#Occupy30Rock: Anyone spot Alec Baldwin at Occupy Wall Street yet?
If you want to hang out and do nothing, that’s me. If you want to protest and get arrested twice a day, that’s you.Homeless-by-choice Occupy Wall Street hanger-on “Spooky,” discussing how he’s been mooching off the movement for like two weeks. How much does it cost to be a Zucotti Park dweller? Less than $10 a day, largely paid for by donations. In Manhattan, that’s unheard of. Spooky’s living pretty well these days.
This is a really crazy get by Gawker. E-mails and the whole bit. Wowza.
(Source: joshsternberg)
A panorama of the scene at Times Square, where the OccupyWallStreet protests are in the midst of hitting a peak moment. Click to see the full thing. (via Salon reporter Justin Elliott)
bronze-by-gold said: Brilliant? In what universe? Student loans are often used to cover living expenses while in school, and using poorly paid TAs to reduce the cost of education is exploitative.
» SFB says: The argument Cuban is making is one of efficiency. I think the idea that he’s getting at is that the price of college has gotten more expensive because student loans are easy to get. It artificially raises prices for such things like living expenses, forcing the need for more expensive loans. By limiting their spiraling cost, it forces the market value of an education down. Obviously, there is more that goes into it than that, but when schools don’t become so reliant on money that no longer exists, artificially-inflated products — say, $200 textbooks for subjects thousands of students take — will become less justifiable. Would it be perfect? No. But it’s an interesting idea that could easily be built upon. (Also worth reading is this argument against Cuban’s idea, which makes a valid argument that he’s not taking every element into account.) — Ernie @ SFB
Arrest photos from this morning’s Occupy Wall Street march/standoff. Pretty sure that’s a baton connecting with a dudes back. See more photos here
Oh, That’s gotta hurt.
Oh wow. Yeah, the protests got pretty rough today in NYC, but they’re not alone. The folks in Denver weren’t so lucky — they lost their protest spot. And Occupy Seattle was in a similar boat.
Brookfield believes they can work out an arrangement with the protesters that will ensure the park remains clean, safe, available for public use, and that the situation is respectful of residents and businesses downtown.NYC Deputy Mayor Caswell F. Holloway • Discussing the near-disaster Occupy Wall Street had last night, after Zucotti Park owners Brookfield tried to force people away from the park for cleaning — which many park-dwellers assumed was an attempt to kick them out. The city, which claims it’s acting in the interests of the company that owns the park, has put the ball in Brookfield’s court. Despite the company and city backing down, there have been violent clashes between the police and protesters today. source (via • follow)
![jayrosen:
Reuters vs. Reuters: News agency makes an ass of itself by trying to connect George Soros to Occupy Wall Street.
But some Reuters people realize it, and call their company out!
Reuters then backs down, changing the story line on its report. Or does it? [more]
Jay Rosen has really shown his value as a media commentator in the past few weeks, and this piece is another example of that. We didn’t shout loudly about this story earlier, but we were confused as to why Reuters ran it. One person responded to our earlier piece, which asked aloud if it was worth Reuters’ time to report an in-depth investigation on this topic, by suggesting this: “Responsible journalism requires checking of ALL claims, not picking and choosing which to follow up on.” Maybe so, but in this case, perhaps there was a point where someone could’ve said after doing due diligence, “this isn’t a story, and it’s not worth our time.” Because, let’s face it, connecting tens of thousands of dollars indirectly donated by a billionaire a couple of years ago seems silly when you consider that two other billionaires notably give millions of dollars each year to a similar movement. It’s a revelation that puts this story in sharp relief — a sharp relief that isn’t even mentioned in the original article.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt15tfPX9f1qzbwu1o1_500.jpg)
Reuters vs. Reuters: News agency makes an ass of itself by trying to connect George Soros to Occupy Wall Street.
But some Reuters people realize it, and call their company out!
Reuters then backs down, changing the story line on its report. Or does it? [more]
Jay Rosen has really shown his value as a media commentator in the past few weeks, and this piece is another example of that. We didn’t shout loudly about this story earlier, but we were confused as to why Reuters ran it. One person responded to our earlier piece, which asked aloud if it was worth Reuters’ time to report an in-depth investigation on this topic, by suggesting this: “Responsible journalism requires checking of ALL claims, not picking and choosing which to follow up on.” Maybe so, but in this case, perhaps there was a point where someone could’ve said after doing due diligence, “this isn’t a story, and it’s not worth our time.” Because, let’s face it, connecting tens of thousands of dollars indirectly donated by a billionaire a couple of years ago seems silly when you consider that two other billionaires notably give millions of dollars each year to a similar movement. It’s a revelation that puts this story in sharp relief — a sharp relief that isn’t even mentioned in the original article.
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According to disclosure documents from 2007-2009, Soros’ Open Society gave grants of $3.5 million to the Tides Center, a San Francisco-based group that acts almost like a clearing house for other donors, directing their contributions to liberal non-profit groups. Among others the Tides Center has partnered with are the Ford Foundation and the Gates Foundation.
Disclosure documents also show Tides, which declined comment, gave Adbusters grants of $185,000 from 2001-2010, including nearly $26,000 between 2007-2009.
Aides to Soros say any connection is tenuous and that Soros has never heard of Adbusters. Soros himself declined comment.
Adbusters, which launched the campaign in its magazine, says it hasn’t gotten any money from Soros, but would take it if offered. ”George Soros’s ideas are quite good, many of them,” founder Kalle Lasn (who the story refers to as a “she” even though he’s a man) said. “I wish he would give Adbusters some money, we sorely need it. He’s never given us a penny.” What’s your take on this story? Did Reuters really need to check these claims?
The Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading quickly to many cities and states, and could possibly become a nascent third party within the Democrats. Predictably, it is being attacked from the right as “socialist.” Actually, it is capitalist, but believes in the regulation of capitalist institutions. What we live under now is a system of Corporate Socialism, a welfare state for the rich. It seems to me that your politics can be defined by whose side you are on. Tea Party members are mostly on their own side. They believe they should pay lower taxes, or none. If we can’t pay for health care, tough luck. The Occupation forces, who seem more affluent and might benefit more from lower taxes, are on the side of those being exploited by an unregulated Wall Street.Roger Ebert (via azspot)
Not a banner day for Geraldo Rivera: In a crowd with fresh memories of Jesse LaGreca’s epic takedown of Griff Jenkins, Geraldo’s not-so-warm welcome is a tad heartwarming. Now, granted, his coverage of the protests — complete with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West talking from a studio — was pretty balanced, and not in that “Fair and Balanced” way, either. But his network affiliation led to some chants over his news broadcast — not fun — and eventually led to this rough exit, captured by Russia Today. source
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