dailydot:

10 shocking photos from Sandy’s aftermath
[photo via Sharon Feder, gif by fern]

latimes:

One Facebook post becomes national movement to abandon big banks: Echo Park woman’s post urging friends to move their money to credit unions in the wake of Bank of America’s plans for a monthly debit card fee results in more than 75,000 people pledging to participate in “Bank Transfer Day.”

Photo: “I definitely never expected it to become this big,” says Kristen Christian, the 27-year-old Echo Park resident who started “Bank Transfer Day.” Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

important news of the day, youngens.

I’m almost at that point of just removing ALL of my money from every bank I’m apart of and just having $0 to my name to start over clean. THIS CLOSE.

here’s my story for #occupywallst:

I’ve never been one to work for other people. I’ve been screwed over by companies time and time again, which is why I quickly transitioned into a freelancer at the first shot I got. but I gave up stability for this type of career I set out all on my own. 

I have no healthcare and I get regularly sick because I can’t go to a doctor, so I’m forced to just figure things out by myself, relying on common remedies and over the counter medicines to help me feel better, which takes too long.

I have no unemployment benefits because the government doesn’t recognize independent workers like myself. I rely on soley the income I receive from clients, which is few and far between, hardly ever do I get paid on time, let alone at a rate I deserve. 

I receive little tax return because I don’t make enough money, and I end up having to pay a lot of taxed right back to the state. 

I have no financial security. though I’m responsible with my money as best as I can be, I have very low funds for savings and emergency money. right now I’m behind on rent, I have a credit card bill of $1500 that’s business expenses, and I have 2 business trips coming up that I need to afford all on my own. there is no backup plan here.

I owe more than $60,000 in student loan debt to which CitiBank owns me. last month, they transferred all my loans to Sallie Mae without telling me. according to their repayment plans, I have to pay $500+ a month per loan to get rid of the debt in 10 years. every month I call to negotiate a reduced payment plan but they don’t offer any assistance, they’ve even lost my payments and mistracked my paperwork. now I get numerous notices every month saying I’m being reported to the department of education. yet I try to explain them my circumstances in not being able to pay that amount back so quickly, and nothing is resolved. so I just sit here and wait for money to roll in to pay as little or as much as I can to make ends meet. 

I chose to work for myself because I saw that no company would show me the respect I deserved as a young professional. I had to make due all on my own, no one was going to give me a chance, so I decided to make my own opportunities. 

the reason I’m with #occupywallst is because I’m relieved to see so many other young people pissed off about circumstances they found themselves in that weren’t their doing. we’re in a catch 22 it seems. we need $ to survive but can’t find a job. no one is hiring. no one has money to hire. those of us who don’t want to work a traditional job seek out social entrepreneurship, but we don’t get recognized for that by the government, so we have all the work and sacrifice upon ourselves. there’s no one to back us. it angers me that there isn’t a real secure, supportive union for workers like myself who chose to create their own jobs, despite the challenges we face on a regular basis. at least we took the initiative to do something ourselves rather than wait around for some big shot company to discover our talent. 

so yes, I’m a part of the 99%. and I want to see change. fast.

follow along and show support to other young people who want to build a new economy: 

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

http://occupytheplanet.tumblr.com/

https://occupywallst.org/

THIS:

We are watching the beginnings of the defiant self-assertion of a new generation of Americans, a generation who are looking forward to finishing their education with no jobs, no future, but still saddled with enormous and unforgivable debt. Most, I found, were of working-class or otherwise modest backgrounds, kids who did exactly what they were told they should: studied, got into college, and are now not just being punished for it, but humiliated – faced with a life of being treated as deadbeats, moral reprobates.

Is it really surprising they would like to have a word with the financial magnates who stole their future?

thedailywhat:

Occupy Wall Street News Round Up of the Day: A week after the “occupation” of Wall Street began with a “Day of Rage,” the peaceful demonstration took a turn for the violent as tensions between police and protesters boiled over.

Between 80 and 100 members of the so-called “99 percent” were arrested for impeding traffic; some were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. According to protest spokesman Patrick Bruner, the police response was “exceedingly violent.”

Bruner’s claim appears to be confirmed in footage from the Financial District and surrounding areas showing mostly unprovoked altercations between NYPD officers and demonstrators.

“I was shocked because it seemed like one person after another was being brutally tackled, and it wasn’t clear why,” rally attendee Meaghan Linick told the New York Daily News. “I was deeply disturbed to see them throw a man [down] and immediately they were pounding on him. Their arms were going back in the air. I couldn’t believe how violent five people needed to be against one unarmed man.”

Perhaps the most egregious incident involving excessive force came after NYPD officers began kettling protesters with orange police nets. In a video posted to YouTube, a uniformed officer can clearly be seen approaching a corralled group of women and macing them without warning or provocation, before quickly leaving the scene (see below).

In a statement to CBS New York, the NYPD said every arrest made was “justified.” The official Occupy Wall Street website is demanding jail time for the police officer responsible for pepper spraying the barricaded women.

Ironically, by attempting to curb the protesters’ continued Wall Street presence, the police may have unwittingly supplied the “diffuse and leaderless convocation of activists against greed, corporate influence, gross social inequality and other nasty byproducts of wayward capitalism” with the “infusion of energy” they had long hoped for.

Further Reading/Viewing: Photos: 1 2, Videos: 1 2 3, Twitter, Facebook, LiveStream.

[ows / nydn / bi / ap via wapo / cbsny / nyt.]