[banker threatens to ask for another bailout. Must destroy markets first.]Now that the poverty-making industry is feeling the heat,
they are starting to strike back.
messages in Chicago: Ya, we're the one percent.
advice in Chicago: sprinkling the crowd with MacDonald's applications
insulting the homeless at the foreclosure-mill law firm :
Hallowe'en parties dressed as homeless with sarcastic signs making fun of the poor who are made homeless by themselves
checkitout:
Top US foreclosure law firm threw Halloween party where staff dressed as homeless, foreclosed-upon Americans
By Xeni Jardin at 8:10 am Saturday, Oct 29
xeni jardin
Boing Boing partner, Boing Boing Video host and executive producer. Xeni.net, Twitter, Google+. Email: xeni@xeni.net. Upcoming speaking appearances include Amnesty International Conference, Nov 4-6, Los Angeles.
From a NYT opinion piece by Joe Nocera, "What the Costumes Reveal"—
On Friday, the law firm of Steven J. Baum threw a Halloween party. The firm, which is located near Buffalo, is what is commonly referred to as a “foreclosure mill” firm, meaning it represents banks and mortgage servicers as they attempt to foreclose on homeowners and evict them from their homes. Steven J. Baum is, in fact, the largest such firm in New York; it represents virtually all the giant mortgage lenders, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
The party is the firm’s big annual bash. Employees wear Halloween costumes to the office, where they party until around noon, and then return to work, still in costume. I can’t tell you how people dressed for this year’s party, but I can tell you about last year’s.
That’s because a former employee of Steven J. Baum recently sent me snapshots of last year’s party. In an e-mail, she said that she wanted me to see them because they showed an appalling lack of compassion toward the homeowners — invariably poor and down on their luck — that the Baum firm had brought foreclosure proceedings against.
I'm not one to incite illegal activity, but christ, guys: if there were ever a house that deserved T-P-ing on Halloween? This firm's headquarters is it. May not be justice, but it's a start.
Read the rest, and see all the photos, here. (via Chris Hayes)
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Traders talk back to Occupy Chicago
By Xeni Jardin at 8:01 am Saturday, Oct 29
xeni jardin
Boing Boing partner, Boing Boing Video host and executive producer. Xeni.net, Twitter, Google+. Email: xeni@xeni.net. Upcoming speaking appearances include Amnesty International Conference, Nov 4-6, Los Angeles.
Someone in the Chicago Board of Trade dropped this printed rant on top of “Occupy Chicago” protesters this Wednesday, as demonstrators and union workers gathered in the city's financial center:
We are Wall Street. It’s our job to make money. Whether it’s a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn’t matter. We would trade baseball cards if it were profitable. I didn’t hear America complaining when the market was roaring to 14,000 and everyone’s 401k doubled every 3 years. Just like gambling, its not a problem until you lose. I’ve never heard of anyone going to Gamblers Anonymous because they won too much in Vegas.
Well now the market crapped out, & even though it has come back somewhat, the government and the average Joes are still looking for a scapegoat. God knows there has to be one for everything. Well, here we are.
Go ahead and continue to take us down, but you’re only going to hurt yourselves. What’s going to happen when we can’t find jobs on the Street anymore? Guess what: We’re going to take yours.
