Queering the occupation from Dallas Voice

Dave May was self-employed and uninsured when he first noticed a small growth resembling a cut on the inside of his right ear about five years ago.

May was paying out of pocket for annual check-ups, and because his trusted general practitioner repeatedly assured him the growth was eczema — a relatively harmless skin condition — he had no reason to shell out $500 to see a specialist.

But the growth in the bell of May’s ear only got worse, and when he finally went to a dermatologist in 2008, a biopsy determined it was skin cancer.

It turned out to be an aggressive form, and May has since undergone four surgeries at Parkland hospital, including removal of his ear, ear drum and ear canal.

May, now 53, said if the cancer had been caught sooner, his treatment would’ve cost a few thousand dollars — and his ear would be intact. Instead, he estimates the cost to taxpayers in the hundreds of thousands.

“Our national health care policy is just pennywise and pound-foolish,” said May, whose cancer is finally in remission. “Had there been
some type of universal health plan, I would have gone to a dermatologist much earlier.

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Occupy Wall Street Commercial [video]

World Series Baseball : Rangers vs Cardinals does not pit #OccupyDallas againts #OccupyStLouis

ST. LOUIS — It seems an odd place for a tent city to sprout, just two blocks from Busch Stadium and a few steps away from where World Series revelers are imbibing on a patio at Mike Shannon's Steakhouse.

But participants of Occupy St. Louis say they've found a happy coexistence with their hometown Cardinals' run to the World Series. The local offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street Movement set up shop in Kiener Plaza Oct. 1, the day the Cardinals began their unlikely playoff odyssey.

"Maybe we're the Cardinals' good-luck charm," said Brien Redmon, 28, and one of the early participants of the St. Louis movement.
Redmon, who works as a telephone interviewer for a market-research company, says there's a dedicated group of 75 to 100 people at the site at least part of the day, every day, with 30 to 50 sleeping overnight.

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Say Hello to Occupy St Louis:

Web http://www.occupystl.org/

Twitter  http://twitter.com/#!/Occupy_StLouis

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/OccupyStLouis

One Man Set Himself on Fire and Set Off Uprisings from Tunisia to Wall Street Calling for Dignity for the 99%

Great look back and this year of change ..

An open letter to Mohammed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation set off the Tunisian revolution, about the beautiful movements that have sprung up in the wake of his death. Dear young man who died on the fourth day of this turbulent 2011, dear Mohammed Bouazizi,
I want to write you about an astonishing year -- with three months yet to run. I want to tell you about the power of despair and the margins of hope and the bonds of civil society.
I wish you could see the way that your small life and large death became a catalyst for the fall of so many dictators in what is known as the Arab Spring.

We are now in some sort of an American Fall. Civil society here has suddenly hit the ground running, and we are all headed toward a future no one imagined when you, a young Tunisian vegetable seller capable of giving so much, who instead had so much taken from you, burned yourself to death to protest your impoverished and humiliated state.

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