Celebrities And Politics

[Sonic Youth]

Russell Brand, Katy Perry, and Russell Simmons visit Occupy Wall Street:

http://gothamist.com/2011/10/23/katy_pe ... ll_str.php

[Greg]

The great irony I see is that what many in the Tea Party are calling for would be much worse for the wealthiest Americans than what many in Occupy Wall Street are calling for. People who have net worths of millions or billions of dollars do not have millions or billions of dollars in their safes at home. Much of their net worth is in the form of stocks. Many in the Tea Party are calling for massive reductions in the budget deficits of the federal government, even to the point of immediately balancing the budget. With such a weak economy, immediately eliminating the large deficit, which is providing enormous stimulus to the economy, could push the United States right into a second Great Depression and crash the stock market dramitically lowering the net worth of many of the richest Americans much more than what many people in the Occupy Wall Street movement are calling for.

[Damien]

Glad to see Arlo has returned to lefty-ism He supported Ron Paul in 2008. And glad to see David Amram is still kicking and active. He doesn't seem to be much remembered today, but he was a leading figure in the New York arts/progressive politics sene in the 50s and 60s. He also did the sores for a handful of New York-based films, including Splendor In The Grass and The Manchurian Candidate.

By the way, I've never before seen the Upper West Side described as "tony."

[Sonic Youth]

Check out the vids of Pete and Arlo singing "We Shall Overcome":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPd_OkeVtI

http://gothamist.com/2011/10/22/video_p ... uthrie.php

[Sonic Youth]

Now it's a REAL protest.

Pete Seeger, David Amram, Arlo Guthrie attend NYC protest
By CRISTIAN SALAZAR - Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Folk music legend Pete Seeger joined in the Occupy Wall Street protest Friday night, replacing his banjo with two canes as he marched with throngs of people in New York City's tony Upper West Side past banks and shiny department stores.

The 92-year-old Seeger, accompanied by musician-grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger, composer David Amram, and bluesman Guy Davis, shouted out a verse as the crowd of about 1,000 people sang and chanted.

They marched peacefully over more than 30 blocks from Symphony Space, where the Seegers and other musicians performed, to Columbus Circle. Police watched from the sidelines.

At the circle, Seeger and friends walked to the chant of "We are the 99 percent" and "We are unstoppable, another world is possible." Seeger stopped to bang a metal statue of an elephant with his cane — to cheers from the crowd.

At the center of the circle, Seeger and Amram were joined by '60s folk singer Arlo Guthrie in a round of "We Shall Overcome," a protest anthem made popular by Seeger.

After more singing, Seeger asked for a mic check to tell the crowd: "The words are simple: I could be happy spending my days on the river that flows both way-ay-ays."

During the march, the younger Seeger, in troubadour fashion like his grandfather, walked among the protesters playing songs. Amra took up a flute and others enlivened the night protest with the sounds of the accordion, banjos, and guitars.

At the front of the throng, marchers held American flags and a large blue flag that said: "Revolution Generation ... Debt is Slavery." Along the way, the crowd sang protest songs made popular or written by Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others of the protest era.

Occupy Wall Street began a month ago in lower Manhattan among a few young people, and has grown to thousands around the country and the world. An Associated Press-GfK poll says more than one-third of the country supports the Wall Street protesters, and even more — 58 percent — say they are furious about America's politics.

..

[Sonic Youth]

Russell Brand visits "Occupy Wall St." in the rain

[Sonic Youth]

Lady Gaga serenades Bill Clinton

[Big Magilla]

I don't know. I assume we're talking about impulsive purhases as opposed to planned shopping sprees. People are frugal with cash because they have limited amounts of it on their person and probably in the bank as well, but unless they are at their credit card limit they have the opportunity to be a lttle more extravagant. It's compulsive behavior to be sure and people who spend more than they can afford for items they don't need have a problem, but credit in and of itself is not a bad thing.

The thing about spending that drives me nuts is people who remember what they paid for everything. Now that I'm living in an active adult community I meet people all the time who tell me how much they paid for this or that and ask me how much I paid for something similar. When I say I don't remember, they ask if Ihave so much money that it doesn't matter. I say, no, it's that once it's gone, it's gone, I don't think about it. I thnk about the next expense and how I'm going to pay for that. The times when I do remember what I paid for something, what they paid is roughly the same or more in spite of all their hemming and hawing and waiting for the best deal they could find. To me it's nutty. If I can't afford something I can't afford it and unless it's a necessity put it out of my mind. I don't keep checking the newspapers waiting for the price to come down.

[Sonic Youth]

MA: I learned some fascinating things about the neurology of credit cards. If you spend with a credit card, it doesn’t hurt; your brain doesn’t register that you’ve spent money. It just registers that you’ve bought this wonderful new thing and you didn’t have to pay a cent. So why wouldn’t you keep buying?

This is about as idiotic a statement as this over-praised writer ever wrote.

Only a moron wouldn't realize they're spending money. The problem is that most people are eternal optimists. They know they owe the money, but think think the monthly payment will be something they can handle or that something will come along - a raise, rich relative, a lottery win, something, to help them pay for it.

She's probably talking about this experiment:

http://www.economist.com/node/8516366

So, she didn't make anything up out of thin air. And where's your university-funded study to back up your assertions?

In any event, you and she (and the scientists) are talking about two different things. You're talking about the mindset as one accumulate's debt. She's talking about the bahavioral differences as one shops at that moment. Makes perfect sense to me. Don't we already know that people are more frugal when they shop with cash than when they shop with a credit or debit card?

[Big Magilla]

[quote][/quote]MA: I learned some fascinating things about the neurology of credit cards. If you spend with a credit card, it doesn’t hurt; your brain doesn’t register that you’ve spent money. It just registers that you’ve bought this wonderful new thing and you didn’t have to pay a cent. So why wouldn’t you keep buying?[quote]

This is about as idiotic a statement as this over-praised writer ever wrote.

Only a moron wouldn't realize they're spending money. The problem is that most people are eternal optimists. They know they owe the money, but think think the monthly payment will be something they can handle or that something will come along - a raise, rich relative, a lottery win, something, to help them pay for it.

[Sonic Youth]

Margaret Atwood on the economy.

[Sonic Youth]

Jon Stewart explains it to you.

[Greg]

Unions, students join Wall Street protesters

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44791261/ns/us_news-life/

[Sonic Youth]

Yeah, I know, but it still came offf as zombie-like and bizarre.

We all agree jobs must be creatd and farms must be saved, but what is the point of these protests? To whom are they being directded? Do these people seriously think they're going to cause the banks to shut down? And if they did, who would be harmed? Not the 1% who have already stashed away enough money to last their lifetimes. All it would accomplish is adding hundreds of thousands of the $40-50,000 a year employess, which would do nothing but add to the unemplyment mess we already have. The prblem isn't Wall St. It's the do nothing Congress. Put them on a bus and bring them to the Washingotn Mall and let them camp out there.

What difference does it make if they protest in Washington or closer to where the protestors themselves live? (Other than it's much easier on people's financial circumstances to not travel cross country, but let's not take something as trivial as THAT into accoutn.) You do realise, Magilla, that we live in a connected society, with lots of televisions and internet divices, and that everything that happens - even though it may be geographically scattered - is viewed in totality?

What is the point of these protests? The point is, they feel they have to do this. That should be enough.

[Big Magilla]

Yeah, I know, but it still came offf as zombie-like and bizarre.

We all agree jobs must be creatd and farms must be saved, but what is the point of these protests? To whom are they being directded? Do these people seriously think they're going to cause the banks to shut down? And if they did, who would be harmed? Not the 1% who have already stashed away enough money to last their lifetimes. All it would accomplish is adding hundreds of thousands of the $40-50,000 a year employess, which would do nothing but add to the unemplyment mess we already have. The prblem isn't Wall St. It's the do nothing Congress. Put them on a bus and bring them to the Washingotn Mall and let them camp out there.