Number of changes made by Wall Street and the world banking cartel since this movement started: 0

Number of changes that will be made y Wall Street and the world banking cartel from this movement: 0


If these people are all unemployed (if they aren't then why aren't they at work?) then they probably have little to no income and thus likely are debt ridden parasites on the system. Jail them and put them into debtor prisons.

They can still protest from inside their cells and can have an "Occupy Rec Room" time where they can get together and biatch to each other. Once you jailed the first few hundred the movement would be forced to show its lack of balls and poof, It is over.

Bloody William: Bob16: Selfabortion: Are there really people out there who still believe this is just a bunch of pot-smoking crusty hippies?

Now that this protest is snowballing and we are at the phase where "they" fight us some people are getting worried and trying to push this whole protest movement back to the ridicule phase.

We're also at the phase where right-wingers are desperately reaching and even consider instigating any sort of violent or unacceptable action in the OWS movement to kill it. You can really see them starting to panic as they realize this isn't a fly-by-night protest that falls apart and is forgotten the next day.

Yes Bloody. Wise words indeed.

Actually it became fairly simple to spot the agent provactuers during the 1960's protest movements. You would go to the meeting of a particular peace group and the AP's would start in with some way over the line ham handed tactic like saying "i can get the dynamite".

snocone: olddinosaur: When the Chicago riots of 1968 were over, they resulted in Richard Nixon'e election; even though he was the biggest bastard ever to occupy the White House, and brought massive disgrace to the Party, Republicans ruled for the next 20 of 24 years.

It is a known fact big business was fronting money to the wildest and most radical of the Vietnam protest groups---citation not needed, they themselves admitted it---and paying them to be as unreasonable as possible.

Right now it is widely accused that George Soros, acting no doubt through many layers of stooges, is fronting OWS, for roughly the same reasons. However the "Lamestream press" will not report the story, even to debunk it.

Does history repeat itself? Methinks it probably does.

The old models are the best models.

Cindy Crawford's not that old.

PrinceofFark: Number of changes made by Wall Street and the world banking cartel since this movement started: 0

Number of changes that will be made y Wall Street and the world banking cartel from this movement: 0


If these people are all unemployed (if they aren't then why aren't they at work?) then they probably have little to no income and thus likely are debt ridden parasites on the system. Jail them and put them into debtor prisons.

They can still protest from inside their cells and can have an "Occupy Rec Room" time where they can get together and biatch to each other. Once you jailed the first few hundred the movement would be forced to show its lack of balls and poof, It is over.

So
1) You support slavery.
2) Lack of balls? You haven't seen Occupy Rome have you?

stevetherobot: probesport: NOTICE: Sit-In's are are the political equivalent of praying.

/that is all

[www.kristofercowles.com image 245x318]

Finds your ignorance amusing.



Finds your comparison comforting

I suggest moving all deposits to one secure location, not a bank.

chitlenz: Mid November LOL?

Whatever drugs you guys are taking that thinks this will continue to grow for another month and not start a very VERY real cascading revolutionary process... I want them. Talk about hopium, you have it.

Let's just summarize real quick that the ENTIRE movement took a month to grow worldwide. A MONTH. I think a dismissive minority has failed to grasp that these are highly educated "hippies" as well, not just 9-5 gas station attendants. The whole thing has touched a global nerve in ALL societies. China is flipping the fark out that they have '99%'s on the streets in Hong Kong over shiat Goldman Sachs did half a world away. The cast of actors is cementing, the pace is accelerating and spreading, and the wild hopes of the right that 'it'll all just disappear when it gets cold' is making a very iffy presumption that those 'hippies' are softer in some way than the fat, couch-dwelling Limbaugh crowd.

Riddle me this 1%ers (and their wannabe defenders), what happens if they don't leave and some start freezing to death on the streets? How loud will the public anger be? Just because YOU aren't made of tougher stuff does not mean that everyone is weak, and to underestimate the tenacity of people who stand to lose everything if they fail is absolutely asinine.

What I think is that someone is going to get hurt, or die, and it will force a priority check among the crowd. What we have seen so far is formation, a (further) bad move by politicians or police will most likely harden commitment.

It's weird, and kind of sad, to see people who can't see anything but their own personal world views voicing the kinds of attacks out there today against these poor folks. Ya'll ditto-heads better start really thinking hard about what the consequences of you being wrong are... seriously.

Another person searching for his Kent State moment... Awesome.

So if they don't leave, and start freezing to death? well, they decided to camp out there. No one has a gun to their head. it would suck, I don't want to see anyone hurt, but there are consiquences. A lot of what this so far has been is a search for that one image- the peverbial woman crying over her shot classmate...

So desperate are these children to have that moment and be a part of it, they are actively trying to manufacture it, encouraged by MSNBC types as well as armchair warriors such as yourself who lament the idea of it happening publicly, but undoubtedly are wishing deep down inside it does happen simply to give you the excuse to go off the rails.

So you obviously have no issue with one of these kids becoming cannon fodder for your utopian dreams of crushing any hope of freedom and self determination, and running up in it's place a flag of a "fair" (to whom?) society that is bought an paid for by an all-powerful (but benevolent) governement. because that has worked so well in the past.

ringersol: Whether they realize it or not, or can elucidate it or not, they're protesting regulatory capture.

I think you're right. But anything that doesn't end with "so we need bigger and more powerful government" isn't going to go over very well.

Unwashed_Mass_Member: Keep going though- think you are really turning the tide on whatever pet cause you've got stapled to that cardboard box that also serves as your roof when it rains. No really, sitting in a park stinking of your own BO and shiat while systematically putting owners of the surrounding restaurants and street vendors out of business to further your own little wish list of wants is really going to prove you are sticking it to the 1%.

That's why it'll be even better when they leave....and then come back next spring, stronger and better organized than ever.

The nearby restaurants and vendors are going out of business? Sure they are, with thousands of people with no cooking facilities right next door. Or do you mean that the 1%ers are afraid to leave their cushy offices and go get lunch now? "Waaaahh, I have to brown-bag it, because of the dirty hippies!"

Bob16: Bloody William: Bob16: Selfabortion: Are there really people out there who still believe this is just a bunch of pot-smoking crusty hippies?

Now that this protest is snowballing and we are at the phase where "they" fight us some people are getting worried and trying to push this whole protest movement back to the ridicule phase.

We're also at the phase where right-wingers are desperately reaching and even consider instigating any sort of violent or unacceptable action in the OWS movement to kill it. You can really see them starting to panic as they realize this isn't a fly-by-night protest that falls apart and is forgotten the next day.

Yes Bloody. Wise words indeed.

Actually it became fairly simple to spot the agent provactuers during the 1960's protest movements. You would go to the meeting of a particular peace group and the AP's would start in with some way over the line ham handed tactic like saying "i can get the dynamite".

Or they rush into a closed museum when the rest of the crowd won't, and then call the protestors pussies for not doing the same thing.

PrinceofFark: Number of changes made by Wall Street and the world banking cartel since this movement started: 0

Number of changes that will be made y Wall Street and the world banking cartel from this movement: 0


If these people are all unemployed (if they aren't then why aren't they at work?) then they probably have little to no income and thus likely are debt ridden parasites on the system. Jail them and put them into debtor prisons.

They can still protest from inside their cells and can have an "Occupy Rec Room" time where they can get together and biatch to each other. Once you jailed the first few hundred the movement would be forced to show its lack of balls and poof, It is over.

That would go over so well (in a catastrophically not-well sense) I'm not even sure whose side you're trolling for.

Oh "FLEABAGGERS" has already happened, and it's hilarious! Useless, misguided malcontents who have no pupose in life except to biatch about how it's someone else's fault. They can't afford a shower so they soak themselves in Patchouli Oil! Yep - those are the "FLEABAGGERS!"

LineNoise
"The news this morning mentioned some union non profit handling it for them for the time being."

It's a good thing that unions have such a good record of taking care of money responsibly.

So lets see if I got this right.

The people who get stuff for free, or for very cheap, want more stuff.
They want the people who pay for their free stuff, to pay more, so they can have more stuff.

They are suggesting taking from people what they have, in some sense, earned, and giving it to people who havent earned it.

That just seems too simple for me.

/heh, freebaggers.

paygun: ringersol: Whether they realize it or not, or can elucidate it or not, they're protesting regulatory capture.

I think you're right. But anything that doesn't end with "so we need bigger and more powerful government" isn't going to go over very well.

We don't need bigger government, and we sure as fark don't need smaller government. What we need is to get the money out of politics, so our leaders can go back to representing the 99% and not just the 1%.

What's needed is a reorientation of government priorities, pure and simple.

Sudlow: LineNoise
"The news this morning mentioned some union non profit handling it for them for the time being."

It's a good thing that unions have such a good record of taking care of money responsibly.

Almost as good as investment firms, hedge funds, stockbrokers, investment/commercial banks (now combined)...

Bloody William: I have a full-time job, no significant debt, and I'm pretty happy in general. I still support OWS, because I know I am better off than many.

I have some debt, but it's well under control and should be paid off relatively quickly. But otherwise, same boat.

Of course, I do have something in the pie as well All my clients are smaller banks and credit unions who stand to profit from people leaving the bigger ones and going to community banks and CU's.

Business has been great the last few years as a result.

cbackous: So lets see if I got this right.

The people who get stuff for free, or for very cheap, want more stuff.
They want the people who pay for their free stuff, to pay more, so they can have more stuff.

They are suggesting taking from people what they have, in some sense, earned, and giving it to people who havent earned it.

That just seems too simple for me.

/heh, freebaggers.

The reason it seems too simple to you is because you don't have it right.

cbackous: The people who get stuff for free, or for very cheap, want more stuff.
They want the people who pay for their free stuff, to pay more, so they can have more stuff.

They are suggesting taking from people what they have, in some sense, earned, and giving it to people who havent earned it.

Yup, that's Wall Street.
Glad you nailed down what OWS was protesting against.

cbackous: So lets see if I got this right.

The people who get stuff for free, or for very cheap, want more stuff.
They want the people who pay for their free stuff, to pay more, so they can have more stuff.

They are suggesting taking from people what they have, in some sense, earned, and giving it to people who havent earned it.

That just seems too simple for me.

/heh, freebaggers.

No.

HeartBurnKid: What we need is to get the money out of politics

I agree. And that would solve a multitude of problems. Unfortunately, the money in politics now tends to keep the money in politics.

Alonjar: hailin: I still can't understand why people are protesting. Protests against the government work because politicians care about being re-elected. What is protesting a business going to do? As long as the shareholders are making money they don't care who the CEO is even if there is some bad press. Protesting the whole financial sector doesn't do any good because they are making money. They don't care and never will if you sit out on the street occupying your time with an iPad and drinking a latte. They just look at you like a fool.

Plus it wasn't their fault you borrowed money to get an education (blame your university), buy a house you couldn't afford, maxed out credit cards being useless gadgets, or anything you decide to spend your money on. Save up the money in cash if you don't like interest rates.


Alonjar's Guide to OWS Protest

-The banking sector is corrupt.

-The current corporate system encourages executives to achieve short term profits at the expense of long term success.

-Get the money out of Washington.

What you are seeing in the streets right now in major cities all around the world is a major shifting of ideology, not simply some interest group ramping up their camp ...

Brilliantly summarised. An additional talking point about how Corporate America has broken the social contract it unwillingly established a century ago wouldn't be amiss either, especially since the topic of student loans seems to come up in the wailing and hand-wringing from the Right.

Yes, millions of students took out loans to go to college to earn degrees because Corporate America said we won't hire you without one. Corporate America didn't care if the degree was in Quantitative Analysis or Lesbian Poetry of 15th Century Scandanavia as long as the applicant had the piece of paper and two references. When the economy tanked by virtue of their own shenanigans, they told the washed (college grads are clean, doncha know) masses at the gates we were only kidding! And now they wonder why the OWS protesters feel like they've been sold a bill of goods.

I am the 99%

I know a guy who'll take it

Weaver95: Friction8r: Oh "FLEABAGGERS" has already happened, and it's hilarious! Useless, misguided malcontents who have no pupose in life except to biatch about how it's someone else's fault. They can't afford a shower so they soak themselves in Patchouli Oil! Yep - those are the "FLEABAGGERS!"

this makes no sense.

The right has been trying to push the meme that OWS are all a bunch of unwashed, hippies with an entitlement complex.

Luckily, people aren't buying it, so they are getting more and more desperate to spread the meme.

This isn't a protest, it's a god-damned rennaissance fair. Occupy DC is located right on Pennsylvania Avenue, and they haven't stopped traffic yet.

"Here's your little playground to play in. Don't disturb the grownups"

olddinosaur: "However the "Lamestream press" will not report the story, even to debunk it."

Except for when Reuters did report and debunk the story. But keep running with that. Most people don't read the news. They might take your word for it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-wallstreet-protests-fund i ng-idUSTRE79D01Q20111014

DeathByGeekSquad: Your guide should include the foundation of OWS, and Anon's stake in the matter.

The movement has had so many different types of organizations latch onto it for publicity, the real 'draw' is a mixture of many different protests all centered in a single location. There are a number of 'career' protestors out there right now.

I actually typed the following separately as well, I'm just afraid of posting 2 or 3 page long wall-o-texts lol.

Explanation of a leaderless movement: Leaderless movements are the direct result of social networking, which has given birth to social consciousness. This means that we no longer need a charismatic salesman to pitch his ideas to people in a convincing way. In our world, all it takes is for one guy, a nobody, some Joe Schmoe working in a McDonalds in Missouri, to come up with a Good Idea. He then puts his Good Idea on the internet... where other people evaluate it objectively, say to themselves.. hey, this is a GREAT Idea! and proceed to share it with their friends, and so on and so forth until you have an idea that has propagated all around the world, with millions of people saying "I really support this GREAT Idea!"... and it has all been done, based on nothing but that ideas own merit.

We don't need leaders, because we don't need to be biased by the source of that idea. You cant cut down an idea because it came from a Democrat, or a Republican, or a tea partier, or a hobo. If the idea is good enough, it will stand on its own... and it doesn't matter who is peddling it. The result, is that all the GREAT Ideas rise to the top, and bad ideas are dismissed and die off. This is what current leaders fear, because there is no focal point. The media wants a leader, so that everyone can begin the process of attempting to cut the head from the snake. If you can focus on one person, you can focus on his faults. No... I'm afraid this time, with our leaderless movement, you will have to attack the ideas themselves. That my friends, is a much harder task than simple character assassinations.

A side effect of this is that while everyone in the movement agrees on the same core principals, everyone also has their own slew of bad ideas/fringe beliefs... but thats OK. The whole point is that they pitch those bad ideas, and everyone goes "Holy shiat, this guys a dumbfark" and they move on.. searching for better ideas.

What you are currently seeing on the news with "dirty hippies" who "dont know why they are there" is simply the early process of weeding and sorting those ideas.

It is a movement, not an interest group. It is a shifting of ideology, which will be needed to make wide systemic changes.

Alonjar: They're also pissed because more and more people are learning how the Federal Reserve banking system works, and think its insane that banks can, for example, borrow from the fed at almost no interest, and turn right back around and lend that same money to the treasury at 2%+ interest... basically printing free money, and footing tax payers with the bill.

They suggest: Reintroduction of banking regulations and some monopoly busting. Too big to fail? Too big to exist.

...

My dad worked for BoA for many years as a district manager up until the early 80s when all this deregulation came in existence. Pissed him off so much that people just became numbers in a convoluted system that cared more about their own bottom line than helping people increase theirs. How does one teach "financial planning" to your customers while robbing them blind in the process? What exactly is the lesson to be learned? Either way, he said Fark it after almost 3 decades and bought a hardware store....which interestingly enough, it still in business after having a Walmart open 10 years ago across the street from it.

chitlenz: Riddle me this 1%ers (and their wannabe defenders), what happens if they don't leave and some start freezing to death on the streets? How loud will the public anger be?

Okay, I'll bite.

If they start freezing to death in the street, I won't give a frak.
Sorry, but when the normal homeless person can manage to survive alone for over a decade on the charity of strangers, I won't shed any tears over someone who voluntarily chooses that lifestyle dies from exposure when surrounded by thousands like him.

Seriously though, how many executives at BoA, Citibank, and Chase went to jail after they got caught fraudulently foreclosing on homes they didn't even own? How many went to jail for using the foreclosure mill lawyers that signed off on non-existent documentation? If you rob a person with a gun, you go to jail. If you rob a person with a fraudulently obtained court order, you get crowned by fark "conservatives" as a champion of industry.

cryinoutloud: Unwashed_Mass_Member: Keep going though- think you are really turning the tide on whatever pet cause you've got stapled to that cardboard box that also serves as your roof when it rains. No really, sitting in a park stinking of your own BO and shiat while systematically putting owners of the surrounding restaurants and street vendors out of business to further your own little wish list of wants is really going to prove you are sticking it to the 1%.

That's why it'll be even better when they leave....and then come back next spring, stronger and better organized than ever.

The nearby restaurants and vendors are going out of business? Sure they are, with thousands of people with no cooking facilities right next door. Or do you mean that the 1%ers are afraid to leave their cushy offices and go get lunch now? "Waaaahh, I have to brown-bag it, because of the dirty hippies!"

No cooking facilities, but enough attitude to think that they deserve to use cooking and bathroom facilities just because they are there- nevermind that the business have to pay for them.

You make this out to be so epic. It really isn't. On one hand I hear you decry movements like the Tea Party as fringe and useless, yet they began with a message and changed the landscape of an election. Will OWS have the traction to do that? I don't know. Honestly when you get down to it, any of these demands are either for something unreasonable (end of corporations/banks/etc) or needing more government intervention (pay my college debt, give me $20 an hour for breathing)

So you want to end banks? ok, what then? You want government to guarantee you are provided for cradle to grave? what is the point of trying and succeeding if all your supposed ill-gotten gains are extracted by force by an unaccountable government? Sure we can just print money and pay everyone, let anyone use your shiatter, never feel any pain, and big daddy government will make it all better. worked well in the Soviet union, North Korea, Greece, etc.

Sin_City_Superhero: I bet they use that money to buy a few fat sacks of some really good shiat.

In this day and age, that's a pretty sound investment.

/only if you're going to turn around and sell it

PrinceofFark: Number of changes made by Wall Street and the world banking cartel since this movement started: 0

Number of changes that will be made y Wall Street and the world banking cartel from this movement: 0

Although the rest of your post is probably the most retarded stuff I've read in this thread so far, you're right about this.

As much as I'd like to see the system change, you can't make any affect on the operation of a business through protest. These banks don't need the streets clear, they will continue to make money regardless of how many people are clogging up the streets. The banks' C-level and senior management are not elected, so they really don't care what the little people think. The rank and file are making good money, so they're not going to stop because there's a peaceful protest outside.

What do these people think they're going to accomplish?

The CEO of Goldman is going to look at the crowds and just decide to stop personally enriching himself every day?

An M&A associate is going to wake up one day and say, "Gosh, what I'm doing is making me fistfulls of money, but it's so much more than other people make so I'm gonna quit!" and starts a mass-exodus of Wall Street employees?

Not a chance.

Weaver95: they should take that money and go buy stock with it. then they'll have a legal right to show up at every board meeting - they'll be stake holders.

That's crazy talk.

Why change a company from within when you can stand on the street waving a piece of cardboard?


Seriously, though, if this movement really represents 99% of the population, they should pool their money and buy a controlling stake (or at least enough to influence policy, push for the firing of certain execs, etc.) in various businesses where they want to see change.

You can make a lot more (effective) noise at the boardroom table than you can on the street.

Alonjar: hailin: I still can't understand why people are protesting. Protests against the government work because politicians care about being re-elected. What is protesting a business going to do? As long as the shareholders are making money they don't care who the CEO is even if there is some bad press. Protesting the whole financial sector doesn't do any good because they are making money. They don't care and never will if you sit out on the street occupying your time with an iPad and drinking a latte. They just look at you like a fool.

Plus it wasn't their fault you borrowed money to get an education (blame your university), buy a house you couldn't afford, maxed out credit cards being useless gadgets, or anything you decide to spend your money on. Save up the money in cash if you don't like interest rates.


Alonjar's Guide to OWS Protest


The problem is the major news media seems to be spinning the hell out of the protests in order to discredit them as a bunch of clueless dirty hippies, since they are backed by the very people everyone is protesting against.

The legitimate issues that I have seen voiced, which the movement seem to be genuinely centered around, are systemic problems in the financial sector which are leading to an ever widening income gap. Adjusted for inflation, wages are at an all time low, while corporate profits are at highs. Owners of capital are basically just keeping larger shares of the pie than they did 20 years ago. The three main grievances and solutions I keep seeing repeated are:



-The banking sector is corrupt. People are pissed that the repeal of Glass-Steagall has allowed commercial banks to turn back into investment banks, the result of which was the financial meltdown of 2008. They're also pissed because more and more people are learning how the Federal Reserve banking system works, and think its insane that banks can, for example, borrow from the fed at almost no interest, and turn right back around and lend that same money to the treasury at 2%+ interest... basically printing free money, and footing tax payers with the bill.

They suggest: Reintroduction of banking regulations and some monopoly busting. Too big to fail? Too big to exist.



-The current corporate system encourages executives to achieve short term profits at the expense of long term success. CEO's slash and burn companies in order to get a quick rise in stock "value", so they can exercise their options and cash out. Once they've "got mine", they jump ship with their golden parachute, leaving a damaged company behind.

They want things such as: Introduction of regulation to the derivatives markets, and perhaps progressively tax short term investments over long ones. Only owned a stock for a minute and 38 seconds? Pay a higher tax on your profits than the guy who held it for a year. Remove the Capital gains tax, and charge a more normal income rate for your tax bracket. Also big support for introducing transaction taxes... small fees attached to each trade to discourage things like HFT manipulation.



-Get the money out of Washington. OWS protesters feel that both Republicans and Democrats will claim/say whatever it takes to get elected, and in the end they all pander to Corporations over the people. They do this, of course, because Corporations (and rich people who own them) are the ones who hire lobbyists and fund campaigns.

They suggest: No one really knows yet, its such an encompassing problem.. although this leads to my own personal hopes for this "movement":



As a trader and business owner, I can see all sides of this argument. My hope is that rather than trying to push through any type of rash legislation or political pandering, I'd like to see the rise of a new, truly independent political party. One that can actually give both Republicans and Democrats a run for their money, and scare them out of this gridlock that we now find ourselves in.



What you are seeing in the streets right now in major cities all around the world is a major shifting of ideology, not simply some interest group ramping up their camp ...

QFT - Lets bring back the Bull Moose!

trappedspirit: Stop taking away
our freedoms! Give
us more Gov't
regulation!!
\o/
|
/\

Beat down the
non-violent protestors!
End government
regulation!
\o/
|
/\

Has anyone created the two bingo cards we need to play this game? One for the OWS crowd and one for the what? 53%ers? The Limbaughers?

I'm tired of seeing my health insurance premiums go up 15% every year. I'm tired of my vacation hours being slashed every year. I'm tired of being told there's no money in the budget for professional development. I'm tired of being told I should consider myself on call 24/7 because I'm in management. All this while the corporation is making record profits. None of it is trickling down to my cubicle.

I am the 99%

JJR: I agree - the fleabaggers will quit by mid November.

Your blog still sucks

fanbladesaresharp: My dad worked for BoA for many years as a district manager up until the early 80s when all this deregulation came in existence. Pissed him off so much that people just became numbers in a convoluted system that cared more about their own bottom line than helping people increase theirs. How does one teach "financial planning" to your customers while robbing them blind in the process?

CSB. My dad worked for Wells Fargo for most of his adult life and voted for Reagan in 1980. He later said voting for Reagan was a mistake because of Reagan's banking deregulation. People should have been this mad after the S & L "crisis." In many ways the OWS movement here, the anticorruption movement in India, and the protests in Europe are all about the same thing: the capture of government by capital. The banks and other financial institutions (big oil, big pharma/healthcare, big food, real estate) have bought off the cops and are stealing with impunity. People are getting tired of it, finally. Oh, and after all those years for Wells, they laid him off rather than let him retire.

Flakeloaf: Starbucks cup in one hand and an iPhone

Aren't you guys tired of the old, "They have iPhones so their argument is invalid!" argument?

Ehh: fanbladesaresharp: My dad worked for BoA for many years as a district manager up until the early 80s when all this deregulation came in existence. Pissed him off so much that people just became numbers in a convoluted system that cared more about their own bottom line than helping people increase theirs. How does one teach "financial planning" to your customers while robbing them blind in the process?

CSB. My dad worked for Wells Fargo for most of his adult life and voted for Reagan in 1980. He later said voting for Reagan was a mistake because of Reagan's banking deregulation. People should have been this mad after the S & L "crisis." In many ways the OWS movement here, the anticorruption movement in India, and the protests in Europe are all about the same thing: the capture of government by capital. The banks and other financial institutions (big oil, big pharma/healthcare, big food, real estate) have bought off the cops and are stealing with impunity. People are getting tired of it, finally. Oh, and after all those years for Wells, they laid him off rather than let him retire.

That might be the best way I've ever heard to explain the outrage.