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Michael Bocchieri / Getty Images
NYPD officers push a fence back against activists as they try and gain entrance to the private park owned by Trinity Church next to Duarte Square at Sixth Avenue and Canal Street on Dec. 17, in New York City. Activists marked the three month anniversary to the Occupy Wall Street movement with speeches and performances in Durante Square.
Andrew Burton / Reuters
Retired Episcopal bishop George E. Packard, left, who is affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, climbs a ladder to illegally enter Juan Pablo Duarte Square during a march in New York, Dec. 17.
From msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger:
Bryan Smith / Zuma Press
Bishop George Packard is under arrest after entering the privately owned area of Duarte Sqaure.
"This whole occupation has been a lesson in freedom for me," said Ashley Perry, 24, who traveled from her home in Tampa, Fla., to support her New York counterparts. "If you still think that you have your First Amendment rights, go out and try to express them… and see how long it takes for someone to come and shut you down -- it will happen quickly."
Earlier in the day, demonstrators played drums, cymbals and trombones, held group meetings and waved signs with a variety of messages -- "Disobedience is civil" and "Sorry to inconvenience your apathy" -- as they marked the completion of three months with a major direct action that they hoped would give them a new home as authorities continue to shutter camps nationwide.
Protesters -- flanked by police officers -- coalesced on the nearly half-acre plot about one mile northwest of their former camp at Zuccotti Park. But their potential new landlord at Duarte Square, Trinity Church, had long voiced strong opposition.
"In all good conscience and faith, we strongly believe to do so would be wrong, unsafe, unhealthy and potentially injurious," its rector, The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, said in a statement dated Dec. 9 and posted to the church website. "The health, safety and security problems posed by an encampment here, compounded by winter weather, would dwarf those experienced at Zuccotti Park. Calling this an issue of 'political sanctuary' is manipulative and blind to reality."
Read the full story here and check out more PhotoBlog posts related to the 'Occupy' movement here.
John Minchillo / AP
Occupy Wall Street protestors are shoved onto the street by police near Duarte Square after an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Dec. 17, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park.
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"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." In their blind greed and schemes, the 1% has forgotten and closed their eyes to what the word "society" should really mean. But because of Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding more budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured for all too long. Instead of talking about more millionaire tax cuts we are now talking about fairness and justice - about an economy and a political system that is run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US. Step up and help us, Trinity Church! Do the right thing.
Stan,
You should let them setup outside your house if you are so for them. I am sure 10,000 people eating, sleeping, and pooping on your lawn is a small price to pay for the so called "occupy" movement.
Are there problems with this country? Sure. Are both political parties messed up? Sure. But let me say this, my parents came here from Europe, neither graduated high school, I was first born generation here, they now make close to 200k a year and have sent their 4 kids through college. No matter how messed up you might think the USA is, if you work hard and always strive to better your position, anyone can make a nice living here.
This is something that many countries don't have the luxury of.
These people don't represent the "99%". They represent the radical fringe left wing that really wants to end capitalism. The more the public sees of these people, the less the public supports them. They just look like a mob at this point.
Chris:
Good for your parents but that's an anecdote. Here's an article based on national statistics:
Financial mobility (up) has been going down for 40 years and this article was written in 2009 so it's probably worse now. Here's the article:
September 2, 2009 4:31 PM
As Income Mobility Falls, American Dream Fades
By
Alain Sherter
(MoneyWatch) In America today, how likely is it that a son will eventually attain higher earnings than his father? If dad's wages rank in the top 20 percent, pretty good -- the boy has a roughly 57 percent chance of surpassing his father, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But if dad is among the bottom 20 percent, his son only has a 4.5 percent chance of one day having higher earnings. Statistically, in other words, he's probably doomed.
The idea that people have an equal opportunity to climb the economic ladder remains central to this country. It doesn't matter where you start, according to this doctrine, because what matters is where you're going.
But a new study out of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston suggests the American Dream may require revision. It shows that income mobility for U.S. families has been falling for nearly 40 years. Income inequality accelerated in the 1990s, compared with the '70s. Notably, the poorest families fare the worst in improving their economic circumstances.
Put another way, these findings suggest that where people start on the economic ladder more or less determines how high they climb, and by and large that's not very high. In an era of rising unemployment, rampant home foreclosures and uncertain health reform, that has grave implications for any discussion of public policy and, more broadly, for social welfare…
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43541160/as-income-mobility-falls-american-dream-fades/
when a critical mass of poor and displaced , who have nothing left to lose, and everything to gain by revolution, they will organize and there will be one. The 2nd paragraph of the declaration of independence states unequivocally that the citizens have the right to replace their government by any means necessary. That is the whole purpose of the PATRIOT ACT, to classify any American a terrorist if they support an armed overthrow of their own government. The Founding Fathers feared their own government more than any foreign invader. Orwell predicted it and the government is proficient in Orwellian Newspeak. 1984 will be here in 2012, 28 years overdue, but nonetheless here. Another example of societal failure associated with corporate capitalism. Even Thomas Jefferson warned us against the power of the corporation. HE TRIED TO WARN US
These people mistake theft of services and property for "freedom".
A big part of the problem is the deplorable education in this country. Young people are taught what to think, not how to think and are certainly not taught how to take care of themselves, how to create a business or, most importantly, this country's founding principles. They are the product of social engineering by a cabal of men who thought nothing of robbing this country of its greatest natural resources - minds filled with ingenuity and independence - replacing them with emptiness and dependence.
I would have thought Trinity church would have gladly offered the use of this space, with some stipulations about its use. I understand their concerns that camping out in the area during the middle of winter would be potentially unhealthy, but they could have specified that the area could be used as a meeting area, with large tents set up for daytime use, so the library could again be safely housed, the GA would have a permanent place to meet, the kitchen could serve meals again, etc. Keep protesting OWS patriots, you are still doing a great job of increasing awareness of our country's problems of corporate greed and income inequality, even if you weren't welcomed by Trinity church today.
This OWS crowd is nothing more than a bunch of people who do not want to work for anything. They want the nanny state to take care of them and to have everything given to them without earning it. Sorry, but that is not the way things work. The only thing about the American dream that you are guaranteed is the ability to pursue it. No part of it, like a nice car, a house, a good living, all the other "toys" we all enjoy, etc. is guaranteed. If you want all of that you have to work for it and earn them. You also have absolutely no right to "occupy" someone else's private property. You have no right to set up camp and occupy a public park that is meant for the enjoyment of all either, unless it is one that specifically allows camping. I guarantee that this provision does not apply to city parks. The police are doing the right thing in breaking up these camps and arresting those protesters who refuse to leave. For all of those bleeding heart liberals out there that support these lazy bums, how about letting them set up one of their camps on your front lawn, damaging your property, allowing trash to pile up, peeing in your bushes, generally disrupting your life, and preventing you from enjoying your own home and grounds. I am tired of hearing these some of these people whine about their student loan debts and wanting the government to just erase the debt. No one told them to go to an expensive private university and major in something like art history that has little if any career potential. If they wanted a career that would allow them to make a good living maybe they should have majored in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). There are many jobs available out there for people with degrees in the STEM fields that pay very good salaries. Also, not only did many f them take majors that had no real usefulness from the standpoint of having a career, but they chose to lead the party life while they were in college instead of working to help reduce the amount of debt the had to take on. And let's not even start on the ones that took five or six years to complete their degrees, taking light course loads to give them more free time to party and have fun.
There are definitely some people out there who are in difficult financial situations due to no real fault of their own. Political decisions regarding free trade caused their industries, and their jobs with them, to head overseas. These people deserve some help in the form of grants to allow them to train for a new industry/occupation. However, these are not the majority of the OWS protesters we hear out there whining about their situation. Most of those that have found themselves in this situation are doing what they can to get the training they need and find work, they are not sitting around in some park looking for handouts from the government and whining about how unfair it is that other have more than they do. I am tired of hearing these OWS protesters slamming the "1%" because they have so much. Many of those in the "1%" worked hard to get where they are. Many of them started businesses and scraped by for years before their hard work started to pay off for them. Yes there are the ones who inherited their money, but somewhere along the line someone in their family worked hard to build up that wealth to start with; no one handed it to them. Even the "wall street types" that they complain about went to school and studied hard to learn what they needed to learn to get ahead. They actually went to school and got a degree that was worth something from a career standpoint. There are a small number of those in the "1%" who did not earn their money in an honest way, but this is not a large percentage of the "1%" crowd. Most of them worked hard and paid their dues to get where they are. People like Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Michael Dell, Mark Cuban, Ted Turner, etc. did not have anything handed to them and did not start out rich. They each had an idea and worked hard to take those ideas and grow them into hugely successful businesses. I am not saying that everyone can do what these people did, but the point is that they earned what they have and these OWS types have no right to demand that they give away the wealth they earned away to people who have done nothing to earn it. Although I would point out that each of these people has given very large sums of money to charity to help those less fortunate than they are. Not everyone can become a multi-millionaire or billionaire like these people, but with hard work and a useful education most people can make a decent living and be comfortable.
Sorry for being so long-winded with this.
JS I don't support the movement but think that the initial idea was in the right direction. Now it has grown out of control and many people with different agendas are fighting for different things. I think the founders of this lost movement seriously wanted to fight for something of value, but many have joined who want other things. Many want handouts like you suggest. Others want anarchy. Some want to make a legitimate change, but are working in the wrong direction. Some might have a real voice but are drowned out by the rhetoric of the lunatics and freeloaders. Whatever the case, this movement won't have any real impact on anything unless it defines what it wants and how it wants to get it.
Well, to me, this OWS movement represents where this country is....It is ugly.....but I do believe it will get worse....as more people will grow angrier for many reasons.....people are not getting happier....good luck.
Dear Occupy Folks: This is not how you get a good image with the people you're trying to reach. The people who own the lot have said "No." Whatever any of us feel about the answer (I think it's wrong, as well), it's still the answer they gave. Trying to take what you want by force makes you no better than the economic bullies you're protesting against.
no white man ever asked the Native Americans how they felt about the White Europeans stealing their land. How soon you forget history and the real foundation of this murdering Empire you so patriotically support.
Newsflash! Theres no such thing as a Native American
Did the Native Americans ask other Native American tribes how they felt after they invaded their lands? I know, I'm evil for asking what you don't want to answer.
We now know the church is not Christian and are the same type of people that turned away Jesus.
And how are they not Christian? They have opened their doors to these people. Allowed them to use meeting space, etc. Because they don't want the liability associated with the camps they are not Christian? Regardless of what you think, these people do not have the right to occupy something just because it is there.
and Jesus I guess should have never got involved because of the liability of being nailed to a tree
pro...your equating the Occutards with Jesus? Your kidding right?
They are just about as much Christians as the phony far right bible thumpers are!
If this movement was designed to be a revolution against corporate greed, then do not try and camp out in a park, looking like a bunch of ho-hums on the sidewalk. I used to be proud of the Occupy movement, but this is getting nowhere. The time to camp is over. The time for action has come. Call me when the Occupy Our Homes group is the rule, instead of reliving Zucotti Park (which wasn't meant to be the second Woodstock).
3 months were too much for you huh? what a short attention span..... go back to your Nintendo
You don't get anything done by just sitting around in tents and expecting the rich to get taxed. No, you take the protests to Washington, to Wall Street (yeah, that didn't work out), to the doorstep of Grover Norquist and his lobbyist buddies.
P.S. My Nintendo broke, so I got a SEGA Genesis.
Hmmmmm....gonna be COAL for the Occuplayers this CHRISTmas......hmmmmm
Yep, those PEACEFUL Occuplayers who continue to want everything FREE. Guess they can all move to GREECE.
Lawless low lifes. The owners said no, respect that.
OK smart-ass I'll bite. What is not owned in this country, in this world? Connect some of the neurons in your pre-owned brain and offer an answer to that! That is the goal of the 1%, to co-own 100%! Please do not suggest air or the open ocean because it is all tanked, bottled, packaged and polluted with impunity!
When are they gonna WAKE UP and understand the 99% aren't going anywhere...
I see where they are at it again, OWS. There alot of jobs out there that pays a rather good amount, I know becuase I had one in electronics. Most of these jobs now require some type of training which a good CC will teach you. Most of my education was from military schools plus the classes that I attended at night school so stop complaining about. There are only so many jobs where a History or English degree are needed. Semper Fi.
The problem, David, is that our education system is so screwed on the state level that we can't send a majority of this generation into the work force prepared. my father is a high school teacher in Texas, where they have the STAAR test to see if kids are "academically prepared" for the workforce. So, instead of actually teaching the material to the students, he's stuck preparing them for a test that does nothing beneficial to them whatsoever. And when the students don't have a high enough percentage of passing, the Texas Education Agency makes their life a living Hell. The STAAR and others like it out there that are state funded are nothing more than a war on teachers, and therefore, a war against the youth of this nation.
Occupy a church - the greedy symbol of corporate America. Real smart.
Sometimes you have to break the law in order to change the law. Take for instance Rosa Parks who broke the law and stayed sitting instead of giving up her seat to a white person. She broke the law, but in doing so, changed the law. Now anyone no matter what color can sit anywhere on a bus. Like the saying goes, "Gotta break a few eggs to make a omelet." If it takes thousands of people constantly breaking the law to bring attention to something, then I am all for it. If it was one person, nobody would even care, but now that it is thousands all over the world, people are taking sides. Rich for rich, poor for poor.
You mean lazy poor take from working people.
You know, it's people like you, RHO, who don't really care about others, as long as it doesn't affect you.
My cousin served in Iraq, by the way, and now he's in a homeless shelter in Austin. You call being in the most pointless conflict of the last decade lazy?
The cat...the fact that your cousin is in a homeless shelter doesnt say much for you does it?
He got a minor case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was denied healthcare at the expense of him having to find a new one due to his illness. I would never go into the Army, but he did, am I'm proud of that. I think it's bigotry to make assumptions like that, comparing me to him.
May you find your path, my friend.
What Lib was saying that you missed entirely is, why are you letting him sit in a homeless shelter rather than in your home?
Pot meet kettle, hmm?
Perhaps I didn't completely understand him, true. Thank you for clarifying, arguesforsport. I do care about him, the reason he's not living with me is because he'll be going down to San Antonio to get some work and try to cope with his illness. this is completely temporary. And it was HIS desicion to go to the shelter, even though I offered my home to him. No, I'm not a hypocrit. I am respecting his wishes, even though I tried to help as much as I could.
Stop wasting time with this 99% BS. To begin with, this group DOES NOT represent nowhere close to 99% of the public. It's more like the reverse, these fools are actually the 1% of troublemakers.
In the three months these idiots have spent wandering the streets, me and many other day traders have made tens of thousands of dollars! You fools are wasting your time and energy on asking for a handout, why not spend that energy on focusing how to make more money!
Ahh yes, day traders... Make your money off the buying and selling of others, providing little if nothing in return. Riding that graph line up until you sell off, pocketing the change, taking the profits, without doing any of the work. Look in the mirror.
I create for a living, and there's no greater feeling than watching a finished creation come to life. There's more to life than just money. I wish you guys would realize it before your entire institution is torn down.
mjbbg572- You still don't seem to understand what the term "the 99%" means. It does not mean that 99% of the people in the country agree with the opinions of OWS. It refers to income and wealth. Roughly 1% of the population make more money and are worth more than all of the bottom 40% combined. So unless you are make over about $1.5 million/year, you ARE in the 99% income bracket, with all the rest of us.
OWS "fools", as you call them, are not wasting their time and are NOT asking for a hand-out. They are doing our country a great service by awakening much of the country to the terrible economic mess our country is in, what is causing it, and what can be done to start changing the downward trend. I am cheering them on, and wish I could be right there with them. I would certainly rather be helping with OWS than spending my days as a day trader, making thousands of $$, because, unlike some people, I see that other things in life matter besides making money.
Yes, they do represent the 99%...you simply aren't part of it....I haven't heard anyone asking for a handout more than the wall street thieves, they took billions of dollars in handouts. Legalizing theft does not change the fact that it's wrong. Just because its legal doesn't make it right. So, are you advocating we steal back what the 1% stole from us? Do, you really think demonizing the OWS movement will stop it... Its growing, its not going anywhere. There will be an American Spring. I believe all the anti OWS rants on here are mostly out of fear, and if you are part of the 1% trying to silence it, you should be afraid....The 99% will only take so much... American citizens will only take so much. Your days are numbered.
Mama Miller...some of the demands from Occutards
$20 p/hr min wage whether you work or not
Foegive all college loans
erase all debt
They dont want something for nothing?
While I'm glad you did have a job, David, how do you think the other people with jobs in manufacturing or electronics feel, their occupations (no pun intended) being outsourced to a call center in India? And you say that you got most of your training through military school-most people (like me) don't have the reason to go into the Army, let alone the others who don't have the mental toughness it takes to make it through that type of school. Our education system sucks, not only on the state level with places like Texas with the STAAR program but woth the federal system of No Child Left Behind. How did that work out, W?
OWS wants to make sure they get their freedom of speech rights but they will not honor private property rights of the citizens of New York. These idiots have lost any credibility they may have had by trying to take over something they cannot clain as theirs.
this movement will catch fire when the police start killing protesters. remember KENT STATE. And no military offical was prosecuted. Martyrs will get it going. History is replete with them.
CC3, I could not agree more, particularly if they follow this group of losers.
In the end, OWS will prevail. They have an inexhaustible supply of people. and NYC has only so many cops and limited resources. Eventually, NYPD and Michael Bloomberg will capitulate. There is only one way to stop OWL - JOBS.
How are they going to prevail if they have no real meaning?!? All they have proven is that they are hoodlums that want to disrupt the daily lives of the hard working people in this country. Get a life and actually work for a better place in this world instead of demanding that it is handed to you on a silver platter. Idiots!
When Wage Slavery ends, OWS will end.
"The American Breadwinner has been placed on the Altar of Globalization as Sacrificial Lamb for the Globalists to Feast Upon..."
Look at these pictures. Tell me how disaffected and abused these people are. Nice jackets, digital cameras, and microphones. I'd like to occupy their parents homes.
A lot of people assume anyone who would dare march in the streets and protest against anything must either be a hippy or totally destitute and desperate for a hand-out. As I look at the pictures I am impressed. The occupiers are not weirdo, hippy teen-agers or homeless street people. It is plain to see that they are middle-class, normal people who are concerned about our country's future. They are housewives, clergy members, businessmen, reporters, etc. They are regular people who can see that our country is headed down the drain fast, and they care enough about that fact to get involved. I think it is extremely patriotic.
I watched America's Most Wanted tonight, and was impressed to hear John Walsh speak out very clearly on the subject of corporate and Wall Street greed, and the horrible effect it is having on our schools, police forces, firefighters, paramedics, etc., as their budgets are cut and workers are laid off. I was very proud of him for speaking out on the same issues is OWS.
I have several job openings, and I wouldn't hire one of those losers. It's a shame to see idealism so badly channeled. You certainly do not represent 99% of anything. As someone said earlier, you're just the fringe loonies whether you like it or not.
I am so feds up with this Occupy movement! They talk about freedom of speech and being deprived of it. In fact, freedom of speech they do have. What they have in the past, taken over public parks, any but vacent lots, streets, sidewalks. Now the Occupy movement want to take over a private piece of land that the Trinity church ownes and pitch their tents.
Freedom of speech is one thing (talking and experessing one's self) but now taking over public parks and private property. The Occupy people are a bunch of animals who need to get on with their lives.
When is it OK to go around causing destruction to people's property??? (breaking windows, stealing, causing fire and destruction to people's property) I don't feel that is part of freedom of speech and these people should have been stopped three months ago.
Why should the city have to pay the expence of bringing in porta potties, food, security, and do all the clean up????
I believe in the cause but not the way people are acting.
All these free speech haters commenting kinda makes you wonder what it is they love about America. Protests and demonstrations always get ugly when the protesters are ignored and their needs are not met. See Egypt, Libya, China, Iran for examples. The protesters know why they're there and they know what they want. They also know their message and have stated it clearly. The Koch Brothers Inc. along with Citizens United along with Mitt Romney "corporations are people too" along with his $10,000 bet along with the GOP trying to block the payroll tax cut are why these people are in the streets. America became what it is by breaking laws and stealing land and murdering Native Americans and Mexicans in 1846 when we took Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California away from them by force so get off your soapbox about where these people choose to occupy. This is STILL AMERICA and people STILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROTEST whether you're smart enough to understand why or not.
Free Speech has nothing to do with taking over property that does not belong to you. You can stand on the sidewalk with your signs and protest to your heart's desire. Why is it that a few want to break the law and somehow be protected from their illegal actions??
By the way, if you had bothered to actually read the SCOTUS decision on Citizens United you would find no reference to corporations being people. That was made up by a bunch of leftys.
I'm sorry Peter....you are wrong.
keep arresting people and you will end up just like Egypt or Libya. I think sometimes it's better to step down with honor then being dargged down with huniliation.
Bring out the fire hoses. They don't have to shoot water at the Occupiers hard enough to knock them down, but flood the area enough to soak their feet and throw spray up all over their bodies and faces, get 'm good and wet and cold. Keep the property they are trying to move into flooded so these bozos won't want to set up camp. If they aim the water just right it'll be the Occupier's fault if he gets soaked. Heck, fill the space with trash and broken glass. They're just going to have to bring out bull dozers and trucks to clean up after these free loaders move in and out anyway.
Bravo MamaMiller!! I'll be watching the news closely to read about you donating, say 99%, of your income to the Cause.
Mama, Mama, do you really think these people rioting against the police are going to listen to stipulations by the Episcopal church when they won't even listen to their first stipulation which is a resounding, "No!" I don't think the church should be offering meals again. These are Christians, yes, but they would be fools first to let these people set foot on an inch of their property again. It's not like Trinity Church has the only vacant property in town.
Did anyone notice the "Peace" flag flying in the first picture on the page? The rioters are advocating peace.
You gotta love that retired bishop in his best pink duds for climbing over the fence!