Comes The Revolution
The 'one percent' are tired
dealing with the unwashed masses
who harass them on Wall Street
while mostly sitting on their asses..
In a bold preemptive strike
by the favored one percent
The wealthy seized Zuccotti park
and there they pitched their tents.
It' s a very civil protest,
a catered call to arms.
Instead of drums and gongs,
an orchestra plays Brahms
English butlers with refined accents
now go from tent to tent
with champagne in fluted glass
for those who can pay rent.
The gilded age was long ago-
its passing, some lament.
We paper over losses now
by piling debt on debt.
When this house of cards comes down
as such are wont to do.
This land will have new masters
but it probably won't be you.
poem by John F. McCullagh
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
I think we ought to ban earmarks. I think we ought to give citizens the opportunity to designate up to 10 percent of their federal income tax toward debt reduction. If we did that, we would reduce our debt by $95 billion a year.
quote by Carly Fiorina
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is day after day in this institution, borrow money, run up the debt, run up the deficits and then with a straight face say, we are going to repeal a tax that affects 1 percent of the American people, just 1 percent of the American people.
quote by Richard Neal
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We believe you will not have to pay more than the current rate structure proposes - which is, for 50 percent of the public, nothing; for another 25 percent, only a 10 percent increase; and for the remaining 25 percent, a 34 percent increase.
quote by Gray Davis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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According to the Gallup Poll, 24 percent of American adults exercised regularly in 1961, and 50 percent after 1968. The peak was 59 percent in 1984, dropping off to 51 percent last September.
quote by Kenneth H. Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In Tents
In Waltham, on a Soccer field
A city of pink tents was pitched.
A neighborhood with real thin walls
Some chat, some snore, some mainly itched.
In the distance, thunder rumbled.
Streaks of lightening split the sky
Soon, I knew, the rain would come here.
We must find shelter, you and I.
I am not the outdoors type-
Five star hotels are more my speed,
But out here on the soccer field
Tent building skills are what I need
I 'liberate' a sheet of tarp
To serve as floor for our domain
And with your help I pitched the tent
while laughing in the pouring rain.
Once inside the nylon bubble
(My shoes and clothes quite soaked with rain)
A tiny leak, a Chinese torture
Drop by dropp upon my brain..
Back out again into the Tempest
Back out across the sodden field
I’m seeking out a piece of plastic
to keep out the piss warm rain.
I return to our tent in triumph
A sheet of propylene I found
Is just the thing to keep the rain out
I plop down on the slick wet ground..
The woman in the tent beside us
Like a lusting Walrus snores,
But twenty miles this day behind us
I soon won’t care if Lions roar.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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He used to have a tent show, a little tent show, and I thought I was going to get a job working one year on the tent show, but he closed it down and I never got to go out there, but anyway, he had a sax and played drums.
quote by Earl Scruggs
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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This debt crisis coming to our country. The wall and tidal wave of debt that is befalling our nation. Medicare and Social Security go bankrupt within ten years, we have a debt that is looming so high that in the last year of President Obama's budget just the interest payments on our debt is $916 billion dollars.
Social Insecurity
Strapped Seniors use credit cards ‘stead of cash
To stay afloat, after losing their stocks n’ bonds
Yet more victims of another Wall Street crash
“Let them eat cake” is what the Fed responds
ROTMS
From Reuters Article 10/23/2010
Retired and broke: Why retirees are declaring bankruptcy
For more and more seniors, retirement doesn’t mean a debt-free life of leisure. An increasing number of Americans aged 65 and older are declaring bankruptcy, according to a recent study by John Pottow, professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
Those aged 65 and older represented seven percent of bankruptcy filers in 2007, a mind-boggling jump from 1991. They are the “fastest-growing age demographic, ” according to Pottow’s study.
What’s the culprit for so much debt? Credit cards. Two-thirds of Americans who filed for bankruptcy said credit cards were the key reason for their financial problems, according to Pottow’s research. Besides having more credit card debt compared with younger bankruptcy filers,44.8 percent of those aged 65 and older also had more plastic in their wallets. “They’re using credit cards as a maladaptive coping mechanism, ” Pottow says.
Stephanie Osterland, a supervisor in the bankruptcy department at GreenPath debt solutions, sees an increasing number of seniors living beyond their means. Says Osterland: “They’re just trying to live off of a fixed income, and that’s usually Social Security. Maybe they have a small pension. We find they’ve used credit cards to supplement that income and expenses or they just end up getting into a lot of medical debt.”
In addition to escalating medical expenses, seniors have seen their portfolios hit hard by the lagging stock market. Carolyn Rodi of Saving Your American Dream says those considering bankruptcy should see a credit counselor at a non-profit organization to get their finances in order.
Credit counselors, such as those at GreenPath, help the elderly deal with a stressful situation. “We try to help them focus on what it’s going to look like” after they get out of debt, Osterland says.
Rodi also recommends that potential bankruptcy filers seek out pro-bono legal aid. “There are a lot of elderly people that are being taken advantage of by bankruptcy attorneys and mortgage brokers who are advising them improperly to pay for the bankruptcy, take out a reverse mortgage or to do things that aren’t in their best interest, ” she says. ”If you have no income, why should you borrow to pay someone when you can get free legal aid? ”
What are the chances of a senior paying off his or her debts? It’s difficult to determine, especially because seniors tend to be on a fixed income. And while finding a job — such as a WalMart greeter — seems like a viable option, it is not necessarily feasible for all seniors to work.
In addition, whether or not a person declares Chapter 7 (which involves the liquidation of one’s assets) or Chapter 13 (which allows debt restructuring) bankruptcy can be a significant factor in determining what one’s lifestyle will be. “If you have to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may be able to find affordable housing that allows you to just get by, ” says Rodi. “Chapter 13 lets you keep your house and doesn’t touch your retirement savings.”
Regardless, filing for bankruptcy is very stressful for anyone. “A lot of our clients in that post-retirement age have a hard time coming to grips with their situation, ” Osterland says. “It’s very emotional for them. We try to focus on the future and see if this debt can be lifted off their shoulders.”
poem by Ray Lucero
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After A Dance At Malaga
In Malaga
at the base camp
you danced at some disco
and drank Bacardi
and coke and it was
well into the early hours
of the morning
when you left
with Mamie
tiptoeing between
tent ropes and the unlit
areas between
and she said
I can't find
where my tent is
and you said
I'd let you share mine
but that young army guy
is in mine
and three in a bed
is a bit cramped
but where is mine?
she said
searching around
touching tent ropes
as she went by
you stood watching
trying to decide
where your tent was
what are we to do?
she asked
let's go back
to the club
until it gets lighter
or we remember
where our tents are
you said
but I'm tired
she said
I want to go to bed
and sleep
you searched around
by the hedge of the field
and then said
wait
I know where
mine is now
and you led her
to the tent
and unzipped it
and there inside
was the army guy
fast asleep
you can come in here
if you like
you said
but she just stood there
in the semi dark
cussing into the night
come on in
and be quiet
you said
I want my tent
she said
I want my own bloody tent
ok go find it then
you said
and began to climb inside
wait
she said
in a hushed voice
and came over
to your tent
and looked in
what about him?
she asked
he's asleep
you replied
what will he say
and finds me here?
you gazed
at the sleeping soldier boy
his mouth open
his eyes closed
a soft snore
filling the air
either come in
or go elsewhere
you whispered
I can't
she said
not with him there
and so she turned
and wandered off
into the semi dark
another chance walking off
into the night
some things you hope for
you murmured
never come right.
poem by Terry Collett
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Over Now
Good night...
Yeah, its over now, but I can breathe somehow
When its all worn out, Id rather go without
You know its been on my mind
Could you stand right there
Look me straight in the eye and say
That its over now
We pay our debt sometime
Well its over now, yet I can see somehow
When its all gone wrong, its hard to be so strong
You know its been on my mind
Could you stand right there
Look me straight in the eye and say
That its over now
We pay our debt sometime
Yeah, we pay our debt sometime
We pay our debt sometime
Yeah, we pay our debt sometime
Guess its over now, I seem alive somehow
When its out of sight, just wait and do your time
You know its been on my mind
Could I stand right here
Look myself in the eye and say
That its over now
We pay our debt sometime
Yeah, we pay our debt sometime
We pay our debt sometime
Yeah, we pay our debt sometime
song performed by by Alice In Chains
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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For me, writing is 75 percent procrastinating and 25 percent actually sitting down and working.
quote by Zooey Deschanel
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Most people live ninety percent in the past, seven percent in the present, and that only leaves three percent for the future.
John Steinbeck in The Winter of our Discontent
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If unemployment could be brought down to say 2 percent at the cost of an assured steady rate of inflation of 10 percent per year, or even 20 percent, this would be a good bargain.
quote by William Vickrey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ninety-Nine Versus One
Ninety-nine and one used to equal 100 percent.
However, math today is askew and I how resent
That the one percent controls the ninety-nine
And seeks to steal their remaining fruit rotting on the vine.
Once ninety nine was ninety-nine times one percent.
Now that one is 40 times or greater of all the money spent.
This 100% contains more powerful, greedy rich every day
As middle class suffers through more poverty and less say.
Many new millionaires and billionaires populate the 100%
While millions lose their homes and can hardly pay rent.
Our wealthy political leaders who fashion income tax laws
Take care that they and theirs are protected in every cause.
"We the people of the United States…" will deteriorate
To read "We the rich and powerful, how much we rate…"
Unless common man wakes up from his slumbering nights
And demands his rightful place in that 100% of his rights!
poem by Gregory Huyette
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Skating takes up 70 percent of my time, school about 25 percent. Having fun and talking to my friends, 5 percent. It's hard. I envy other kids a lot of things, but I get a guilt trip when I'm not training.
quote by Michelle Kwan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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For a while we lived in a tent we'd pitched inside his parents' house and we slept on pillows.
quote by Shelley Duvall
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For students today, only 10 percent of children from working-class families graduate from college by the age of 24 as compared to 58 percent of upper-middle-class and wealthy families.
quote by Patrick J. Kennedy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Own hate - hate growN
Spasms of freedom, build into a gun - Fighting for the land belonging to your father, and his fathers father, yet killed when the field was seized - Daughters without fathers, sons with far less brothers, debt by death to the dictators - The rulers of decay, their way, they know only one way - The war brought forth, the one too civil, against the people of your country - Own hate, hate growN - The land, by which you are to weak, alone to stand - The have to believe, by the suffering of the innocent, the sadness in sorrow, is peace - By the driven machine, the slaughter house of death, the king of war - Victory By The Blood On Your Hands.
poem by Unic Cjonr
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In the late 1980s the amount of German films was down to four or five percent of the market, and the remaining 95 percent were American. It is now 20 to 30 percent German productions.
quote by Wim Wenders
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Currently, Boston has only nine percent of the state's population - but we provide more than 16 percent of the jobs and 19 percent of the state's revenues.
quote by Thomas Menino
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