SOTU Update:
“Occupy Wall Street may be gone from Zuccotti Park, but it is not forgotten on Capitol Hill. You can draw a straight line from the Occupy Wall Street movement to President's Obama State of the Union address Tuesday night.”
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/01/26/obama-channels-occupy-wall-street
GOP Circus continues:
“Gov. Rick Perry endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich Thursday. What a great GOP ticket that would be. The GOP duo follows the glorious tradition of other great comedy teams like Laurel and Hardy, and Cheech and Chong.”
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/01/19/whats-wrong-with-the-2012-republicans
NEW YORK — “Occupy Wall Street activists say they disrupted a foreclosure auction at Brooklyn Supreme Court by bursting into song.
“Occupy organizer Michael Premo says about 100 people showed at the court Thursday afternoon and 37 were arrested. The New York Police Department could not confirm the arrests.
“Premo says that when the bidding started, the protesters began singing out against the sales. He says one of the six properties up for auction was sold after protesters were handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom.
“Occupy protesters say the action was part of a growing national movement committed to stopping foreclosures.”
—Copyright 2012 Associated Press
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP781aa832b015410e99e493044502ef2b.html
Welch-Napolitano on TSA: police state?
Professor explains Occupy Media:
“That’s a hierarchical, mass production-style approach to organizing, she said, that seems more suited to a mass-media world with a few 'senders' and legions of 'receivers' or mass audiences. But media and social mobilization aren’t like that anymore.”
http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/information-studies-prof-new-media-225807.aspx
It is a fact that without a hierarchy, individuals have taken it upon themselves to become news sources and have done most of the heavy lifting as far as documenting the movement. The term citizen journalist has never had more relevance. While there have been dozens of examples of police actions for example that went viral on the Internet, few of those were recorded, published or broadcast by the mainstream media. The pepper-spray incident at UC Davis comes to mind.
This rather bizarre experiment in social media interacting with many websites and phone apps has produced a new form of media; something that has yet to be defined but the professor does a pretty good job of explaining it.
What has been fascinating to watch is how this phenomenon has in many ways obviated the mainstream media by bringing raw video, lives-streams, tweeted links and so on to a real time audience. Live-streamers have become quasi-celebrities. Some tweeters are updating tens of thousands of followers. Countless websites have mushroomed because of the movement, including this one which didn't exist prior to the Wall Street occupation. In fact, none of this activity occurred prior.
Maybe someday this phenomenon will be defined by scholars. For now, the term alternative media is adequate, but at some point the underlying message will merge with the mainstream audience. To some extent it already has, but there is nothing artificial about the movement, the message or the media that will propel this amorphous political entity into the upcoming election season.
The mainstream media on the other hand is known for its biased reports, talking heads reciting talking points, the same banter that has preceded every election since the first one. The issues are clarifying themselves every day with the help of occupiers around the world and any number of organizations that come forward to support the movement.
This battle will continue to be fought in the media. The voters are calling for dramatic changes, the proof being in the historically low approval ratings for anyone within 100 miles of Washington, D.C. The issues are there for any politician to adopt as part of their campaign. The movement doesn't play favorites. It demands changes that the American people support whether or not they set up a tent or participate in a march.
Occupy Homes: We're nationwide
The foreclosure actions continue around the country. Here's an example of the alternative media style discussed above from Gothamist, tweets and video to support:
"4 cops just said the auction was cancelled. #ows now being forced to leave. could it be a ruse? #blockade."
http://gothamist.com/2012/01/26/over_25_arrested_at_occupy_wall_str.php
“The Occupy Homes campaign is backed by a number of groups, including ReFund California, The New Bottom Line, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Take Back the Land, SOUL, the Service Employees International Union and New York Communities for Change.”
http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/61385/
There's also a foreclosure action today in Orange County at the Santa Ana courthouse organized by local occupiers. The idea is to try and stall the proceedings to save the home of a disabled woman in Cypress, Ca. The event starts at 11 AM. Look here for updates.
Super PAC's: Reason TV says calm dow
'Birthers' attack
Another lawsuit alleging the President is not an American citizen has surfaced in Georgia and the President is supposed to appear. This must be aggravating as hell, but as long as Fox News is willing to put a microphone in front of Donald Trump, this sort of thing will never go away.
Grumpy
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