Research Before Badmouthing, Always

I overheard a conversation in the grocery store between a cashier and a customer. Well, it was really more of a rant from the cashier, and it went something like this:

"Yeah, those people at Wall Street don't know what they want. They're just angry, is all. They're angry and they can't figure out what it is they want, so they're just going to be angry."

There's two basic rules being broken here, but the one I care about is this: do your research before putting others down. Do your research from multiple sources. Fox News is bad by itself, but okay when mixed with other sources. Oh, and your local news is questionable. I have nothing against understanding the full range of opinions, but I do have something against an ill-informed opinion used to judge others. It's breaking my heart.

And now, some random information sources on the issues, so everyone can (at the very least) be catty and judgmental with some information to back them up.

"Official" Sources

• Fox News comparing the Occupy Wall Street & Tea Party Movements, as both springing from anger around the bank bail outs
• A Liberal must've gotten loose in Fox News, because this is a surprisingly clear interpretation of Occupy Wall Street's intentions
• A random BBC article briefly discussing some of the purpose behind the Occupiers of Wall Street
  
• An NPR article about prejudice against the unemployed (i.e., companies will only hire you if you already have a job)


• How Executive salaries are determined based not on performance, but based upon other Executives' salaries


• A note on Anti-semitism of the Occupy Wall Street Movement from the Huffington Post


• Some bar charts, visualizing who the 1%ers are

Not-so-official-but-thought-provoking Sources

• Lemony Snicket's lessons learned from Occupy Wall Street
• Jay Smooth's Ill Doctrine vlog examining what the Occupy Wall Street media coverage says about who's in bed with who
• A university sociology professor showing how pollster survey data can be used to manipulate numbers into making the Occupy Wall Street movement seem less appealing
• Some more numbers-manipulating to make you sympathize with the 1%ers
  
• A Tumblr of images of the 99%ers. Which one are you?


• Refuting a it's-your-fault-you're-in-school-loan-debt-and-the-99% viral image


• OWS is upset that Wall Street is cheating


• OWS from a Buddhist Perspective


• The Cookie Monster explains Occupy Wall Street

The other rule the cashier broke? Well I just broke it, too. No discussing politics with strangers ;)