honoring Assistan Prosecutor Augustus Hutting (second from right) were (l-r) Wayne County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Richard Hathaway, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Third Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny. Photo by John Meiu

Detroit police claim they originally went to Mr. Jones’ previous address on Detroit’s poverty-stricken east side  last year to arrest Owens for the Blake killing, which took place in a local liquor store parking lot, two days earlier. Owens lived in the flat upstairs from Aiyana’s family. 

After nearly one and a half years, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced in October that a “one man grand jury” had charged Mr.Weekley only with manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm. No charges were brought against other officers who participated in the raid, which was being filmed for A&E’s “First 48” series. 

The “one-man grand jury” was Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny, a member of the right-wing Federalist Society.

Liquor store at St. Jean and Mack where Je'Rean Blake was killed May 14, 2010; community had campaigned to keep store out of neighborhood

The same day, Ms. Worthy charged Mr. Jones with first-degree murder, perjury and multiple felony firearms charges in the Blake killing. The charges claim Mr. Jones supplied Mr. Owens with the gun. 

Mr. Weekley was released on personal bond while Mr. Jones was held without bail. 

“I filed a motion of assertion of Mr. Owens’ Fifth Amendment right not to give testimony, and placed it in the court file today,” said Owens’ attorney David Cripps. “There is obviously a change of circumstances in how Mr. Owens views this case. Mr. Owens is really a stand-up guy, the strongest young man I have met.” 

Local daily media has reported that Mr. Owens named Mr. Jones in the case as part of a plea deal in April. However, this reporter thoroughly reviewed numerous statements in Mr. Owens’ court file, in which he never named Jones.

He only agreed to “tell the truth” about who gave him the gun. His attorneys repeatedly challenged his confession, saying it was given under extreme duress as he sat covered with Aiyana’s blood, only in his trunks. After her shooting, Detroit SRT members made Owens  sit on the couch where she was slain. (To read complete story on Owens’ charges, click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/05/23/owens-never-said-aiyana-jones%e2%80%99-dad-gave-him-gun-used-in-teen%e2%80%99s-killing/)

Wayne Co. Asst. Prosecutor Robert Moran

His sentencing has since been postponed three times. It is now scheduled for Dec. 2 in front of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt. 

Thirty-Sixth District Court Judge Donna Robinson Milhouse granted Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran an adjournment until Monday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m., to allow time for him “to find out if anything is preventing Mr. Owens from coming forward.” He also said he wanted to inform Mr. Owens of the consequences of his decision.

Judge Milhouse denied Mr. Jones’ attorney Leon Weiss’ motions to dismiss the case, or at least release Jones on bond during the holiday. Weiss is from the well-known law firm of Fieger, Fieger, Kenny, Giroux and Danzig, which is representing Aiyana’s parents in a civil lawsuit against Weekley. 

“I oppose the adjournment,” Weiss said. “There is not good cause, the case should be dismissed. My client Charles Jones has been incarcerated for almost six weeks. I’ve been through the discovery records in his case at least ten times. We vehemently deny that my client provided the gun, and now we have the prosecution’s main witness saying he will not testify.” 

Charles Jones' defense attorney Leon Weiss

Weiss said the only other eyewitness the prosecution plans to bring saw one man alone exit a van and allegedly shoot Blake, in the parking lot of a local liquor store. 

Cripps said later, “This adjournment will not change my client’s mind about testifying.” 

During the brief hearing, an entire row of seats was occupied by Je’Rean Blake’s family and friends, including his mother Lyvonne Cargill. A witness reported that she was on the scene moments after his shooting.  It is unclear if she is scheduled to testify at Mr. Jones’ trial. Ms. Cargill wiped tears from her eyes as she heard that Owens would not testify. 

 

Aiyana Stanley-Jones' family members on front porch with couch she was killed on; they had moved it to the front porch the morning of her death May 16, 2010; window shattered by police grenade is at upper left.

Mr. Jones’ mother Mertilla Jones, still in deep grief, said she had just been released from the hospital with heart problems. She has lost two siblings since her grandduaghter’s violent death. She said she is so stricken that she cannot bear to see her other grandchildren because Aiyana is not among them. 

Ms.  Jones was sleeping with Aiyana on a couch under the flat’s front window, which police shattered with an incendiary grenade. She watched seconds later as Weekley shot the child in the head. 

Another SRT team member, Officer Kata-Ante Taylor, picked up the child and ran with her out of the house despite the family’s pleas to let her father see her, according to Attorney Jonathan Marko, who is handling the civil suit against Weekley.  

SRT member Kata-Ante Taylor took Aiyana's body out of house; he also killed Artrell Dickerson, 18 in 2008

Police have identified Mr. Taylor as the officer who shot 18-year-old Artrell Dickerson to death in front of Detroit’s Cantrell Funeral Home in 2008. Witnesses told this reporter that he stood over the already-wounded Mr. Dickerson and pumped more bullets into his back as he lay on the ground. No charges were brought against Taylor in that case or in the Jones case. 

Ms. Jones was immediately arrested and drug tested, but later released. Police claimed she “interfered” with Weekley and caused his gun to go off. She has vehemently denied the claim. 

Trial dates for Weekley and an A&E photographer, Allison Howard, charged with perjury for allegedly lying about showing the A&E videotape to a “third party,” have been set for March 2, 2011, in front of Wayne County Circuit Court Cynthia Gray Hathaway.

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WALL STREET PROTESTERS TIE UP TRAFFIC IN PROTESTS AROUND THE US, MORE THAN 300 ARRESTED

 More than 300 people were arrested across the United States on Thursday in a series of protests marking the two months since the start of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In New York, which was again the focus of the now global movement, tens of thousands of protesters, including thousands of union members, walked across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge in a show of solidarity. 

Published: November 17

NEW YORK — Occupy Wall Street protesters clogged streets and tied up traffic around the U.S. on Thursday to mark two months since the movement’s birth and signal they aren’t ready to quit, despite the breakup of many of their encampments by police. Hundreds of people were arrested, most of them in New York.

The demonstrations — which took place in cities including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Washington and Portland, Ore. — were for the most part peaceful. Most of the arrests were for blocking streets, and the traffic disruptions were brief.

After a judge ruled that Occupy protesters do not have a right to camp in New York’s Zuccotti Park, demonstrators returned there. Early Tuesday, police cleared the encampment at the park.

 

Union members from SEIU and Good Jobs LA march with Occupy LA through California Plaza on the morning of November 17, 2011 N17

Chanting “All day, all week, shut down Wall Street,” more than 1,000 protesters gathered near the New York Stock Exchange and sat down in several intersections. Helmeted police officers broke up some of the gatherings, and operations at the stock market were not disrupted.

As darkness fell, a coalition of unions and progressive groups joined Occupy demonstrators in staging rallies at landmark bridges in several U.S. cities to protest joblessness.

In New York, a crowd of several thousand people, led by banner-carrying members of the Service Employees International Union, jammed Manhattan’s Foley Square and then marched peacefully across the Brooklyn Bridge on a pedestrian promenade.

 

Police strike protesters with batons on live TV. After eight UC Berkeley students protesting tuition hikes chained themselves together on a narrow ledge atop the University’s historic Wheeler Hall, authorities decided they’d gone too far. As hundreds of the students’ supporters rallied and chanted on the building’s steps, police arrived to break up the demonstration and things got ugly.

As they walked, a powerful light projected the slogan “We are the 99 percent” — a reference to the Americans who aren’t super-rich — on the side of a nearby skyscraper. Police officers dressed in wind breakers, rather than riot gear, arrested at least two dozen people who walked out onto the bridges’ roadway but otherwise let the marchers pass without incident.

Several weeks ago, an attempt to march across the bridge drew the first significant international attention to the Occupy movement as more than 700 people were arrested.

 

On November 17 2011, on conjunction with the worldwide Occupy Everything Day, the Occupy St. Louis protesters took over the abandoned city’s municipal courts building after being evicted from Kiener Plaza the week before.

Thursday’s protests came two days after police raided and demolished the encampment at lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park that had served as headquarters of the Occupy movement and as demonstrators and union allies tried to regain their momentum.

“This is a critical moment for the movement given what happened the other night,” said demonstrator Paul Knick, a software engineer from Montclair, N.J. “It seems like there’s a concerted effort to stop the movement, and I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

At least 300 people were arrested in New York. Some were bloodied during the arrests. One man was taken into custody for throwing liquid, possibly vinegar, into the faces of several police officers, authorities said. Many demonstrators were carrying vinegar as an antidote for pepper spray.

A police officer, Matthew Walters, needed 20 stitches on his hand after he was hit with a piece of thrown glass, police said. 

In Los Angeles, about 500 sympathizers marched downtown between the Bank of America tower and Wells Fargo Plaza, chanting, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” More than two dozen people were arrested.

Police arrested 21 demonstrators in Las Vegas, and 20 were led away in plastic handcuffs in Portland, Ore., for sitting down on a bridge. At least a dozen were arrested in St. Louis in the evening after they sat down cross-legged and locked arms in an attempt to block a bridge over the Mississippi River. More were handcuffed for blocking bridges in Philadelphia and Minneapolis.

 

OCCUPY CHICAGO NOV. 17

In Chicago, hundreds of protesters organized by labor and community groups marched toward the Chicago River. They stopped at the river bridge and shut it down to rush-hour traffic. Police officers scrambled to divert cars and pedestrians. People watched the protests from office windows and bus stops.

In Seattle, hundreds of Occupy Seattle and labor demonstrators shut down the University Bridge as part of a national day of action demanding jobs. Traffic was snarled around Seattle’s University District as two rallies marched toward the bridge.

 

OCCUPY SEATTLE

After a judge ruled that Occupy protesters do not have a right to camp in New York’s Zuccotti Park, demonstrators returned there. Early Tuesday, police cleared the encampment at the park.

Several of the demonstrations coincided with an event planned months earlier by a coalition of unions and liberal groups, including Moveon.org and the SEIU, in which out-of-work people walked over bridges in several cities to protest high unemployment.

The street demonstrations also marked two months since the Occupy movement sprang to life in New York on Sept. 17. They were planned well before police raided a number of encampments over the past few days but were seen by some activists as a way to demonstrate their resolve in the wake of the crackdown.

 

OCCOPY LAS VEGAS PROTESTERS MARCHED ON FEDERAL BUILDING, INTERRUPTED CNN BROADCAST WITH CHANTS; 21 ARRESTED

thursday’s demonstrations around Wall Street brought taxis and delivery trucks to a halt, but police were largely effective at keeping the protests confined to just a few blocks. Officers allowed Wall Street workers through the barricades, but only after checking their IDs.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police had been expecting as many as 10,000 protesters based on what activists had been saying online. But he said there had been “minimal disruption.”

 

Occupy Boston was joined by trade unions in a march through Downtown and the North End / Waterfront to the Charlestown Bridge.

“Most protesters have, in all fairness, acted responsibly,” he said after visiting an injured police officer in the hospital.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said officers confiscated metal devices that some demonstrators had apparently planned to use to lock themselves into the entrances to Wall Street businesses.

The demonstration that drew thousands of people to Foley Square in the evening was a rarity in the Occupy movement: Union organizers obtained a permit from the city, and speakers were allowed to use a sound system.

 

VOD on Occupy Detroit: The questionable character of OD came out when they called on Detroit police to join them and then bragged about it. Earlier, they refused requests from union activists and others to occupy Detroit’s Water Board Building as a racist federal takeover of the country’s fourth largest water and sewerage system takes place, and also called for regionalization of Detroit’s transit system in this 86 percent African-American city. On Nov. 18, when their extended permit expired, they politely pulled up their tents as Mayor Dave Bing and other government officials lit the city’s Christmas tree a few blocks from their encampment. (VOD: as OWS says: SHAME!)

Among the demonstrators arrested in New York was a retired Philadelphia police captain, Ray Lewis, who was taken into custody in his dress uniform. Others included actor and director Andre Gregory, who said he hoped the movement would lead to national action on economic injustice.

“It’s a possible beginning of something positive,” he said.

Some onlookers applauded the demonstrators from open windows. Others yelled, “Get a job!”

“I don’t understand their logic,” said Adam Lieberman, as he struggled to navigate police barricades on his way to work at JPMorgan Chase. “When you go into business, you go into business to make as much money as you can. And that’s what banks do. They’re trying to make a profit.”

Gene Williams, a bond trader, joked that he was “one of the bad guys” but said he empathized with the demonstrators: “The fact of the matter is, there is a schism between the rich and the poor, and it’s getting wider.”

The confrontations followed early morning arrests in other cities. In Dallas, police evicted dozens of protesters near City Hall, citing health and safety reasons. Eighteen protesters were arrested. Two demonstrators were arrested and about 20 tents removed at the University of California, Berkeley.

City officials and demonstrators were trying to decide their next step in Philadelphia, where about 100 protesters were under orders to clear out to make way for a long-planned $50 million plaza renovation at City Hall. Union leaders pressed the demonstrators to leave, saying construction jobs were stake.

Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Jennifer Peltz, Meghan Barr in New York contributed to this story. 

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OCCUPY WALL STREET SURROUNDING NYSE ON DAY OF ACTION V. AUSTERITY

Nov. 17, 2011: To watch today’s events as they unfold during OWS’ Day of Action v. Austerity, especially in New York, where demonstratrors are marching on the New York Stock Exchange and planning to occupy the subways as well, click  on:

http://readersupportednews.org/video/4-video/7744-occupy-wall-street-livestream

THIS LINK WILL BE INCLUDED IN VOD LINKS TO THE RIGHT. IT CAN BE ACCESSED AT ANY TIME, IT IS ONGOING LIVESTREAM OF OWS EVENTS.

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OCCUPY DETROIT DAY OF ACTION VS. AUSTERITY, CUTS: THURS. NOV. 17 3-5:30 PM

Occupy Detroit demanded tax the rich for good DDOT transit during march Oct. 28, 2011

 

 (VOD ed.: AFSCME Council 25 is also calling public workers and the community to participate at 4:30 p.m. in a march outside CAYMC vs. takeover of Water Department, Bing’s cuts –see next two posts.)

From the Direct Action Committee, Occupy Detroit

In response to a nationwide call from Occupy Wall St. to protest austerity cuts: A teach-in and rally at Grand Circus Park at 3pm followed by a march to the Coleman A. Young Center  at 4pm.

Dear Friends of Occupy Detroit,

Thursday, November 17 is a National Day of Action to Resist Austerity.

Austerity means more sacrifices from the 99% so that the 1% can impose its political and economic agenda. Here in Detroit we would like to focus on opposing the cuts to public services and the recently passed Emergency Manager bill. That law hijacks the democratic rights of voters, public sector workers and the entire community. This is done in the name of erasing a deficit. But why is there a deficit?

Thousands from Occupy Detroit marched down Woodward to establish first camp in October

While speculation continues, the economy is drowning us in debt, foreclosing on our homes, eliminating our jobs and closing our schools and hospitals. The war machine demands to be fed. This is the logic of austerity — squeezing money from the meager services that remain and funneling it into armies and prisons and more tax breaks for the wealthy.

As we can see in the case of the takeover of the Detroit Public Schools, Emergency Managers collect large salaries while cutting the wages and benefits of public school workers. Teachers have been moved around as if they are cards in a deck. With little data to back up the claims, charter schools are extolled while public schools are closed. The resulting chaos has forced many parents to take their children out of the public schools. And, not surprisingly, the Detroit public school debt has risen and the banks demand payment. We see something wrong with this picture.

Rick-tator Snyder and Mayor Dave Bing conspired to establish PA 4, Bing now threatening to implement it in Detroit

Emergency Managers are put in place by the governor, not the people. By taking away any semblance of a democratic process, the law undermines our ability act in our own best interests. Emergency Managers act in the interests of the wealthy, bleeding the public sector to cover debts we’re not responsible for. The fact that Emergency Managers have thus far only been appointed to predominantly African-American cities and school districts highlights the structural racism of these power grabs. We have the capacity to make our own decisions; we have the strength to stand together. An Injury to One is an Injury to All!

Politicians and the media demonize teachers, office workers and those who need social services. We all need public services—libraries, schools, youth and senior centers, parks and a myriad infrastructural services. We will not stand by while children go hungry, while families are refused access to water and heat, while already inadequate transportation undergoes another round of cuts. We say no to cuts that destroy the social fabric of our community! We are for jobs and the welfare of the entire community!

We ask you to join Occupy Detroit in a rally and march against austerity on Thursday, November 17. We will march against cutbacks demanded of city, county and state workers. We march against the Emergency Manager legislation. We demand that our society prioritize human rights–not the maximization of corporate profit.

Join us on November 17 for a 3PM rally in Grand Circus Park. At 4PM we will march to the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at the foot of Woodward. Our route will pass the Rosa Parks Bus Center (Bagley & Cass) and then march by the Wayne County offices in the Guardian Building on Griswold before reaching the municipal center at 4:30PM. We will rally there from 4:30-5:30PM.

No to Cuts! No to Austerity! No to Emergency Managers!

Marie Thornton, former Detroit school board member who fought emergency managers, school closings, and costly private contracts for eight years, helps lead first Occupy Detroit action; 87 percent of Detroit Public Schools state aid goes to pay debt.

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