By The Beachwood Truth In Sentencing Affairs Desk

Maybe Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers are right; prison isn’t appropriate punishment for our distinguished ex-governor. Here are some alternative sentences that just might better fit his crimes.
* Sentenced to actually love the people of Illinois – one person at a time.
* Sentenced to actually playing all the tapes as part of an NPR pledge drive.
* Sentenced to actually read his book. Maybe on the air as part of an NPR pledge drive.
* Sentenced to one winter camping out with Occupy Chicago. Feds would love it because it punishes the protestors too.
* Sentenced to a lifetime as Dick Mell’s son-in-law. Oh, wait . . .

Read More

Posted on December 7, 2011

By The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

Join us on Jane Addams Day to reflect on the Occupy mo(ve)ment and what it means for the future.
Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination of people around the globe and raised questions about how we can reinvent a more equitable system globally and locally. The movement has introduced a new language of hope, possibility, and change into American politics even as the police shut down encampments.

Read More

Posted on December 6, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

This is what democracy looks like.
1. “Building upon months of large-scale local protests calling for economic change that benefits the 99%, struggling Chicagoans will board buses early today to take their case to the nation’s Capitol,” Stand Up! Chicago says in a press release.
“The momentum from recent mass protests – with thousands of protesters with Stand Up! Chicago and Occupy Chicago occupying the street in front of the Modern Wing of the Art Institute on October 10, and taking action on the LaSalle Street Bridge on November 17 – will now take over 300 all the way to Washington, DC, for a week full of actions by and for the 99%.”

Read More

Posted on December 5, 2011

Uploaded to YouTube by GregoryRev

From an Occupy Chicago teach-in on November 11th at Columbia College.
“Dedicated to Anthony Wagner, Iraq veteran who opposed and spoke out against the wars and occupations for empire. Anthony passed away just hours after marching on Wall Street with other veterans in support of Scott Olsen on November 3, 2011.”

Read More

Posted on December 1, 2011

By Marian Wang/ProPublica

When the Securities and Exchange Commission struck a deal with Citigroup over a failed security that the bank sold to investors, we asked whether regulators had handed Citigroup too sweet a deal.

Today in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff appeared to reach that very conclusion: “If the allegations of the Complaint are true, this is a very good deal for Citigroup,” Rakoff wrote as he refused to sign off on the $285 million proposed settlement agreement.

While the full opinion is worth reading, here’s a summary of the judge’s objections:

Read More

Posted on November 29, 2011

By The Beachwood Occupation Affairs Desk

This is what democracy looks like.
1. “It behooves President Obama to put his Justice Department to work going after those police departments which have broken the laws and which have teargassed and beaten American citizens for exercising their constitutional rights.”

Read More

Posted on November 28, 2011

And What To Tell Butterball About It

Stomach this.
1. Stomping on heads.

Read More

Posted on November 22, 2011

By The Beachwood Occupation Affairs Desk

This is what democratic comedy looks like.

Read More

Posted on November 21, 2011

By The Beachwood Occupation Affairs Desk

This is what democracy looks like.
1. “We’re just tired of it.”

Read More

Posted on November 18, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“Chicago aldermen are expected to pass Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $6.3 billion budget plan by a wide margin today,” the Tribune reports.
It’s a budget the media is declaring a “win” for Rahm instead of a loss for the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Because the political implications for the boss man are always more important to the MSM than the real-life implications for real people.

Read More

Posted on November 16, 2011