affiliated with Anonymous...
thats like one step down from
" a group with known links to al queda "
in that;
a> it's affiliated to bollocks
b> it's sloppy journaliss... ah, it's the reg.....
ok carry on.
Hacktivists have published a dossier of personal information on the head of Citigroup in retaliation for the cuffing of protesters at an Occupy Wall Street demo. Members of a group called CabinCr3w, a hacking gang affiliated with Anonymous, revealed phone numbers, an address, email address and financial information on Vikram …
>> "encouraging people to close their accounts at high street banks and deposit their money with credit unions instead"
Actually this is mandated by a knowledge of simple arithmetic. Anyone who has their main business with the big banks probably has a first name relationship with the drooling idiot at McDonalds due to eating there every day. Why people accept their abusive terms of business escapes me.
Example - I recently changed jobs and as is fairly normal in the US my new employer <bigcorp> has a 'special relationship' with one of the big banks. So as part of the induction process you get a pitch from the bank. Being new to the area I open an account (it's free and convenient - also you need a local bank to write a cheque - there is no concept of a cheque guarantee card). Skip forward a few weeks and the old truck I'm driving finally starts to show signs of incipient mortality so I consider replacing it. Go to onsite bank branch waving flier promising 'great service and special offers for <bigcorp> employees'. Undergo 30 minute grilling about income and assets. Get told I'll get a decision 'soon'. 36 hours later I get an email telling me that the wonderful reduced rate for a car loan will mean payments of $X (where X is a suspiciously larger number than I was expecting). Takes 4 more email exchanges before they will tell me what the interest rate is that they think they are charging (which actually worked out to 19%). They were proud that they were only charging 11.5%. So - not only are they thieves - they can't do simple maths either.
As the alternative I'd also contacted the convenient credit union at the same time. The conversation went like
"Got a job ?"
"Yeah - work for <bigcorp> - new starter"
"Welcome to <state> - brought a payslip with you?>
"Yup - here you are>
"Thanks - home address ?"
"Yup - wrote it all down (Note - I do this because the foreign accent tends to confuse the colonials)"
"Thanks .... keyboard keyboard ...... approved - 3.5%"
For those of you that are old enough to remember the local building societies (before they sold out) it's kinda like that
Hows about you go the whole hog and follow the example of some kids at the London G20 protests, who had an "Abolish Money" banner.
That'd stick it to The Man.
(nb: I, personally don't think they've fully thought it through, but what do I know I work for a bank and so am apparently a wanker, as are all people who work at banks, large or small, senior or the most lowley cleaner.)
Looks like it just keeps growing. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Also, a side note - I do not believe the people are anti-capitalism. That would just be silly. They're anti-corporate controlled government, if I understand correctly.
Basically, they, like a lot of people, are fed up of the people not having the government's ear because the corporations are stuffing the employees' ears with money.
The closed door deals of "We'll give you support into office from our company if you help us..." to "Now that you're about to leave, make sure to do XYZ for us and then we'll get you a nice cushy job for you to retire on a big fat pension..."
It's things like that which are raising the US citizen's hackles - not capitalism. I know you Euro-tourists assume if anyone's pissed at America, it boils down to anti-capitalism but that's a common mistake.
Capitalism is an awful financial system which relies on massive explotation and modern day slavery. It is the most sophisticated economic system devised in terms of making the most money to the fewest people. how can you honestly not be against it knowing all the horrors it unleashes?
The less than a $1 a day salary for making things that are sold for 100s of dollars,
Massive profits from making advanced things that blow up and kill whole families,
Rapid deforestation and poisoning of water supplies,
around 40% food wasted while there are around 30% people without food,
Global production of goods which have to be produced at A, shipped half way around the world to B to be packed, and shipped again to be sold elsewhere,
mass unemployment and homelessness,
Lack of medicine to the most needy,
Genocides and bribes to warlords and drug producers, etc.
I can continue, The point is, pretty much all of this world's evils can be pinned down on this financial system, and very little good has come out of it, Some will argue that I use this computer and have a phone thanks to capitalism, but I thank the slaves who made it, not their bosses.
Still, I agree with you that while this economic system is in place, we must make sure that it isn't involved in decision and policy making, and that it's properly regulated.
Isn't that something we all have a right to do?
And if we want to do it loudly, what's illegal about that?
Since when was embarrassing a bank illegal? In fact, I have occasionally found loud embarrassing behaviour to be the only way to get any service out of one.