The Weather; General Strike; Goldman Sachs

(1) The Weather and #OWS: The image above is from a German Socialist Students Union poster from 1968 (it was apparently a takeoff on a slogan from the national rail system, according to this site).

The poster headed a nice piece from Viewpoint Magazine on #OWS and the weather--super-relevant now that many inches of snow were dumped on the NYC site over the weekend (Boston only got about an inch).  Worth a read.

(2) General Strike called for Oakland Tomorrow: Here's an announcement from the Oakland teachers union, the Oakland Education Association, whose executive committee endorsed the general strike, declaring We Are, We Teach, the 99%.

And here's a bizarre, but apparently authentic, open letter from the Oakland Police Officers' Union, highly critical of Mayor Jean Quan for ordering them to clear Frank Ogawa Plaza, site of the #OccupyOakland encampment, then allowing the protesters to re-occupy it (after all the hard work of clearing it!), and now encouraging city employees (EXCEPT the police) to join in on tomorrow's general strike.  Jeez!  You almost feel sorry for the guys! They also declare themselves part of the 99%.  It really sounds like an Onion story.

And this video about tomorrow's strike, relating it to the Oakland General Strike of 1946:

(3) Goldman Sachs in the News: Two items on the bank holding company we all love to hate.  First, this from the Borowitz Report:

Dear Investor:

Until now, Goldman Sachs has been silent on the subject of the protest movement known as “Occupy Wall Street.”  That does not mean, however, that it has not been very much on our minds.  As thousands have gathered in Lower Manhattan, passionately expressing their deep discontent with the status quo, we have taken note of these protests.

And we have asked ourselves this question:  How can we make money off them?

The answer is the newly launched Goldman Sachs Global Rage Fund, whose investment objective is to monetize the “Occupy Wall Street” protests as they spread around the world.  At Goldman, we recognize that the capitalist system as we know it is circling the drain -- but there's plenty of money to be made on the way down.

The Rage Fund will seek out opportunities to invest in products that are poised to benefit from the spreading protests, from police batons and barricades to stun guns and forehead bandages.  Furthermore, as clashes between police and protesters turn ever more violent, we are making significant bets on companies that manufacture replacements for broken windows and overturned cars, as well as the raw materials necessary for the construction and incineration of effigies.

It would be tempting, at a time like this, to say "Let them eat cake," but at Goldman, we are actively seeking to corner the market in cake futures.  We project that through our aggressive market manipulation, the price of a piece of cake will quadruple by the end of 2011.

Please contact your Goldman representative for a full prospectus.  As the world descends into a Darwinian free-for-all, the Goldman Sachs Rage Fund is a great way to tell the protesters, "Occupy this."

We haven't felt so good about something we've sold since our souls.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Blankfein
Chairman, Goldman Sachs

And apparently there will be a People's Trial of Goldman Sachs at Zuccotti Park on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 10am-noon.  Cornell West and Chris Hedges will preside.  Hear it on WBAI.

That's all for now.

--Chris Sturr