jacee

The most interesting thing about credit unions is shares are held only by one-member-one-vote. A reasonable (sane, ethical) profit for shareholders (in Canada by demand of big banks due to nonprofit tax breaks, but nonprofit in US), democratic process for board ... etc. I do believe they must have noticed ... But then perhaps they welcome it because they prefer commercial. Fine by me.

Workers back east ... why don't they come and get them?I know one reason why Alberta is crying for qualified workers ... because they are not producing them. The high school dropout rate is very high, and only half of the graduates go on to postsecondary. If Alberta needs workers, maybe they should try training some of their own. I saw that info on tv this week ... an oil company HR person going on and on about the need for workers. When the interviewer gave her the info about Alberta dropouts, she was absolutely STUNNED ... had no idea! What kind of employers don't even know that kind of info? Pretty pathetic ...

Unh ... NO! You are stuck in the '90's mantra. Today the issue is not workers' wages, which have dropped far behind. NOPE ... today the issue is the fact that the 1% criminal parasites are sucking the wealth from the rest of us for no valid reason other than greed. And btw, a 1%'r is defined by accumulated wealth, not income.

I haven't seen any comments from the banks yet, but it appears that the bank transfer movement is quite successful. http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2011/11/04/will-bank-transfer-day-really-change-anything/ The 80,000 consumers who have pledged to move their money won’t break a sweat on banking executives’ brow quite yet. To put it in context, that’s less than 1 percent of Bank of America’s 57 million customer base. However, if all of those consumers encouraged four or five friends to join BTD and 400,000 consumers hopped the bandwagon, that’s the kind of hole in big banks’ pocket to garner attention. But they also reported ... And so far, at least 650,000 consumers nationwide have joined credit unions and helped add $4.5 billion in new savings accounts, reports CUNA. With four in every five credit unions reporting noticeable member growth ... So ... either another 400,000 need to switch, and may have already on Saturday, OR the 400,000 needed for the banks to take notice has already been surpassed. I think this is an excellent measure of the attention people are paying to the OCCUPY movement and the ssuccess in also getting the finance sector to pay attention.

It's complex, takes time ... patience.

We don't know. There is none.We do know they are not safe in the shelters. No one is.

It's a global movement ... but we are all very aware of the global influence of US hegemony ... even wiki The term Monetary Hegemony appeared in Michael Hudson's Super Imperalism, which was first published in 1972. Monetary Hegemony describes not only the asymmetrical relationship that the US dollar has to the global economy, but the strictures of this hegemonic edifice that support it, namely the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The US dollar continues to underpin the world economy and is the key currency for medium of international exchange, unit of account (e.g. pricing of oil), and unit of storage (e.g. treasury bills and bonds) The international monetary system has borne witness to two monetary hegemons: Britain and the United States. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_hegemony

No ... no "black or white answer" ... and linear 1%'r thinking has difficulty comprehending anything more complex, like human behaviour ... I am aware of that ... But gee ... maybe it would be smart to consider SAFE and SUPPORTED housing in the community for them, as every worker, every report has reccommended since the de-institutionalization program in the '80's ... ya think maybe? FUNDING would be good.

NONE of them are walking away due to lack of support. You are losing heart at the first setback, Michael. Stay strong!

Ditto the "couldn't give a rat's ass". It would be HILARIOUS if the big five banks started squealing for bailouts from us taxpayers, because their customers - ie, us taxpayers - have 'bailed out'. I suspect us small customers won't affect them much, but it'll sure give them a very public black eye!

US deja vu ... Both parties were alarmed by this motley assemblage and its political rallies; the Secret Service infiltrated its ranks to root out radicals. But a good Communist was hard to find. The men were mostly middle-class patriotic Americans. They kept their improvised hovels clean and maintained small gardens. Even so, good behavior by the Bonus Army did not prevent the U.S. Army’s hotheaded chief of staff, General Douglas MacArthur, from summoning an overwhelming force to evict it from Pennsylvania Avenue late that July. After assaulting the veterans and thousands of onlookers with tear gas, ­MacArthur’s troops crossed the bridge and burned down the encampment. http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/class-war-2011-10/

I said "supported housing", not lockup, and your ignorant and derogatory attitude toward mental illness is noted.Ask the police ... they'll tell you how often they take mentally ill people to lockup just to protect them. The police have become the new frontline workers in the mental health field.

That's a pretty disgusting tactic jbg. Do you wish to explain or defend this?

Ordinary Americans including its youth have finally realized who their enemy really is: the Wall Street banksters and executives, hence their movement Occupy Wall Street. Really good background article.

Google "Occupy donations" http://www.google.ca/m/search?hl=en&tbs=nws%3A1&aq=f&oq=&aqi=-k0d0t0&fkt=4936&fsdt=9924&cqt=&rst=&htf=&his=&maction=&q=occupy+donations All of the OCCUPY sites have found it necessary to open cedit union accounts for money donations, some of which are not full-time occupations yet. - OCCUPY Vancouver needs its extra tents to store donated goods - OCCUPY Edmonton is buying $3,000 army tents for the winter - OCCUPY Toronto ... well I'm sure you've heard about the yurts, generators, heaters and rented commercial kitchen, volunteer help in the kitchen ... and that's just for starters. IN ROB FORD'S territory - OCCUPY London UK is getting 1-$2000 A DAY in donations ... and you will recall London as the site of severe rioting and looting (and blatant operation of the 'underground economy' in the streets earlier this year, and that is not deterring supporters. - OCCUPY New York ... where to start ... Here's one example, the businesses of Ithaca NY are sending truckloads ... Stefan Senders of Wide Awake Bakery, who organized the donations, said he felt that supporting the movement was the right thing to do.“Our bakery has a reason for being, and part of it is to do what we think is right, and this seemed like the right thing to do,” Senders said. ... “When we started calling, the level of support we saw was staggering,” he said. “Everyone we talked to was behind it, and their donations were incredibly generous. No one said to me‘Well, I would, but I can’t afford it.’ They just said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’” Heather Sandford, owner of The Piggery, a local butcher shop and deli, sent water and soda because it was her only shelf stable product. Sandford said she wanted to show her appreciation for the work the protesters have been putting in. “We’ve been following the movement closely, and we definitely identify ourselves as part of the 99 percent,” Sandford said.“We’re thankful for the courage, commitment and time that people are putting in to demonstrate the values that are important to us.” Donn Hewes, the owner of Northland Sheep Dairy, donated a three-pound wheel of cheese. Hewes said he donated because he agrees with the protesters’ ideas of systemic change. “We need a broader scale of systemic change, and that’s something that you can’t really accomplish through voting,” Hewes said. “We need to vote, but we need to think outside the box about how we can change the system that we have today. http://theithacan.org/17597/ And an interesting note ... Occupy in red states/blue states: The anti-Wall Street protest movement gnores party lines as demonstrations spread to all 50 states

Several people at the protest site said the woman died of a drug overdose and heckled Robertson to provide more funding for addiction services and the homeless. He told them the city has an outreach worker for the homeless and anyone at the site who doesn't have a home can be accommodated. I've said this several times, but it bears repeating: The homeless and discarded Canadians, mostly addicts and mentally ill people, who are flocking to the OCCUPY sites all across the country ... if they'd rather live in tents without facilities than the streets and shelters ... WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE COMPASSION AND SERVICES AVAILABLE TO THEM? In Ontario - not sure about other provinces - since the Harris days, addicts/alcoholics - who often are diagnosed with mental illness as well - are cut off disability AND welfare. How the hell are they supposed to live? They're not. The 1%'rs who ruled Harris' government want to ignore their existence - make them go away - die in a back alley somewhere no one can see them. If OCCUPY inadvertently shines a light on the discarded people of Canada, that's an accomplishment in itself. We no longer subject people with mental illness to involuntary institutionalization, but the money saved when the institutions were emptied in the 1980's never found its way into community supports for them - eg, supported housing. Instead they are left on their own to die, and their deaths don't even make news ... unless some politicians want to use them to score political points. Who's mentally ill here? The whole f'ng system!!

I think this is a really accurate perspective, eyeball. But I think that's why the OCCUPY movement has such broad support too. People see it as a new ray of hope, that the occupiers ARE gaining the attention of entrenched and corrupt corporate and government powermongers. Their donations tell the true tale: They're buying $3,000 army tents for the winter, for example. Don't lose hope. The government/corporate/media forces are trying very hard to discredit the movement, but it will soon become apparent that they're NOT able to weaken the determination of the occupiers. Vancouver and others that are making noises about using force to remove them will back down because they do know that will only strengthen the movement and all the silent backers - those donating funds - will take to the streets as well. Not to worry ...

Margaret Wente is a corporate bootlicker and mouthpiece. /full stop

Canada's unemployment rate rose to 7.3 per cent in October as the country lost a total of 54,000 jobs, Statistics Canada said Friday. The economy shed 71,700 full- time jobs, while part-time employment grew by 17,700. The October job losses were a surprise, as the consensus forecast of economists had been for employment to rise by 15,000. Last month's decline in employment also wiped out the bulk of the gain of 61,000 jobs in September. It was the largest jobs decline in almost three years, dating all the way back to March 2009, during the depths of the recession. "While job losses in any given month are by no means rare, losses of this magnitude are extremely rare, aside from recessionary periods—the last such hefty job drop outside of recession was in September 1996," said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Douglas Porter in a commentary. Most of the decline last month occurred in manufacturing — which lost 48,000 jobs in the month. I thought it might be good to look at the actual numbers of families affected ... 71,700 fulltime wage earners out of work. If they all end up on welfare, that's well over $70m PER MONTH and at least $1b PER YEAR. And the G20 1%'rs want the Canadian government wants to implement an 'austerity' agenda to cut back on social services?! It's f'ng ridiculous ... that's too kind ... it's disgusting. :angry: And if this is "a surprise", then I guess we really can't trust what the economists and government say, can we?

Meanwhile, supporters of the Occupy Victoria movement rallied in Centennial Square on Saturday then marched in an effort to “occupy the banks” Saturday afternoon. About 150 people listened to speakers in Centennial Square who spoke about social justice and financial reform then proceeded to the intersection of Douglas and Fort streets where three banks are located. Security guards at Royal Bank and TD bank locked their doors as protesters tried to enter, waving their client cards and indicating they wanted to shut down their account. People were chanting “unlock the doors” as a security guard stood in the Royal Bank foyer. The People’s Assembly of Victoria said in a press release that Nov. 5 is International Bank Transfer Day “which seeks to shift our funds from the for-profit banking institutions in favour of not-for-profit credit unions, sending a clear message that conscious consumers won't support companies with unethical business practices.”

Another heroin overdose on the streets of Vancouver doesn't even make the news. It's a big deal only because it's used as an excuse to criticize the protest. It's tragic, as the lives of homeless people are, but she had caring people around her at least. This should be shining a light on the plight of homeless people and drug addiction, whose lives are so bleak that living in a tent is better. Unfortunately, politicians and merchants are using it only for personal gain, to villify the protest.

Yes that's an excellent idea. Let's just say there's a bit of a roadblock there. And it is another topic.

I am not referring to guns and violence, nor do I believe in that sort of "revolution" (your word, not mine).Good grief! Where do you get this crazy crap! You are a scary dude! Let me be clear: if police harm any protesters, the 'silent' majority will speak very clearly. And if politicians and police don't like what we have to say to them, they can look for new jobs. WE PAY THEIR SALARIES. THEY WORK FOR US!!!! That's not a "revolution". It's just the way it is .... supposed to be. Contrary to popular practice ... police and politicians do not follow orders from the greedy moneybags. NOT anymore.

It's not defamation if it's true ... and on video ... but that's another topic.

Catastrophize much? Nobody said "overthrowing" government except you. Since when are "government" and "upper income earners" interchangeable? Freudian slip there? Btw, it isn't about "upper income earners". It's about holders of wealth: Not the same thing. You haven't been paying attention. Oh boo hoo! Just make sure they don't get drunk and stupid and start throwing bottles and trashing and looting stores, then. But this has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the OCCUPY protest.