The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia

[RollingStone] How America's biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy - until they were caught on tape

Who ultimately loses in these deals? Well, to take just one example, the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Finance Authority, the agency that issues bonds for the state's hospitals, had their interest rates rigged by the Carollo defendants on $17 million in bonds. Since then, more than a dozen New Jersey hospitals have closed, mostly in poor neighborhoods.

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• Re-Occupied! Thousands of activists clash with police as May Day protesters swarm dozens U.S. cities  
• The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy
• OccupyWallStreet - FOX News picked the wrong guy for an interview [Video]  
• OccupyWallStreet - JP Morgan spendet New Yorker Polizei "plötzlich" 4,6 Millionen Dollar
• Gute Frage, schlechte Antwort - Banker left speechless by Irish journalist [Video]  

Re-Occupied! Thousands of activists clash with police as May Day protesters swarm dozens U.S. cities

                                                            (Montreal)

[Dailymail] Thousands of Occupy Wall Street activists clashed with police across the country on Tuesday as they swarmed into the streets as part of the movement's nationwide May Day protests. In a deliberate attempt to bring large-scale European-style May 1 protests to America for the first time, Occupy called for a general strike, urging workers to attend marches rather than work. The biggest swell of defiance was in New York, where protesters had planned to bring the city to a halt by blockading major arteries like the Brooklyn Bridge - and where at least 50 were arrested.
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The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy

[Guardian] The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality

The mainstream media was declaring continually "OWS has no message". Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online "What is it you want?" answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.

The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process. No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create kale derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.

No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

When I saw this list – and especially the last agenda item – the scales fell from my eyes. Of course, these unarmed people would be having the shit kicked out of them.

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850.000-Dollar-Plan - Lobbyisten wollen Occupy-Bewegung killen

[Spiegel] Für schlappe 850.000 Dollar wollen sie die Glaubwürdigkeit einer globalen Bewegung zerstören: Eine US-Lobbyfirma bietet amerikanischen Banken Hilfe bei der Demontage der Occupy-Protestler an. Die Aktivsten gelten in Washington als ernsthafte politische Bedrohung.

Müssen sich deutsche Occupy-Aktivisten nun auf ähnliche Angriffe einstellen? Beim Verein Lobby Control ist von entsprechenden Plänen nichts bekannt. Geschäftsführer Ulrich Müller verweist aber auf einen ähnlich angelegten Versuch der Atomlobby, im Vorfeld der letzten Bundestagswahl die öffentliche Meinung zu beeinflussen. Zudem sei die deutsche Finanzbranche sehr bemüht, ihre Verantwortung für die aktuelle Krise vergessen zu machen. "Man sieht das daran, wie versucht wird, die Euro-Krise als reine Staatsschuldenkrise darzustellen."

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Lobbying firm's memo spells out plan to undermine Occupy Wall Street
[MSNBC] A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”
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Police Captain Ray Lewis Arrested at Occupy Wall StreetLewis

[opposingviews] Former Philadelphia police captain Ray Lewis was arrested during the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City on Thursday (video below).

Before his arrest, Lewis had been seen walking around holding up a sign in the face of riot cops saying: "NYPD don’t be Wall St mercenaries."

Lewis said that he would be back out on the streets as soon as he was released.

He also had harsh words for his fellow officers: "They complained about the park being dirty. Here they are worrying about dirty parks when people are starving to death, where people are freezing, where people are sleeping in subways and they’re concerned about a dirty park. That’s obnoxious, it’s arrogant, it’s ignorant, it’s disgusting."

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Occupy-Bewegung in den USA - Polizei räumt New Yorker Protest-Camp / Stadt Zürich räumt das «Occupy»-Camp

[Sueddeutsche] Kurz nach Mitternacht rückten die Beamten an: Die Polizei hat in New York das Lager der "Occupy"-Bewegung im Zuccotti-Park geräumt. 70 Demonstranten wurden vorübergehend festgenommen. Schon bald könnten die Bankengegner jedoch wieder in die Grünanlage zurückkehren.
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Stadt Zürich räumt das «Occupy»-Camp
[tagesschau.sf] Nach einem Monat ist der Stadt Zürich der Geduldsfaden gerissen: Rund 80 Polizisten haben das Zeltlager der «Occupy»-Bewegung auf dem Lindenhof geräumt. Während der anderthalbstündigen Aktion gab es keine Ausschreitungen.
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Reporters without borders - Absurd charges brought against reporters covering Occupy Wall Street movement

[Reporters without borders] Sometimes they are arrested and then set free almost immediately. Sometimes they are arrested and, before being released, are charged with unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct or lack of press credentials.

Journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street movement’s protests and marches are not only exposed to police brutality but also to a sort of judicial lottery when detained. The situation varies from state to state, according to local laws, but the freedom to report news and information is being violated almost everywhere, not only for professional journalists but also for bloggers and for activists who want to cover the protests themselves.

“Wherever it takes place, each tale has something in common,” Reporters Without Borders said. “In all the cases brought to our attention, the persons concerned said they had identified themselves as journalists to the police, but to no avail. The attitude of law-enforcement officers supports the theory that not only the movement itself but also coverage of Occupy Wall Street is being obstructed. Are they doing everything possible to suppress news in which the public is clearly very interested? If so, the First Amendment has become a dead letter.

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Riot police break up "Occupy Cal" protest [Video]

[CBS] BERKELEY, Calif. - Police in riot gear moved Wednesday night to break up a demonstration at the University of California at Berkeley that started when anti-Wall Street protesters tried to establish an encampment on campus.

Television news footage from outside the university's main administration building at 10 p.m. showed officers pulling people off the steps and nudging others with batons as the crowd chanted, "We are the 99 percent!" and "Stop Beating Students!"

The university reported earlier in the evening that an administrator had told the protesters they could stay around the clock for a week, but only if they didn't pitch tents, use stoves or other items that would suggest people were sleeping there.

The protesters voted not to comply with the demand and to go ahead with setting up a tent site they dubbed "Occupy Cal" to protest financial policies they blame for causing deep cuts in higher education spending.

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Occupy-Wall-Street - Die Twitter-Zensur / „Occupy Oakland“ Aktivisten blockieren amerikanischen Handelshafen

[Süddeutsche] Zensiert Twitter die Occupy-Wall-Street-Bewegung? Auf der Liste der meist debattierten Themen tauchen die Banken-Proteste sie so gut wie nicht auf, so der Vorwurf. Dabei ist der Twitter-Streit Teil eines größeren Problems.

Während die etablierten Medienorganisationen die Proteste zu Beginn nur ignoriert haben, spiele der Micro-Blogging-Dienst, so der Verdacht, eine wesentlich aktivere und schmutzigere Rolle. Denn obwohl die Demonstrationen in Lower Manhattan und im Rest des Landes beinahe ausschließlich über Twitter organisiert werden, sind die "offiziellen" Hashtags #occupywallstreet und #ows in den Trending Topics der US-Version von Twitter nie aufgetaucht, stehen aber in so gut wie jeder anderen Lokalisierung ganz weit oben. Dass sich die Investmentbank JP Morgan im Frühjahr mit knapp 400 Millionen Dollar an Twitter beteiligt hat, führt nicht gerade dazu, die Paranoia zu befrieden.

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„Occupy Oakland“ Aktivisten blockieren amerikanischen Handelshafen
[FAZ] Nach den Ausschreitungen der vergangenen Woche in Oakland haben mehrere tausend Demonstranten der „Occupy“-Bewegung den Handelshafen der Stadt blockiert. Am Rande soll es zu Randalen gekommen sein.

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Operation Fox Hunt - Anonymous kündigt Attacke gegen US-Sender Fox News an

[Golem] Anonymous will die Website des US-Fernsehsenders Fox News am 5. November 2011 lahmlegen. Die Aktion ist nach Angaben der Gruppe eine Reaktion auf die polemische Berichterstattung des Senders über die Occupy-Bewegung.

Das Kollektiv Anonymous hat einen Angriff auf Fox News angekündigt. Grund sei die "fortgesetzte Propaganda" des US-Nachrichtensenders, der zum Medienunternehmen News Corporation des Australiers Rupert Murdoch gehört, gegen die Occupy-Bewegung.
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Outfoxed – Ausgefuchst [Doku]

Brutaler Polizeieinsatz in Oakland - Anonymous legt Polizei Webseite lahm

[Spiegel] Der Protest der Occupy-Bewegung im kalifornischen Oakland hatte für einen Teilnehmer schwerwiegende Folgen: Von einer Tränengasgranate wurde er am Kopf verletzt. Nun wird die Polizei von Oakland selbst zum Angriffsziel: Anonymous-Hacker legen Server lahm und sammeln Informationen über Beamte.
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Wounded Iraq vet awake after Oakland protest injury
[Reuters] An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said on Thursday.
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Oakland Policeman Throws Flash Grenade Into Crowd Trying To Help Injured Protester


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Occupy-Proteste in den USA eskalieren - Kriegsähnliche Szenen in Oakland

Occupy-Proteste in den USA eskalieren - Kriegsähnliche Szenen in Oakland

[Taz] Das Vorgehen der US-Polizei gegen die Occupy-Bewegung wird brutaler. In Oakland wurde einem Aktivisten und Irak-Veteranen der Schädel eingeschlagen.
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Scott Olsen injuries prompt review as Occupy Oakland protests continue
[Guardian] Oakland's police review body looks into clashes between officers and protesters after Iraq war veteran suffered fractured skull.
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Oakland Policeman Throws Flash Grenade Into Crowd Trying To Help Injured Protester


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Albany (New York) - Occupy Albany - Under pressure to make arrests, police and troopers push back

Albany (New York) - Occupy Albany - Under pressure to make arrests, police and troopers push back

[timesunion] ALBANY -- In a tense battle of wills, state troopers and Albany police held off making arrests of dozens of protesters near the Capitol over the weekend even as Albany's mayor, under pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, had urged his police chief to enforce a city curfew.

"We were ready to make arrests if needed, but these people complied with our orders," a State Police official said. However, he added that State Police supported the defiant posture of Albany police leaders to hold off making arrests for the low-level offense of trespassing, in part because of concern it could incite a riot or draw thousands of protesters in a backlash that could endanger police and the public.

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THE BEST VIDEO ON "OCCUPY THE WORLD" [Video]