"I am a 27 year old veteran of the Iraq War. I enlisted to protect the American people, but ended up making profits for politically-connected contractors. I returned to a country whose economy had been devastated by bankers with the same connections and the same lack of ethics. It might be cliche by now, but this is the second time I’ve fought for my country and the first time I’ve known my enemy. I am the 99%."

[Via "We are the 99 percent"]

Killing too many civilians? Just change the definition. It's that easy. [more at LeeCamp.net]

"Fit To Print" examines the ongoing crisis within the U.S. newspaper industry and its impact on local investigative reporting. The film includes interviews from reporters, staff members and media experts within several major U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Through interviews with former executives at the leading newspaper companies, the filmmakers illustrate a change in business practices, beginning in the 1960s. Newspapers became less a public service than a business enterprise designed to please stockholders. Unfortunately, newspaper companies historically neglected investment in new technologies and expanded classified advertising online despite direct proposals from major internet search engine companies and advertising entrepreneurs As a result, staffs were cut, and the watchdog role of reporters has come with a cost.

"Independent journalism is absolutely essential for a functioning democracy," a laid-off journalist warns us. Indeed.

[Via]

Good morning and TGIF!

Though under house arrest and about to be extradited to Sweden, Julian Assange is still producing his show for RT, "The World Tomorrow," the most recent episode of which he dedicated to the Occupy Movement. Shot in the old Deutsche Bank building in London, which is controlled by friends of Occupy, Julian enlists guests Marisa Holmes, Alexa O'Brien and David Graeber from Occupy Wall Street, and Aaron Peters and Naomi Colvin from Occupy London, to parse the future of Occupy.

The Occupy movement has united hundreds of thousands across the world in protest against economic and social injustice. In this episode, key Occupy activists talk global finance, politics, and direct action.

The roots of the movement lie in the growing outrage many felt in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. However, according to Alexa O'Brien from Occupy New York and US Day of Rage, they are also responding to a "Global Political Crisis, because our institutions no longer function." Aaron Peters from Occupy London agrees that political failure is a "global phenomenon", with power shifting to unaccountable non-democratic institutions. However, the last word goes to David Graeber from Occupy New York, who jokes "there's nothing that terrifies the American government so much as the threat of democracy breaking out in America."

Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, a comedy duo known as Garfunkel and Oates, sing a "We are the World"-style parody, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, about the current economic crisis in this clip directed by MATT and OZ. "All the jobless people need to learn to be content," they intone faux-earnestly into the mic as visions of old white gentleman float by, "because what we need to do is protect the 1%."

A Phoenix, Arizona woman is taking on two mortgage giants, Bank of America and Fannie Mae, and the case is making its way through federal court. Lilly Washington is representing herself, and seeking ownership of her home and compensation for belongings that were thrown out when her home was wrongfully foreclosed.

Washington was in the middle of a loan modification with Bank of America when her son who is in the military was wounded and sent to a hospital in Germany. She informed the bank that she needed to go be with her son, and BoA assured her in a letter that they were aware of her trip and: "will await your return so that we can finish the loan modification process." She thought everything would be fine until her return.

But just days after leaving, the bank foreclosed, and Fannie Mae took ownership of her home:

Via:

"Everything was empty. Everything. Upstairs, downstairs everything was empty," says Lilly Washington.

Washington was stunned when she returned home and found a "for sale" sign in her yard. She managed to get back into the home and immediately started making calls.

"I said 'where did you put my stuff from the house. Which storage.' They said, 'we don't put in storage, it is at the city dump.'"

Washington had just returned from visiting her wounded son in Germany. She was gone for a month and half. Her son's Purple Heart was thrown away too.

"I said, my gosh how can you take that. He is fighting for this country. And you steal from his home, everything," says Washington.

Washington's church helped her refurnish the home as she wasn't able to recover any of her belongings, and she has been fighting for two years now to regain ownership.

Update after the jump...

Continue reading »

Good morning! Today is Thursday, May 31, 2012. Today's "Must Read" is from Joseph Stiglitz at Vanity Fair, “The 1 Percent’s Problem.”

Moment of Clarity #144: Airlines have now privatized common decency. Why do we put up with this? Why do we abide by their corporate values? [Get more at LeeCamp.net]

When you trail Pakistan in a women's rights issue, you have a problem. Huge problem. Enormous...

[Via]

[H/T to Think Progress]