This may be something of a hit-and-run diary as I was already in bed, kicking back and surfing the web on the mobile device, when I ran across this:
Occupy Seattle wants to disrupt visit of JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon
The gist of this, from the article on KPLU 88.5's (the local NPR affiliate's) website, is that 18 months ago, the University of Washington's Foster School of Business invited Dimon to be the keynote speaker at their "Business Leadership Celebration", scheduled this year for November 2, the same day as the General Strike in Oakland and solidarity events around the country (and hopefully the world).
Follow me below the Sleepy Ampersand for more.
Sage Wilson is one of the organizers of the upcoming rally and march protesting Dimon's speech at the Sheraton Hotel on Wednesday.
"He is the embodiment of Chase as the bank and big banks in general. He is the top 1% of the 1%. He made $20.8 million in 2010 making him the top paid banker in the country."
Wilson says Dimon's visit is especially galling to anyone who lives in the state. Back in 2008 Dimon spearheaded JP Morgan Chase's acquisition of Washington Mutual - the largest bank failure in history.
"This is a bank which is foreclosing on people. They're charging EBT beneficiaries 85 cents a transaction, they laid off 3,400 people after they bought Washington Mutual. This is stuff that nobody in the 99% wants to see happening," said Wilson.
(Link above for EBT is to California program, used only as an example to show what EBT is.)
Activists here will march from Westlake Park, the site of #OccupySeattle, to the Sheraton Hotel at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, which will be preceded by an afternoon worth of events.
Occupy Seattle has issued the following statement and timetable of events after approval by the General Assembly:
Welcome Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan CHASE, to Seattle this Wednesday!
On Wednesday, November 2nd, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase will be visiting Seattle. Chase collected billions in bailouts while giving millions in bonuses to executives like Dimon, laying off thousands of Washingtonians, and forcing families out of their homes with predatory lending.
Let's show him that what Seattle really thinks of banksters like him!
We'll be taking on Dimon with some awesome events:
1pm: Meet at Seattle Central Community College - 1 hour speak out.
2pm: March and action at a major bank.
6pm: Meet at Westlake Park and march to the Sheraton where Mr. Dimon will be speaking.
Occupy Seattle believes that Chase bank and Jamie Dimon are complicit in the collapse of the US economy and the ongoing economic injustice in our nation today.
The list of injustices is long. Here is a short sample:
* While the majority of Americans saw their incomes decrease in 2010, Dimon received a 1,500 percent increase in compensation to $20.8 million.
* Dimon believes that foreclosure is a form of magnanimous "debt relief" that leaves the former homeowners "better off" than they were before. As he said in May 2011, “…Giving debt relief to people that really need it, that's what foreclosure is."
* In 2011, Chase agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges.
* In March of 2010, Chase agreed to pay $75 million in fines and forfeit $647 million in fees to settle federal regulators' charges that it made unlawful payments to friends of public officials to win municipal bond business.
* In October 2010, executives at Chase confessed to signing tens of thousands of foreclosure documents without reading them.
* In 2009, Chase reported a profit of $11.7 billion, more than twice its profit for 2008, the year the bank received a federal taxpayer bailout of $94.7 billion.
* Adding insult to injury, Chase admitted in January of this year to overcharged more than 4,000 active-duty military personnel on their home loans.
The action is also in solidarity with the planned General Strike in Oakland. Let's make November 2nd one to remember! Please RSVP and invite all your friends to this Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/...
I have something scheduled long in advance that I cannot cancel or change that evening, but will try to get over for some of the daytime activities. Solidarity with #OccupyOakland! #OWS all the way!
We are the 99%, and we're not going to let Mr. Dimon leave town without making sure he feels every bit as welcome here as someone from the Bush administration, or less.