Protesters Against Student Loan Debt Are Barking up the Wrong Tree

Protesters against student loans are barking up the wrong tree. Everyone complains about the escalating cost of a college education, and substantially rising debt levels. There is one simple way to reduce the upward prices on college educations. Its for a lot less people to go. If less people went, there's be less money available, and as a whole academia couldn't charge as much.

A number of people today get degrees when it is questionable that their degrees make them any more likely to obtain employment. According to Frank Bruni's article, the Imperiled Promise of College, of the New York Times:

"According to an Associated Press analysis of data from 2011, 53.6 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed or, if they were lucky, merely underemployed, which means they were in jobs for which their degrees weren’t necessary. Philosophy majors mull questions no more existential than the proper billowiness of the foamed milk atop a customer’s cappuccino. Anthropology majors contemplate the tribal behavior of the youngsters who shop at the Zara where they peddle skinny jeans."

So if a college education isn't going to lead to financial gain, and instead saddles young people with debt while leaving them with only the kinds of jobs that they could have gotten directly out of high school, why go? Bruni suggests more Americans study math and the sciences, citing how employers import such talent. But worldwide, most people are not super geniuses or disciplined when it comes to the hard sciences or mathematics. They are unique talents, which is why for certain skill sets, they pay more money. If everyone were able to get an engineering degree, the value of said degree would be worthless. The fact liberal arts degree have to go find employment in retail suggests that there are simply far more graduates than suitable jobs.

And perhaps the biggest problem is that there is apparently no respect for people who work ordinary jobs. Go to college and get the fabulous career, many young people are told. Well, most people are not really fabulous. Most people are regular joes, and will end up doing regular work. And there's nothing wrong with that. Oh, and some of the greatest people who have reshaped our society like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg had no college degrees.

There maybe a reason why the above innovative men did so well. According to Seth Godin, writer of Stop Stealing Dreams:

"Large-scale education was not developed to motivate kids or to create scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system. Scale was more important than quality, just as it was for most industrialists. Of course, it worked. Several generations of productive, fully employed workers followed. But now?"

Mr. Godin argues the purpose of education is often to condition people to be passive employees, particularly in an industrial mode (not necessarily within industry per se). Education often doesn't encourage creativity, networking, or outreach. These are things that are quite necessarily in business.

Also, the digital age has completely changed the nature of education. The writer of this piece paid $40 for a class on political blogging. What I've learned from this one month class taught by Lee Stranahan (a man with neither a high school or college degree) perhaps surpasses what I could have gotten from many masters programs (a number of people graduate from these programs and still have great difficulty promoting their writing). I do have a degree in history from Cornell University. But in the regular workforce, I was virtually unemployable as there really is no demand for historians. So I turned to writing and ultimately found out I loved it.

That's just it. Even when one does have an education, one shouldn't restrict one's self to a career in the major of what one studies in. That maybe a problem with education as well, as it narrows and restricts what a person thinks he or she can do. As Seth Godwin said, '"Stop Stealing Dreams." Its time for the public to realize education is an industry concerned with making money just like any other, and its not necessarily in a person's interest to have degree after degree.

Occupy Musicians Protest Free Gigs Performed in NYC Nightclubs

On May Day, a group of occupiers will protests the fact that many clubs do not pay performing musicians. As stated in a press release from the solidarity working group:

"New York City is known for its rich cultural heritage, and many popular clubs derive their success from live music. However, they rarely pay the musicians that bring draw in their customers. Instead, the bands typically "pass the hat," asking the crowd for donations; talented performers often end the night with $5-10 a person. Musicians may also be required to spend their own resources on promotion, and guarantee a minimum number of paying customers."

The musicians are protesting something which in fact effects all artists with no name. Essentially one has to do a certain number of free gigs until one has a big enough name to make people pay. This is certainly true of writers, actors, filmmakers, painters, design artists, among others. Musicians often ask for donations at the clubs they perform at, but they often get very little money from the audience, according to this press release. Mind you, the people in the audience may have already spent a lot of money that night on booze and on the entrance to the club, so funds maybe tight.

The music solidarity press release states the economic factors leading to lack of payment in the nightclub scene:

"As rents reached record heights in the 1990s and 2000s, clubs that did compensate musicians fairly (such as Tonic in the Lower East Side) were squeezed out. A growing number of venues adopted these exploitative practices – including Rockwood Music Hall, the Living Room, Pianos, 169 Bar, and Zebulon Cafe Concert – and nonpayment of performers has since become conventional wisdom in the NYC music scene."

Essentially, the nightclub industry really isn't as profitable as it used to be, and a number of night clubs have closed. High rents are a factor. The other is the internet. Not only do some young people meet potential hook ups on the internet, the internet has changed the music industry itself. One can listen to all sorts of cool music online. What's left of worthwhile music scene in NYC is now in Brooklyn, according to Sydney Beveridge. Beveridge wrote a Dec. 2004 article in the Gotham Gazette on death of the music scene. A number of other sites such as gaysocialites, have also declared the nightclub scene in NYC as on its deathbed. While the nighclubs will never entirely go away, a number of people in the industry do not see it as ever being what it once was. Nightclubs have feared the city since the Giuliani era and things have not gotten better under Bloomberg as strict regulation continues to hammer nightclubs and shut them down.

So how does this effect musicians who are protesting the lack of payment from nightclubs? Perhaps its not worthwhile to perform or protest against clubs not likely to be here a year from now. Perhaps musicians should use technology to promote themselves more, focus on getting permits in outdoor spaces that allow performances, and work on performing in places that still have a thriving nightclub scene such as Brooklyn, beach areas along Long Island during the summer, Coney Island during the summer, etc.

Avengers Versus X-Men 2

A wonderful thing about Avengers Versus X-Men is that its entirely self contained. Meaning, though you can buy other titles that cover this huge cross over, so far the main story has been entirely contained to the actual Avengers Versus X-Men titles. Easier on your wallet and less annoying. Avengers Versus X-Men is tying up a number of dangling plot lines at Marvel. Phoenix Endsong and Warsong, Decimation and Avengers Children Crusade, Hope the mutant messiah, the Second Coming Fear Itself all are being addressed. The fight between the X-Men and Avengers occurs at a time when the teams power sets aren't really that far apart. In the 70s, the Avengers clearly would have won hand down. But the Avengers now cannot have an easy victory over the X-men, and that's if they don't get defeated by them. Several changes have occurred to the X-men to make them more dangerous. Cyclops, the leader, has become a lot smarter, more devious, and ruthless. Colossus is now the Juggernaught and can throw down with the Hulk or Red Hulk. Other X-men, such as Iceman, have gone through major power upgrades. And of course, Magik is now a much more experienced and knowledgable sorceress. Where's her powers once didn't work well out of Limbo, she easily flattened a team of X-men on earth with her magic. This makes her a formidable opponent even for Dr. Strange. As both teams fight over Hope, she manifests the Phoenix power. When Wolverine comes in to kill her, she takes out him, Spider Man, and her friends. She escapes by running across the ocean. Hope has never been the time, as an adult, to let others simply fight and die for her. Meanwhile, as the Phoenix within her grows, the Phoenix from outer space heads towards earth. Its obvious this is the completion of the reassembling of the Phoenix/Jean Grey spoken of in Warsong. There a team of Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Thor, Beast, and Valkyrie wait to intercept it. The team is in fear, as this mission was considered a suicide mission. Jean is mentioned again. Next year is the X-Men's 50th anniversary, and she'll likely be back for that.

NYPD Shuts Down Occupy Encampment on Wall Street

Occupiers are no longer permitted to sleep on Wall Street. Amid protests from residents of the neighborhood bothered by noise, the NYPD has kicked Occupy off Wall Street. As the New York Times reports: "At about 9 p.m., a woman approached the group and shouted that her children could not sleep. A moment later, a man approached a protester and pushed him several times while screaming at him. The police escorted that man away. Several protesters were arrested shortly thereafter, including one who an officer said was making excessive noise." The Times has mentioned 10 arrests yesterday. The biggest problem with Occupy Wall Street is it seems to lack purpose. If people are still trying to occupy outdoor spaces, why? What do they hope to accomplish in doing so? There seems to be no set time for outdoor occupations. I'm not sure trying to live outside forever qualifies as political protest. I think occupy needs to move away from outdoor occupations before it completely loses public support. A movement supposedly about economic injustice shouldn't have people living outside homeless. If occupiers cannot take care of their own members, then why should anyone listen to them when they speak of injustice as occupy apparently cannot deal with internal injustice.

Three Arrested in Black Bloc Village March

On Saturday, April 14th, after the Anarchist Book Fair at Judson Memorial Church, violence occured during a march. According to the Citizen Journalist.:

"An NYPD spokesman said that officers received a report around 9 p.m. that a “disorderly group” had gathered in front of the Starbucks at Lafayette and Astor Place. A video transmission detailing that an officer needed assistance followed, and police found “individuals hitting the window of the establishment.” When a sergeant attempted to intervene and make an arrest, “the crowd became unruly,” and he was allegedly struck with a metal pipe by two men. The two men fled."

Across twitter, a number of occupiers became concerned on how and why this happened. Speculation abounded on whether this was done by occupiers, infiltrators, or people trying to sabotage OWS. Others were in support of this action. All agreed that these were black boc tactics. As stated by the Citizen Journal: "Black Bloc protests first came about in the 80s in Europe and were a part of the anti-World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle in 1999. Protest techniques are disruptive and volatile. They include rioting, vandalism and fighting as well as assistance to fellow protesters in fleeing police." Three men were later arrested for violence during this march. According to the New York Times, they include: "Three people were arrested, two of whom, attorney Alexander Penley, 41, and Nicholas Thommen, 30, were charged with “inciting to riot,” in addition to other charges, including assault and menacing. Eric Marchese, 24, was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct." Alexander Penley is referred to as a lawyer by Gothamist. A quick search on both his website and at the California State bar reveal he is licensed to practice law in California. Occupy marches in New York for the most part have been peaceful, and most protesters were not arrested for serious things. This march though, has lead to arrests for some very serious allegations. Assault of a police officer, along with inciting a riot that lead to property damage, among other things may very well lead to serious time as the district attorney and the court system will likely want to make examples of these men. I sincerely hope future occupy events and actions will be without the violence that occurred on April 14th. Occupy is an idea and an ideological war of sorts, and to incite violence and riots with no clear explanation of what you're trying to achieve is the quickest way to turn public opinion against.

Occupiers Literally Sleep On the Sidewalk of Wall Street

The Occupation has returned in the spring. After occupy wall street was kicked out of Zuccotti, Occupiers went uptown to Union Square. After attempts to sleep in Union Square Park proved futile, occupiers began sleeping on sidewalks. Someone researched the New York City laws concerning protesters, and apparently found out it is legal to sleep on sidewalks as a part of protesting, provided that enough of the sidewalk is open to allow passerby to get by. Occupiers began using this to sleep in front of the Bank of America and Citibank near union square. Earlier this week, occupiers began using this regulation to sleep on wall street itself. The video in the link shows occupiers been told by the police to sleep near the building and leave one half of the sidewalk open. The intersection of Nassau and Wall Street has become an occupy encampment. Near Bank of America and Citibank near union are other occupy encampments. Its ironic that after six months, occupiers have finally found a way to occupy wall street, quite literally.

George Zimmerman to be Prosecuted for Killing Trayvon Marton

According to NBC News, George Zimmerman will be prosecuted for killing Trayvon Martin. Angela Corey, the special prosecutor to the case, announced that she would have a press conference soon. Trayvon's killing was a murder that sparked rallies around the nation, as the issue of unarmed non whites being killed by police or vigilantes has been pushed to the forefront of the national conversation. The justice department also has its investigation into this matter. Martin's death has roiled election year politics, with politicians across the political spectrum coming out to condemn Zimmerman. A group of right wingers in the media have sought to defend Zimmerman. AP News Reports that Zimmerman is in custody and is charged with 2nd degree murder.

Occupy Wall Street Brain Drain

There's been a seeming brain drain from occupy wall street. In the original Zuccotti Park at the very beginning, there where students, recent graduates, labor union people, teachers, academics, etc. There were people who were visionaries, of sorts. Yet in recent weeks, these people don't seem to be around. Max Bean, in his Huffington Post article states:

"It is these two transitions that I hope to explore through these posts. I am not the only one to have stepped back from the movement, in the past couple months. Many devoted activists have gone their separate ways lately, and if we hope someday to build a stronger movement, we'd better think hard about why this has happened." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-bean/you-cant-leave-occupy-wal_b_1411194.html What could make those educated people leave occupy? Why is occupy left with a bunch of angry street kids? I think the reasons to this are at least somewhat rather obvious. A person gets a good education because they want to have a career to make a lot of money. Occupy has focused more on anarchy and living in parks communes. So who spends 6 digits or more on formal educations, to want to live your life in a park? Who wants to spend large amounts of money on an education, to have to pandhandle or be on food stamps indefinitely? So by the nature of what occupy is, it cannot hold educated people long term. It also cannot hold the average person with worthwhile work skills, even if he or she doesn't have a formal education. So you're left with disobedient street kids in the long run. In fact, that's one reason the police have been able to crack down harder on occupy with scant public reaction. In the beginning we saw the police pepper spray and beat college students, particularly young women. Beating people up like this horrifies the general public. But if its street thugs being beat up, the public applauds. New York City wanted to diminish crime, so it elected mayors who had the cops beat down criminal elements. So as occupy becomes mostly street kids, they lose public sympathy and they lose the battle. Its why the left in general is always defeated by the right, because on a long term basis, the left will always lose its best thinkers to the right. And even those former leftists who don't fully convert to the right, they end up becoming capitalist enough to severely disappoint the left (the Clintons, the Obamas, etc).

Book Review:Every Time I Check My Messages, Somebody Thinks I'm Dead: A Memoir of Occupy Wall Street

Everytime I Check My Messages, Somebody Thinks I'm Dead is an excellent book written by occupier Daniel Levine. This is the first book by Mr. Levine, a journalism student who graduates this year, in 2012. The book covers what life was really like in Zuccotti Park during the occupation from Sept 2011 through Nov. 2011. Its a very humorous depiction, but educational depiction.. The story is a compilation of Levine's blog entries.

Every Time I Check My Messages covers the various players and participants in occupy wall street. Initially, the originally occupiers tended to be a group of well educated people. They were typically concerned about things such as high student debt and if they would ever be able to pay off their student loans. At this time, the mainstream media had little interest in covering occupy. However, after the Union Square and Brooklyn Bridge incidents, this news spread through the internet like wildfire, bringing in other players to occupy in large numbers. One such player was the number of reporters who came to the park. Levine gives several funny accounts on how we spoke to them. Levine was the info desk person at occupy, so it was his job to educate people on what occupy was. So he was, at least in the minds of some reporters, an undeclared expert. But being an undeclared expert means you attracted some pretty unflattering attention. The agent provocateurs honed on him as well. Apparently they wanted an intelligent person on their side to subvert and dismantle occupy's structures. Levine wasn't interested and politely declined. Along with provocateurs you had undercover NYPD and other undercover agents as well. Apparently they were easy for Levine and other protesters to spot. And of course, there were the disgruntled and just plain crazy. There are plenty of only in New York moments with the things the mad did. Indeed, the crazy provide the comic relief for occupy and probably for the police officers as well. Overall, this book is a refreshing, first person account of what really happened from someone who wasn't at occupy as a reporter, but from someone who lived there. Its intimate view of occupy shows the challenges the movement faced in the past, and faces going forward. Those interested in this book can click on the image of it on this site.

Comic Book Review: The Mighty Thor 12

In the last issue of Thor, Heidmall shattered the illusion Ulik was wearing to pose as Tanarus. This issue solidifies the direction that Thor is taking. The All Mother, comprised of Thor's mother (the Elder goddess of the earth Gaea), Thor's stepmother (Freyja, Queen of Vanheim and of Asgard), and Idunn (keeper of the Apples) defeat and banishes the trolls, while Thor slays Ulik. The All Mother reunited the nine worlds into a realm that revolves around Asgardia.

Fraction's writing was pretty solid. And he said he specifically wanted to rectify since the return of the Asgardians, the Asgardian goddesses had gotten short thrift from the writers. Thor historically had a number of powerful female characters, yet none were seen when Thor and the other gods came back from the void. Two years ago, there were two female characters in Thor. The lovesick and frail Kelda, and Loki, who was in the form of a woman. Now, in addition to being ruled by the All Mother, Sif is back and in the warriors fighting the trolls, we saw some women warriors. Karnilla, Queen of the Norns was back as the main villainess. She slew the fragile Kelda, who honestly didn't seem to fit in with the Asgardians. The Asgardians are a warrior culture, yet Kelda did not get a hit in when Karnilla killed her with a rock.

Freyja shows that she earned her title as Queen, as she easily defeats and then impales Karnilla. She traps Karnilla and the troll king in the skull of Ulik. Previously, as Frigga,she was featured in stories in the 70s and 80s as a passive queen. It wasn't clear if she knew how to fight or had powers. This settles it, she is a very good warrior and sorceress. Gaea and Idunn also are shown to have vast powers and to be excellent warriors, though in this issue they let Freyja handle most of the action. As the story ends, the All Mother and the citizens of the nine worlds celebrate the return of Thor.

George Martinez, Occupier, Running for Office in New York's 7th Congressional District

George Martinez is running for office in New York's 7th Congressional district, which covers Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. Mr. Martinez is a well known and respected occupier. As Kopecassociates.com reports:

George Martinez is considered “the ambassador” of Occupy Wall Street. He is an adjunct professor of political science at Pace University. Along with that, he is a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Martinez’s goal is to expand the movement beyond Zuccotti Park and into other parts of New York City, such as the Bronx. Martinez is an accomplished hip-hop artist and is a founding board member of The Hip-Hop Association

Interesting, as many young occupiers have talked about hating the system and not participating that a mature occupier steps forward to fight for change through the political system, using means that would be approved by the general public (regardless of whether they support his political views. Mr. Martinez's campaign is called Bum Rush the Vote. Mr. Martinex explains his core issues here.


Bum Rush The Vote

My name is George Martinez

And I am running for Congress in New York's new 7th Congressional District.

I am the child of a single mother.

I have been stopped and frisked many times, in New York City and elsewhere.

I have outstanding student loan debt and have been in default.

I do not have health care insurance.

I have experienced housing displacement.

I am a husband and father.

I am the 99%.


More info on Martinez's background can be found on Down With Tyranny's blog.

With the recent dissolution of occupy's previous structures, it will be interesting to see if occupy can gather around formal leadership. Recently, occupy launched a new website, www.occupy.com The new website visually is much better than the previous one, and it takes content from writers and other artists. It appears some individuals in occupy are well aware of the limitations and failures of the previous system and are moving forward. To what, we'll just have to see.

Facilitation Disbands Occupy Wall Street Spokes Council and General Assembly

Facilitation Working Group, the group that more or less acts as a neutral overseer to Occupy Wall Street meetings, has decided to defacto disband the Spokes Council and the General Assembly. Without official facilitators to be present at either Spokes or the General Assembly, any such gathering is not official according to occupy wall street rules. Apparently, no minutes takers or livestreams will come to these meetings as well. Both Spokes and the General Assembly depending upon facilitation to post new proposals to www.nycga.net With facilitation refusing to facilitate and disbanded, there is no one to post new proposals to www.nycga.net. Tech ops has honored facilitation's request. More information can be found here. Why would facilitation simply canceled the GA and Spokes? Both bodies certainly had a number of issues, and I myself made a proposal to shut them down. However, facilitation made its decision in the context of a very divided GA. Cynthia Price and others, on both the nycga.net website and in meetings have alleged corruption and conspiracy in occupy, particularly amongst the accounting and facilitation working groups. Check out a sample of this here. Allegations of fraud are not new to occupy, as through the winter Nan Terrie of Strong Women Working Group accused occupy of financial mismanagement, among other things. What is new after accusations of corruption, that the spokes council and the General Assembly both get defacto disbanded.

Dark Shadows Movie Starring Johnny Depp Out In May

Dark Shadows was a tv show in the late 60s/early 70s about a man who was turned into a vampire by a sorceress. The movie Dark Shadow directed by Tim Burton is a campy remake of the tv show. It stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, a man damned by the sorceress Angelique (played by Eva Green) who transforms him into a vampire. Barnabas wakes up centuries later in the modern era and meets his distant relatives. Unfortunately for him, Angelique is still around and apparently more powerful than ever. Barnabas has to take care of his family and at the same time fight off Angelique, his nemesis.

Avengers Versus X-Men 1: Review

Avengers versus X-Men is the official beginning of the fight between the X-Men and the Avengers over Hope Summers. Cyclops was warned by Cable that the future would be ruined if the Avengers killed Hope. So Cyclops promised his son Cable that he would do all that he could to protect Hope. Hope has manifested the Phoenix force and is apparently a Phoenix fragment. In outer space the Phoenix is assembling itself, and heading towards earth to unite with Hope. Jean Grey is mentioned as previously being Phoenix, but what role she'll play in the future of this series is yet to be determined. This kicks of a great start to this crossover, which will likely redefine the status of mutants in Marvel. After all, Hope reignited mutation in Marvel. Could this lead to the repowering of depowered mutants?

Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans is a father/son relationship story. Its a sequel to the Clash of the Titans 2010 movie. Throughout the movie, it focuses on relationships between fathers and also between brothers. The first father/son relationship we see is Perseus and his son Helius. Perseus has absolute devotion to his son Helius, particularly after his wife has died. Zeus and his brother Poseidon, brothers who are close to each other, are both absent fathers for their half mortal sons. Chronos, father to Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, is a hostile father who wants to destroy his sons. Ares hates his father Zeus because he perceives Perseus as Zeus's favorite son. The relationships between these gods change throughout the movie, but the one unchanging this is Perseus's love for his son. The movie itself moved at a good pace, and the action scenes and special effects were good. This is a wonderful movie.

Productive Meetings and Actions Forming in Occupy

The campaign to end corporate personhood is picking up steam. The group of occupiers working on this would like to reform the campaign financing process. They would like for people running for office to be able to get a certain amount of state money to do so. This would mean that politicians wouldn't be so dependent or beholden to wealthy donors. They are holding town halls in Brooklyn on April 4th at Brooklyn Borough Hall at 209 Joralemon Street, and in Manhattan at Hotel Trades Council at 707 8th Avenue. Those interested in further information can go to www.ows.re-configure.org The other productive effort of late is the effort to get occupier George Martinez on the ballot for Congress. Occupiers are going out amongst the public and getting the signatures which will enable him to go on the ballot. Both these efforts are an evolution of occupy, as occupy has to actively engage the system and the rest of society.