Occupy Duluth? Who?? Wha?!?

Here is a brief interview with a couple of local personalities, David Ross (head of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce) and Joel Kilgour (activist and member of Loaves & Fishes) re: Change and the Occupy movement. 

If you’re interested in what’s going on, locally, check out the Occupy Duluth Facebook Group.

66 Comments

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

Thank you so much for posting this.  I was wondering when the PDD community was going to discuss this. Thank you everyone who is a part of Occupy Duluth.  I am grateful to you.

hbh1

about 12 years ago

Excellent! Joel knows exactly what he's talking about, and it's great to see David Ross pinned down on some of the issues. (I'm glad to see he was willing to step up and speak out. It's always surprising to see someone who's not "supposed to be" on your side speak up about the 99% who are business owners struggling to make their way with a stacked deck in favor of the big corporations.)

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago

I'm not rich, not even close, but I don't consider myself as part of the 99% as is claimed, and I am not part of the 1%. I'm an average Joe who has worked hard, found my own way to pay for school (joined the Army), has worked since I was sixteen at both great jobs and not so great jobs, and realizes that it isn't the government or wall streets responsibility to take care of my wants and needs, but my own. I don't protest because I have responsibilities in my life and can't afford to bang drums and fly signs all day griping about how terrible it is that others have more than me. This is America and if you can find a way to make millions then do it! If not, don't bitch about those who have. Want an education? Work your way through college, join the armed forces, get scholarships, apply for grants. I for one have no empathy nor sympathy for your cause nor do I wish to be considered the 99%. Speak for yourselves, not those of us in the world who don't share your views.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago

I guess what confuses me about Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Duluth or Occupy Whatever is that I don't really see what the end goal is. I haven't really followed this movement at all or searched the Internet for a mission statement, but the impression I have is that it's kind of a grassroots middle finger to corporate greed. That's fine, I suppose, but what are the corporations of the world supposed to do to convince the protestors to roll up their tents and declare victory? A protest on greed is like a war on terror, isn't it?

So, I know why the occupiers are upset, but I don't know what they want. I have no idea what Jadiaz is so upset about, but I know I don't want him to explain it any further.

Codie

about 12 years ago

"Our one demand"

Bret

about 12 years ago

Good job, Joel and all!  Keep it up!

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago

With all due respect to everyone involved, that video of Dylan Ratigan shouting did not answer my question at all and was only slightly less silly than one of those terrible Tim Pawlenty for President commercials.

Then we go from having "one demand" in the video to more demands than I can count in that declaration, of which I could only tolerate reading the first two paragraphs.

I was interested in what David Ross and Joel Kilgour had to say, but I still don't understand where this is supposed to be going. However, I do see there seems to be some semblance of a collective goal -- fuzzy as it might be to me -- so I'll consider myself more informed than I was yesterday and thank you for the info. Keep banging your drums and maybe I'll hear them before you get tired.

DaVe

about 12 years ago

This is just the beginning. We shouldn't expect simple demands regarding the complex problems the demonstrators are identifying. The richest 1% own 42 % of financial wealth, and the bottom 80% own only 7%.  That's bad enough, but the rich don't just use their wealth to buy yachts and mansions, they use it to buy out our democracy, at our expense. The national Chamber of Commerce is out front in the class-war being waged against average Americans. (U.S. Chamber Watch.) So much so that many local Chambers are parting ways with them. The Occupy Movement is true populism, still finding its voice. More power to them.

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago

Pretty simple, Paul. I'm upset about people complaining they aren't as wealthy as those on Wall Street, instead of going out and doing something to better their situation instead of just wailing that they deserve the wealth of those who earned it.

brian

about 12 years ago

I don't think the complaint is that they don't have as much money as a wall street banker, it's that corporate money has corrupted the political process.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago

Exactly. I've made it clear that I'm not involved in this at all and barely have followed it, but I think the protesters are arguing that wealthy people may have earned much of their wealth, but are able to leverage it in unreasonable ways to compound that wealth at the expense of others.

There's no denying the rich are getting richer and the middle class is getting poorer in this country. And it's not because a handful of people are super hardworking and industrious while the majority of folks are plain lazy.

I've got a pretty cozy life, but I know I've only partially earned it. A lot of good luck has kept me on track. There are people who work much harder than me who have a lot less to show for it.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

And there are people who thought they were part of the "haves," until they lost their health insurance, got a long-term illness, and proceeded to bankrupt themselves.  Disheartening to see, worse to experience, while reading about the corruption of morals and of our "democracy" by and for big corporations.  

My dad, a very hard worker, former military, and small business owner, about as rock solid Republican as they come, would have been appalled at the state of our country, the discrepancy of wealth, and the disappearance of the middle class.

So maybe the goal, hazy as it is, is simply to start talking about how we can get our country back and become a decent society again.

I am so grateful someone is actually drawing attention to it.  Thank you so much.

DaVe

about 12 years ago

I'm sure there are wealthy folks who have truly earned their fortunes by providing useful goods or services. I don't bemoan doctors making lots of money for what they do. But those who get rich through exploiting labor, or speculating on commodities while more people go hungry because of that speculation, or those who get rich trashing entire economies through derivative scams and housing bubbles, or those who get rich by denying people health care, or get rich by transferring wealth from tax payers to bankers, these people are currently out of control and it's time to push back.

Wes Scott

about 12 years ago

I wish people would really push back. Just some drum and noise ain't going to cut it. Winter is coming and soon they will be gone.

zra

about 12 years ago

I don't hear anything about wanting to be rich or being jealous of those who are rich, or even wanting something in the way of due compensation at all ... they're pissed off at the amount of corporate corruption and influence on the government, to the detriment of the public. 

As much as the Me Party wants government out of business, the Occupy movement wants business out of government. The system we have is a two-way street, with money flowing both directions in the way of campaign contributions for tax breaks and loopholes, deregulation and other such favors.

I think the strategy at this point seems to be that they're gonna stay put and raise as much noise as possible and attract as much attention to themselves as possible until one of two things happens:

1. The people we elected start getting a conscience and a clue and realize that these people are serious ... and start a) actually doing something about really fixing our economy and infrastructure and b) knock it off with this two-sided black-and-white party-line bullshit that's keeping us divided, or ...

2. Bide their time til the next election cycle and hit the government with another round of pink slips.

Whatever happens, the next 18 months ought to be really interesting. The government isn't broken people ... politics is.

brautigan

about 12 years ago

Wow. I can't believe I missed all this exciting discourse!!?! Yeah, Paul, that Dylan Ratigan video -- even though he makes good points -- kinda gets under my skin. 

Also, it's great that you brought up that great big (stock) question that all the skeptics of this epically huge movement ask: "Why are they doing this?? What do these people want??!?!" My personal take (and may it have you wishing you'd never asked) is this: Why is it so necessary to focus on the end goal(s)? Isn't it about the process? How many grandiose projects do we undertake, how many true adventures have definitive destinations/endings? Okay, I admit this is a politically motivated and, admittedly, pretty damn well-organized effort by an inordinate amount of disenfranchised people, not a trip to the Boundary Waters, but it's still an adventure in democracy. Engaging in a process that may (or may not) bring about the change you'd like to see is what it should be about. Lest we forget what country we live in.

Bob

about 12 years ago

Is Occupy Duluth a good place to meet chicks?

brautigan

about 12 years ago

I dunno, "Bob..." Is Duluth a good place to raise a family?

DaVe

about 12 years ago

The Occupy Movement has already been a great success because it has started this dialogue. If it were only so simple as saying " end the war," or "this tyrant must go," then they might already have clear demands. But in fighting things like mortgage-backed securities or the corporate capture of government and all the rest, they are taking on the whole octopus, the whole class-system and dark side of capitalism we've been indoctrinated since birth into ignoring/accepting. The faux (Fox) populism of the Tea Party has been a red-herring, misdirecting genuine outrage, while the over-lords laugh all the way to the bank. The protests in Madison showed  what genuine populism looks like, and now Occupy takes it to the next level.

Jim

about 12 years ago

How much does Ross make per year? Anyone have a clue? I believe he gets paid over $150k per year. For what? What happened to the Old Ben and Jerry's model? How about if any corporation that receives any type of government money/aid must maintain a renumeration policy that requires the highest paid employee to make a maximum of say, 10 or 20 times that of the lowest paid employee? He's a fucking hypocrite that likes to talk out of both sides of his mouth.

B-man

about 12 years ago

I think I am with Jim on this one. (Kinda scary.)

Mr. Ross deflected his answer about the message of the protesters to the fact that he supports anyone's right to voice an opinion.  A very different statement than one of support for the message of said protesters.

I do not want equal wealth distribution, I want an equal opportunity for wealth accumulation.  So yeah, I am the 99%.

wildgoose

about 12 years ago

My favorite one of their slogans is 

 "Banks got a bailout, we got sold out." 

I'm mad, too. Supply side economics just does not make sense to me, it doesn't work, and it never will.  I definitely ally myself with the Occupy Wall Street folks even though I can't join them.  Yet.  I wonder if the revolution is upon us and stuff like this makes me think maybe it is.

Jim

about 12 years ago

Aaah shucks, B-man...

wildgoose

about 12 years ago

Dave Ross is basically a good guy that does care a lot about this community.  He is very respected in the business community and having him say he is sympathetic to the occupiers is nice to see.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago

I will give credit to Occupy Duluth for generating two of my favorite photos of 2011 so far.



I don't know who shot this pic of Allen Richardson, but it's hot. Allen is all about stars, stripes and rainbows.



Andrew Perfetti shot this photo of Israel Malachi and Paul King, which is even hotter.

doubledutch

about 12 years ago

It doesn't bother me that Ross chose to be a bit vague and Minnesota-nice, even though I generally appreciate candor.  It's better than being combative, dismissive and rude.  It's certainly better than calling someone's personal integrity into question based solely on his income.  

I don't know this guy, but I know that wealth doesn't prevent people from seeing disparity and taking some step toward correcting it, if that's the kind of person they are.  There are generous hearts and selfish hearts at all income levels.

jim

about 12 years ago

Yeah Goose, a really good, rich guy. Are you his secretary? Is that why you would stick up for such an abomination? His salary is actually closer to $185,000 per year. Hmmm, what has he done for the business community in Duluth? Why isn't the protesters on his doorstep. He's one of the 1%, isn't he?? Why aren't people completely up in arms about that? It's a fucking outrage. Here's the Chamber's filing.

c-freak

about 12 years ago

My one demand is for Connelly's Tom and Jerry's mix.

doubledutch

about 12 years ago

(*taking* some step . . . anyway)

Paul.  I just love you so much.  I relate to a lot of what you said - your first post on this thread is basically where I was at when I started learning more about OWS.  I like clear goals, rules and procedures, so naming the (complex and overwhelming) problem without also saying, "and here's where we're going and how we'll get there" was a little off-putting to me at first.  But because there is so much wrong - and because there are so many, many ways to make things better - it's just not that simple.  A lot of brainstorming has to happen to come up with a solid message and a good plan, which means there are a lot of people throwing ideas out there from a lot of different perspectives, and some aren't as strong as others.  You're a writer, so I bet you can relate to the early brain-spew you have to sift through to find the really solid little pieces you can ultimately use to create something great (and, in your case, hilarious).  This thing is in those early stages, I guess, but some good chunks are already floating to the top of the barf bucket, and it's really exciting and inspiring.

Bad Cat!

about 12 years ago

I think the occupy movement isn't so much a clear message, but rather, people have the general feeling that "something is wrong."

I think this even links to middle-east uprisings and British riots. People can't define in a clear, organized manner what is the problem, they just know there is one.

wildgoose

about 12 years ago

+1 DoubleDutch (as usual)  Further, I nominate DoubleDutch as PDD den mother.

Codie

about 12 years ago

I will admit the Dylan Ratigan video I posted was rather over-the-top. I don't have TV, so I don't know anything about his show. But I really like his resolution that the president should get up and tell the people, "You have a bought congress. You all know it, now I will admit it, and now we are going to identify how to fix it." I think that even if Mayor Ness made a speech like that, it would still make a big impact.

Also, does anybody know whether Israel Malachi and Paul King were being serious or facetious about their demonstration? At first, I thought they were doing the "Billionaires for Wealthcare" spoof, but then more and more people were saying that they are being totally serious.

kriss Osbakken

about 12 years ago

Paul, is that coming from you? Haven't you noticed the makeover/takeover of the riches of the world, of the people of the world, of the earth itself by a few? 

Please read up on the response of the Icelandic people to their debacle. They are in the process of rewriting their constitution. They have issued arrest warrants for the banksters that threw them to the curb. They have thumbed their nose at the threats of the IMF.  

High time Occupy is on the bandwagon: with Greece, Spain, Italy, maybe even with Iceland.

Wes Scott

about 12 years ago

Banks have been screwing us since day one. But folks keep going to them? If folks were really upset they would go elsewhere. Perhaps a credit union? Vote with your feet! And how many of these protestors vote in the first place? I'd love to know that fact. I don't disagree with their points at all. But banging drums and chanting? Pointless.

DaVe

about 12 years ago

My favorite slogan from OWS:

"I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."

Codie

about 12 years ago

As the groups designated "drum banger", I should state that I actively vote in every election. And I think that people should vote. However, unless you acknowledge that the U.S. congress and executive branch have been bought-out, then the whole act of voting in U.S. elections is nothing more than a charade.

It's like voting to either get stabbed in the leg or stabbed in the chest. If you're getting stabbed in the chest, don't blame the people who had no interest in being stabbed at all. Blame the person stabbing you.

Buck Skinner

about 12 years ago

It's pretty clearly defined to me,  just like a multi-headed dragon, complex and sometimes hard to describe. I just watched this film called Ironclad, about King John, a truly great bastard of history.  It was a gruesome epic about a few folks, against great odds, who finally decide to make a stand at long last, against the tyranny who'd plagued their land through many years. 'A pittance for the king' was always the slogan, war was the answer, and monarchy was all they ever knew. 

For thousands of years, those our mostly ancestors, lived in fear of disease and invasion by their neighbors, and in fear of their king who would often use his 'subjects' to achieve his private futile means.  Then there was Ghengis Khan, not the only time a ruler with a few devoted followers would almost take over the world.  Granted, he allowed freedom of expression though religion, but if for one instant he doubted your allegiance to him, it was the village ... man, woman, and child.  We may have freedom of religion here, but many are still ostracized for their choices, and we still won't elect a non-Christian president. 

And so it would seem, that the prevailing 'shit-pattern' of all these years of hacking each other to pieces, with no good cause, was having one person in charge of everything. Or fighting over the ideas of one person. 
 
Never long until greed and/or insanity takes over the free goodwill of a lone ruler.  Our 'founding fathers,' in their divine brilliance, having experienced firsthand the effects of inbreeding on a ruling class,  tried to create a counter-revolutionary system to the one they tried and didn't like, and when they decided to leave it, wrote into their own final credo of how to run the show, in their best efforts to save the future by  avoiding the ruler syndrome, that if those folks didn't like how their system was going, it was their civic duty to make their own plan and change it. 
 
So as we play witness to the Arab Spring of 2012, amidst yet another long year of leading up to yet another Election Day Blues, we may find ourselves asking if deregulated derivatives, shoddy corporate craftsmanship, a Global Spending Crisis, and meltdown, and the War on Countless Fronts, all spiraling out of control like a great Morning Glory doesn't all add up to some glowing light bulb in our complex Homosapienses brains? Something as it were was happening here and we weren't sure what it was? As though the Great Concrete Gulf Oil Blowout, Gulf War, and Golf weren't somehow all shenanigans  related?
  
The cold hard facts are, the current plan sucks, the endless bickering between two parties is your lordship madam.  And for Evolving Man, this is beneath our true potential.  At minimum, by making all politicians have doctoral degrees, be vouched for by their peers might be one of the ways out our of biggest problem, waring among the classes, and the wealthy who run the show, but just how relative is it to our human potential?  We're arguably far better off now than in the days of the Viking invasions, or being eaten by a Cave Bear? We can even still tie our shoes!  As we not -so- slowly poison ourselves with petrol in the plastic we eat and drink, and dump when a cheap biodegradable alternative is certainly within our easy grasp. Why aren't we putting farmers to work growing hemp, wheat and corn? And everything else? Having by way of incentive and  birth right,  choked ourselves with our own policies, and not choked the wrong people with the right policies, hence encouraged a system which attracts leaders of no great moral character, usually without degrees, and without intensity that isn't all fire and brimstone, and henny penny sky is falling, while still retaining their abilities to accept endless bouts of hookers, alcohol, and blow in the best hotels with their 'lobbyists' or buddies as you and I call them, on all expense payed trips to their offshore accounts which may include anything from pharmaceutical, oil, insurance, to just plain money that was never there in the first place. And at their age, if they loose their vitality, Viagra. So if people feel like getting together, young and old alike, and "occupying,"in a nonviolent manner, hanging out if you will, if it makes them feel better, while they draw up their own lists of shit needs fixing, isn't it the American Way?  People getting out and meeting their neighbors in an often otherwise closed shade, fenced off world, meeting folks they didn't grow up with, and getting out into it on a beautiful Autumn day? Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe the question really is, if you've ever felt like a subject or a number, or maybe you sit at a computer all day in an office and dream of being out in nature sometimes instead, then mightn't you draw up your own things what need fixing list, and go out and share them with your neighbor.  Sky is the limit.

"The money isn't real Son"  George's dad

OGDulutian

about 12 years ago

Today it was reported that GE had 3rd quarter net profits of 3.2 billion. And this being the largest U.S. corporation that pays zero Federal Income Tax. The Occupy folks should be camped out in front of every GE office nationwide. In addition GE receives numerous handouts from our government which is most likely why they can operate at such high profitability. Oh yeah, and they just send a bunch of jobs over seas ... and last but not least the CEO of GE is also the Jobs Czar!

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

Right on, Codie and OGDulutian.  Voting is a joke anymore at the federal level.  It seems like every Congressperson now (WWWD?) is bought and sold to some extent.  Even votes that seem to count (e.g. Franken votes) get us nowhere ultimately, when a small group of bought-and-paid for representatives can shut down what the people want to see their government do (e.g. national health care, supported by the majority of voters).

Voting, just to show you're a caring, proactive citizen, is a sham too, I think.  Casting a vote used to mean something.  Now it just means an empty gesture.

That is why I am thrilled to see Occupy Duluth et al. loudly point out what we all know to be true:  corruption motivates the 'people's representatives.'

Allen Richardson

about 12 years ago

Israel Malachi and Paul King were supporting Wall Street without any shred of irony. However, Israel doesn't vote so who cares?

Allen Richardson

about 12 years ago

And Richard Thomas took that photo.

DaVe

about 12 years ago

What a great thread. And so little bickering between the often-at-loggerheads commenters.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago

I think most of the divisive commenters have switched from PDD to Outkube.

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago

So a group of business owners can't vote to use their company's profits to support a candidate, but a group of workers as a Union can use their money to support a candidate?

If you want corporations, which are nothing but a collection of individuals, out of elections, then you must protest to have unions, which are nothing but a collection of individuals, out of elections as well. 

I'm fine with it being only individuals as long as it is truly only individuals.
You can't support one's right to vote without supporting the other's right. You also can't protest one's right to vote without protesting the other. 
Someone else mentioned that Congress is bought, but failed to mention so is the presidency.

carla

about 12 years ago

We kinda fell for that hopey changey thing once before....

calk

about 12 years ago

I visited Liberty Plaza in NYC earlier this week. It was inspiring. Old people, young people, men, women, black, white, Native... People are fed up, and rightfully so. It was nice to cut through the media b.s and to see what the occupation in NYC is really like. Anyway, my favorite sign -- which I can't figure out how to upload in a comment, was "Too big to fail is too big to allow."

Yup.

Codie

about 12 years ago

Jadiaz, of course the president is bought. I suspect that all of Washington, save for some lowly House members, has been bought up at some point.

The only reason unions support political campaigns is because big corporate execs started it first. The "left" and "right" in America has always been a struggle between labor and management, respectively. Management (i.e. your landowners, mining companies, bankers, business leaders, etc) have been pushing politicians to suppress workers rights, safe workplace mandates, minimum wage, child labor laws, and so on since the very beginning. Unions emerged into the political sphere as workers (i.e. the "people") decided they had enough and started working together to fight back.

Long story short: Don't blame the mouse for what the cat started.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

Okay, so I have to actually agree with JAdiaz on this one. Back when we employees of WI actually had unions, I always felt bad that Bush/McCain/etc voters saw their union dues going to support Dems.  I would have been mightily pissed off if my dues went to support the Bush/Cheney Campaign of Doom.

DaVe

about 12 years ago

Public campaign financing could take ALL the special interest money out of political campaigns. And TV networks could be required to sell air time at bargain-basement prices, so the tax burden wouldn't be too high.

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago

Codie: Unions were a great thing once upon a time, like our government. The fact is that both unions and corporations should have a say or neither should. As was pointed out, why should Unions be allowed to collect dues from all members and use that money to support candidates that a portion wants nothing to do with? Unions are no better than corporations anymore frankly. Unions brought us a ton of great things back in the day, but now they extort their own members and the tax payers as much as major corporations. I can't get behind a movement that is so one sided and so ill organized in its goals.

digit3

about 12 years ago

Ironic how folks are bitching about David Ross' salary and questioning what he does for it when I can guarantee that I were to go down to Occupy Duluth there would be a bunch of folks staring vacantly at their iPhones and never once considering the fact that Apple makes BILLIONS per quarter and their CEO Tim Cook takes in boatloads per year in salary, bonuses, and stock options. http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/26/technology/tim_cook_stock_bonus/index.htm 
I guess that it is different because Apple provides neat little techno objects yet the Duluth Chamber in some people's eyes doesn't do much?

DaVe

about 12 years ago

@Jadiaz- Unions are more important now than ever. The common, simplistic argument against them is usually: "they protect slackers." However, problem employees, who are an exception, can be fired through legitimate channels. Corporate profits are at an all-time high, yet more and more people are falling into poverty. No progress has ever been made in the fight for economic fairness without a struggle, usually with unions at the forefront. 

Job security is a wonderful thing. So are all the other benefits that unions have brought us, including  benefits now enjoyed by non-union workers. Anti-union Walmart is the largest employer in the United States. Three of the richest 10 Americans is a Walmart heir (it was four until recently). Yet Walmart is the poster child for low wages and crappy benefits. In fact, Walmart just scaled back its pathetic health benefits. No union to question that? Tough luck. The official poverty level for a family of four is $22,314. Over 769,000 Walmart employees earn less than $9 an hour, which would put them in poverty. When they need food stamps or other help, that is basically taxpayers subsidizing Walmart. 

Unions may not be perfect, but they are a tried and true way to better the lives of working people. Authoritarians hate them, because they have a democratizing effect in the work place. Godwin's Law Alert: Unions were one of the first things Hitler went after. Likewise, most every other right-wing despot. It's time for more and bigger and stronger unions. Thanks to those involved in the Occupy Movement.

zra

about 12 years ago

+1 to DaVe (from a non-union worker).

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago

Right wing Despots eh? How convienent you forget about the Left Wing Democrats in Massachusettes going against Unions in that state. But hey, keep invoking Hitler to keep your delusions that every conservative, heck only conservatives, are heartless evil people. Cause we all know only liberals can care about people.

Jim

about 12 years ago

-1 to DaVe from a former union worker. Unions are worthless. While you criticize Walmart for their management practices, I wonder if the people who work their would have the same opinion? How about the millions who shop there? Typical liberal babble.

-Berv

about 12 years ago

Union personhood.

Codie

about 12 years ago

Here's another one for Jadiaz:



Source

...

about 12 years ago

The other day I was waiting in the Transit Center, between the doors.  People were smoking outside so I was standing away from it.  Then I heard the chanting outside.  It peaked my interest until the megaphone came inside as well.  It's hard for me to WANT to know more to a group of people that hurt my ears by using a megaphone in an area not designed for one.  Instead, I had to cover my ears.  I do want to hear why people are protesting, but I don't want to hear slogans that don't explain anything.  Keep it respectful to bystanders please!

Claire

about 12 years ago

I had to laugh at WDIO's Oct. 24 "news"report about David Ross's taped comments about the Occupy Duluth movement, and the movement in general, that kicked off this thread. WDIO's "news" story is headlined:  
"David Ross Takes Heat for 'Occupied' Comments."
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2342736.shtml?cat=10335.

WDIO refers to the Youtube video, so I went there to see who was giving Mr. Ross grief for his opinions. There are 3 comments posted there by
1. retrognomerecordings; 2. Skrunkcat; and 3. varnishyourboard. Only one -- by Skrunkcat -- is (mildly) negative.

WDIO also referred to a local website that's run by a right-wing extremist who goes by several screen names as their source for this story. So I held my nose and went there. The website looks like the Weekly World News and reads like a middle-schooler is writing for it. A link to the video was posted there, as WDIO claimed, and, yes, there were comments critical of David Ross posted there! There were six comments, and they were posted by such solid citizens as 1. David Smith. 2. Tony R. 3. Butch; 4. Scott M; 5. Dave; and 6. Dan H. The comments were all, as is to be expected, very nasty.

So, my question for WDIO is, how is this news? Who gives a damn what a half-dozen sock puppets who don't even have the cojones to identify themselves post on a website run by another anonymous sock puppet?

I'm just disgusted that WDIO would reach down into the sewer like this and air such blather. But then, this is the same news program that airs stories about cats stuck in trees and dogs chasing cars, right? Talk about people being asleep at the switch there. I'd love to know their rationale for airing such crap, and sent them an email. Haven't heard back though, and I am not holding my breath.

ryanunderwood

about 12 years ago

I am the 1%.  
http://www.underthewood.com/post/11953476785/i-am-the-1
Just a diff. perspective, not a criticism.

brautigan

about 12 years ago

ryanunderwood, interesting insight. My first notion was to call you a tool, but I see you are one of Jesus' people and I respect that; however, where exactly does your religious affiliation, your blog/insights, and middle-class-ness put you, in regard to the OWS movement and the 99%? Does the movement have god on its side?

ruby2sd4y

about 12 years ago

Curious About Occupy?

From a student bulletin:

Thursday, November 17th at 4 pm in the Intercultural Center @ The College of St. Scholastica

A small group of individuals who are very involved in the Duluth
initiative of the Occupy Wall Street Movement will be coming to help
facilitate a discussion on the intent and purpose of the movement, how
the Duluth Occupy runs, etc. So whether you are interested in getting
involved, want to learn more, have questions or are just plain
confused about what Occupy Duluth is all about, come join the
conversation.

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I-35 Mega Project — Final Complaints

Since the I-35 reconstruction is wrapping up and the freeway will be getting back to normal soon, it's probably a...

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