If you want to keep up to date on the Occupy movement, you’ve come to the right place. This is Breitbart.com’s running chronicle of Occupy’s chaos, political machinations and internal power struggles as we head towards the Occupy movement’s planned Spring rebirth.

The Occupy movement is the Obama administration’s shadow campaign; community organized shock troops helping to spread the President’s strategic 2012 campaign message that we need to stop income inequality. With Big Labor calling the tactical shots, Occupy is President Obama’s direct action to bring real radicalism into the mainstream American politics, while another faction of Occupy organizers struggles to extract the movement from the grips of the Democrat Party establishment.

The crowds may have dwindled with the cold weather, but there’s still a tremendous amount of Occupy activity preparing for an “American Spring.”  We’ll be keeping this page updated with links to all of our Occupy coverage.  Catch it all right here, in one place.

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As an American flag burns at Occupy Oakland, the man capturing the videos recites the following:

“I pledge allegiance to a flag of the imperialistic, capitalistic dictatorship. And to the plutocracy for which it stands, privately owned central bank, under the Jews. With inequality and injustice for the 99.” (h/t Moonbat Tracker)

In late October, we at MRCTV went to Zuccotti Park in New York City and ran into this guy.

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President Obama has decided to make “income inequality” — one of Occupy Wall Street’s central themes — the focus of both his State of the Union address and 2012 presidential election campaign, according to CNN.

In his last State of the Union speech before the 2012 election, President Barack Obama will pitch a series of proposals and will address the topics of economic inequality and a government that should ensure “a fair shake for all.”

And…

Given the treacherous state of the economy, the president’s campaign aides are attempting to make the theme of the upcoming election a choice about the role of government and the future of the middle class — not a referendum on the president’s handling of the economy.

They say this speech and its underlying theme — income inequality — go a long way to shaping that message.

The Obama Campaign has posted a video this morning that hits on this theme of “Income Equality”, which means the President is piggybacking the central theme of his re-election campaign on the framing that Occupy Wall Street created. That is the major reason to keep a close, critical eye on the #Occupy movement.

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While the media and Democratic establishment continue to laud the #Occupy movement, they ignore the reality of what is going on on the ground — Occupy Wall Street is an extremely small, fractured and ineffective social experiment that is unable to even provide safety for the young, female protesters that it tries to attract. In a chaotic transcript from the January 7 New York General Assembly, it was revealed that one assailant was allegedly responsible for six rapes.

In the posted minutes, anti-rape activist Nan Terrie told the group…

The proposal that I brought was an incident that happened and certain groups did not properly address it or handle it. When we had the park, we had an 18-year-old who got raped. She was drug raped. That individual who raped the 18-year-old raped five other girls in this park. My group dealt with rape victims in the park and still does. We have a court date for the 18-year-old in February. She doesn’t live in this city but she comes here. She was occupying one of the churches. The person that raped her also got out of jail. He was in jail for 30 days, paid $50,000 and he went to the same church the victim was. Keep in mind that victim worked with us and we had a restraining order against that guy. The victim voiced her concern to let them know she didn’t feel safe in that place because of this gentleman. Rather than calling me or other women’s working groups, Housing took it upon themselves to have a jury of about 15 and more people between the victim and the gentleman. And they asked for both them to basically give details out.

Terrie appears to be referring to events that started in October. According to this November 3rd article in The New York Post,

Tonye Iketubosin, 26 — who has been working at the protesters’ makeshift kitchen at Zuccotti Park since last month — was charged yesterday in the sex abuse of an 18-year-old protester in the tent he helped her pitch on Oct. 24, the sources said.

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Accusations of financial malfeasance–including that money donated to Occupy Wall Street is being given to people with the suggestion that they “buy drugs with it if they want–are just the latest sign of deep internal problems within the #Occupy movement, according to internal emails and online messages.

One such message comes from Jacki Di Salvo, PhD, an organizer for Occupy who is also a teacher at Baruch College and CUNY. Di Salvo seems to be locked in a struggle with 18-year-old Nan Terrie, who has a group called Strong Women Rule. In an email from New Year’s Eve, Ms. Di Salvo refers to Ms. Terrie as “the disrupter” for suggesting that the finances of Occupy be audited.

Ms. Terrie has actually been mentioned on Big Government before. She was one of the people calling for a safe house at Zuccotti Park after all the crime that was occurring at Occupy Wall Street. Terrie also was a victim of theft in the Occupy movement, something she also spoke out about publicly. Exposing what’s really going on at Occupy Wall Street in regards to sexual assaults and violence doesn’t seemed to have endeared her to Ms. Di Salvo, as it contradicts the picture painted by the mainstream media and Occupy boosters like Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama.

Here’s the email from Ms. Di Salvo:

Nan, the disrupter, tried to get a proposal passed tonight for auditing Accounting (Finances). She wanted the Audit to be done by her dubious group Strong Women Rule, which only has 4 members & which she uses to be a spoke at SpokesCouncil. This is very suspect. A Times reporter recently was told I knew something about OWS finances and wanted to talk to me. I declined because I am afraid the press is fishing around for something for which they can criticize OWS.  My sense is That Accounting has been hard working, transparent and characterized by integrity. The questions I raised about Finances was about GA approval of  so many budget requests that we could soon go broke, although I notice that in recent days people at the GA have become much more cautious and prudent.

There are reports that Ms. Terrie was ejected from a “SpokesCouncil” meeting and that Occupy organizers were attempting to find a private location, so as to exclude her and her disruptive questions. The next SpokesCouncil meeting was assigned a ‘To Be Determined’ location, as this post went to press.

There is clearly some dissent in the ranks of Occupy on management issues. Someone using the name They Use Fake Names posted this last night:

It doesn’t take a family of ten working 60 hours a week to provide for their family.
It doesn’t take 100 people working themselves to death to provide for a community.
We’re producing nothing. We get nothing. We’re getting a shitty quality of life for more work.

These complaints of a “shitty quality of life for more work” shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who’s studied the history of collectivist movements. Last week the same They Use Fake Names account posted the following:

This is what’s really going on:

The people with access to the office get the $100 daily allotment of money. They use it on whatever they want. I heard one member of finance state, ”Buy drugs if you want, just make a receipt for something…”

The OWS COMHUB Group recently ratified the NYCGA so that many groups will be pushed out. In this way the pool of money will have less hands to go for. And the people in the office with direct access to the finance working group will have money longer. Meanwhile, they encourage you to go out and get arrested and stand up for the cause and raise donations! Any and all donations must be taken by the Finance Working Group because your autonomous beautiful self is too stupid to handle the money! The finance group should handle it for you  We’re all brother’s and sister’s in one occupation though, so don’t worry! We will take care of you!

Ya, right! After the raid, the finance working group completely disappeared. And time and again they are no where to be found when shit hits the fan and people need resources. However, large sums of money have routinely gone missing! And there is no effort made to be transparent or show who the people controlling the money really are…

Reports of people getting $100 a day, for any purpose, being told to fake receipts; complaints about “shitty quality of life for more work”; and a vanishing finance committee–these don’t appear to be a concern for some Occupiers like Ms. Di Salvo, who apparently ducks interviews if she thinks the press may possibly report something negative.

She has “a sense” that everything is fine, though, so the people who gave money to #Occupy should be relieved.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Jon Corzine’s testimony before Congress on MF Global, the proposed Robin Hood Tax and how it would hurt the little guy not big banks as intended.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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The news of UC Davis police pepper spraying innocent #OccupyUCDavis revolutionaries shocked and outraged the nation. One can only imagine how outraged the nation will be once it learns of a shockingly underreported story that the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System published last week. “Marines face OC spray” details the following:

One at a time, instructors lined up the augmentees, stood three paces away and sprayed real OC in their faces. The spray ran down their foreheads and into their eyes, causing them to immediately close. The Marines exhibited uncontrollable tearing, coughing, choking plus an extreme burning sensation on any exposed skin from the OC spray.

Outraged yet? If not, you will be soon! And if you are, well you may just want to stop reading now lest the next sentences drive you into uncontrollable hysteria.

After being sprayed, the augmentees had to navigate through an obstacle course of Marines holding pads, representing potential attackers. The SAF Marines fought through the course blindly throwing punches, knee strikes and baton strikes.

So, it wasn’t enough torture just to spray American citizens in the face with pepper spray, the federal government then forced them to run through an obstacle course even as they were incapacitated! Clearly, the legacy of George W. Bush lives on.

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On Twitter last week, people started a ‘Questions you don’t have to ask Tea Partiers’ hashtag in response to everything that’s going on at the ‘Occupy’ protests. We took a couple of them and made a video out of it.

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Throughout the painful and paradoxical existence of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) we have been told by those in the mainstream media, as well as by sympathetic politicos, that at its root, at its genesis, the OWS Movement was both organic and legitimate. We were told that the movement was exclusively about a rebellion against high unemployment and crony Capitalism, even as those championing the cause disingenuously blurred the line between crony Capitalism and Capitalism. But, an honest examination of the underlying goal(s) of this movement – and who is serving to advance its agenda – exposes a nefarious, deceitful and dangerous reality.

The notion of “triangulation” is not new to American politics. Savvy politicians have triangulated messages and circumstances to their benefit ever since the creation of our country. One needs look no further than the debates that took place over the creation of the US Constitution to understand that even though our Framers and Founders were dedicated to their principles and positions, they were willing to employ rhetorical leverage to achieve their goals. Alexander Hamilton was a master at message triangulation.

Perhaps the most contemporary politician to masterfully employ the art of message triangulation was former Pres. Bill Clinton. In pursuit of re-election in 1996, Clinton senior advisor Dick Morris advocated for a set of statements, a set of policies, that differed from those of his fellow elected Democrats. These policies, which pandered to the ideological Middle and Right, included deregulation and balanced budgets, culminating in the false declaration, included in Mr. Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union Address, that the “era of big government is over.”

Triangulation, by way of definition, can be summarized as:

“…the name given to the act of a political candidate presenting his or her ideology as being ‘above’ and ‘between’ the Left and Right sides (or factions) of a traditional democratic political spectrum. It involves adopting for oneself some of the ideas of one’s political opponent (or apparent opponent). The logic behind it is that it both takes credit for the opponent’s ideas, and insulates the triangulator from attacks on that particular issue.”

The same triangulation tactics used by politicos to further their careers can also be used by organizations and movements. In the case of the OWS movement, the use of a triangulated message by Progressives serves to blur the line between crony Capitalism and Capitalism, luring the citizenry to focus on the word “Capitalism,” associating it with the idea of “unfairness,” while Progressives present the notion of redistribution of wealth – a Progressive, neo-Marxist tenet – as being “fair.”

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I just received the following email in response to my concerns…

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the call.  Here is our company position.

We issued our statement of support for Occupy Wall St. because it is consistent with our Mission Statement and our values.  The statement was drafted by our CEO and our independent Board of Directors.  The Board is directly responsible for our social mission, product quality and brand equity.

We believe that people can change America, and that caring capitalism can make a difference.  We’re showing our appreciation for those who are taking part in this non-violent, peaceful and democratic movement by coordinating ice cream through the Food Committee on site where they’ll distribute.  We continue to discuss with other organizations and partners to explore where we can be most supportive.

- Sean Greenwood

Director PR/Ben & Jerry’s

I sent the following in response… (more…)

The #OccupyWhatever protest has an eerie feeling of déjà vu surrounding it.  Back in 1985, when I was attending Cornell University, the movement du jour was encouraging universities to divest from companies that did business in then-apartheid South Africa.  At the time, my addled mind convinced me this was a great idea — despite the logical arguments from my Texan Conservative floormates that this would have zero impact on changing the government there.  It did, however, give me my first opportunity to try my hand at photojournalism — as all the accompanying photos demonstrate.

For several weeks, the university was littered in red ribbons and armbands, signifying support for divestment.

Eventually, a shantytown appeared directly behind the administration building of Day Hall,  conveniently placed in a location surrounded by structures, making it relatively easy for tours to pass by without horrified parents seeing what was going on.  The center of the protests, where one could pick up literature about divestment, eventually became capitalized — Shantytown — and an easily recognizable landmark where one could meet a fellow student.

The protests led to sit-ins inside Day Hall, and all it accomplished was to irritate other students who had to conduct business there.

Eventually, the protesters refused to leave the building at the 5 PM closing time. Students were warned to do so or risk arrest, some left and some didn’t. Those who didn’t were arrested.  They were carted downtown but were not prosecuted.

It soon became apparent that many of those involved had no clue what was being protested but simply wanted to belong.  This included a friend, who said exactly that to me, and was closely involved with the protest. He said the administration was pissed, but tolerant.  They didn’t want to look like they were shutting down free speech.  Then two things happened that chopped away at that patience:

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the exit of Greece’s Prime Minister, the likely resignation of Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and whether CEO pay is linked to job cuts at America’s large corporations.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the October unemployment report, the high jobless rate among young adults, and a piece that says the left and the right are both wrong on how to fix the economy.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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We at MRCTV were in New York City’s Zuccotti Park in late October, and one of the things we wanted to do was see how much the people protesting actually knew about…what they were protesting.

Shortly before we left, New York Magazine conducted an experiment called, “Are You Smarter than a Wall Street Protester?” in which they asked a series of questions to the brave soldiers in attendance.

Given the study was done with a pen and paper, Joe Schoffstall figured he’d ask questions and record it on video. In fact, the questions are almost exactly the same- so most of these people could have been polled by the magazine, having an advantage to this basic knowledge quiz.

Joe asked 6 questions to the protesters, in which we’re breaking down into 2 videos of 3 questions each for length reasons. The following questions are in this video (Part I):

1. What is the Dodd-Frank Act?

2. Who is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve?

3. Who is Elizabeth Warren?

Here are their responses:

The Answers:

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From FoxNews:

Officials with the revamped ACORN office in New York — operating as New York Communities for Change — have fired staff, shredded reams of documents and told workers to blame disgruntled ex-employees for leaking information in an effort to explain away a FoxNews.com report last week on the group’s involvement in Occupy Wall Street protests, according to sources.

NYCC also is installing surveillance cameras and recording devices at its Brooklyn offices, removing or packing away supplies bearing the name ACORN and handing out photos of Fox News staff with a stern warning not to talk to the media, the sources said.

“They’re doing serious damage control right now,” said an NYCC source.

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It’s not just Oakland, folks.

Our team at the MacIver Institute for Public Policy in Wisconsin have put together this handy interactive map of the violence and hate of the #Occupy movement.

Click on Map to Activate, Enlarge (more…)

From Zombie at PJMedia:

Note: All entries on this list are real and verified. Below each entry you will find a series of source links documenting the support for OWS. We have striven in almost all cases to reference either first-hand statements by the groups or individuals themselves, hosted on their own Web sites; or videos of the people in question voicing their support for OWSat various Occupations; or news reports from reliable mainstream networks; or articles by publications or organizations sympathetic to the Occupy movement; or indisputable evidence, whatever the source. As a result, it cannot be claimed that these statements of support were made up or distorted by detractors of the Occupy movement.

As each new controversial endorsement has appeared over the last month, OWS supporters have dismissed them one by one as “isolated examples” that don’t reflect any overall trend toward extremism. But when viewed in aggregate like this, it becomes much more difficult to dismiss any individual endorsement as an aberration; instead, an undeniable pattern emerges.

This list is obviously incomplete; we hope to update it over the upcoming days and weeks.

If you think we’ve left out any well-known endorsers for which there is solid evidence, then please post suggestions and evidentiary links in the comments section; but please try to supply links that will stand up to any potential claims of misrepresentation.

The 99%: Official list of Occupy Wall Street’s supporters, sponsors and sympathizers:

From #OccupyWallStreet:

We as fellow occupiers of Oscar Grant Plaza propose that on Wednesday November 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%.

We propose a city wide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.

All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them.

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Last week, the Chicago Tribune published a commentary piece I wrote about the Occupy Wall Street protesters in Chicago. They’ve been camped out near my office for the past few weeks, and I decided to engage them in conversation on my way home one night.

The media has likened the Occupy Wall Street protesters to the Tea Party, making the case that these protesters are the left’s version of the small government movement that has swept the nation.

Let me be clear: The Occupy Wall Street protesters and the folks who hold tea party rallies are not the same, and I do not believe there is any real opportunity for a union between the two groups. But what I learned that night is that these movements both are rooted in the idea that this country is moving in the wrong direction.

If we look back to the 2008 presidential election, I’d argue that part of the reason President Obama won is because he strategically listened to disaffected economic conservatives, independents and Republicans. He took what he heard and then crafted a message for them, ultimately winning over some who normally vote for Republican nominees. Though we knew then and know now that he was being disingenuous, the lesson should not be lost on us; we cannot ignore the value of listening. (more…)

Some on the Left suggest that if were Jesus alive today he would be encouraging or even participating in the Occupy protests occurring around this nation.  Although Leftists often derisively dismiss the value of religious beliefs to contemporary government and economics, these same individuals now wish to claim Jesus as a fellow social revolutionary, wealth redistributionist, and civil agitator.

Would Jesus be camping with the protesters in the city park? Would he be leading an occupy “assembly”, singing solidarity choruses, and heralding the demise of capitalism?  If one takes the time to honestly review the stories in the four gospels, the only possible answer is a resounding, “NO!” Jesus lived under Roman rule.  The Romans oppressed Jesus’ fellow Jews, stationed military in Jewish homes and cities, and exercised political power over Jewish territory, interfered with Jewish religious life, and siphoned off Jewish wealth through tribute.

Though living under such conditions, Jesus never advocated revolution or political upheaval.  The gospel according to Matthew says Jesus instructed his disciple Peter, “go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee [as tribute].”  The gospel of Mark records Jesus as saying “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  These commands to pay tribute to a truly oppressive government hardly sounds like a revolutionary intent on overthrowing the political system.

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