OneAngryQueer: Photos from Yesterday

A very big shout-out and special thanks for bystander and donator of coffee, Casey E., who took these amazing photos yesterday at the #OccupySeattle demonstrations.

OneAngryQueer: Sunday Occupy Report

OneAngryCultist filling in for Ian Awesome who is still down in Westlake this morning.

Yesterday OccupySeattle experienced a number of successes, not the least of these being the largest turnout of demonstrators for the afternoon march down to Pike's Place Public Market. Q13 Fox reports:

"Thousands of protesters took to the streets downtown Saturday afternoon as part of the continuing Occupy Seattle movement. At three p.m. the protesters marched peacefully from Westlake Park to Pike Place Market, and then back to Westlake for a concert and rally. When protesters returned to Westlake Park, some protesters burned and cut up their debit and credit cards from Chase and Bank of America. The crowd has spilled out of the confines of the park."

Turnout estimates approximately 3,000 at the peak of the demonstration, but no official estimates have been released by OccupySeattle or affiliated groups at this time.

Around 5PM demonstrators started setting up tents in preparation for the Occupy "Global Day of Action + Night of 500 Tents!"which was advertised throughout the city through leaflets, posters and social media.

Demonstrations were peaceful and SPD presence was reduced in comparison to previous nights to around thirty officers around midnight who were very proactive about not allowing demonstrators to sleep in accordance with orders from Mayor McGinn's office and keeping with policies of Seattle Parks and Recreation which was also on standby to help with waste removal.

As of this morning, no arrests have been reported and occupiers were allowed to stay overnight in Westlake Center under the condition that tents were to be taken down by 7AM. Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the day. Pictures and updates will be available later in the day.

Donations are still being accepted by OccupySeattle for the benefit of demonstrators.

Urgent Needs:

• PEOPLE!!!
• Sleeping bags
• Water
• Extra large ziploc bags
• Maalox
• Blankets!
• Canned tomatoes
• Heavy socks!
• Eye wash
• Paper bowls
• Snack foods
• Hot water deliveries late at night
• Hand warmers
• Portal Power Source - Sherpa 50 Adventure Kit

  http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/57//1:1/

• Charging equipment
• Deep Cycle Batteries

Also, other food items and bottled water can be delivered near the south side of the plaza at Pike and 4th Avenue.

OneAngryCultist: Religion and the 99%

In the past three and a half weeks the Occupy movement has spread from Wall Street across the nation to over one-hundred cities and seems to be growing by the day despite arrests and threats of eviction. The 99% represents a smorgasbord of different groups representing different political and social perspectives, but little has been mentioned about the religious aspects of the protests.

Last night, your very own OneAngryCultist joined Ian Awesome at the downtown Seattle Occupy Demonstration where he witnessed the dismantling of a Sukkot booth and the subsequent arrest of ten Occupy demonstrators in what amounts to an act of religious discrimination in addition to the growing intolerance Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has toward protestors.

Sukkot tent being, not occupied, dismantled by Seattle Parks and Recreation

As a member of the minority religious philosophy of Thelema started by Aleister Crowley following the revelations of the central holy text, The Book of the Law, witnessing the destruction of a very clearly religious gathering place affected me deeply and viscerally. As I wrote in my own personal blog, The Digital Enchiridion:

“At the time of writing this essay, we have seen in our world one hundred and seven years of non-stop global conflict: entire civilizations rise and fall in a single generation; countries, states, cities, civil and municipal governments, religions, communities, and families torn asunder cruelly and mercilessly; the rise of the nuclear age and all the anxiety that came with the mastering of the atom; economies have taken on monstrous forms, strangulating countless millions under harsh labor and new slavery of debt; and, in short, the threat of the entire collapse of “the way things were”. Not a comforting image, to be sure, but a real one and one not without hope.”

Religion and spirituality play an important role in people’s lives giving them strength in difficult times and guiding them in their individual causes. I’m reminded of the central role it played in the protests of the Civil Rights Movement led by Rev. Martin Luther King, the protests against British imperialism in India led by Mohandas Gandhi and the responses to LGBTQ bullying led by the nominally non-religious but none-the-less spiritual Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (Note from the editor: the Sisters plan to demonstrate with #OccupySeattle tonight-- IA).

In many of the Occupy cities, there are varying degrees of religiously identified groups in attendance offering their support and the support for demonstrators. Both HuffPo and USAToday have coverage of some of the religious goings on and at the Jesuit run weekly, America Magazine, Tom Beaudoin observes:

“there seems to be fairly wide latitude for people to find their way into the economic focus from many different political (and I would presume religious) commitments. (No doubt some are serving as chaplains or spiritual advisors, formally or informally, for this movement, and if so, I would be interested to hear from you.)”

Personally, I too would be interested in and like to hear from more religious groups in my city as a show of unity among people of faith, without sectarian squabble. It is this OneAngryCultist’s belief that the more people come together, the greater chance there will be for dialogue and greater understanding to be gleaned from various perspectives. I would like to see a greater religious voice in the public squares hosting these events, as a show of support and representation of the diversity that makes up the Occupy movement.

The Free Market At Work: Bank Of America To Cut 30,000 Jobs In Upcoming Years

At a time when Americans are desperate for jobs, one of the top lenders in the country has decided to bolster their boom profits by firing 30,000 people in the next few years in cost-saving measures:

The reductions, equal to about 10 percent of the firm’s workforce, are part of the first phase of an overhaul that aims to remove about $5 billion in annual costs by the end of 2013. Moynihan’s plan, dubbed Project New BAC, included a management shakeup last week that elevated Thomas K. Montag and David Darnell to co-chief operating officers and left Sallie Krawcheck and Joe Price without jobs.

“We don’t have to be the biggest company out there, we have to be the best,” Moynihan, 51, said today at an investor conference in New York. “We can get out of things we don’t need to do, make the company leaner, more straightforward, more driven.”

I find this not just horribly sad but ridiculously ironic.  Keep in mind of course, that Bank of America didn't pay a red cent last year in taxes and reported boom profits for the fiscal year.  This news may surprise you, but don't let it.  These sorts of tax cuts, ensuring that wealthy corporations don't contribute to social programs, are the cornerstone of the modern GOP.

Here's the kicker, though... those tax cuts that Republicans are so dead-set on protecting?  Are supposedly there to create jobs.  The Reagonomically-inspired party line is that if a company saves money on taxes, they will put that money towards growth of the workforce and hire more people.  The fallacy of this argument, of course, is that corporate America is not concerned with putting people to work, but instead dedicated to making more money.

So tell me, GOP, is your plan working?