Join us on September 30th at the Torch of Friendship as we commemorate the 1 Year Anniversary of Occupy Miami!
The theme to this rally is one that unites us all: Debt. We intend to spark a fresh dialogue on the issue of debt and widespread debt scams, discuss how our labor props up a system based on illusory rewards, and raise awareness of those who are deliberately taking a stand to resist the fraudulent debt cycle that allows banks and credit card companies to get rich off our debts and the debts of our communities. We believe we can be free if we invest in one another, rather than in a system that seeks only to take from us.
Numbers
27% of student loans are in default and that figure is steadily climbing. The student debt bubble has now surpassed the ONE TRILLION DOLLAR mark. All the while, tuition rates across the nation are rising, while government spending for education plummets. With every moment that this issue remains unaddressed, in the face of the worst economic stagnation in U.S. history, can we the citizens and our country itself truly survive the deconstruction of our educational system from a right to an ever increasing privilege?
$1.2 trillion of mortgage debt is underwater (debt exceeds value of property) or about one-third of all properties. 5 million homes have been foreclosed and 5 million more are under threat of foreclosure, meaning that owners are in default or behind on payments. 300,000 people had a foreclosure notification added to their credit report in the first quarter of this year. 27% of mortgages are seriously delinquent–ironically, a slight improvement. 300,000 more people went bankrupt.
The average credit card debt per household has fallen from $17,936 in 2009 to $14,336 now because of mass default. In 2010, credit card companies had to write off fully 10% of all debt.
Quebec and Iceland have not tolerated the inevitability of austerity measures, or the reckless fraudulent spending and corruption brought on behalf of financial institutions which finance the campaigns of all those who rise to power through the misrepresentation of those who elect them. They have instead marched to block tuition increases and faulty, immoral financial practices. The official response to the debt crisis in Iceland was to jail the bankers and regain control of their government and they did! They have won victories, the greatest proof is seen in our mass media’s refusal to air such news.
Why have we in the U.S., victims of the greatest financial fraud, been left to foot the bill long after they’ve gotten bailed out? Let us also not forget about the treacherous international LIBOR scandal that has so quickly been swept under the rug. In which the global banking institutions benefited by banding together to monopolize and manipulate the global interest rate on what experts have estimated could affect $800 trillion dollars of loans and securities. Let’s help Miami lead the way in pushing for financial justice! It’s time to turn our backs on this system of debt and create something new in its place.
What issues remain unaddressed in this election cycle? What has changed for you, what are you doing to improve your lives and communities? We need each of you to come out and give your feedback, support and participate!
Join us on September 30th to get your voice heard!
By Robin Goodrow October 31, 2012 - 3:16 AM
The Koch Brothers – Vanilla Takes a Stand
Hello there. I hope my email finds you safe and dry. My name is Robin Goodrow. I’m an Emmy award winning writer/puppeteer in Northern California. I thought you and your staff might enjoy this. I recently created a short five minute YouTube video with my puppet Vanilla, a four-year-old monkey, to expose racism in America, encourage undecideds and young voters to vote and also expose them to the Koch Brothers. It’s amazing how many people have never heard of the Kochs. Or think Charles and David have something to do with Coca Cola. These two men earn 100 billion dollars A YEAR and are very destructive and hateful.
This from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. October 29th, 2012. “Karl Rove and the Enron grifter Ed Gillespie, have assembled $200 million from big polluters and Wall Street moguls to buy the 2012 election. Two of the Koch Brothers pledged $130 million to elect candidates who favor unrestrained corporate profiteering. The senators and congressmen they fund represent Koch and it’s oil industry cronies, Big Pharma, and the Wall Street banksters currently mounting a hostile takeover of our government.”
Below is the direct link to the Vanilla Video. Vanilla is from my children’s television show, BUSTER AND ME (Busterandme.com) which aired for 20 years in Northern California on NBC. This short YouTube video however is NOT for young children. Vanilla gets a little feisty, a real rabble rouser. Actually she’s not nice or polite, and who can blame her, when it comes to the issue of racism and damaging people’s lives and health through corporate greed, Vanilla definitely speaks her mind. But when you think of what she could have said, she is very tame!! Here’s the URL…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyDqkYJ3nYI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Another way to get there is to go to YouTube and type in The Koch Brothers – Vanilla takes a Stand
At the VERY end of the video is an amazing, and disturbing quote from Charles Koch. The nauseating arrogance!
Also at the end of the piece Vanilla calls on all the puppets of the world to rise up and speak out. Two weeks after I made it, a Million Muppet March was announced. It will be in Washington DC on November 3 in response to Romney’s comments about canceling PBS and Big Bird. Thousands of puppets will be marching in the streets. Of course now Vanilla thinks it’s her announcement that caused it. I haven’t had the heart to tell her otherwise!!
As Noam Chompsky recently said, “The Republican organization is extremely DANGEROUS, not just to this country, but to the world. It’s worth expending some effort to prevent their rise to power, without sowing illusions about the Democratic alternatives.”
So this is my effort. If you feel so inclined please share Vanilla with others in the vast Internet universe. She’s been told she’s “changed a few minds”, brought “real joy” to many people and “boosted morale”. We CAN still win this thing. Thank you for all your hard work and fighting the good fight. Wishing you all the best.
Robin and Vanilla (The Hundredth Monkey)