Just Stuff

   Protesters gather on the front steps of the Idaho Capitol in Boise on Wednesday. The group, Occupy Boise, organized the demonstration against corporate America to show solidarity with protests that started last month outside the New York Stock Exchange.

Protesters ‘occupy’ Boise

Local demonstrators show solidarity with Wall Street rally

By JESSIE L. BONNER

   The Associated Press

   BOISE — You don’t have to live in New York to be fed up with Wall Street. So says an Idaho group that protested against corporate America in Boise on Wednesday to show solidarity with demonstrations that started last month outside the New York Stock Exchange.

   More than 300 people withstood an afternoon downpour and joined the outdoor protest organized by the group Occupy Boise, which is calling for an end of corporate control of government. The group marched to the Idaho Capitol holding signs that read “End the Fed” and “Restore America to its People” while chanting “we are the 99 percent” — in contrast to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

   “I am frustrated with what’s going on in Washington. I’m tired that they can’t get along and learn to agree on something instead of wanting their agenda first, not thinking about the people,” said Judy Taylor, a 69-yearold retired property manager.

   “I want change. I’m tired of things being taken away from those that need help,” said Taylor, who lives on Medicare and Social Security disability payments. She said that after her medical bills are paid, she has about $6,500 to live each year.

   “It’s very difficult,” she said.

   For Camille Kirkpatrick, a frustrating job search prompted her to join the demonstration. The recent college graduate said she has applied for two jobs every week for the past several months, as part of her requirements for receiving unemployment benefits.

   “I’m getting no calls back from anyone, like pizza places, restaurants,” said Kirkpatrick, 28.

   The initial protests in New York, called Occupy Wall Street, started Sept. 17 and have since spread to other cities.

   “I think there’s a general feeling in this county that things aren’t working,” said Tom Kershaw, a 30-yearold freelance writer and student at Boise State University who serves as a spokesman for Occupy Boise.

   The Occupy Wall Street protests have spread this week to Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities. Protesters have spoken out about the lack of jobs, blaming President Barack Obama and members of Congress, while also criticizing corporate lobbyists and employers. what they say is greed.

   Kershaw joined Occupy Boise about a week ago and said the group has since grown from about 150 people to about 1,900 supporters who watched the protests unfold in New York and other cities and wanted But they have reserved most of their criticism for Wall Street, fighting against to be part of it, he said.

   “I have a mortgage, a child. I’m just a regular guy,” Kershaw said. “I think there are a lot of assumptions going around that we’re being monopolized by the movement, by professional activists.”

   Occupy Boise said Wednesday’s protests in Idaho’s capital city would be the first of many public events organized by the group based in southwestern Idaho. A similar protest was planned Wednesday in the city of Moscow.


Here they are!  My peeps!  Finally, we are seeing a real protest about the state of this here Union.  People are sick and tired of the do-nothing Congress trying to make Barack Obama a one-term president over the health of our nation.  How dare they!  Little kids playing king of the hill.  This should be a wake-up call for all those Congress folks we elected TO DO THEIR JOBS.  They are there to DO OUR WILL not theirs.
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The right definition for ‘class warfare’

   It’s all a dance, really. A Democratic president summons the gumption to call for higher taxes on the rich, and Republicans cry like third graders having their ice cream taken away and given to the neighbor’s dog. Invoking the hoariest of chestnuts — that oldie but goodie — as predictable as mushy, green grapes in a fruit salad: The Class War Boogie.

   For some reason, it’s always a war with these guys. The War on Christmas. Culture Wars. War on Terror. The Crusades. Then they accuse Democrats of being emotionally unequipped for battle. Well, which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Actually, you can. It just makes choosing which one to cruelly abandon to the wolves of winter that much more difficult. Or not.

   When taxes are raised on the rich, that’s class warfare, but when subsidies are handed out to giant corporations who siphon jobs offshore so that rich people can have more money, that’s Trickle-Down Economics. What Barack should do is rename his efforts to balance the playing field: “Trickle-Up Economics.” That would, at least, confuse them. Although after watching the last couple of debates, confusion does not seem to be in short supply. workers have ruined everything with their irrational demands for safe working conditions and a living wage. Who do we think we are? Stockholders?

   Republicans have been as strident as a looped siren in a stainless steel silo in their opposition to a specific Obama proposal called the “Buffett Rule,” which calls for billionaires like Warren Buffett to pay the same tax rate as their secretaries. The GOP prefers the Jimmy Buffett Rule, which postulates that anybody worried about next month’s rent money should start drinking Margaritas until they pass out.

   You know what, they’re right. It is a class war. The rich started it and their side is winning. They’ve bombed the middle class into submission burying jobs and pensions, playing chicken at the precipice with default to protect their precious aristocracy from paying one puny penny more in taxes. Cheap.

   We’re not even allowed to call them rich anymore. They’re “job creators” now. And yes, jobs are being created. In Mexico. And Vietnam. And China. The American Dream is alive and well, just not here. It’s our own damn fault, really. AmericanCheap. Cheap.

   Forty percent of all income gains in the last decade have trickled up to the wealthiest 1 percent. The richest 400 families in this country control more money than the bottom 150 million people put together. We’re moving from Depression levels of income inequality into French Revolution territory. Isn’t that Madame Defarge over there in the corner, knitting?

   What is it with the rich? How much money do they need? How many cars can one person drive? How many beluga caviar cream cheese canapes can they consume at a single cocktail party? How many silk pajamas with platinum threads can you spill your Dom Perignon White Gold Mimosa on at a time? Okay, three. That’s what Hilda is for. One of the things.

   And these are the people complaining about a class war? You want rules, how ‘bout the Rolex Tourbillon Rule? Mandating that any job creator wearing a watch worth more than a house who ever mentions class warfare, gets a hose shoved down his throat and goose liver pumped in until pate leaks from their ears. Less war-like. More food-fighty.


How funny.  How sad.  How true.  How can you read this and cringe.  As most satirists, this guy tells the truth with humor.
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Sarah Palin says she will not run for president

Republican insiders say 2012 campaign field set

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

   WASHINGTON — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday she will not run for president, leaving little doubt that the eventual Republican nominee will come from the current field of contenders.

   After months of leaving her fans guessing, Palin said in a statement that she and her husband Todd “devote ourselves to God, family and country.” She said her decision maintains that order.

   Palin sent the statement to supporters. She told conservative radio host Mark Levin that she would not consider a third party candidacy because it would assure President Barack Obama’s re-election.

   In a video posted on You-Tube, Palin said, “you don’t need an office or a title to make a difference.”

   Sen. John McCain plucked Palin from relative obscurity in 2008 by naming her as his running mate. She electrified Republican activists for a while, delivering a well-received speech at the GOP national convention. But Palin later seemed overwhelmed by the national spotlight, faltering at times in televised interviews even when asked straightforward questions.

   Palin’s announcement Wednesday was much anticipated but not greatly surprising. Her popularity had plummeted in polls lately, even though she remained a darling to many hard-core conservatives. Some Republicans felt she waited and teased too long about a presidential candidacy. Some remained perplexed by her decision to quit her job as governor with more than a year left in her single term.

   Palin also angered some Americans with a defensive speech shortly after a Democratic congresswoman was gravely wounded in an Arizona shooting in January that killed six people.

   Palin’s announcement came one day after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he would not run. Republican insiders say the field is set.


Why would she run?  She gets more dough by simply talking.  As a Presidential Hopeful, she would be out there sitting for ridicule again.  She may not be the brightest star in the universe, but she's far from stupid.  I applaud your decision, Ms Palin.
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