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Permalink Reply by Sybil Knight on October 28, 2011 at 8:40pm

To The Man... I retrieved the case of Ramen and the tuna. Until I hand it over, it is still my property. I chose to give my property to the homeless.

I know exactly what you mean by OLB acting as it they are saving the homeless. I was told, "if not for us, they wouldn't be able to sleep here at night." Where does OLB think the homeless have been sleeping all of these years? Since the homeless are bound to abide by the law, they sleep elsewhere at night and hang out in the park during the day. They are a community unto themselves. I was actually accused of taking my very own homeless people with me to Lincoln Park - LOL! 

It's odd how I ran into Bobbie and Beth, a homeless couple with three dogs, within 5 minutes of walking into the park, but the OLB crowd claim they have never seen them at the park - therefore I must be lying. Bobbie and Beth have been at Lincoln Park nearly every day for the past eight months. But they are invisible to OLB! Bobbie and Beth sleep elsewhere with their dogs at night, because unless you're a spoiled-rotten, entitlement demanding, middle-class "progressive," it's illegal to sleep in public parks in the city of Long Beach.

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Permalink Reply by ben smith on October 30, 2011 at 2:08am

Lol. So, this clown thinks he's part of the 1%. I'm going to try to make it back down there this week. I'll be happy to debate him. My first question: Mr. 1%, do you have a team of lobbyists in DC writing and manipulating tax codes for you? If he says "no," I'll laugh and walk away from this clown.

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Permalink Reply by Jeanine Birong on October 29, 2011 at 6:56am

There is some evidence that term limits are in fact the problem. For example, if you are finishing your last term, as a politician you are less likely to worry about the repercussions of making decisions when you know you won't have to answer for them. Also, some politicians will intentionally set their successor up for failure if they are from the opposing political party. (Think George Bush.)

Ironically, career politicians are more likely to be concerned with getting reelected, so they tend to listen better to their constituents.

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Permalink Reply by Sybil Knight on October 29, 2011 at 7:05am

Jeanine, you make a valid point. However you omitted the primary problem, career politicians are owned by big money. Big money is only interested in yield size, rate of return, and return on investment (ROI). If there were term limits, ROI would be almost zero because big money can't get enough bang for their buck in a few short years. 

If politician A. can only legally serve 6 years and big money invests millions into politician A.'s campaign - it's a six-year investment with no guarantee of having any yield and a limited or non-existent ROI once politician B. takes office. Big money is quite adept at getting the highest yield, the largest ROI, and the highest rate of return possible our of their investments, which is why they invest in politicians - on every level, and in both parties. 

Ordinarily, the greater the risk, the higher the return. Politics is the polar opposite; the lower the risk, they greater the return. the longer a politician is owned, the more he is obliged to do for big money, thus the it becomes safe and continuing investment in politician A. as opposed to a risky one-time gamble on politician B.

 

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Permalink Reply by JulsnMatt1028 on October 26, 2011 at 4:56pm

I had a real good conversation with a member of the LBPD, he was there the night these arrests were made, today that totally supports the movement. He wasn't too thrilled with the staging of the getting arrested part, but he experiences the same things as the rest of us, and he has the same worries. Pay check to pay check, and under constant threat of layoff and benefit cut backs.

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Permalink Reply by Erin on October 26, 2011 at 5:36pm

The police are definitely the 99% too!...unfortunately, many act as if they were the military for the 1% without recognizing this point. Which is exactly what the 1% relies on.

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on October 26, 2011 at 5:17pm

It took me awhile to get approved as a member to comment, so I've been sitting here stewing about the lies that are being spread about Occupy LB. 

I don't believe I can change anyone's mind regarding political beliefs. If you truly feel it's just that someone who can't afford adequate health care for cancer deserves to die of it, I have nothing to say to you. But if you are unaware of the heavily weighted influence that corporations have on politicians (Democrat, Republican: they're all the same) then you need to wake up! We gave these companies massive bailouts and they, in turn, outsourced jobs, laid off workers, and gave themselves huge bonuses. Then they paid no taxes! 

If you've never been down to Lincoln Park and talked to the occupiers there, please do. I used to work on Pine and used the parking structure across from the park, and never before have I seen such an abundance of food and supplies distributed to the homeless there. OLB participants regularly break bread with the homeless (many of whom have joined the movement). Saying that they TAKE food from homeless residents of Lincoln Park is a blatant lie, no doubt spread by someone who's against Occupy Wall Street and wants to affect public perception.

Furthermore, I have never heard anyone say anything remotely anti-Semitic at OLB, and I'd be incensed if I did. Erin posted a great link to an article about the history of people on the right alleging that social justice movements are a front for anti-Semitism. It's well known that Jews tend to be big supporters of progressive movements and the strategy from people like Rush Limbaugh is to turn Jews against these causes. It failed with civil rights and it will fail now. 

Finally, none of us were aware of Jonah's age. I have a 17-year-old, very bright daughter and I never would have guessed that they're the same age. We are all supportive of his family, and once we found out his age offered to help out with fines and dry cleaning of the suit he was wearing.

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