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Occupying the Discussion
Author: BobR    Date: 10/26/2011 12:42:40

As the original Occupy Wall Street protest passes through its 6th week, the ideals and actions have spread throughout the country and across the globe. From an original idea of separating the influence of Wall Street on politics, the list of "demands" (desires, really) have grown and morphed into a collection of ideals covering the realm of economic justice and fairness. They have stubbornly refused to declare leaders, which may or may not be a hinderence in achieving their goals. There's also a lack of direction in terms of achieving their goals as they claim to be loathe to embrace the political process. That may also be a hinderence.

Nonetheless, their message is ringing true to millions of Americans, who - despite working hard and doing what they were told was required to acheive the American Dream - find themselves one paycheck away from ruin. The Free Market policies and tax cuts for the rich have resulted in an upward migration of wealth to the 1% that the OWS protest has targeted. There is no shortage of wealth, it's just being held by a few people, and a lot of them are hoarding. That hurts the economy, because the money is not in motion.
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41 comments (Latest Comment: 10/27/2011 01:38:40 by wickedpam)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/25/2011 10:30:02

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,142nd day in Iraq, and our 3,670th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4478
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) 4338
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3619
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 250
Since Operation New Dawn: 49

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,811
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 956
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 268, 352, 350, 000 .00

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61 comments (Latest Comment: 10/26/2011 02:20:48 by Raine)

Shrinking Government, One Branch at a Time
Author: Raine    Date: 10/24/2011 15:29:16

Every Month for the past year we have had a new GOP frontrunner. It really seems they just don't like the candidates, or they just like radical talk. Among the multiple social and economic issues they have talked about is the mostly under the radar topic of "Judicial Activism" -- It's been a GOP meme for a while, but this election cycle it seems to have taken a back seat to more extreme views the candidates have touted such as vaccinations, abortions, immigration, the gays, taxes for 'job creators'. It seems as though the idea of Judicial Power isn't as sexy for our sensational media and the GOP supporters who love it. The NYT has written a very interesting piece on the candidates views towards the judiciary, and by extension -- the third branch of government.
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29 comments (Latest Comment: 10/25/2011 03:01:36 by clintster)

Late Sunday Random Blog Generator
Author: clintster    Date: 10/24/2011 01:30:18

To be honest, I'm only posting this because I didn't see a blog entry for today, and late as it is, I didn't want this Sunday to be completely empty. So, I'm just gonna ramble on about a few topics. Indulge me, won't you?
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 10/24/2011 02:11:39 by clintster)

Blah, and also thpth.
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/22/2011 11:51:49

Here is your Saturday blog:
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4 comments (Latest Comment: 10/23/2011 23:42:09 by AuntAzalea)

Poor Judgement
Author: BobR    Date: 10/21/2011 12:45:01

The big news of the day yesterday was the capture and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. There are some controversies swirling around this. There were people on the left who initially thought we shouldn't be involved in another military action on foreign soil, and some on the right who thought we should have gone "bigger". There are some who think he should have been brought to trial, rather than killed. And then there are people like John McCain who praised everyone BUT our president and troops for their actions.
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74 comments (Latest Comment: 10/21/2011 21:49:33 by TriSec)

BREAKING FROM LIBYA
Author: Raine    Date: 10/20/2011 12:22:55

Reports started flowing around the Web around 7:30 this morning. It appears that ousted Libyan Dictator Mohamar Qaddafy was shot and captured, there have been conflicting reports that he has died.

There is no confirmation from the United States Government as of this moment.
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73 comments (Latest Comment: 10/20/2011 22:40:16 by Mondobubba)

When Ideologies Collide
Author: BobR    Date: 10/19/2011 10:28:06

Between Occupy Wall Street and the Republican race (with their mind-numbingly repetitive debates), there seem to be few news cycles for anything else. Foreign affairs normally get short shrift as it is, and the last couple weeks have been no exception. As the war in Afghanistan continues in seeming perpetuity, the war in Iraq (or at least U.S involvement) is finally coming to an end.

So it's no surprise that other than our own TriSec reporting yesterday, we have seen very little coverage of our newest military entanglement: Kenya. Naturally, there will be the conspiracy theorists going on about it because of President Obama's father, but look at the details and it's clear that it has more to do with Uganda than Kenya.
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86 comments (Latest Comment: 10/20/2011 00:56:58 by TriSec)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/18/2011 10:32:41

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,135th day in Iraq, and our 3,663rd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the last casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4477
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4338
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3618
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 249
Since Operation New Dawn: 49

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,809
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 957
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 265, 104, 600, 000 .00

Continue reading...

59 comments (Latest Comment: 10/19/2011 00:45:11 by wickedpam)

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/17/2011 14:28:52

This morning I came across a really good article about the Occupy movement and what demands to make and if they should be made at all.
“We absolutely need demands,” said Shawn Redden, 35, an earnest history teacher in the group. “Like Frederick Douglass said, ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand.’ ”

The influence and staying power of Occupy Wall Street are undeniable: similar movements have sprouted around the world, as the original group enters its fifth week in the financial district. Yet a frequent criticism of the protesters has been the absence of specific policy demands.
As many of you know, I have been asking this. I'm afraid I am starting to sound like a broken record. It's never been the why for me. It's been the how -- and to a lesser extent, the what. In New York it appears there is a forming consensus developing:
In New York, the demands committee held a two-hour open forum last Monday, coming up with two major categories: jobs for all and civil rights. The team will continue to meet twice a week to develop a list of specific proposals, which it will then discuss with protesters and eventually take to the General Assembly, a nightly gathering of the hundreds of protesters in the park.
BobR and I went to the Occupy DC site on Friday night after the days events/marches/assemblies were over. We saw a small team of people in a circle discussing issues and decided to take a listen. They were debating and voting on the issue whether of not to take it up with the General Assembly on a vote about garbage removal. I'm not going to judge Occupy DC site for a few moments we witnessed, but it does seem to be the case here as in NYC that small groups discuss and vote on whether or not to take the issue to the larger General Assemblies where things are either endorsed or rejected.

Perhaps there is a shift in the way things are getting done from the early weeks of this movement. It appears that Wall Street is becoming the center of operations and smaller sites are taking their cues from them. All good moves in my opinion. I still believe that movements of social change need leaders.
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64 comments (Latest Comment: 10/18/2011 01:54:44 by livingonli)

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