Monday, October 17, 2011
A Curious Crackdown on Medical Marijuana
A curious crackdown on medical marijuana
By Lauren Mendelsohn
Monday, October 17, 2011
14
Maryland may soon join D.C. and the 16 states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, which is respected by many Americans as a legitimate treatment. For a while, it seemed this trend would continue spreading to more states, but recent action by the federal government has left millions of patients, caregivers and activists bewildered.
On Oct. 7, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued an unexpected and shocking message to California medical marijuana dispensaries: Close your doors within 45 days or face federal prosecution for illegal drug trafficking. The announcement was directed at several dispensaries in particular, not meant as a mandate to every shop in the state, but it sent a clear message from the Feds: We're cracking down on pot and once again revving up the failed War on Drugs.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana, and it's had its share of conflict with the federal government in the 15 years since. Because marijuana is illegal on the national level, the DEA has raided countless dispensaries under the guise of "combating drug dealing" and "protecting citizens," even though these citizens are the ones who voted to legalize medicinal cannabis in their state. While the federal government deemed each raid a success, the local population deemed the crackdown an attack on their health, jobs and freedom.
When President Barack Obama took office, he offered a false sense of hope to advocates in claiming he would not focus on indicting medical marijuana patients or shutting down dispensaries, provided they operate within state laws. It will remain unknown whether or not he actually meant this, because something besides the people's desires became more important in the medical marijuana debate: money.
Medical marijuana has the potential to make a lot of money, and neither the government nor the pharmaceutical industry failed to notice this. What many Americans don't realize is that the Feds and Big Pharma are in cahoots on the issue of medical marijuana (and the prohibition of drugs in general). Naturally, pharmaceutical companies lose customers when people discover a joint will give them the same relief as an expensive pill regimen. The companies are fighting to keep this from happening, no doubt using their wallets to encourage the federal government to crack down on dispensaries. At the same time, drug company executives see that THC — the main psychoactive compound in marijuana — does have healing properties, and they want to capitalize on that.
The DEA and the Food and Drug Administration created a THC capsule with the hopes of driving people away from natural cannabis and toward their laboratory-produced version. If things continue the way they've been going lately, the federal government will likely grant a few big drug companies the right to produce the pill using marijuana grown on a pot farm owned by — who else? — the federal government.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana dispensaries that haven't been forcefully closed will struggle to survive, because the IRS has declared dispensaries cannot deduct standard business operating costs — such as security, rent and payroll — from their tax returns. Who else smells hypocrisy and deceit?
These federal actions are in complete contrast with Obama's previous position on medical marijuana. He said the U.S. attorney's office would not prosecute cultivators and distributors abiding by state law, and yet that's exactly what's going on right now. And so the great battle between states' rights and the federal government begins once again. If the Feds are successful in crippling California's medical marijuana system, the drug's future here in Maryland and nationwide will become uncertain. Hopefully, they'll realize they have more important things to do than harming patients and communities.
Lauren Mendelsohn is a junior psychology major. She can be reached at mendelsohn@umdbk.com.
By Lauren Mendelsohn
Monday, October 17, 2011
14
Maryland may soon join D.C. and the 16 states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, which is respected by many Americans as a legitimate treatment. For a while, it seemed this trend would continue spreading to more states, but recent action by the federal government has left millions of patients, caregivers and activists bewildered.
On Oct. 7, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued an unexpected and shocking message to California medical marijuana dispensaries: Close your doors within 45 days or face federal prosecution for illegal drug trafficking. The announcement was directed at several dispensaries in particular, not meant as a mandate to every shop in the state, but it sent a clear message from the Feds: We're cracking down on pot and once again revving up the failed War on Drugs.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana, and it's had its share of conflict with the federal government in the 15 years since. Because marijuana is illegal on the national level, the DEA has raided countless dispensaries under the guise of "combating drug dealing" and "protecting citizens," even though these citizens are the ones who voted to legalize medicinal cannabis in their state. While the federal government deemed each raid a success, the local population deemed the crackdown an attack on their health, jobs and freedom.
When President Barack Obama took office, he offered a false sense of hope to advocates in claiming he would not focus on indicting medical marijuana patients or shutting down dispensaries, provided they operate within state laws. It will remain unknown whether or not he actually meant this, because something besides the people's desires became more important in the medical marijuana debate: money.
Medical marijuana has the potential to make a lot of money, and neither the government nor the pharmaceutical industry failed to notice this. What many Americans don't realize is that the Feds and Big Pharma are in cahoots on the issue of medical marijuana (and the prohibition of drugs in general). Naturally, pharmaceutical companies lose customers when people discover a joint will give them the same relief as an expensive pill regimen. The companies are fighting to keep this from happening, no doubt using their wallets to encourage the federal government to crack down on dispensaries. At the same time, drug company executives see that THC — the main psychoactive compound in marijuana — does have healing properties, and they want to capitalize on that.
The DEA and the Food and Drug Administration created a THC capsule with the hopes of driving people away from natural cannabis and toward their laboratory-produced version. If things continue the way they've been going lately, the federal government will likely grant a few big drug companies the right to produce the pill using marijuana grown on a pot farm owned by — who else? — the federal government.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana dispensaries that haven't been forcefully closed will struggle to survive, because the IRS has declared dispensaries cannot deduct standard business operating costs — such as security, rent and payroll — from their tax returns. Who else smells hypocrisy and deceit?
These federal actions are in complete contrast with Obama's previous position on medical marijuana. He said the U.S. attorney's office would not prosecute cultivators and distributors abiding by state law, and yet that's exactly what's going on right now. And so the great battle between states' rights and the federal government begins once again. If the Feds are successful in crippling California's medical marijuana system, the drug's future here in Maryland and nationwide will become uncertain. Hopefully, they'll realize they have more important things to do than harming patients and communities.
Lauren Mendelsohn is a junior psychology major. She can be reached at mendelsohn@umdbk.com.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Mark Ruffalo
OCTOBER 16, 2011, 2:21 PM ET
Hulk See Greed. Hulk Smash! Mark Ruffalo on Occupy Wall Street
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By Barbara Chai
Marvel Studios
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk) in ‘The Avengers.’
Actor Mark Ruffalo hopes that the Occupy Wall Street protesters bring about the kind of change President Obama talked about during his campaign for the White House.
Ruffalo–who plays the Hulk in the coming superhero movie “The Avengers”–has been one of the most high-profile supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In addition to joining regular gatherings of anti-corporate protesters, the actor-director, who is currently filming “Thank You for Sharing” in New York with Gwyneth Paltrow, has written daily messages of support on Twitter.
In an interview with Speakeasy, Ruffalo said that he’s made regular visits to check up on the protest, in between his intense filming schedule, and early promotion for “The Avengers” (he stopped by New York Comic Con to introduce the Hulk yesterday). This past week, when Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park, planned an official evacuation and cleanup of the site, Ruffalo showed up to help protesters clean the park themselves. (The next morning, the planned evacuation didn’t happen.)
Ruffalo isn’t the only A-list celebrity to show support for Occupy Wall Street. There have been visits by rapper Kanye West, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, musician Jeff Mangum, author Naomi Klein, actress Susan Sarandon, actor Tim Robbins, actor Penn Badgley, and filmmaker Michael Moore.
What does Ruffalo see in the young faces he stands alongside? “Honestly, I see hope,” Ruffalo says. “The one metric that we forget is, we have to ask ourselves partially, who put Obama into the White House? That was a major coup for our country, that was the first African-American to be put in the White House, and he was put in the White House on a promise of change. A lot of his campaign promises were striking very much at the center of what I think this movement is about.”
Ruffalo credits the Obama campaign for galvanizing the young demographic in the political process, and credits the youth movement for helping to elect him. “They believed what he was telling them for the most part,” he says. “And that spirit of change is still deeply, deeply seated in their hearts and I would say a great portion of America’s hearts. Just because the change wasn’t delivered to us doesn’t mean that it isn’t alive and well in the imagination of the people.”
He first heard about Occupy Wall Street online, and the message of the leaderless movement resonated with him. “Honestly, I think in some way I was waiting for it to happen. I expected it to happen,” he says. He visited the gatherings and had extensive discussions with people about what they were protesting. “I spent a lot of time understanding the structure of it, trying to figure out if there was a hierarchy, if there was one particular group, if it had a real political bent or if it had an agenda that was self-serving.” He says he didn’t find that, and so became more excited by the idea of this grassroots movement that would take hold on the Internet and social-media platforms without one particular leader. “It’s closer to the true direct democracy than probably anything before its time,” he says.
Ruffalo believes Occupy Wall Street arose out of a “great injustice being done to the whole by a very few who are reaping the benefits of these injustices.” While he says part of the movement is a fight against that injustice, it is more about the promise of something better, but it’s part of a long process. “I think we’re in the grieving period,” he says. “We’re in the period we’re actually looking into ourselves and saying we have a lot of grief. There’s been a lot that’s been done wrong to us. Until you can acknowledge that, I don’t think there’s much you can do to move forward.”
It’s not the first time Ruffalo has shown his activist side. He has been a strong opponent of hydraulic fracturing proposals in New York State and has spoken out publicly, much like he is doing with Occupy Wall Street. While some of his peers in Hollywood may agree with him, few are as outspoken as he is. “I personally think there’s been a campaign to silence the voice of artists for a long time,” he says. “Look at the people who have stepped out against the war, they’re attacked viciously by the media and pundits of the media. They’re lambasted and it’s personal and it’s brutal and it’s ugly.”
Ruffalo is among the 1 percent that some of the 99 percent are talking about. He’s famous, and draws big paychecks in Hollywood. But that’s part of why he says he wants to contribute. “I also feel like I do have a responsibility to the people who are my fans, to the people who actually make my life possible in a way,” Ruffalo says. “I fortunately have a voice that reaches a little bit further than other people’s, and people who need to be heard, people who should have a voice and don’t.”
The actor points out that in the early years of his career in Los Angeles, he struggled to make it. He says he was poor and lived among immigrants who took him in and fed him. “I had nothing. I was happy,” he says.
Ruffalo has had his share of both success and hardship. “I lost my brother to a violent murder, I’ve been sick, I’ve been successful, I’ve been not successful. I’m still here.” He says what’s most important to him is to stay true to oneself and one’s ideas. “I feel called to do this. I don’t know why and I don’t know where it’s going to end up.” But he doesn’t see the film studios turning on him. “I see a lot of support from my fellow actors and other people,” he says. “Oddly enough the more I’ve spoken out, the better I’ve done in the business.”
As for the protesters, Ruffalo hopes he has been able to support them. “I do hope those kids know how much I respect them and adore them and admire them and look at them for some guidance for all of us,” he says.
Check back in with Speakeasy later this week for more on Ruffalo’s role as The Hulk in “The Avengers.” Follow Barbara Chai on Twitter @barbarachai
The Wall Street Journal blogs will be publishing more stories on Occupy Wall Street throughout the week.
Mark Ruffalo, NYCulture, Occupy Wall Street, The Avengers, The Hulk, WSJ Blogs Occupy Wall Street
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Hulk See Greed. Hulk Smash! Mark Ruffalo on Occupy Wall Street
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By Barbara Chai
Marvel Studios
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk) in ‘The Avengers.’
Actor Mark Ruffalo hopes that the Occupy Wall Street protesters bring about the kind of change President Obama talked about during his campaign for the White House.
Ruffalo–who plays the Hulk in the coming superhero movie “The Avengers”–has been one of the most high-profile supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In addition to joining regular gatherings of anti-corporate protesters, the actor-director, who is currently filming “Thank You for Sharing” in New York with Gwyneth Paltrow, has written daily messages of support on Twitter.
In an interview with Speakeasy, Ruffalo said that he’s made regular visits to check up on the protest, in between his intense filming schedule, and early promotion for “The Avengers” (he stopped by New York Comic Con to introduce the Hulk yesterday). This past week, when Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park, planned an official evacuation and cleanup of the site, Ruffalo showed up to help protesters clean the park themselves. (The next morning, the planned evacuation didn’t happen.)
Ruffalo isn’t the only A-list celebrity to show support for Occupy Wall Street. There have been visits by rapper Kanye West, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, musician Jeff Mangum, author Naomi Klein, actress Susan Sarandon, actor Tim Robbins, actor Penn Badgley, and filmmaker Michael Moore.
What does Ruffalo see in the young faces he stands alongside? “Honestly, I see hope,” Ruffalo says. “The one metric that we forget is, we have to ask ourselves partially, who put Obama into the White House? That was a major coup for our country, that was the first African-American to be put in the White House, and he was put in the White House on a promise of change. A lot of his campaign promises were striking very much at the center of what I think this movement is about.”
Ruffalo credits the Obama campaign for galvanizing the young demographic in the political process, and credits the youth movement for helping to elect him. “They believed what he was telling them for the most part,” he says. “And that spirit of change is still deeply, deeply seated in their hearts and I would say a great portion of America’s hearts. Just because the change wasn’t delivered to us doesn’t mean that it isn’t alive and well in the imagination of the people.”
He first heard about Occupy Wall Street online, and the message of the leaderless movement resonated with him. “Honestly, I think in some way I was waiting for it to happen. I expected it to happen,” he says. He visited the gatherings and had extensive discussions with people about what they were protesting. “I spent a lot of time understanding the structure of it, trying to figure out if there was a hierarchy, if there was one particular group, if it had a real political bent or if it had an agenda that was self-serving.” He says he didn’t find that, and so became more excited by the idea of this grassroots movement that would take hold on the Internet and social-media platforms without one particular leader. “It’s closer to the true direct democracy than probably anything before its time,” he says.
Ruffalo believes Occupy Wall Street arose out of a “great injustice being done to the whole by a very few who are reaping the benefits of these injustices.” While he says part of the movement is a fight against that injustice, it is more about the promise of something better, but it’s part of a long process. “I think we’re in the grieving period,” he says. “We’re in the period we’re actually looking into ourselves and saying we have a lot of grief. There’s been a lot that’s been done wrong to us. Until you can acknowledge that, I don’t think there’s much you can do to move forward.”
It’s not the first time Ruffalo has shown his activist side. He has been a strong opponent of hydraulic fracturing proposals in New York State and has spoken out publicly, much like he is doing with Occupy Wall Street. While some of his peers in Hollywood may agree with him, few are as outspoken as he is. “I personally think there’s been a campaign to silence the voice of artists for a long time,” he says. “Look at the people who have stepped out against the war, they’re attacked viciously by the media and pundits of the media. They’re lambasted and it’s personal and it’s brutal and it’s ugly.”
Ruffalo is among the 1 percent that some of the 99 percent are talking about. He’s famous, and draws big paychecks in Hollywood. But that’s part of why he says he wants to contribute. “I also feel like I do have a responsibility to the people who are my fans, to the people who actually make my life possible in a way,” Ruffalo says. “I fortunately have a voice that reaches a little bit further than other people’s, and people who need to be heard, people who should have a voice and don’t.”
The actor points out that in the early years of his career in Los Angeles, he struggled to make it. He says he was poor and lived among immigrants who took him in and fed him. “I had nothing. I was happy,” he says.
Ruffalo has had his share of both success and hardship. “I lost my brother to a violent murder, I’ve been sick, I’ve been successful, I’ve been not successful. I’m still here.” He says what’s most important to him is to stay true to oneself and one’s ideas. “I feel called to do this. I don’t know why and I don’t know where it’s going to end up.” But he doesn’t see the film studios turning on him. “I see a lot of support from my fellow actors and other people,” he says. “Oddly enough the more I’ve spoken out, the better I’ve done in the business.”
As for the protesters, Ruffalo hopes he has been able to support them. “I do hope those kids know how much I respect them and adore them and admire them and look at them for some guidance for all of us,” he says.
Check back in with Speakeasy later this week for more on Ruffalo’s role as The Hulk in “The Avengers.” Follow Barbara Chai on Twitter @barbarachai
The Wall Street Journal blogs will be publishing more stories on Occupy Wall Street throughout the week.
Mark Ruffalo, NYCulture, Occupy Wall Street, The Avengers, The Hulk, WSJ Blogs Occupy Wall Street
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Saturday, October 15, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Richard Reeves
 Which Side Are You On!Posted on Oct 13, 2011
I am all for Occupy Wall Street—and a lot of other places—but I wish I understood where this is going. And why it took so long to get going. "When men can speak in liberty, you can bet they won’t act," a Philadelphia lawyer named Charles Ingersoll told Alexis de Tocqueville almost 200 years ago as the French writer traveled the United States (24 of them) taking notes for what would become his great work, "Democracy in America." The United States has followed that line for most of its history, and it has generally worked. Because of Ingersoll’s words, I was chilled a bit by the fact that New York City has denied the Occupy people the liberty of a sound system to allow them to speak to more than just the people within earshot. Does the government want to mute the cries of the "99 percenters"? That would be a great mistake, and I’m sure officials around the country know that. As a veteran of both civil rights and anti-Vietnam protests, I know that when authority uses all the powers at its disposal—including shooting people—that is when the rebellion begins. That was what Ingersoll was talking about. This is not Syria. If the police and their bosses use force against these people in these troubled times, they will reap the whirlwind. So far, the closest historical parallel to these pained cries of people—people who are losing their livelihoods, even the fabric of their lives—is the Bonus March of 1931, when World War I veterans marched on Washington during the administration of Herbert Hoover and camped out around the city to demand early payment of their bonuses. They were dismissed as a rabble, as Occupiers are beginning to be branded now. The 1931 protest ended in violence. Troops commanded by Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur charged on horses into the veterans’ "Hoovervilles," driving the protesters from the city. Advertisement In New York, listening to the radio, the governor of the state, Franklin D. Roosevelt, turned to a friend and talked big change. "Felix," said Roosevelt to Felix Frankfurter, "this elects me president." If this confusing movement has the momentum, and the government—local, state and federal—has to confront the Occupiers, it will change the politics of the country. People will have to choose sides: order or change. This may be a momentary thing, a flash in the pan, but the pan is hot, people are hurting, and they do believe they are being robbed by the top 1 percent. The income of the middle class is falling as a few bankers and such are making more than ever—even though they were a big cause of the collapse of the national economy. This is powerful stuff. American stuff. Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist who stayed in the Occupy tent city around Los Angeles City Hall, recorded the messages on some of the placards around him. "We Are Not Overthrowing a Democracy, We Are Restoring One," said one. Another quoted Steve Jobs: "The People Who Are Crazy Enough to Think They Can Change the World Are the Ones That Do." But the most powerful numbers of the day are not 99 and 1. They are something like 20 and 400. When I wrote about Tocqueville in the 1970s, the salary ratio between chief executive officers and their lowest-paid workers was in the 20s. Now it is more than 400 or so, and that doesn’t include bonuses and extended pension plans. Pay inequality has triggered many a revolution over the centuries. There comes a day when ordinary people have to answer the question: Which side are you on! Which side are you on! © 2011 UNIVERSAL UCLICK |
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CNN Friday October 14, 2011
'Occupy' protests swell nationwide; scores arrested
updated 6:05 PM EST, Fri October 14, 2011
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Protesters rally in Detroit
- Police arrest 41 demonstrators in Seattle
- Video captures police pressing a night stick to a protester's neck
- In New York, 14 people are arrested after blocking traffic and hurling bottles
New York (CNN) -- Protests swelled in cities nationwide Friday as police forces struggled to either corral or remove demonstrators from downtown parks and plazas in the latest development of the monthlong Occupy Wall Street movement.
Scores of protesters were arrested in Denver, Seattle, San Diego and New York, while similar demonstrations were scheduled to take place in Washington, Orlando and Atlanta. CNN iReporters sent in photos and video from "occupy" protests across several American cities.
In San Diego, CNN affiliate KFMB broadcast images of police detaining demonstrators as they gathered amid tents and tarps strewn about a downtown plaza.
Protesters appeared to refuse to leave the area, sitting in columns atop the plastic tarps and yelling "stay down" as police tried to remove them from the scene.
In Denver, authorities said 24 people were arrested as CNN affiliate KMGH broadcast aerial video of police detaining protesters in a downtown section of the city.
Colorado State Police spokesman Mike Baker said the demonstrators could be identified as two distinct groups: The first was a part of what he described as the local "Occupy" group, which maintained close communication with law enforcement during the demonstration. The second, he said, was a more "radical" faction.
"These were the ones (police) came into trouble with today," Baker said.
Most of those arrested in Denver were charged with unlawful conduct on state property, he said, while one other person was charged with simple assault. Another protester was arrested for impeding traffic.
In Seattle, police in riot gear rounded up and arrested 41 demonstrators who gathered in a city park, said police spokeswoman Renee Witt.
In New York , Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said law officers arrested 14 demonstrators after they sat in roadways to block traffic, overturned trash bins, knocked over a police scooter and hurled bottles.
Wesleyan University student Ben Doernberg, who attended Friday's protest in Manhattan's financial district, shot video of at least one demonstrator being taken to the ground by police.
The video captures a police officer pressing his night stick against the back of the protester's neck during the arrest. The man is seen face down on the pavement.
He can be heard screaming after what Doernberg described as an earlier incident in which the man's leg was allegedly run over by a police motorcycle.
"I saw a number of other people being shoved or pushed with batons," Doernberg said. "I saw another officer punching people."
New York police disputed the claim that the man had been run over by a police vehicle. Independent witnesses from the New York Daily News and The Associated Press saw the man intentionally place his legs under the scooter, Browne said in a statement.
"(The man) had repeatedly disregarded lawful orders to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk, and then feigned being run over before kicking over the police scooter. He was arrested for felony criminal mischief, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest," the deputy police commissioner said.
The demonstrations, meanwhile, seemed to pick up steam across the country by late Friday afternoon.
CNN affiliate WDIV in Detroit showed aerial images of protesters rallying in city streets. An oversize sign fixed to the outside of a building read, "Outsource to Detroit."
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called the protests "inspirational."
"People want this country to be better," he told CNN. "They want the money out of Washington." He said he believes the U.S. government remains largely controlled by corporations.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also addressed the concerns again earlier Friday during his weekly radio show.
He said Brookfield Office Properties -- the real estate firm that owns Zuccotti Park, considered a home base for Manhattan protesters -- made the decision not to try to clean up the park, as it had announced, after the company was "inundated" with threatening calls from elected city officials.
The mayor said on New York's WOR Radio that he didn't know which officials allegedly made the threats, but the company decided to work out some form of a negotiated settlement in the coming days.
Bloomberg added that while he lacked firsthand knowledge of the conversations, he was told the officials generally threatened to "make life more difficult" for the real estate company.
Brookfield Properties issued a statement later Friday saying "a number of local political leaders" requested the cleaning of the park be deferred for "a short period of time." But the company declined to provide specifics on which city officials had made the calls or whether they were considered threatening.
The clean-up cancellation, meanwhile, averted a broader showdown between authorities and demonstrators, who appeared heartened by news.
"We are winning and Wall Street is afraid," protester Kira Moyer-Sims said in a written statement distributed by the group. "This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail."
Bloomberg's office also said the real estate firm withdrew its request for police assistance Friday.
"Our position has been consistent throughout: the city's role is to protect public health and safety, to enforce the law, and guarantee the rights of all New Yorkers," said Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway.
City officials in New York had initially told the protesters, who have been mostly peaceful, that they would have to be ready to move out of the way of cleaners beginning at 7 a.m.
But the demonstrators mopped, collected trash and scrubbed the pavement in the dead of the night as the Friday deadline neared. When the word of the postponed cleaning filtered through the more than 1,000 protesters who filled the park, they appeared jubilant.
"All day! All week! Occupy Wall Street," the group chanted, calling the development a victory of passive resistance.
"We're extremely excited. This is an example of what people power can do," said Tyler Combelic, a spokesman for the group. "This is what democracy is all about in this country,"
Protesters descended on Zuccotti Park, near the New York Stock Exchange, on September 17 to protest the nation's ailing economy.
A number of unions, including the United Auto Workers and the United Federation of Teachers, have since pledged to support the New York protest and similar demonstrations cropping up across the country.
"You want to clean up something? Clean up these crooks on Wall Street," shouted City Council member Charles Barron.
Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James said the move to clean the park was a "ruse" to end the protest.
But Bloomberg said Wednesday that the decision to clean the park was made after the owners voiced concerns about "unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park."
"The mayor is a strong believer in the First Amendment and believes that the protesters have a right to continue to protest," his office said in a written statement. But the situation in the park is "not in the best interests of the protesters, residents or the city," it added.
Local business owners and residents have continued to express concerns about sanitation and the group's affect on the local economy.
The plan had been to clean the park in stages, with protesters being allowed to return to the park as areas were cleaned, but only if they obeyed the rules set forth by Brookfield Properties, the company said.
Authorities had distributed a pamphlet at the park outlining the rules, which included a ban on camping or pitching tents; lying on the ground or on benches; placing tarps or sleeping bags on the ground; and storing personal property that interferes with park use.
The protest campaign began in July with the launch of a campaign website calling for a march and a sit-in at the New York Stock Exchange.
CNN's Susan Candiotti, Rose Arce, Steve Kastenbaum, Raelyn Johnson, Deanna Proeller, John Couwels, Anna Gonzalez and Vivienne Foley contributed to this report.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Michael Moore "Finally"
Michael Moore giddy over Occupy Wall St.: "Finally!"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - At the culmination of his last muckraking documentary, 2009's "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore said he was not going to make another film until someone else -- a group, a movement, an individual, anyone -- stepped up with their own dissonant voice.
The controversial filmmaker seems to have gotten exactly what he wanted with the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
TheWrap's Steve Pond caught up with the documentarian earlier this week to discuss the protest and what he thinks they mean.
TheWrap: On your Web site a couple of days ago, you put up the sentence, "You are about to witness the end of 'Capitalism: A Love Story.'" Did you make the connection with that film right away?
"I was instantly thrilled that there was finally a response. Not to the movie, but to the greed and corruption of the captains of industry who have overplayed their hands in the last few years.
"The first time I went down there, somebody tweeted, 'I saw Michael Moore,' and there was so much joy on his face that if somebody took a picture, the caption should read, 'Finally!'" And I have been kind of giddy about the grassroots nature of this, and how it's just sprung up out of seemingly nowhere, without organization, without dues-paying members, without political leaders.
"At the end of "Capitalism: A Love Story," the last scene is me by myself wrapping crime-scene tape around the New York Stock Exchange, and pulling a Brinks truck up to Goldman Sachs to get our money back.
"And I say at the end of the movie, "I'm tired of being alone and sticking my neck out, and I'm not gonna do this anymore. I'm not gonna make another documentary until I see other people doing things." And I've stuck to my word."
TheWrap: Why?
"It really doesn't do me or other people any good for me to be the poster boy for Fox News or Rush Limbaugh. It's harder for them to attack a movement, and it's harder for them to attack me if there are a million Michael Moores or a million Joe Blows or whoever. Whose picture are they going to put on the screen to bring out the hate?
"But this has happened in ways that I never would have imagined. I would have been happy for just a small response, but this has just exploded. And not just here in New York, but across the country. I mean, I get things every day from people every day from the smallest towns saying "We've started an occupy movement in our little town."
TheWrap: In "Capitalism," there's a scene where Wallace Shawn says, "There are little hints that the unimaginable could occur, which is that people could actually become angry at the wealthy." Did it seem unimaginable at that time?
"Yes. But the hints had been around for some time. This assault on the middle class had been taking place since Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers 30 years ago. At the beginning of the movie I describe capitalism as a system of "giving and taking -- mostly taking." And I say, "all that was missing was the revolt."
TheWrap: The most common criticism of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that it doesn't have specific goals. It's unfocused anger, and the participants are not telling us what they're trying to achieve.
"Those who are part of the system that has made life miserable for millions of Americans, they don't understand something that happens when it's not happening within the system. That's why they can't process what they're seeing. To them, it looks like chaos and disorganization and nobody knows what they really want. In truth, everyone down there seems to be very clear about what they want.
"When something new happens like this, culturally, politically, socially, those who are the old guard and those who populate the Sunday morning talk shows and those who are the analysts on Fox News and CNN can't wrap their heads around it.
"But when you've got 50 million people who don't have health insurance, I can guarantee you that every one of those 50 million can wrap their head around it. When you've got 46.2 million living in poverty, I'm going to guess that the majority of those 46.2 million know what this is about. They just don't own cable stations, and they don't host Sunday morning talk shows."
TheWrap: So what is it about?
"There's a shared feeling among people down there that this economic system that we have is unfair, and it's unjust, and it's not democratic. We don't have a say in how this economy is structured and run. That's at the core of everything else.
"That's why the group is not saying one thing, like, 'We support Obama's 5.6 percent tax increase on the rich,' even though I'm sure most people agree with that. Or, 'We support bringing back Glass-Steagall, so there's regulations on Wall Street,' though I'm sure everybody supports that.
"This group is very much in touch with where the majority of Americans are at. It all seems very clear to me, but because it doesn't fit into the punditocracy dictionary, they don't understand. They are without a compass. 'There's something happening here, and you don't know what it is.'"
TheWrap: What do you expect to see accomplished, and what do you want to see accomplished?
"The first victory has already been won. It's been an apathy killer. If nothing else happened beyond this -- and there will be much more that will happen beyond this -- but if nothing did, it's already accomplished something very, very important. It's ended people's apathy and their inability to feel like they can stand up against Wall Street.
"These people are worried about it, because they know what they've done. They've stolen thefutures of many of these young people, and people want their future, and they want hope, and they don't have much hope now. So I think the first thing's already been accomplished."
TheWrap: And what do you see happening next?
"We don't know what the next step is. The next step is we're gonna see what happens. It's kind of like, you know, if you were the person who made "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Easy Rider," or if you were Dylan and you put out your first album. It's so shocking to people. Go back and read the New York Times review of "Dr. Strangelove." They did not know what the hell it was.
"If you look at the first news reports from three plus weeks ago, it was just hippies beating on bongo drums, and it was being dismissed. Well, they're not writing those stories anymore."
TheWrap: Do you see any signs that government is sympathetic and ready to help?
"Well, earlier today, David Pouffe, Obama's senior advisor, came out and said Obama is on the side of Wall Street protesters. So that's pretty quick. After three weeks, with no organization, no leader, nothing but the will of the people rising up in scores of cities across the country, it's enough for the White House to recognize it and to side with it as best they can.
"But this movement is not about endorsing politicians right now. This is about how the politicians have had their time to try and fix this, and it's clear that they're not going to, because they all feed at the same trough on Wall Street.
"This is going to go much larger and deeper than 'Let's get Senate Bill 2537 passed.' People are tired, and they've given up on that. And they're somewhat tired of President Obama, too. I bet most of the people down there voted for him, if they were of voting age at the time, and he's acted too slow, and appeased too many of the Republicans.
"That's not what he was elected to do. He was given a mandate to go in there and clean house, and he didn't clean house. He just tried to rearrange the furniture a little bit, and then he let the Republicans come in and sit on the furniture. Trust me, if they had won, that's not the way they'd have acted. So there's a lot of disappointment with him, but he's got another year. He can change."
TheWrap: You said you weren't going to make another film until the people took action. Now that they have, are you doing another movie?
"Yes, I am. But I'm not making a film about this."
TheWrap: What are you making a film about?
"I'm not gonna tell you what I'm going to do film-wise, but it will be something that's not being addressed. It will be funny and shocking and hopefully will help move the ball down the field.
"And as long as I am one among many ... That is why I love going down to Occupy Wall Street. Because I stand there with hundreds as part of this general assembly, and I am one voice. If feels so much better to me to have hundreds of other people sharing in that and saying, 'We're all going to put the yoke on our shoulders and carry this forward.'
"That feels better than standing alone on the Oscar stage being booed off it."
TheWrap: I was standing in the wings of the stage that night, and I saw you come offstage and get a big thank-you from Diane Lane, who presented the award.
"Yeah, Diane came up to me, and I felt so bad. I said, 'I'm so sorry I dragged you into my mess,' and she said, 'Oh my god, don't be sorry, I just got to be a part of history.'
"So you were there? Help me out, okay? I don't remember a single person booing on the main floor where all the nominees are. But it was deafening, and I thought, 'Where is the sound coming from?'"
TheWrap: There were definitely boos coming from the audience -- but there are three balconies in that theater, so there are lots of people that you just can't see from the stage. And in the back where I was, a few of the stagehands were definitely shouting at you. There were clearly people who were pissed off, and people who were supportive.
"Yes, there were people who were applauding. Scorsese was applauding, I could see him. I could see Meryl Streep. I have a visual of that in my head.
"And now I'm on the board of governors. That's a long way to go from being booed off the stage."
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