Group of Citi Bank customers attempt to close accounts as a form of protest- 2 dozen are locked inside bank until police arrive, 5 cops take down woman
"I pledge allegiance to McDonalds!"Protesters disrupt Murdoch speech (VIDEO)
10.14.11 – Rebecca Bowe, SF Bay Guardian
“I pledge allegiance to McDonalds!”
In the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Hotel in downtown San Francisco on Oct. 14, News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch delivered a keynote address to a crowd that included senators, businesspeople, and high-ranking education officials from throughout the country — yet he was interrupted repeatedly by activists, some of whom were dressed as Sesame Street characters.
Murdoch was there to speak at an annual summit held by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a Florida-based nonprofit led by Jeb Bush. The billionaire media mogul, who came under pressure in recent months as the News of the World phone-hacking scandal erupted, spoke about revolutionizing education with technology.
Several moments after he began speaking, a man wearing a suit stood and yelled out, “Isn’t it time to resist corporate domination?” In what seemed like an odd statement, he added, “They’re occupying Wall Street — maybe they should be occupying Sesame Street!” He was quickly escorted out by hotel security, but this proved to be only the first of a handful of outbursts orchestrated by San Francisco U.S. Uncut, a grassroots organization that plans actions to draw attention to income inequality and low taxes for major corporations.
Murdoch referenced his friendship with Apple founder Steve Jobs, who passed away less than a week ago, and praised the iPad as an educational tool. But protesters dressed as characters from Sesame Street — Elmo and Count von Count, for instance — stood and spoke out of turn from tables throughout the room. “Mr. Murdoch, I’ve been doing some counting,” the activist dressed as the Count yelled out. “Seven corporations own all the media in the world — why shouldn’t they own all the education as well?”
There were five different interruptions in all, the final featuring a woman who yelled out, “Occupy, occupy, occupy!”
photo credit: SFBG
http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2011/10/14/protesters-disrupt-murdoch-speech
ABC7 news report:
Foreclose Wall Street West foreclosed on Wells Fargo Bank yesterday in a march at 7 am in San Francisco’s financial district. Naomi Klein was there to speak to the crowd. And she got to the root of the problem: capitalism.
And yet more reasons to support OCCUPY WALL STREET!
By Jillian Berman
HUFFINGTON POST
The U.S. economy may technically be in a recovery, but it likely doesn’t feel that way for many Americans when grabbing for their wallets.
Median annual household income has fallen more during the recovery than it did during the recession, according to a new study from former Census Bureau officials Gordon Green and John Code. Between December 2007 and June 2009, when the U.S. economy was in recession, incomes declined 3.2 percent. While during the recovery between June 2009 and June 2011 incomes fell 6.7 percent, the study found.
