Zuccotti Park & Occupy into week 4

There's an excellent energy down at occupy wall street and finally demonstrators and occupying citizens are being taken seriously. No one goes hungry and even the homeless have joined them.

The first time I was there, I'd just lost my health insurance because my ex dropped me when he lost his job. We'd both signed our divorce stipulation where he'd agreed to cover me until the divorce. Without telling me anything then, he dropped me when he was fired from his job. I went down to the employee benefits board on Rector Street and explained my dilemma as a retiree. They agreed to reinstate me from the first of the month when I explained my concerns that I had seen several doctors that month already without realizing that I wasn't covered. After finishing I decided to walk about since I am rarely in that part of the city. I looked at the world trade center and decided to get a salad. After finishing my salad I looked out the window and saw there was a crowd in the square facing me.

Entering the square I looked around me and it seemed the park had been overtaken by homeless. I found myself standing next to a young lady with blond hair who appeared very business like. I started a conversation. "Are there a lot of homeless people who have moved into this park?" I asked, this only being day two of the occupy movement and not knowing anything.

The young woman who was dressed in a plain gray skirt and blouse with a jacket looked at me and laughed at my question. "We are demonstrating here," she said. "We're the 99 percent who have nothing because the 1 percent have it all. What better place to protest than here where it starts? I guess though to answer your question, there are many young people who can't get work and since they can't get work they figure they may as well get a head start with claiming a spot since pretty soon there's going to be a lot more of us homeless than before with degrees and all. So many have moved here so they have a place to be."

We discussed the possibility of a performance space since I always think about poetry and performance. I promised to research their since I liked what I heard. I hung out for several hours walking around and checking out the boobs which were nice to see and wrote down the website, occupywallstreet.com, intending to google it when I got home. Over the next few days I kept expecting to hear something on the news but it never happened. I decided to revisit and bring my poetry hoping there would be a performance space. And it just so happened that The People Staged was on when I got there. I signed my name and performed. The audience was great and there was no one drink minimum or entrance fee and they all screamed "encore!" For the first time in years I felt hopeful about our political state of mind. The country has turned into us the worker bees, being peons, and the big folk take everything we earn except leaving us enough to be strong enough to work for them.


Below are pics taken today.

Below is G. Wagner who displays his sign along with his art and support. Occupy Wall Street is inspiring artists.

David Everitt-Carlson 
a homeless blogger getting his point across.

Good writing graffiti by homeless blogger.

We asked for change, we prayed for change, we looked for change but there's been very little.

Don't box us in. We need space and freedom to grow.

Don't give to the greedy, give to the needy - yes indeedy! We will overcome!

Jamming the day and night, to bring about peace and change. Occupy all day all week!

This man works as a home health aide but still has to live at a shelter. He works so doesn't qualify for health care or food stamps. When I told him about the "medicaid spend down" he had no clue what  I was speaking of.

The smell of people, incense and pot permeated the air along with hopes and dreams.

times are tough for the 99 %

Help me go & speak to Obama for the 99% & you!

I'm a poor artist surviving on a pension & SS. I'm seeking donations to go Obama's dinner so I can break things down to him for how it is for the unprivileged. I would love to have an opportunity to explain how hard it is for us who will never own a home, for those of us who live right in the way of people fracking our water supply so that in several years probably half of us will be dead and those of us who survive will be diseased. I would definitely like an opportunity to voice my opinion. I want to tell Obama how it is everyone's basic right to have adequate medical care food and shelter.

I want him to know that the poor need an expansion of social welfare programs like we had in the Johnson era and that he needs to stop giving big pay outs to people on Wall Street, that he needs to follow President Roosevelt's tactics when it come to taxing the very wealthy because the poor can no longer shelter everything plus pay for everything the rich want.

No one can afford their own apartment anymore. Where are people to go?
There's no jobs and what about the man who makes 23000 and has 3 young children and a wife? He pays taxes and can barely pay the rent.
Things are rough all around for the 99 percent.

For the first times in years - spending some time with the 99% in Zocotti Park and participating in their activities and sharing their space, I feel hopeful that sometime in my lifetime there will be change and more equitable distribution of resources, jobs, money for food medical care for working poor. I haven't felt this hopeful in years.

I even got to hang out with Uncle Eddie & Robin which was great fun. Robin said they'd traveled from West Virginia to be with their brothers and sisters. Uncle Eddie even accompanied me with his banjo when I performed the following poem. Very cool people.

Billie’s Consumerism Blues

What I find crazy is that none of this is being reported in the news. I mean why should we know that a grass roots organization has moved into a park on Wall Street or that this same grass roots population has the same type demonstrations going on in at least 50 more cities.

Yesterday at occupywallstreet.com I was surprised to learn that this occupation is going on in other cities simultaneously and somehow miraculously this news is being kept from our citizenry.
I was really happy to be there today and see so much going on. They even had a performance corner which I participated in which was great fun.

A lot of solidarity permeates the air!

Check the link below at Kevin Zeese's blog to see exactly where and spread the word everywhere to everyone you know:

occupy occupy occupy 
This is a great blog for disseminating information.
http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/99-are-standing-everywhere-occupy-together

Celebrities Susan Sarandon and Michael Moore visit Zucotti park

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042317/Occupy-Wall-Street-Michael-Moore-joins-protesters-New-York.html

Above is a profile of Uncle Eddie and below is Robin.

And here's Robin, his cohort in crime!

occupy wall street all day all week is the chant you hear!

Defenders of Wildlife: Save Polar Bear Homes

Call the president today and speak your mind. I've done so before but I never gotten to talk to two people before.


Let me explain.
Being that I have very little money to give to charitable organizations and causes, I spend some time each week signing petitions to make my voice heard about issues I am concerned about. I spend at least 2 hours a week doing this but sometimes 2 or 3 times this much and as many as 6 to 8 hours a week.


My time is Government given - nah that's joke.
My time is God Given so every tasty morsel that I give of my time - is the most valuable commodity I have to give.

I urge those of you who can to make an effort to donate whatever you're able to of your time to help the voices of others who need to be heard. Give of your time to sign off on petitions and write letters on their behalf to government officials here and overseas. There are many beings around the world suffering right now either due to stupidity, war, acts of revenge or acts of nature.


There are many situations where sentient beings are continuing to be hurt sometimes due to combinations of ignorance and prejudice. People are made outcastes as a result of whoever they are or their beliefs - I want cruelty and revenge to end. Cruelty is not acceptable and has to stop with me.

I aim to be self observant above all and call myself to task.

grrr off with the tangents - back to the telephone call to President Obama-

I explained to the "first lady" that I was "Joy Leftow from New York City and I'm calling to urge the President to..." was as far as I got. First Lady said, "Hold on a minute, there's a special line to leave your message." and I expected to be taped on a answering machine which has happened before or the phone rings and rings or I get a message advising me to call another day instead.

Instead lady number two answered and said, "hello," and identified herself as "presidents desk for ...".

I dunno.

I was so flabbergasted to hear a human voice, I didn't catch a few words or perhaps combined with my silly hearing problem I couldn't understand what she said but somehow I knew it was my turn to speak my piece. Lady two didn't ask me to identify myself but I did anyway.

Hi," I said, "I'm Joy Leftow from New York City and I 'm calling to urge the President to protect the Artic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development infringing on an animal refuge.

She said,"Ok, anything else."

I continued, "The president should spend more money on development of alternative energy sources to help our planet remain a place for our species to survive because as things are now humanity will die out in a couple of hundred years the way we keep abusing our planet.

I want the president to know that I think it is important for us to explore more viable sources such as wind and solar combined so we no longer need to use oil.

She said, "Just a minute please. ... OK, is there anything else you'd like to tell Mr. President?"

I couldn't believe it - She actually let me say what I wanted to say and was willing to let me talk more if I wanted to. She seemed to have difficulty keeping up - maybe she was taking notes or doing steno or only trying to write as best and fast as she could.


DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
Urge President Obama to Permanently Protect the Arctic Refuge

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- a national treasure that polar bears, arctic foxes, millions of migratory birds and other wildlife depend on for survival.

To celebrate this special occasion, thousands of people from across the country are calling on President Obama to permanently protect this unique national treasure and the wildlife that depend on it to survive.

Please call President Obama today at (202) 456-1414 and deliver this simple message:

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I’m calling from [YOUR STATE] to urge you to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development. The Arctic Refuge is a unique national treasure that is one of the most important onshore denning habitats for our struggling polar bears. It is also home to America’s largest caribou herd, arctic foxes and millions of migratory birds. Please do all you can to protect this fragile and special place.