Yes, indeedie, the Occupy Wall Street movement is still alive and is about to mark its 6-month anniversary. I check the blog occasionally and this is the list of events planned for the next week or so. One action caught my attention. Three Occupiers were arrested for drawing on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, the kind of stuff kids are allowed to play with because it washes off. The crime was trespass and graffiti. In response there will be a Chalkupation in which parents and kids are invited to use their chalk all over Liberty Plaza for a couple hours on Saturday.
During a luncheon yesterday to raise money for Romney there was to be a rally outside. I haven't seen a report yet. One of the signs was "Buy your own politician. Romney's mine."
Various Occupy communities are calling for a general strike on May 1, which is International Workers' Day. What would the world be like without the 99%? In addition to demonstrating, the Occupy folks suggest no work, no shopping, no banking. I'll be involved in a church related occupy event that day. I'll tell more later.
A related effort in NYC is Picture the Homeless. The group was were formed more than a decade ago in response to efforts to criminalize homelessness. One of their recent efforts was to list all the vacant apartments within about 1/3 of the city. City rent laws are such that many landlords would rather let a place sit empty. The count showed enough vacancies to house all the homeless of NYC. It isn't a homeless crisis, it is a housing usage crisis.
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