MARCH FOR JOBS --"Good Jobs, Great Houston," SEIU, OCCUPY HOUSTON, CODE PINK, REBUILD THE DREAM,
AND OTHERS FROM THE 99% --
TO THE MICKEY LELAND FEDERAL BUILDING
OCTOBER 12, 2011

a personal account not edited by the corporate media

 

The march started at Smith and Clay in downtown Houston. The group was quite diverse and orderly.
GOOD JOBS, GREAT HOUSTON had done a very good job of organizing.

 

 

The group was asked to march in two's from the starting point to the Mickey Leland Federal Building.
Arriving at the Federal Building, we went around to the back side.

Everyone who could fit entered the long, glassed-in corridor that leads
from the far corner of the block all the way across the block into the building.

There were still many outside who could not fit in the corridor space. The corridor provided
an outstanding way to magnify our chants so we could be heard inside the building.

 

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Notice the police at the door in this photo. There is a group of eight protesters still inside after the police
have told everyone to leave. They are being arrested.

In this photo, there are two policemen in riot gear. There had been absolutely no provocation for this.
Apparently the police fear the 99%! We were being totally well-behaved and peaceful.

Two of our Code Pink ladies demanding jobs and an end to the war spending!

Now, back to the increasing police presence.

The friendly guy above is with Homeland Security.

Here come the barricades to put around the crowd, who by the way, are chanting more loudly, but are still peaceful.

Homeland Security guy telling everyone they have to move back from the doors behind the barricades.

Man of the Hour -- MR. HOMELAND SECURITY

First arrestee brought out and handcuffed.

A very peace-loving close friend who decided that this jobs bill is a really important cause!!

 

More barricades being put in place. At this point, the crowd in chanting in solidarity
with those arrested, but still very peaceful!

Ah, yes.
The coup de gras -- "Houston's finest" at their finest.
Out come the police horses to "control" the unruly -- no, still very peaceful -- demonstrators.

 

 

 

Now , with no criminals here and a whole bunch of real criminals
running around in a big city, isn't this really a bit overdone?

A waste of precious police resources and taxpayer's money?

Do those people behind the barricades look scary to you?

Police are still forcing everyone off the Federal property.
Oops, I thought that meant it was taxpayer's property -- the commons. My bad.

Police have told everyone to stay on the sidewalk
and if they stop moving, they will be arrested for loitering.

Yep, there he is again!! Mr. Homeland Security.

Police "protecting" the Federal Building from US citizens who want a jobs program.

When will justice go to the 99% instead of the 1% with all the money?
When will our Texas Senators stop selling us out?

*****************************

Dedicated to the three special friends we lost last month who would have been there with us: Jon, Ester, and Charlie.

 

 

 

 

 

HOW DOES THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AFFECT OUR
STRUGGLE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE?

 

 

The Current Economic Crisis and Understanding It or Welcome to the Plutocracy!

Our very large banks and the Federal Reserve Bank have our country and our financial system in a stranglehold. After using Shock Doctrine economics first in many third world and developing countries and toppling those economies, they then began applying the principles to the United States and Europe. During the past two or three decades, the big banking industry has generated an enormous pyramid scheme of loans with no hard cash backing which resulted in a huge financial bubble of money that did not exist. When the chips were cashed in at the tail end of the game, the big guys at the top of the scheme emerged with most of the world's money and middle and lower classes were left with practically nothing, many without jobs and others losing their homes. There can be no peace or social justice until the current economic system is completely changed and a new just system is created to take its place. Here is some information to get you started in your quest to understand what happened. Knowledge is crucial to change.

Bill Moyers addressed this issue in "Welcome to the Plutocracy!," a speech at Boston University on October 29, 2010, as a part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series. In first Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture, Moyers focused on the challenges facing our democracy. He decried what he says has been a 30-year trend toward plutocracy, where the rich get richer at the expense of the average citizen. You can listen to the speech at the following link:

Bill Moyers at the Howard Zinn Lecture

Moyers begins: "I was honored when you asked me to join in celebrating Howard Zinn’s life and legacy. I was also surprised. I am a journalist, not a historian. The difference between a journalist and an historian is that the historian knows the difference. George Bernard Shaw once complained that journalists are seemingly unable to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization...."
Click here to read more of Bill Moyer's speech.

We also recommend the movie Inside Job for a short overview of the causes of the present economic crisis and a short history of how the banking industry is involved. Here is a list of good books on the subject:

Ellen Brown, Web of Debt
Charles R. Morris, The Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash
Naomi Klein, Shock Doctrine
John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man