68 Occupy Protesters Arrested in NYC on New Year's

Starting off the new year where 2011 left-off. This year will be another year of occupying everywhere:

Authorities say dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested as they tore down the barricades surrounding New York City's Zuccotti Park just before midnight on New Year's Eve.

Police say 68 people were arrested during the scuffle. At least one person was accused of assaulting a police officer, who suffered cuts on one hand. Other charges include trespassing, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment.

Protester Jason Amadi says he was pepper-sprayed when police tried to prevent the crowd of about 500 demonstrators from taking down the barricades. Amadi says the crowd piled the barricade pieces in the center of the park and stood on top of them, chanting and singing.

Source

Transcript: ABC 'This Week' with Ron Paul (1-1-2012)

Full Transcript. Excerpt below:

TAPPER: Well, I think it's more than eight sentences, but -- but moving on, one of your former close aides recently said that you, quote, "engaged in conspiracy theories, including perhaps the 9/11 attacks were coordinated with the CIA, and that the Bush administration might have known about the attacks ahead of time." So have you ever expressed in front of anyone...

PAUL: Now, wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't -- don't go any further on that. That's complete nonsense.

TAPPER: It's nonsense?

PAUL: Just stop that.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Not true?

PAUL: Yeah, no. I did not -- I never bought into that stuff. I never talked about it.

TAPPER: OK.

PAUL: About the conspiracy of Bush -- of Bush knowing about this? No, no, come on. Come on. Let's be reasonable.

TAPPER: OK.

PAUL: That's just off-the-wall. 

Transcript: Face The Nation (1-1-2012)

Full transcript. Excerpt below:

SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. Happy new year.

Well, the Des Moines Register is out today with a new poll, as we`re just hours away now from the Iowa caucuses. In the top spot, Mitt Romney is at 24 percent, followed closely behind by Congressman Ron Paul at 22 percent, and now former Senator Rick Santorum at 15 percent, and he is closing fast. Rounding out the rest of the field, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Jon Huntsman.

This morning, we are joined by supporters from three of the top candidates, Senator Rand Paul, the son of Ron Paul, he`s in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Romney supporter, former Senator Jim Talent in St. Louis; and former Congressman J.C. Watts, who is the surrogate for Newt Gingrich. He`s in Oklahoma City.

Let`s go first to Senator Paul. Senator Paul, your dad obviously has a shot at winning Iowa now, but the pollsters out there seem to think that Rick Santorum has -- has really caught the momentum, and he`s been closing fast here in the last two days. They say if you measure just the last two days, he`s actually in second place. What do you think happened? I thought your dad was the darling of the evangelical Christian vote, which is such a big vote out there, and a lot of conservatives. What`s happening?

PAUL: Well, I think if you look at it, we`ve had several frontrunners. We`ve had several people surge to the top. And I think this is the best time to be surging to the top. And Ron Paul has surged probably as much as anyone in the last two or three weeks and has been the frontrunner or near being the frontrunner in Iowa. He`s closing the gap in New Hampshire. So I think he`s surging at precisely the right time.

SCHIEFFER: Well, if Rick Santorum does wind up either winning out there or running ahead of your dad, will he be the sort of anybody-but-Romney candidate going into New Hampshire?

PAUL: Well, I think he has a lot of things to overcome. I mean, he was in his last election defeated by over 20 points. He was a big supporter of Arlen Specter against Pat Toomey. He`s really been a big government type of moderate. And a lot of people don`t know that because he hasn`t surged to the top yet so he hasn`t had much scrutiny. When he has the scrutiny, I think he`s going to have some of the same problems that some of the other fair-weather conservatives have had.

Occupy Worldwide 2012: Real Hope for Global Change

Source: Gilbert Mercier, Newsjunkie:

Many erroneously believed that President Obama was a providential man. It predictably turned out that he was  just a “company man” willing and eager to maintain a system based on inequality and exploitation of the many by the few. A shrewd man of the status quo working on behalf and to preserve a broken system. Most should recognized now that President Obama is just the current CEO/ Spokesperson of America Empire Inc, working in conjunction and for the benefit of the mega corporate entities running world affairs. However, it is very likely that President Obama will be re-elected for another term in 2012. The so called “progressives” will end up voting for him, even if they do it with little enthusiasm, just because they fear that any alternative from the GOP would be even worse than the current administration.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that the real story to track in 2012 will be the expansion of the Occupy movement. It is growing exponentially globally, and as long as the different “chapters” of the movement coordinate their actions, the momentum of it could reach a critical mass. Common goals and platforms are already defined, and key benchmarks are in the works. On January 17, it will be Occupy Congress in Washington DC. Actions are occurring across Europe, including in Russia. Another key global benchmark will be May 1, 2012. But to stay true to itself, the Occupy movement must remain “horizontal”, without a clearly defined leadership.

The 86 Senators who Voted to Pass NDAA

Why NDAA is bad:

The NDAA will stifle our Constitutional Rights and most probably will pass, and most definitely without the approval of Americans. This is reminiscent of the Patriot Act. Our government is now allowed to spy on their citizens. We are not supposed to fear our government, and now, regardless of any restructuring done in this Act, it’s a step in a very wrong direction. Did any of us believe that detainees held in Gitmo without being charged, some of them most assuredly were  innocent, would not happen to any of us?  As advocates of torture applauded this, most of us knew, this was an infringement upon their rights. If that sounds bleak, it’s meant to because now we’re being threatened with the same scenario.

The List:

Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Brown (R-MA) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Coons (D-DE) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Gillibrand (D-NY)

Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Hatch (R-UT) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Inouye (D-HI) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Johnson (R-WI) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lugar (R-IN) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Menendez (D-NJ)

Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Portman (R-OH) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Rubio (R-FL) Schumer (D-NY) Sessions (R-AL) Shaheen (D-NH) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Vitter (R-LA) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wicker (R-MS)

Article source

US president signs controversial defence bill

US president signs controversial defence bill - Americas - Al Jazeera English

Global Markets Lost $6.3 Trillion in 2011

Global Markets Lost $6.3 Trillion in 2011 | ThinkProgress

Watch the Times Square ball Drop Live Online - Happy New Year

Watch the Times Square ball drop to bring in 2012 here. But before that watch live performances of top musical performers:

Watch live streaming video from 2012 at livestream.com

Video: Occupy Charlotte Does not Condone Flag Burning

There are always a few bad apples. I would venture to say there are more Tea Partyers with disloyal views than the Occupy movement:

Citizens United loses in Montana, Supreme Court upholds state ban on corporate spending

A victory for democracy. Now for the U.S. Supreme Court:

 Citizens United loses in Montana, Supreme Court upholds state ban on corporate spending.

Source

Video: Syrian man Records his Own Death

Basil Al-Sayid, a 24-year-old man in Syria, was shot to death while documenting violence committed by the government:

Obama and the Economy: Not as Bad, Not Good

The Obama administration argument is that the economy isn't collapsing like it was before they took office. That isn't good enough. This isn't change. It's not as bad. And after 4 years not as bad isn't good:

[...]the fact that people who've given up looking for work don't show up in the unemployment rate -- is not present in the EMPloyment rate: the share of the population working. That's fallen over the past couple of years and has been basically flat-lining for a year. It's probably the most pessimistic labor market indicator out there, and is a reliable sign that labor demand remains weak.

[...]The figure shows the year-over-year changes in the real weekly earnings of blue-collar, non-managerial workers (it's a good proxy for the median, or middle-class wage). It was already falling slightly in 2009 (Dec/Dec) but is falling faster now (down 1.5%, Nov10-Nov11).

[...]The other pothole indicator for the president is the increase in profit shares of GDP along with the decline in compensation shares. The figure shows these movements from 2009 compared to now, and while they don't look like big changes in the figure, they're actually quite significant-these variables usually move pretty glacially.

[...]Profits as a share of GDP are way up and compensation/GDP is way down. Now, it's not like high profits are a bad thing, and they often recover before wages. But their distribution is highly skewed, and they clearly signal the return of rising income inequality, a major concern for a lot of people today, myself included.

The decline in the compensation share is a symptom of the weak job market, high unemployment, and weak wage growth. It's why a lot of families still feel squeezed while flush corporations sit on trillions in cash.

Source: Jared Bernstein, HuffingtonPost

Credit card debt: Are consumers returning to bad habits?

Americans have no income to pay for things. So we charge. And the banks profit:

Americans are edging back toward their bad old pre-recession habits, when they charged whatever they wanted on their credit cards and didn’t worry about the build up of debt. After starting 2011 by paying down over $32 billion in credit card debt, consumers are on track to end the year with a $64 billion increase in their net credit card debt, according to Card Hub’s latest survey of credit card debt.

That’s a far bigger increase than in either 2009 or 2010. Unfortunately, the situation in 2012 will worsen before it improves. You can thank the busy holiday shopping season for that. It occurs during the year’s fourth quarter, which is largely why the fourth quarter sees debt build up faster than in the second and third quarters combined.

Full article 

Pittsburgh City Council Gives Itself a Pay Raise

Unless Pittsburgh's economy is booming a pay raise is outrageous. But they don't care. They'll still won't be held accountable come next election. Most incumbents get to keep their jobs no matter what. And we have no choices:

Pittsburgh City Council members gave themselves more taxpayer money to play with when they approved a 2012 operating budget, a decision that sends the wrong message in tight economic times.

Members say it's not their intention to play Santa, but each of the nine will get $94,000 for staff salaries next year, up from the current $88,000. Council will decide later on how to allocate the funds, by giving raises to some or all of their staffers or by increasing the hours of work available for part-timers.

Full article

Police: More cars set afire in LA, arson suspected

The Associated Press: Police: More cars set afire in LA, arson suspected

Several more cars burned in suspected arson attacks in the Los Angeles area early Saturday morning, and authorities investigated if they were connected to nearly two dozen deliberately set blazes a day earlier, police said.

Seven or eight cars burned Saturday in the North Hollywood area, said officer Robert Collier.

He said he didn't have further details of the blazes, but said arson is suspected and there could be a link to the earlier blazes.

Santorum defends his use of pork-barrel spending

Santorum defends his use of pork-barrel spending

The Dysfunction of America (1): The Rule of Greed

A Canadian perspective on greed in America:

The U.S. economy remains the most powerful, creative and dynamic in the world, but it faces major difficulties. No longer is it a true capitalist free-market system. It has become a gigantic welfare state whose prime beneficiaries are the rich and major corporations.

Think of the legions of millionaire lobbyists in Washington; the shuttle-bus-type ferrying of people back and forth between senior Washington positions and executive suites in the business world; the enormous subsidies paid to myriad industries, including agriculture; the complex loopholes that render the tax code incomprehensible to all but the beneficiaries; the deregulation of the financial system that led to the crisis of 2007 and 2008, followed by the trillion-dollar bailouts; and that’s to say nothing of the dramatically increasing inequality of income distribution.

Greed may be good, as Gordon Gekko famously declared in Wall Street, but it is good only for the rich.

Full article from MontrealGazette

Jason Salzman: The 99 Percent: Income Inequality by the Numbers

Jason Salzman: The 99 Percent: Income Inequality by the Numbers

So, here's a crib sheet for anyone writing about Occupy in 2012.

Income Inequality: Occupy by the Numbers

Percentage of our nation's wealth owned by the top 1% of earners: 33.8%

Percentage of U.S. wealth owned by the bottom 50% of Americans: 2.5%.

Percentage of investment assets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.) owned by top 1%: over 50%

Percentage of investment assets owned by the bottom half: 0.5%

Percentage of the nation's personal debt owed by the top 1% in the US: 5%

Percentage of the nation's personal debt owed by the bottom 90% of Americans: 73%

...

75 Years Ago Today, the First Occupy

Great story. Working people have had to fight for every right we enjoy today.

75 Years Ago Today, the First Occupy - The Huffington Post

Don Cheadle Says President Obama Should Have Been More 'Gangsta,' Clarifies Comments

He's disappointed like so many loyal supporters who believed Obama's promises.

Don Cheadle Says President Obama Should Have Been More 'Gangsta,' Clarifies Comments - The Huffington Post