"I'm Getting Arrested!" Droid App; etc.

(1) "Help--I'm Getting Arrested!" Droid App:  Hat-tip to Julio Huato on lbo-talk: at CNET Jaymar Cabebe reviews a new Droid app that could be useful for #Occupy activists:

Your cause? Let's say, to curb excessive influence of big business and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans on U.S. laws and policy. You're holding up a sign declaring your heartfelt beliefs and chanting a bit with some of your fellow demonstrators when, all of a sudden--bam! The cops slap the cuffs on you, with the intention of carting you off to the nearest police station. Meanwhile, your friends and family are at home completely clueless about your situation.

Enter I'm Getting Arrested, a creative Android app that, according to developer Quadrant 2, was inspired by a similar incident. It lets you quickly notify your family, friends, and crack legal team (if you have one) of your situation with a single tap of your finger. Just initially enter a custom message and some SMS-ready numbers to contact in the event of your arrest. Then, as you're about to be corralled into the back of a squad car, fire the app up and long-press the bull's-eye for 2 seconds. From there, you can rest assured that your message will be sent to the appropriate contacts.

From what we've seen, I'm Getting Arrested is straightforward and works exactly as described. Our only question is, why no Twitter or Facebook support? Considering we're talking about a grassroots movement here, it just makes sense, no? Built-in social media would not only expand the app's reach to potentially large numbers of friends and loved ones, but it would also serve as a bullhorn for rallying support after every arrest.

I'm Getting Arrested is available for free download now in the Android Market. And for supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, you might want to download it before October 15. Just saying.

I don't intend to get arrested, but I do have a Droid...

(2) Upcoming #OccupyBoston Teach-Ins: Very last-minute notice about two this afternoon (Friday Oct 14), plus unconfirmed future teach-ins:

Fourth Teach-In:  Friday, October 14th, 2:30pm
Alejandro Reuss, UMass-Amherst Labor Center
"It’s Not Just the Banks:  Class and the Shift in the Distribution of Income Against Workers and in favor of Capitalists"

Fifth Teach-In: Friday, October 14th, 3:30pm
Juliet Schor, Sociology Department, Boston University
"Why Unemployment Is So High and How We Can Reduce It"

Sixth Teach-In: Saturday, October 15th, 2:30pm
Julie Matthaei, Economics Department, Wellesley College
"Taking Back Our Economy: An Intro to the Solidarity Economy"

Seventh Teach-In: Sunday, October 16th, 2pm
Julie Nelson, Economics Department, UMass-Boston, and the Global Development and the Environment Institute (Tufts)
"Economics for Humans: What Economists Got Wrong, and What We've Got to Fix"

Also, Arthur MacEwan (who writes our "Ask Dr. Dollar" column) will be doing one this coming Wednesday or Thursday, topic TBA.

The Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series is also happening.  Here are their next two talks:

“Neoliberal Dispossession and the Demand for Demands”Elite Control Over US Foreign Policy: Lessons from Vietnam, to Iraq, to Today.”

(3) Jeff Madrick "Virtual Teach-In" from #OccupyMissoula!: #OccupyMissoula (yay!!) has posted a series of videos of a "virtual teach-in" with Jeff Madrick of Cooper Union and editor of Challenge.  Here's Part I; the rest can be found on YouTube:

(4) Who are the 1%? Doug Henwood of the Left Business Observer (to which everyone should subscribe--and by the way, please subscribe to D&S too) posted these income cutoffs in response to a question at the LBO list-serve, lbo-talk:

20th percentile: $20,000
80th percentile: $100,000
90th: $110,000
95th: $153,000
99th: $368,000
99.9th: $1,695,000
99.99th: $9,141,000

So, the 99.99th percentile is people in the top .01%;  the 99.9th percentile is people in the top .1%, and the 99th percentile is people who are merely in the top 1%.   I'll be gathering more details soon.  If you want to help the awesome LittleSis with their research project on the 1%, click here.

That's all for now.

--Chris Sturr