Romney: Occupy Wall Street is "dangerous"

As I wrote in Herman Cain on Occupy Wall Street, I have a bunch of tabs open with stories about Occupy Wall Street, so it's time to blog about them and move on to new stories. This installment features a quote from Mitt Romney and a company that shares his opinion. Hat/tip to Paddy at The Political Carnival and devil_ad_vocate in talk_politics on LiveJournal for the links.

National Journal: Romney: Wall Street Protests ‘Class Warfare’

THE VILLAGES, Fla. – Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Tuesday compared the current anti-Wall Street protests to “class warfare.”

“I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare,” Romney said to an audience of about 50 people in response to a question about the protests over such issues as high unemployment, home foreclosures and the 2008 corporate bailouts.

He made his remark while greeting members of an overflow crowd that was unable to get into his official appearance before a larger group of about 300 at this central Florida retirement community.

The Wall Street protests, organized by a confederation of progressive groups, have spread beyond New York to other cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston. Two groups also have announced plans to set up an encampment in front of the White House as well.

My comment at The Political Carnival:

If Willard the Rat Man had a clue, he'd keep his yap shut about the class warfare meme regarding Occupy Wall Street and the other Occupy movements. This will only encourage the demonstrators.

As I wrote a couple of days ago, "don't taunt the happy fun ball."

On the other hand, there are people who have a clue and are profiting from it: Listen Logic. They have been following Occupy Wall Street since its inception and currently consider it to be an elevated corporate threat.




Here is their graph of the growth of the movement so far.



Impressive timeline, isn't it?

Herman Cain on Occupy Wall Street

I have a bunch of tabs open with stories about Occupy Wall Street, so it's time to blog about them and move on to new stories. First, a video from Think Progress on YouTube in which Herman Cain, who is currently third in the polls among GOP candidates for President, says that he thinks that Occupy Wall Street was "orchestrated...to distract from the failed policies of the Obama Administration," although he acknowledges he has no facts to back up that belief.




My comment at Political Carnival, where this was also posted:

Normally, I'd tell Mr. "Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space" that Occupy Wall Street will point out at least one failed policy of the Obama Administration, that of not prosecuting the bankers and others on Wall Street who contributed to the Great Recessioin, but I don't think that will make it through the Reynolds Wrap beanie he probably wears off camera. Even if it did, it would be inconvenient to his narrative.

Speaking of "Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space," it's time to be an environmentalist and recycle.




Original at The Cain Scrutiny on Hysterical Raisins.

One of the worst economic plans ever deserves a poster from one of the worst movies ever.

A Venn Diagram of Crackpot Ideas

Larger version at tacit's LiveJournal and full-sized original here.

Today is the anniversary of the Women's March on Versailles

Commenter Nebris posted the following in his LiveJournal today.

"We're likely to stumble along at the present rate with a series of band-aids to keep us going, though sooner or later, things will fall apart. What happens then remains to be seen. But, today is the anniversary of The Women's March on Versaillesand I suspect at least some of The Rulers remember those events."

I decided to follow his link, which led to the following on Wikipedia.

The Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the royal palace at Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and in a dramatic and violent confrontation they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and the entire French Assembly to return with them to Paris.

These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king. The march symbolized a new balance of power that displaced the ancient privileged orders of the aristocracy and favored the nation's common people, collectively termed the Third Estate. Bringing together people representing disparate sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on Versailles proved to be a defining moment of that Revolution.

Looks a bit familiar, doesn't it?

Actually, I'd be surprised if anyone in charge outside of France and its neighbors in Europe remembered this. It's not something anyone in the U.S. other than the biggest history geeks, of which Nebris is one, would remember. Otherwise, the people at the Chicago Board of Trade wouldn't be pulling a stunt like this (Hat/tip to Gotta Laff at The Political Carnival.



Ladies and gentlemen of the CBOT, don't taunt the happy fun ball.

General economic news from Reuters

The following articles, along with those in Joseph Stiglitz addresses Occupy Wall Street and Last night's news on the state of the CoDominion, were originally featured in Overnight News Digest (Fast fill-in edition) on Daily Kos.





World stocks at 15-month low
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO | Mon Oct 3, 2011 11:34pm EDT

Global stocks fell to a 15-month low on Tuesday, pinning Asian stocks near a 16-month low, as investors shed riskier assets on growing doubts over Greece's ability to avoid default, fuelling fears of global financial turmoil and recession.

Fears over the banking sector's exposure to euro zone sovereign debt and plummeting value of assets across the board further led to a sharp widening of credit default swaps.

Weakening outlook for industrial demand weighed on copper and oil while flight-to-safety strengthened gold, yen and the dollar.

Global stocks continued to be hit hard, while U.S. stocks rallied at the end of the trading day. The dead cat just keeps on bouncing.





Obama's jobs bill falls to pieces in Congress
By Andy Sullivan and Laura MacInnis
WASHINGTON | Mon Oct 3, 2011 6:02pm EDT

President Barack Obama's job-creation package effectively fell to pieces on Monday as a top Republican lawmaker said the House of Representatives will only pass portions of the $447 billion measure.

As Obama continued to press lawmakers for a vote on his signature legislation, Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, said that was not going to happen.

Asked if the bill as a complete package was dead, Cantor said: "Yes."

We're still eating the Satan Sandwich, too. Some people are already thinking about sending it back to the kitchen.

Health consumers make deficit fight personal
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 4, 2011 1:13am EDT

The numbers are devastating: almost 2,000 poor kids in Texas with cancer, another 18,000 with diabetes and more than 350,000 suffering from chronic lung disease, heart disease or stroke.

What sounds like a grim statistical report on poverty and disease is actually a lobbying message from Medicaid advocates to Texas congressman Jeb Hensarling, Republican co-chairman of a special congressional panel charged with cutting at least $1.2 trillion from the U.S. deficit over 10 years.

The message is in a 14-page electronic brochure titled "Medicaid's Impact in Texas," sent to Hensarling and other Texas lawmakers by the health consumer advocacy group Families USA, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association and American Lung Association.

Yes, it's still a Satan Sandwich.

Now for some good news.

UAW says contract talks with Ford going "smoothly"
DETROIT | Mon Oct 3, 2011 8:57pm EDT

Contract negotiations between Ford Motor Co and the United Auto Workers union are "progressing smoothly" and a breakdown in talks is "highly unlikely," the union said in a memo on Monday.

On Sunday night, the UAW called local union officials to Detroit for a Tuesday meeting in anticipation of reaching an agreement on a new four-year labor contract.

The UAW described this as an "indication that we believe we are very close to an agreement," according to the memo.

I'll be sure to follow this story, as it is a local sustainability issue.

Time to play Rift with my wife!

Last night's news on the state of the CoDominion

Things look a bit rocky in the relationship between the two major powers.

Reuters: China warns of trade war if U.S. currency bill passes
By David Stanway and Aileen Wang
BEIJING | Tue Oct 4, 2011 1:00am EDT

China warned Washington it is "adamantly opposed" to a proposed U.S. bill aimed at forcing Beijing to let its currency rise, saying its passage could lead to a trade war between the world's top two economies.

In a coordinated response, the Chinese central bank and the ministries of commerce and foreign affairs accused Washington of "politicizing" global currency issues.

The bill to be debated in the United States this week violates World Trade Organization rules and forcing the yuan to appreciate would weaken joint efforts to revive the global economy, the foreign ministry said.

It might indeed violate WTO rules, but it makes for effective domestic politics in the U.S. That it is likely to be overturned later may just reinforce the opinion of the cynics that this is grandstanding, even if it would be good policy for the U.S. if it could be implemented.

Also, with power comes responsibility.

Reuters: Analysis: China to keep Pakistan embrace at arm's length
By Sui-Lee Wee
BEIJING | Mon Oct 3, 2011 11:45pm EDT

Pakistan, facing a crisis with the United States, has leaned closely to longtime partner China, offering its "all-weather friendship" with Beijing as an alternative to Washington.

But Pakistan will be disappointed if it hopes to replace American patronage with the same from China.

While China does not welcome the U.S. presence near its border, it wants stability on its western flank and believes an abrupt withdrawal of Washington's support for Pakistan could imperil that. It also does not want to upset warming relations with India by getting mired in subcontinent security tension.

China and the U.S. have been nominal allies of Pakistan since the days of Nixon, when both used the country as a counterweight to India. While the Chinese have a real regional rivalry with the world's largest democracy, the U.S. was just peeved at India's neutrality vis-a-vis the USSR. Nowadays, I think the U.S. has more in common with India than Pakistan.

Finally, there is another China, and they're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of their state. From Next Media Animation on YouTube:

On October 10th 1911, the nationalist army in China got rid of the monarchy once and for all. So in Taiwan (no, we're not Japan, Korea, or China) celebrates it every year since the nationalist party (Guomingtang) moved to Taiwan.

And this year, it's the 100th year celebration!! So being NMA and all, Monica is giving you a sneak peek into the celebration along with a special show, brought to you by yours truly.

Happy centennial, Republic of China!

Joseph Stiglitz addresses Occupy Wall Street

Reuters: Another day, another protest?
By Anya Schiffrin
Oct 3, 2011 13:30 EDT

Things have come to a pretty pass when the right to assembly is respected more in Egypt and Spain than it is in the US of A. I am of course referring to last week’s pepper spraying of a group of women who were enclosed in a police pen and the Saturday arrest of 700 people who strayed into traffic as police ushered them on to the Brooklyn Bridge. The police responded by saying they had warned the protestors away from traffic lanes.

The fact that it took the New York Times more than a week before they started treating the protestors seriously was also shameful.

Having read the press reports my husband and I decided it was time to see the protests for ourselves so we went down to Wall Street yesterday and found about 1,000 slightly-drenched but enthusiastic people carrying signs, making music and being careful not to step on the flowers in the middle of the square. The protestors were clustered in groups listening to several speakers. One of the speakers was from the 15-M protest movement in Spain and another was Jeff Madrick, the lefty economist who has written extensively on the financial crisis.

Here's the video, with accompanying text from YouTube.

It was rather amazing how this just emerged in the middle of Zuccotti park AKA LIBERTY SQUARE. The "people's mic" check occurred, and suddenly we were listening to two important economists of our time speak to the protestors.

Great point about bullhorns...

Stiglitz is one of the most frequently cited economists in the world. It was great to hear the two of them speak, informally, in this magical setting. All types of people were listening, many folks were recording sound and visuals. The rain had stopped and a question and answer session had followed.

In case you're wondering, Anya Schiffirn is Mrs. Joseph Stiglitz.

As for the protesters, they're getting quite an economic education.

Occupy Wall Street is sequel to Anonymous vs Scientology

I've seen this movie before. This is the sequel to Anonymous vs. Scientology and it's recycling the first film's plot, but with a bigger budget, more special effects, and a group of villains who are less comic, better known, and more dangerous. At this stage of the protests against Scientology, the long-time anti-Scientologist activists discovered Anonymous and found a way to jump in front of the movement. The same thing is happening here, with Michael Moore and others realizing that there is now a mob they can get in front of and (pretend to) lead. In reality, they're following from the front, which is the opposite of leading from behind.

As for how the first movie ended, it resulted in opening Scientology to reporters investigating the organization like it hadn't seen in a long time and tarnishing its reputation among the young. It also gave the members of Anonymous a taste of organizing and a realization that they can take on something bigger than themselves. Now they're ready for something bigger than a fringe cult that runs themselves like a business. Whether they're up to this task is another question.

As for how this installment of the franchise ends, stay tuned. They may be rehashing the plot so far, but there is no script.

Nablopomo for October: Between

October's theme for daily blogging: BETWEEN. Autumn is between the two temperature extremes of summer and winter. It's a time when nature is shifting -- the scattering of leaves in the northern hemisphere, the first signs of new life down south. Halloween is obviously a time for trick-or-treating, but scratch the surface of the holiday and it makes you start thinking about how your time on earth is just a space between two periods of non-living. What else do you have to say on the theme of being between?

I nearly missed this on the second day of the month because of computer issues. First, my keyboard died when one of our cats spilled wine on it. Then I got a new wireless keyboard, which came with a mouse. The combination did not play well with my computer. The keyboard worked, but the mouse didn't. Then, no USB mouse would work. You try to put together a blog post or do anything more advanced than answer email without a mouse, I dare you. I couldn't. I finally got an old fashioned wired keyboard and a PS2 mouse. Now things work. However, it was enough to make me miss Silly Sustainability Saturday. I'll see if I can make up for it during the week.

As for how I'm going to frame this theme so that it's consistent with the general topics of this blog, that's easy. Our economy is between the fossil fuel economy and whatever post-peak-oil energy economy is coming, whatever that will be. Detroit is between decay and renewal. Our politics are between corruption and either reform or revolution. See what I mean?

Bike vs Car

Next year, I'm getting a bike for the first time this century.