Occupy Wall Street Protests

[Spang]

A damn fine video that juxtaposes the responses by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama of the protests in the Middle East with images of the protests in the Middle East and the protests on Wall Street can be found here.

[Bubba Grizz]

[miir]

[Aabidano]

AS PROTESTS against financial power sweep the world this week, science may have confirmed the protesters' worst fears. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... world.html

If true, confirms what has been widely reported.

[Fairweather Pure]

My wife just received an email from the CBA (Consumer Bank Administration) about the protests on Wall Street. It's about student loans and how it is emerging as one of the bullet points of the protesters and how main stream media is honing in on the issue. A couple of politicians were singled out as contributing to the attention. The tone of the email was surprisingly...worried? I guess that's the best way to describe it. It almost has a "Oh shit, they're figuring things out" vibe to it. My wife further explained how student loans are exempt from bankruptcy and lots of politicians are scrambling to change that. (I didn't know this) Apparently banking institutions are fighting tooth and nail to prevent that form happening.

There's more, but I don't feel like typing it all out. It gets pretty technical too.

Just thought it was relevant to the topic and thought I would share some 133t insider infoz.

[kyoukan]

student loans need to be exempt from bankruptcy or financial institutions will simply stop offering them. there would be almost no reason not to declare bankruptcy after getting your degree if it was not exempt.

the exorbitant costs to attend university, even just a stat university is what the problem is. higher education should be funded almost entirely by the state. more people with higher education makes your country smarter, more competitive and more successful.

[Boogahz]

[miir]

LOL, some jackass posted the same thing on our guild forums.

[Boogahz]

[Funkmasterr]

Haha, awesome!

[Aslanna]

Why is skim milk considered disgusting? If anything it's the other way around. I can't stand 'regular' milk it just has a weird filmy aftertaste that I find gross.

[kyoukan]

skim milk is just water with shit in it to make it white

[Siji]

student loans need to be exempt from bankruptcy or financial institutions will simply stop offering them. there would be almost no reason not to declare bankruptcy after getting your degree if it was not exempt.

Other than the inability to get a job because your credit ranking is in the shitter and companies use that in the decision process. (Not that there's any jobs here to be had anyway)

the exorbitant costs to attend university, even just a stat university is what the problem is. higher education should be funded almost entirely by the state. more people with higher education makes your country smarter, more competitive and more successful.

This. Education is a fucking racket. $300-400 for a single book is bullshit. Schools intentionally covering the ISBN/barcodes in the bookstore so you can't look for the correct book elsewhere for less is bullshit. Books changing editions every single fucking semester and teachers requiring the 8th edition with no changes since the 1st is bullshit. I understand they need to make money to pay the bills, but it's fucking out of control.

[kyoukan]

most employers are looking for bad debt when they run your credit history, not bankruptcy. they check your credit to make sure you don't owe a gazillion dollars so you are not susceptible to bribes. not very many degree level jobs check your credit.

I would still rather declare bankruptcy and kill off a 200 thousand dollar debt than spend 20 years paying it back.

[Neroon]

My wife just received an email from the CBA (Consumer Bank Administration) about the protests on Wall Street. It's about student loans and how it is emerging as one of the bullet points of the protesters and how main stream media is honing in on the issue. A couple of politicians were singled out as contributing to the attention. The tone of the email was surprisingly...worried? I guess that's the best way to describe it. It almost has a "Oh shit, they're figuring things out" vibe to it. My wife further explained how student loans are exempt from bankruptcy and lots of politicians are scrambling to change that. (I didn't know this) Apparently banking institutions are fighting tooth and nail to prevent that form happening.

There's more, but I don't feel like typing it all out. It gets pretty technical too.

Just thought it was relevant to the topic and thought I would share some 133t insider infoz.

This reminds me of that internal memo that was leaked a few years back. It said something like "we better pray the people we are screwing over never remember that they hold 99% of the vote" (paraphrased!). I can't remember which financial institution it came from.

[Leonaerd]

Other than the inability to get a job because your credit ranking is in the shitter and companies use that in the decision process. (Not that there's any jobs here to be had anyway)

I don't mean to pick on you but this is a -very- common theme in America and at the protests, so I did want to say...

There are jobs! We have a youthful generation of squanderers, moochers, liars, and lazy, entitled dickbags who are ~shocked~ that their focus on weed and shitty photography has left them in a very vulnerable life position. They don't put in an honest effort and I don't feel sorry for their sad existence.

Learn a real fucking trade, you jackals. If you somehow can't learn to code in Java or learn Linux, then become a plumber, or an electrician, or a typist at a foreclosures & evictions firm, christ sakes. Just fucking TRY. I don't give a shit if you don't like it. You have to start somewhere and there are MANY places to start!!

I LEFT college to get a job. I used my own fucking brain (and the internet) to deduce that there is a major change in networking infrastructure going on ALL OVER THE COUNTRY and a need for new minds. I looked into it and decided it was something I'd like to be a part of. So I busted ass for a couple months to learn (!) the basics of networking, cold-called several places and nailed my first interview. Like a rational human being would do.

If I went to the protests, it would be to yell at people with signs that say "I NEED A DEGREE TO GET A JOB. I CAN'T GET A JOB TO AFFORD A DEGREE." Cry some more, little bitch. Vultures love the taste of tears.

Note: Of course there are people who have been totally fucked by the system. This rant was for the protesters who don't know dick about shit, and only help make the protests laughably ineffective.

[Boogahz]

We've been hiring like mad, and we get a lot of applicants. The sad thing is that most aren't qualified for even basic customer service roles. By qualified, I mean, they lack the skills to actually TALK to people. They look at multi-tasking as their greatest skill, yet they don't seem to even realize that focusing on a task is what the employer is looking for. Multi-tasking is not underwriting a risk whils surfing facebook.

[kyoukan]

kids these days

jobs all over the place and theyre all googling their ebays and don't know what its like to put in an honest day's work

economy is great its just those dirty beatniks

[Aabidano]

There are jobs! We have a youthful generation of squanderers, moochers, liars, and lazy, entitled dickbags who are ~shocked~ that their focus on weed and shitty photography has left them in a very vulnerable life position. They don't put in an honest effort and I don't feel sorry for their sad existence..

Those types have always been around, one difference is today more of them still believe what they're taught all through life that they're a special flower and the world owes them something. Most folks wake up to reality in or shortly after college when reality smacks them in the back of the head.

My employer has a lot of openings in North America, filling them isn't easy as you might think. Part of that's our own fault, managers are so specific when they write the job req no one makes it past the HR screen.

[Jice Virago]

The whole self esteem movement thing deffinately has not helped, thats for sure. Never let the ideal be the enemy of the practical. If a lot of these dipshits' parents weren't telling their yuppie spawn that they can do anything they want, they might have gone with more practical degrees, instead of the ocean of liberal arts bullshit out there. On the other hand, there are a lot of jobs that could easily be handled without a degree that employers sometimes insist the canidate have one, even if it is not relavent to the position. The whole student loan thing is a pretty big racket, to be sure. Lots of blame to spread around on this one, however.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

I thought this was a pretty good read: http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/10/d ... e-student/

Two big problems underlie this Facebook photo sharing campaign: 1) If people want to believe something is true, they often will, even when the belief is baseless, and even when faced with extensive evidence to the contrary (this is a crazy scary phenomenon; the University of Michigan did an interesting study on it). 2) We’re susceptible to self-serving bias, which means that we want to attribute our successes to internal or personal factors, even when external factors, like family support, economics, and privilege actually play a major role in those successes. In other words, most people tend to think of themselves as folks who’ve “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps” and obtained everything they have through grit and determination – when, in reality, very few people fit that narrow profile.

[Leonaerd]

about 50 people had been arrested at various locations in the financial district, mainly for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest

[Winnow]

Club those bastards. My stocks are doing well today. I don't want any Occupy Tomfoolery screwing up my day!

[Canelek]

Asshats "occupied" one of the bridges to downtown this morning, disrupting traffic, busses and light rail. Yes, they were disrupting us 99%ers that actually work for a living. "OMG HI WE WANT TO LEACH OFF OF WORKING AMERICANS MORE!!!11"

[Leonaerd]

For the most part, protesters' hearts and intentions are pure, but their actions show a lack of coordination and failure to decide the message they want to send. There's such depth to the problems which need to be fixed that I can understand this... confusion. It's unfortunate that by being loud, while not communicating much, people like Canelek have to be adversely affected. But what other recourse do they have to dissent publicly? Nothing will change until more people realize how widespread the problems are / will continue to become, and then choose to participate themselves, whether through voting or taking to the streets (or who knows?).

Yes, they were disrupting us 99%ers that actually work for a living. "OMG HI WE WANT TO LEACH OFF OF WORKING AMERICANS MORE!!!11"

70% of protesters have jobs. That's 15% more than the Tea Party can say.

[Canelek]

Yup. Intention and heart are there. They need direction. Hopefully DC has at least taken the general protest nature to heart. They could be so much more effective with a more focused approach. Bunch of folks arrested about an hour ago entering a Wells Fargo branch. THIS I get. THIS I understand and can back. Wall Street--same thing.

Let's not disrupt commuter arteries.

[Leonaerd]

Bunch of folks arrested about an hour ago entering a Wells Fargo branch. THIS I get. THIS I understand and can back. Wall Street--same thing

Occupying Wells Fargo would not draw attention and garner support from new faces. Occupying commuter arteries could. However, the activists need to show restraint, all the same.

How do you propose to enlighten the generally uninformed masses? How do you get them to begin to comprehend all the atrocities they support (through votes or with apathy)? We all need these people to play for their own team.

[Jice Virago]

Not to mention you can basically be assured that there is some 5th column style action going on like what the Gvt pulled during the Civil Rights protests. Except this time around, its likely mostly corperate backed false flaggers.

[kyoukan]

Club those bastards. My stocks are doing well today. I don't want any Occupy Tomfoolery screwing up my day!

I was not aware best buy was offering their floor staff a 401K now

[Asheran Mojomaster]

The whole self esteem movement thing deffinately has not helped, thats for sure. Never let the ideal be the enemy of the practical. If a lot of these dipshits' parents weren't telling their yuppie spawn that they can do anything they want, they might have gone with more practical degrees, instead of the ocean of liberal arts bullshit out there. On the other hand, there are a lot of jobs that could easily be handled without a degree that employers sometimes insist the canidate have one, even if it is not relavent to the position. The whole student loan thing is a pretty big racket, to be sure. Lots of blame to spread around on this one, however.

My step-father has a job in a fortune 50 (not 500) company at the top of his division, on the bleeding edge of VM ware (I don't exactly understand what he does, hes tried to explain it to me...but he doesn't understand my job either)...and he is barely hitting $100,000 a year. Why? He has no degree. The people under him are making 50% more than him because they have a basic college degree, and if he had one he would get bumped up to around 200-250k a year, but because he works 80-120 hours a week, does not have the time to get it...and if he did, they would probably just replace him with someone under him because they could pay them less since they have much less experience. Of course, none of them really know how to make any of his systems work and if he died today the company would lose millions of dollars trying to get everything back together.

The whole "degree to get a job and make good money" is completely retarded. He has had multiple people come in to apply for positions that his company needed, that were turned down by his bosses after he ok'd them because they had no degree or did not fit the "corporate image" and in turn they hired either idiots with a shit degree, but knew how to talk to people and who's ass to kiss, or in one case, turned down a team of 5 amazing workers in order to hire 20 Chinese workers who could program amazingly but had no ability to think on their own.

He is actually on the edge of quitting to come do contract work for my company just because we are willing to pay him more for his services, and he would enjoy seeing their stock tank when he leaves.

[Asheran Mojomaster]

On the other end of the degree spectrum, I am 50 hours off of a degree in Chemical engineering, 35 off of a degree in mathematics, and 28 off of a degree in microbiology...but I don't actually need any of them. I will get all 3 eventually, and probably go on to work on my masters then PhD in Genetic Engeering, but I already make 3x the amount I would make with any one of those degrees (or all 3).

The Genetic Engineering on the other hand is something I want to actually do, and hopefully by the time I reach that I can fund my own lab.

[Asheran Mojomaster]

Club those bastards. My stocks are doing well today. I don't want any Occupy Tomfoolery screwing up my day!

I was not aware best buy was offering their floor staff a 401K now

Actually, I think they do...or at least to the people in Geek Squad.

[Winnow]

I was not aware best buy was offering their floor staff a 401K now

I can only dream of working at Best Buy to get those discounts and a free blue shirt! I'm still working my way up to retail from fast food. Their registers don't have the easy meal buttons to press so I'm taking a math class at the local community college to enhance my resume.

With you having been a waitress, I could use some tips. That shit's like magic to me with all the stuff you need to remember...table numbers, who gets what, extra cheese, etc. I can see why you switched to gutting fish at a factory.

[Avestan]

I have three recs open reporting to me right now and they have not been filled for three months (2 for fresh college grads, one for someone with 5+ years experience). We have interviewed a ton, but I have a high bar not because I am an elitist hirer and only want "A Players" working for me. I have a high bar because it is a pain in the ass to fire someone if they do not work out.

The hoops I have to jump through to get rid of someone who is clearly not a good fit for a job are just painful. I would rather not fill the positions and do a lot of the work myself then take a risk on someone who is not absolutely perfect for the gig. Last year, the way I "got rid" of someone was to tell them that they were unlikely to ever get a raise and that I wanted him to spend 40% of his workday looking for jobs at other companies until he got hired. He left after 30 days.

Because those positions are not filled, I get to work a lot less on the stuff I would like to be working on, but for now - that's life.

[Canelek]

If your pool of candidates is not up to par, maybe you should not hire them as FTEs. I just hired two people to operate as DBAs working graveyard in a level 2 capacity out of RTP, NC. I wish they were fte because it ain't easy to train folks up for production work. IBM is weird about hiring FTEs though so I guess I have to make due. Can't really complain since at least I take pressure off my level 3 folks at least for 3-6 months, and I get local folks.

Not to disparage folks in Mumbai, but the demand is so high there that turnover is inevitable. Lots of talent!