I don’t often agree with Barney Frank, but he’s got a point here:
“We had an election last year in which people who disagree with them, and disagree with me and with you, got elected,” he told Maddow. “I don’t know what the voting behavior is of all these people, but I’m a little bit unhappy when people didn’t vote last time blame me for the consequences of their not voting.”
He may be assuming a bit too much, perhaps, but as I’ve said before, the real test of Occupy Wall Street is not whether they can control a spot of ground but whether they can transition the movement into a real political force. When we start hearing about “OWS candidates” the way we’ve been hearing about Tea Party candidates, we’ll know they’ve arrived.
Meanwhile, in my former home town there’s a gentleman, Geoff Burns, who tried his own Occupy protest and went to jail. I applaud the man for being willing to stand behind what he believes, and that he was fully cooperative and polite through it all. However, I think his plan has gone awry. This was his original point:
“The transfer of wealth from the working men and women of the country to the very wealthiest people — it’s all been facilitated by the government,” he said.
Instead, through his arrest, it’s changed to this:
Burns says he wants to force officials to decide which represented the greater good, upholding the constitutional right to free assembly and the petitioning the government for redress of grievances, or enforcing a municipal code requiring people to vacate a park after dark.
He was offered a different spot to continue his protest. Instead he let stubbornness hijack his own message. It’s unfortunate, because I agree with his original message, at least as far as what he stated in the article. His second point, I feel, is pretty weak considering there were legal places to protest, yet he chose not to camp there. It’s an unforced error.
But then, he’s not the only one. OWS New York is now protesting the police. You’re off message, guys.
Meanwhile, the media, apparently sans irony, is tracking the amount of money the protesters are getting.
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My old employer is finally posting profits again. A lot of good people might finally have a measure of job security. They may even be able to start hiring again. Far too late for me, but good to see, nonethless.
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I served my church mission in Australia. People are often skeptical when I tell them that most things there can–and often will try to–kill you. I mean, kangaroos are sooo cute!!!
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VIP Gamestore, a Boise video game shop I helped found with three other partners, has been open for a full year now. I went back through my old pictures and video snippets last night and was reminded of just how far we’ve come. I think we had more empty shelf space than filled shelf space (much of it was staged to take up as much room as possible, too) in those early days. The early customers who stuck with us (and in many cases talked us up) deserve our deepest gratitude.
I even went back into the books to refresh my memory. Our first day we did about $71–and that was a charity visit from some friends. I don’t think we sold more than $30 a day the rest of that first week. Today a bad sales day is when we only sell as much as we did the entire month of October last year.
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and especially proud of the partners who are still running the store. Though I had to leave to get a better-paying job, there’s not a day goes by I don’t wish I was back in the trenches with them. I suspect there are days when they may even wish the same.
On SuperValu’s profits, I hate to break the news. No, it isn’t making anyone’s job more secure. At least in IT. They announced they are outsourcing as much of IT as they possibly can. I have been contacted by my entire team that they are probably on the block. They won’t know until February if their job stays or goes, but regardless, they won’t be doing what they are doing now if they do stay. Mass exodus, I fear. I am SO glad I am not there anymore.
That’s too bad. I certainly don’t regret not being there anymore. And all this directional waffling is not good for the company short- or long-term.