On my mind…

It is Saturday night, it’s not even eleven and my husband is asleep on the couch. He always seems to fall asleep on the couch whether he has had a few and it is 3am or if we just had a fabulous homemade Korean Bulgogi dinner with friends. Is it my husband or is it the couch?  We do joke that it is the ‘comfort den’ and some lesser appropriate names that I shall not repeat, because it fully welcomes and encourages relaxation.

So, as my husband sleeps, many thoughts run through my head about home (here and the US)….I think about the new semester of courses that will start this next week, along with the other courses I am teaching around town that will resume this week as well. I am also thinking about the intensive German class I am taking five days a week…I may just unwillingly die of exhaustion this semester because of this. Needless to say then,  I am excited and slightly nervous. I find it frustrating that I have to choose between  work or language learning, but I understand my lack of understanding or ability to communicate effectively in German is keeping me from other work.  I want to be a part of the larger society, to know what is going on and talk to people about their lives.

Speaking of a larger society, my thoughts turn to the “Occupy Wall Street” protests that seem to have caught fire all over the country that are now spreading throughout the world. I watch from a distance as this all unfolds, understanding full well why I would join the fight myself (which I will likely explain in a later post).

I am happy that when I read about news in America, and in Portland,  only to see more and more people joining this ever-gaining momentous movement “Occupy Wall Street“.

I love that FOX NEWS and other Republicans were dismissing the group  and still attempt to, yet today (October 15) happened to be a global day of protest against the extreme imbalance of power and wealth in government, business and society in general. I am excited to see where this fight goes and very inspired by the hard work and faith the peaceful protesters have. Even the economist, Paul Krugman has written about how even just a month ago, barely any news coverage was paid to them whatsoever, yet today they are all that is seen on the news and internet. “What can we say about the protests? First things first: The protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force, economically and politically, is completely right (Krugman).” He then explains that leading up to this movement was our economic woes in three acts:

“In the first act, bankers took advantage of deregulation to run wild (and pay themselves princely sums), inflating huge bubbles through reckless lending. In the second act, the bubbles burst — but bankers were bailed out by taxpayers, with remarkably few strings attached, even as ordinary workers continued to suffer the consequences of the bankers’ sins. And, in the third act, bankers showed their gratitude by turning on the people who had saved them, throwing their support — and the wealth they still possessed thanks to the bailouts — behind politicians who promised to keep their taxes low and dismantle the mild regulations erected in the aftermath of the crisis. (Krugman) ”

What do they want? Here is a clip of Keith Olbermann reading their statement, released on October 5th, 2011.They make some good points…