Occupy Wall Street Protest Escalates On Eighth Day

Tensions are rising at the Occupy Wall Street protest, currently in its eighth day, as organizers for the protest claim that 80 have been arrested.Eyewitness accounts report that "dozens" have been arrested. Police would not confirm the exact number. Videos and eyewitness accounts show violent clashing between protesters and the police.

WNYC reports that "of the dozens arrested, most were for disorderly conduct, obstructing vehicular and pedestrian traffic, resisting arrest and, in one case, assaulting a police officer, the police said."

The skirmish escalated in Union Square Saturday afternoon, as Twitter users report a huge influx of police officers. This video, below, appears to show female protesters being penned and maced by police officers: 

What is going on in our world? Have you been keeping up with the happenings at Wall Street? These are the signs that some things need to change. But how? Stay tuned as we continue to ask questions, get answers, and make decisions as the Race for 2012 seemingly becomes what could be a crucial turning point for our generation.

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

My Blog Gets a Nod From Newspaper Source Paper.Li!

Well THANKS! The team over at Paper.Li decided to feature me on Sunday on their site as one of the top 3 Political Blogs online! I mean, come on... that's to say a little much of the small, humble, work I do to educate and spark interest of young voters across the nation - but HEY! I'll take any recognition wherever I can get it! ;)

Check out the site HERE and show them some love for the traffic they have brought me.

Or check out the feature below.

Markus..

Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011

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Politics

"A divisive, drawn-out Republican contest to challenge Obama is now more likely."

officialmarkushill.blogspot.com - Check out JPost.com's contributor Andrew Hammond's story on the race for 2012. He believes next year's political race to be, simply put, a "Republican Party vs. Obama" type-contest.You can check ou... 

Markus_Hill

Pajamas Media » Comparing Obama’s Performance in Office with that of a Sack of Hammers

pajamasmedia.com - Hint: It's not even close. President Barack Obama is an Ivy League-educated man of considerable intelligence and ambition who has surrounded himself with numerous experts to help in his decision-ma... 

oyequetal

a  newspaper

"A divisive, drawn-out Republican contest to challenge Obama is now more likely."

Check out JPost.com's contributor Andrew Hammond's story on the race for 2012. He believes next year's political race to be, simply put, a "Republican Party vs. Obama" type-contest.

You can check out Hammond's story here.

Or read the full story posted below!

Markus.

The race is on for 2012

By ANDREW HAMMOND 
08/27/2011 23:55 

A divisive, drawn-out Republican contest to challenge Obama is now more likely.

The Republican presidential nomination contest was energized last week by Representative Michelle Bachmann’s victory in the Ames straw poll, combined with Texas Governor Rick Perry’s announcement that he would be joining the race. The unofficial starting whistle for the 2012 presidential election has now been blown.

Recent events aside, the most striking feature of the Republican race (which currently has at least a dozen official entrants) has so far been the distinct lack of excitement surrounding it. With the US economy still weak, and Barack Obama thus vulnerable, this has puzzled many.

Following Bachmann’s victory and Perry’s entrance, the good news for the Republicans is that the contest will now heat up. However, the race’s outcome has become even more uncertain, as both of these Tea Party favorites will now challenge the early leader: former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a relatively moderate conservative.

A crucial factor that will help determine whether Republicans win back the White House in November 2012 is whether the party will decisively unite around a credible candidate. A model here would be the 2000 nomination cycle, when George W. Bush emerged strongly in late 1999 and early 2000 from a wide field of candidates, well before the official nominating season began.

However, unlike 2000, the current Republican race may prove unusually turbulent, divisive and perhaps drawn out. Uncertainty may only be intensified by the Tea Party’s growing influence in Republican ranks.

Of course, US presidential nomination contests always have unexpected twists. What distinguished the 2004 and 2008 cycles, however, was the relative difficulty of predicting the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees (with the exception of Bush in 2004, whose Republican re-nomination was uncontested). In both 2004 and 2008, the Democratic Party’s early front-runner – defined as the candidate leading in national polls of party identifiers on the eve of the Iowa caucuses and raising more campaignfinances than any other candidate in the 12 months before election year (Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton respectively) – was ultimately beaten by initially less-favoredcandidates (John Kerry and Obama respectively).

In the 2008 race for the Republican contest, John McCain emerged as the nominee, despite the fact that other candidates (Rudolph Giuliani and Romney) had greater national poll strength and fundraising prowess before the nominating season began.

There appears to be no common factor accounting for the success of Kerry, Obama and McCain. For instance, much of Vietnam veteran Kerry’s surge was fueled by “late” concerns among Democrats that Dean’s lack of national security credentials made him unelectable against Bush during the “war on terror.”

By contrast, Obama’s success was driven, in significant part, by a factor that was genuinely new in the post-2000 cycles: the fundraising and campaigning potential of the Internet. This was used by his campaign to overcome Clinton’s organization.

Far from being the norm, the collapse of the early front-runners in 2004 and 2008 was most unusual in the past three decades of presidential races. Indeed, from 1980 to 2000, the eventual nominee in eight of the 10 contested Democratic and Republicannomination races was the preprimary front-runner.

This was true of Jimmy Carter, the Democratic nominee in 1980; Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate in 1984; George H. W. Bush, the Republican nominee in 1988 and 1992; Bill Clinton, the Democratic candidate in 1992; Bob Dole, the Republican nominee in 1996; Al Gore, the Democratic nominee in 2000; and George W. Bush, the Republican nominee in 2000.

In both of the partial exceptions to this pattern, the eventual presidential nominee led the rest of the field on one of the two measures: In the race for the 1980 Republican presidentialnomination, Ronald Reagan (who ultimately won the contest) led national polls of party identifiers, although John Connally was the leading fundraiser. In the battle for the 1988 Democratic nomination, Michael Dukakis (who eventually won the race) raised the most, but was behind in national polls on the eve of the Iowa caucus to Gary Hart.

For Obama, a divisive, drawn-out Republican contest would undoubtedly aid his reelection chances. With his job approval ratings remaining below 50 percent, it will be an uphill struggle to recapture the spirit of his hugely successful 2008 campaign.

Indeed, even if he becomes the first presidential candidate in US history to raise $1 billion in campaign finances, thus potentially giving him an edge over his eventual Republican rival, Obama’s prospects in 2012 may now rest heavily on a factor that remains largely out of his hands: whether the US economy can avoid a “double-dip recession.”

The writer is an associate partner at ReputationInc, and was formerly US editor at Oxford Analytica and a special adviser in UK prime minister Tony Blair’s government.

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

Meet The Candidates - Rep. Michele Bachmann

It's time for my first "Meet The Candidates" post! How excited are all of you? Okay, okay... sit down. 

As I promised, this is the first official #MTC (Meet The Candidates, get it trending people!) by yours truly, Markus Hill, and I am going to start with a Republican candidate who has already begun stirring up a little bit of controversy. First, let's get to know her.

Michele Bachmann (Rep)

Michele Bachmann is a Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, who is currently a third term Congresswoman from Minnesota. Bachmann, a former lawyer, actually started off her political life as a Democrat before switching to the Republican platform during her senior year of college at Winona State University. (Interesting enough, it happens more than you think that politicians switch parties during their earlier years).

Michele Bachmann is known for her straight talking and often, controversial stances. She is an Evangelical Lutheran, and is active on the issues of Abortion (pro-life), against Embryonic stem cell research, and opposed to same-sex marriage.

Which brings us to the most recent media attention Bachmann has presented for herself, her appearance on MSNBC's "Meet The Press". In the video below, Congresswoman Bachmann is faced with a series of gay rights questions from show host David Gregory. Here, she reminds us that she is "running for the Presidency of The United States." I'm glad she does, because I had almost forgot! ;)

Since going viral, this video has seemed to gain much notice for Bachmann - but for good or bad? You decide!

And that will conclude my first Meet The Candidates 2012 post. #MTC 

Stay tuned for more to come!

Markus Hill #RockTheVote 

(Video) Dylan Ratigan Gets Passionate On-Air

In a conversation with a show panel about the country's debt and credit downgrade, MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan passionately calls both the Democratic and Republican economic plans, "reckless, irresponsible and stupid."

(Video Below)

From Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

The 2012 Presidential Campaign is NEAR

It is almost that time.. I have officially spotted my first Candidate Propaganda for the 2012 Presidential Election.

I'm not gonna lie.. I kind of got excited! Here come the signs, the commercial advertisements, the personal attacks, the lies, the truths, and all of the other fun that comes along with a political race of any sort. ;)

So with that said, have any of you seen any trace of 2012 candidates? Remember, an official list and  announcement has NOT been made, but it seems some candidates, including Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, already have signs popping up in the LA area.

This fall I will begin to spotlight different candidates, no matter their popularity or political affiliation, to make it easier for you to get to know their backgrounds and platforms. Also, stay tuned for video blogs and interviews on the Rocking The Vote website.

Happy 2012 Campaigning!

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

Funeral Services for my Papa - Friday, July 15th

For those of you who know me personally, I thought I'd take a moment to post the funeral arrangements for my Papa, who passed away a few days ago.

Services for my grandpa, Manuel Pasillas, will be held at G.L. Johnson Chapel at The Peoples Church in North Fresno, CA, tomorrow, Friday July 15th.

Manuel was a World War II Veteran, First-Rank Soldier and Purple Heart. A retired Civil Engineer, graduate of UC Berkeley - an engineering/design business owner heading projects such as layouts for city water systems, WoodWard Park, and the McDonalds Restaurant Chain. A founding member of The San Joaquin Country Club in Fresno - and a golf pro/enthusiast. 

Manuel, (Papa), was 88 years old and is survived by his wife Selina, (Nani), his son Joseph Pasillas, his daughter Ruth Ann Hill (my Mother), and his 3 grandchildren - myself (26), and my 2 sisters, Emily (21) and Molly (18).

Arrangements provided by Serenity Funeral Services. Reception Lunch to follow in The Jackie Johnson of The Peoples Church.

I will be speaking at the ceremony on my family's behalf.

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

California's District 36 Special General Election RESULTS!

The results are in - and to those of you living in the 36th Congressional District of California - you have a new representative. And the winner is...

City Councilwoman: Janice Hahn

(Keeping a California House Seat for Democrats)

As you may remember in my earlier postings, those of you living in the areas of Westside-SouthBay in Los Angeles, had a chance to #RockTheVote in a special run-off election to pick your congress representative. The coastal district stretches from Venice Beach down to San Pedro and has about 340,000 registered voters - with 45 percent registered as Democrats, 27 percent registered as Republicans, and 22 percent declining to state their party preference, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

This summertime contest between Janice Hahn (Dem) and Craig Huey (Rep), seemed to have a lot of bite - from both sides - and got much more personal than just Medicare. Huey attempted to run mostly on a message of austerity. Hahn constantly framed Huey as a “right-wing extremist” whose views were out of place in the district, comparing him to the likeness of Sarah Palin. Both sides also took to everyone's favorite social broadcast site, Twitter, to express their views on their opponents, and you bet I was following (not to mention @CraigHuey tweeted me on June 27th!). The campaign took a dark twist back in mid-June, when an outside conservative group released an web video that portrayed Janice Hahn as a stripper who helped gang members get out of jail “so they can rape and kill again." The web video never hit the airwaves, but it attracted more than a half a million YouTube hits.

Janice Hahn finished with 54 percent of the vote, with Craig Huey’s numbers at 46 percent. The voting turnout was just more than 23 percent, higher than in the May 17 primary, when less than 13 percent of voters cast ballots to put Hahn and Huey in first and second place, respectively, which amounted in this run-off election.

Though numbers were up, I still ponder why more people didn't exercise their right to vote. I know many friends who live in these beach cities of Los Angeles County, and there was a proper warning to all of them from my side, but there's got to be more that can be done about spreading the word in such elections. These smaller elections can determine the fate of our neighborhoods, districts, counties, states, and our eventually our country. In this case, as neutral as I try to stay when reporting the latest political happs, I am certain that the right official was elected, and am excited to see the first move that Janice Hahn takes towards fulfilling her platforms.

Stay Tuned for more upcoming election information in YOUR area!

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

A Very "Mad World"

Oxygen's "The Glee-Project", (a reality-competition series from the producers of  "GLEE" - created to find the next cast member), tackled the challenge of admitting their biggest vulnerabilities on this week's most recent episode.

Members of "The Glee-Project" chose one word to represent a struggle they have had, or still do have, to deal with in today's society. They wore that word on a painted sign in the middle of Hollywood's Universal CityWalk, while performing their version of "Mad World" - originally by the rock group Tears For Fears.

The cast does a great job of relaying their insecurities to the audience, and it is a great rendition of a musical classic. There is an underlying political message to be seen in this.

View the video HERE:

What do you think? Can you identify with any one of these real-life characters? What does this say for how our generation puts pressure on others for "fitting in".

Doing our research on candidates' platforms, views, and social beliefs can really change how our society thinks overall. Let's make sure that in these local and state elections in 2011 - we are putting the right people in the right spots. With the 2012 Presidential Election right around the corner - it's time to really get those into office who understand the struggles, vulnerabilities, the wishes of our youth - and is willing to listen to the smallest of voices.

Embrace individuality, embrace uniqueness, embrace the power that YOU have inside of you to #RockTheVote and change our "Mad World" into a bond of people who love each other, and love the nation we've made for ourselves.

Markus Hill #RockTheVote

California Dreamin'

Attention Residents of California!

Did you know that you may qualify to vote in a Special General Election taking place on July 12, 2011?!**

Well, here's the 411:

If you live in the Southern California District No. 36, (that's Los Angeles County covering most of the coastal counties of Venice Beach, Redondo, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, El Segundo, and some other surrounding communities), YOU have the opportunity to #RockTheVote for which candidate is going to represent your district.

Essentially, this election is a run-off between the two candidates who received the most votes back in an earlier election that took place in May.

Here are the candidates:

• JANICE HAHN (Dem) - A local city councilwoman residing in Torrance, CA.

http://www.janicehahn.com/

• CRAIG HUEY (Repub) - A small business owner in Torrance, CA.

http://www.craighuey.com/

So if this is YOUR district, I encourage you to check out both candidate's websites and their platforms, and rock your vote in deciding who you want as your District 36 US Representative. This could have a huge impact on local propositions, taxes, or expansions in YOUR neighborhood.

Not registered to vote? Come on, guys, it's easy! Click on this link, and follow the on-screen instructions and make your voice heard.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm

It won't take much time, and if you absolutely need, I will personally walk you through it.

Just hit me up! ;)

That's all for now - Stay Tuned!

Markus Hill #RockTheVote



**In order to vote in the Special General Election taking place on July 12, 2011, you MUST establish residency in the Los Angeles County District No 36, AND, be registered to vote by TODAY, Monday, June 27, 2011 - So what are you waiting for?! ;)