It’s another day at Occupy Wall Street, as the DA (Direct Action) group tackles the issue of police brutality. One member of the group stated that the Municipal Labor Community, which is a bargaining committee that negotiates all municipal contracts together, was going to raise $25,000 for OWS. However, they were unable to, because it was blocked by the police and firemen’s union.

They did not allow them to raise the money, which called for another breakout session to discuss the matter more in depth. The DA’s direction is about finding your allies and becoming more solidarity. During this breakout session, another member proposed discussing a need for expansion whether it is in physical spaces, open spaces or indoor spaces.

He says it’s a big city and he feels like a lot could be done long term. They will be conducting a 4 hour strategy discussion for expansion on Sunday. Following December 6th’s Occupy foreclosed homes day, which will take place in 50 cities across the country is, Occupy Ports on December 12. The occupations in Oakland and Los Angeles have called for a west coast port shutdown. It does not mean to occupy the actual ports one said jokingly, although he said he would have no objection to it.

He claims that it would be the biggest thing to a west coast general strike. According to the New York Occupy movement, if they don’t seize the opportunity to be in solidarity with the other movements, then New York movement will fall behind. People out in the west have really been pushing forth, shutting things down and causing disruption for the 1%, which is what the message for Occupy Ports is about.

The occupiers are growing tired after their victory that took place on their 2 month anniversary of OWS, but New York occupiers will continue to push themselves in order to shut the 1% down. One man from Chile said to another that, “What we did on November 17 was something we did for 7 years” referring to a struggle against dictatorship in Chile, which was said as encouragement to boost morale.

One New York Occupier also suggested that being more proactive was in order, saying that more is necessary of the DA and that New York rather than just being reactive to just working on projects brought to them, they should establish affinity groups that would create major action, having them take it on piece by piece.

More is expected to come from the 99% as they continue to fight against the 1%. To learn more about what is on their agenda visit http://occupywallst.org/

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After the local unions and celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Kanye West have shown their support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement, Ben & Jerry’s, the world famous ice cream company, has become the first big company to join the cause as of last weekend.

“To those who Occupy: We Stand with you” is the slogan chosen by the ice cream maker to show its sympathy and “deepest admiration” to all the people “who have initiated the non-violent Occupy Wall Street Movement and to those around the country who have joined in solidarity”, as is stated on the Ben & Jerry’s website.

In the solidarity statement written by the company Board of Directors, they make it clear that according to the company’s values “the issues raised are of fundamental importance to all of us”, and for that reason they decided to “support this call to action and are honoured to join you in this call to take back our nation and democracy”.

These “issues” are no other than inequity, unemployment, education and political corruption. In their press release, the Board cited the following ground for their support:

The inequity that exists between classes in our country is simply immoral.

We are in an unemployment crisis. Almost 14 million people are unemployed. Nearly 20% of African American men are unemployed. Over 25% of our nation’s youth are unemployed. Many workers who have jobs have to work 2 or 3 of them just to scrape by.

Higher education is almost impossible to obtain without going deeply in debt.

Corporations are permitted to spend unlimited resources to influence elections while stockpiling a trillion dollars rather than hiring people.

They also took this opportunity to remind the American society about their compromises towards the environment, human rights and fair trade, among others: “We have provided support to citizens’ efforts to reincorporate money in politics, we pay a liveable wage to our employees, we directly support family farms and we are working to source fairly traded ingredients for all our products.”

The Occupy Wall Street movement that started nearly a month ago has quietly but steadily grown a following that has inspired similar demonstrations in over 70 other cities, including some in Canada, Great Britain, Greece and Australia.

For the full statement visit their website.

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More than 700 people were arrested from the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City. Demonstrators were arrested when they spread to the Brooklyn Bridge, closing down the traffic for several hours. The occupy Wall Street group had camped in a plaza in Manhattan’s financial district for the last 2 weeks.

Several hundreds of protesters are still camped not very far from Wall Street at Zuccotti Park. The group has staged various demonstrations for the last 2 weeks against the finance industry. Protestors are driven by the wobbly economy and corporate greed.

Occupy Wall Street is a series of ongoing protests in America, originally called for by Canadian Activist group Adbusters Media Foundation, best known for its advertisement-free anti consumerist magazine called Adbusters.

A thick line of people carrying placards were assembled at the police plaza, the head quarters of the New York Police, near Zuccotti Park. According to the groups’ declaration, they are not against the police but aim to express a feeling of mass injustice. According to the group the injustices included are foreclosures, work place discrimination and student loan debt, among others.

The protest blasted-off on September 17, initially with a hand-full of agitated participants who pitched their tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. In less than 20 days, the  scale and reach of these protests expanded in a massive fashion, reaching Chicago, Boston, St Louis, Kansas City and Los Angeles.

Police arrested around 700 people with charges of disorderly conduct and blocking the public street near the Brooklyn Bridge. Tim Flannelly spokesperson of the FBI said, “At this point we don’t anticipate wider unrest,” but expressed concern in mild tones. FBI and NYPD will deploy and any all resources necessary to control any developments.

The Grievances or the list of demands for what they are staging a motion in America are numerous and varied. First they call for the smashing of the iconic bull at Wall Street, second, they raise their voice for the establishment of a universal care center, and third they want congress to pass the Tobin tax, and  for political transparency.

They have other peripheral demands such as free college education, living wage income, billions in spending on infrastructure with immediate effect, and a racial and gender equal right amendment.

Protests to some extent represent, in much broader terminology, that much has to be done to eliminate abrupt feelings of insecurity and lack of confidence in the system; even so, there needs to be some logic used, and a number of discontented people is necessary at this stage, especially where peoples attitudes’ towards the Obama Administration is key to his survival in the coming elections in 2012.

If we consider some radical and some less-radical changes, as proposed by the Occupy Wall Street Group, time is still left for the Obama administration to act, if it believes in doing so. There is less than a year to win over the hearts of this society that has been wounded by economic calamity and to regain solidarity with the people’s beliefs that might save the ship from sinking.

Critics to this motion or event particularly doubt about how  pervasively these demonstrations can move forward. Most of them say a leaderless movement will end soon, and even the presence of stars in the event might not potentially blow a whistle in ears of the administration.

Nevertheless demonstrations on a mammoth scale in different parts of the nation might well do the trick to at least move the stone, if not shift it completely.

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Saturday, hundreds of protesters who have gathered in New York’s Zuccotti Park since September 17 marched through the streets. Over 700 protesters, including some members of the media, were arrested as Occupy Wall Street protesters blocked the Brooklyn Bridge, snarling traffic.

Police zip tied protesters and loaded them into city buses to transport them to police stations. The protesters received tickets and were released. The protests, which have been harshly criticized by much of American media for being unorganized without demands, are gaining traction.

The protests are spreading throughout the United States like wildfire. Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco all have their own protests taking shape. On Wednesday, college students are organizing a mass student walkout on what is being deemed America’s “Day of Rage.”

On Sunday, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate economist and professor at Columbia University, visited the large group. During his informal teach-in, Stiglitz points out that New York City does not allow the use of a megaphone or microphone without a permit. “The fact that you are not allowed to use a megaphone on a Sunday is outrageous,” Stiglitz says.

“We have too many regulations stopping democracy, and not enough regulations stopping Wall Street from misbehaving.” Despite the growing noise from protesters, most politicians, including the President, have been silent on the discontent. White House spokesperson Jay Carney was asked on Monday about the president’s reaction to the protests.

“I’m sure he’s aware of it because he follows the news,” Carney said of Obama’s familiarity with the movement, during a briefing. “To the extent that people are frustrated with the economic situation, we understand.” The movement is getting some more support. Mainstream media devoted more serious news time to the protests, even interviewing some leaders of the group on Monday.

Union workers from all over the country are supporting the cause and plan to take part in a march with Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday. The New York City bus drivers, who helped to transport the arrested protesters to police stations, stated they would not help out with any future arrests.

Workhouse Publicity, a Chelsea-based public relations firm, sent unsolicited emails to members of Occupy Wall Street offering to spread the word about the ongoing protests, The New York Daily News reports.

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