"Special Coverage: Occupy Wall Street"

For Wednesday, February 29th, I read a WikiLeak from the Global Intelligence Files regarding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's response to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movements. The OWS movement is a coalition of ongoing protests taking place in cities across the United States and the world. These public protests focus primarily on issues of economic justice, such as corruption in the financial system, the government's handling of the global economic crisis, wealth disparity, and the role of corporate money in the U.S. political system. The article goes on to describe the impact of these movements on the financial services, commercial facilities, transportation, and government facilities in various cities across the U.S. where these protests are occurring. Homeland Security's conclusions were that the continued expansion of the protests have placed a large burden on law enforcement as they attempt to maintain crowds in these public arenas. Furthermore, Homeland Security states that while the protests have been relatively peaceful thus far, the location of the protests in major metropolitan areas makes heightened and continuous situational awareness by security personnel of the utmost importance.

Questions to be discussed in class:
Are all the occupy movements justified? Should the "99%" be spending their time complaining or out looking for jobs? Do the occupy movements actually accomplish anything? Do the Occupy movements present a legitimate threat with regards to public safety?

http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1497330_-alpha-occupy-wall-street-dhs-analysis-.html