Saturday, November 5, 2011

Observations from the Window 11.5

Remember, remember, the 5th of November, Happy Guy Fawkes Day. Be sure to watch your Blu-ray V for Vendetta Special Addition today. What? Are you trying to tell me that not everybody owns a copy?

It was a stunningly beautiful fall day in the Village so I boldly decided to jump in Foxy and make my escape from the city for some hi-speed relaxation. In a baggy black sweater, jeans, and a pair of Timberland hiking boots I was prepared for anything, or so I thought. What I wasn't prepared for was running into all the perils of driving in this city and all of them in one day. I drove down one street only to have it closed because of a crime scene, than shot down a side street to get to Canal where I turned right into a jam caused by a double parked semi. Here I witnessed a scene straight out of Independence Day as people stood outside their cars, cabbies yelled in middle Asian dialects, and as far as I could tell the truck driver had disappeared without a trace. Luckily I saw it all soon enough to do a quick reverse back into the side street but there was no getting to the tunnel. My escape thus thwarted I settled for a drive up the Hudson River as far as Harlem, across 112th, than down Second Avenue and home. Not quite what I had in mind but Foxy did get some exercise.

Today also marked the 50th day of Occupy and it was dominated by Bank Transfer Day, an event organized by Los Angeles gallerist Kristin Christian. Bank Transfer Day originated with Christian's Facebook event which she started October 4th because she was irritated with Bank of America's announced $5 a month ATM fee. The idea is to have massive numbers of people pull their money out of major banks an open accounts at smaller local banks and credit unions. According to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders more than 650,000 people have moved an estimated $4.5 billion into credit unions during the last four weeks alone. That compares to 600,000 new credit union accounts in all of 2010.

To date the number worldwide Occupy related arrests now stands at 3200. The total number financiers arrested for causing this economic meltdown still stands at 0. 

And finally I end on a better note, I seem to have been tumbled and reblogged twenty times so feel free to have a look. It is as always a perfectly safe shot. kaetlinn

Observations from the Edge 11.5

If you follow me at all on twitter you probably have noticed that other than sports I seem to do more retweeting than anything else. One reason is that I find it very hard to say what I want to say in 140 characters or less. But when it comes to OWS related things it's also because there are already some pretty awesome women out there reporting from the street every day. Sometimes I'm more than a little jealous because I know there is no way I could ever compete with them.

Here are some of the the best....

Allison Kilkenny (@allisonkilkenny), New York and the world. Citizen Radio co-host, contributing reporter for In These Times, The Nation and writer of The Uprising blog for The Nation. I met Allison the morning of the “cleanup eviction” of Liberty Square. She is the kind of person that seems to be everywhere at all times, quite possibly VQ material.

Faeza Moghul (@FaezaMoghul), Oakland. Her twitter profile says “Seeker of Sacred Knowledge. Roamer of Ancient Lands. Pakistani Indian American Muslim Sunni married to an Irish Jewish American Shi'i.” She literally exploded onto my timeline during the Oakland general strike with on the scene reports and some amazing photos.

Laurie Penny (@PennyRed), London. “Journalism, feminism, tea and sedition.” Penny writes for New Statesman, Independent, Guardian, Al-Jazeera, The Nation and others.

Lucy Kafanov (@LucyKafanov), Washington DC. “News junkie, policy wonk, skeptic and voracious consumer of stories neglected by mainstream media.” Kafanov is the senior TV news producer and on-air analyst for Russia Today's Washington bureau.

Special honors for Susie Cagle (@susie_c), Oakland. Graphic artist, cartoonist, and founder of the Graphic Journos collective. Cagle was teargassed twice and arrested once during the Oakland protests and general strike.

Also here are some good lists to follow to keep up with news you wont find in the mainstream media....

Occupy The World - Unify Movement
Occupy Wall Street - Kaycee Nightfire
Progressive Politics - Alison Kilkenny
Smart Snarky Lefties - Sarah Jaffe
The 99 Percent Movement - Think Progress