Chris Hedges made this statement in New York City's Zuccotti Park on Thursday morning during the People's Hearing on Goldman Sachs, which he chaired with Dr. Cornel West. The activist and Truthdig columnist then joined a march of several hundred protesters to the nearby corporate headquarters of Goldman Sachs, where he was arrested with 16 others.

Chris Hedges' statement in Zuccotti Park:

Goldman Sachs, which received more subsidies and bailout-related funds than any other investment bank because the Federal Reserve permitted it to become a bank holding company under its "emergency situation," has used billions in taxpayer money to enrich itself and reward its top executives. It handed its senior employees a staggering $18 billion in 2009, $16 billion in 2010 and $10 billion in 2011 in mega-bonuses. This massive transfer of wealth upwards by the Bush and Obama administrations, now estimated at $13 trillion to $14 trillion, went into the pockets of those who carried out fraud and criminal activity rather than the victims who lost their jobs, their savings and often their homes.

Goldman Sachs' commodities index is the most heavily traded in the world. Goldman Sachs hoards rice, wheat, corn, sugar and livestock and jacks up commodity prices around the globe so that poor families can no longer afford basic staples and literally starve. Goldman Sachs is able to carry out its malfeasance at home and in global markets because it has former officials filtered throughout the government and lavishly funds compliant politicians - including Barack Obama, who received $1 million from employees at Goldman Sachs in 2008 when he ran for president. These politicians, in return, permit Goldman Sachs to ignore security laws that under a functioning judiciary system would see the firm indicted for felony fraud. Or, as in the case of Bill Clinton, these politicians pass laws such as the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act that effectively removed all oversight and outside control over the speculation in commodities, one of the major reasons food prices have soared. In 2008 and again in 2010 prices for crops such as rice, wheat and corn doubled and even tripled, making life precarious for hundreds of millions of people. And it was all done so a few corporate oligarchs, the 1 percent, could make personal fortunes in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite a damning 650-page Senate subcommittee investigation report, no individual at Goldman Sachs has been indicted, although the report accuses Goldman of defrauding its clients.

If the big banks aren't scared yet at the power of social-media grass-roots activism, they're not paying attention

On Oct. 9, Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old art gallery owner in Los Angeles, created a Facebook page urging her friends to move their money out of the big banks on Nov. 5. The suggestion hit a nerve. By Nov. 4, 77,015 "friends" had declared their intention to "attend" Bank Transfer Day.

That doesn't necessarily mean that 77,015 people will be pulling all their money out of the likes of Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all at once. Saturday is hardly an ideal day to get banking business done, and the process of switching over one's account to a new bank or credit union is not something that can be accomplished - yet - with a flip of a switch. (Detailed advice on how to change your banking account can be found here.) And of course, clicking your intent to do something on Facebook is a far cry from actually, well, doing it.

It's also not clear that the big banks will take a big hit from Bank Transfer Day. The usually sensible economics commentator Felix Salmon goes so far as to assert that "the big banks are blithely unconcerned about people withdrawing their funds on Saturday ... I'm not kidding myself that doing so is going to harm the big banks at all."

They are being used for entertainment and safety. but some critics say this is nothing more than the watchful eye of big brother keeping track of your every moment.

This high tech system called 'Intellistreets' is being made right here in Farmington Hills.

"In each lighting fixture or each lighting pole, there is processor very much like an iPhone. And it takes inputs and outputs and talks back and forth. And the poles actually talk to each other," said Ron Harwood.

Inventor Ron Harwood unveiled the intelligent light in a ribbon cutting ceremony. With funding help from the Department of Energy, Harwood's Farmington Hills company, Illuminating Concepts, started designing the wireless communication system after the horrors of September 11th and Hurricane Katrina.

A 14-year-old Florida student who hugged his friend was suspended as a result of his middle school's zero-tolerance no-hugging policy, myFOXorlando.com reported.

Nick Martinez said he gave a quick hug to his best friend, a female student, between classes.

The public display of affection was spotted by the principal of Palm Bay's Southwest Middle School, 74 miles southeast of Orlando. While the principal said he believed the hug was innocent, he brought the two students to the school's dean, who penalized them with in-school suspensions.

According to the Southwest Middle School's student handbook, students can receive a one-day out-of-school suspension for kissing, while students caught hugging or hand-holding are penalized with a dean's detention or suspension.

School administrators said a committee of parents approved the "no hugging" policy years ago, and there aren't plans to change it any time soon.

Steven W. Mosher is an internationally recognized authority on China and population issues, as well as an acclaimed author, speaker. He has worked tirelessly since 1979 to fight coercive population control programs and has helped hundreds of thousands of women and families worldwide over the years.

Overview of Siskiyou County 10/22/11 Sheriff panel and rally.

A jealous and controlling husband secretly fed his wife dangerous ­steroids so she would get fat and stay at home to cook for him.

Dalwara Singh, 41, ground up high-strength anabolic steroid tablets before slipping them into meals and wine for his wife Jaspreet Singh Gill, a court heard.

The powerful drugs caused the 37-year-old mum-of-two to break out in spots and grow hair on her face and back.

Singh was caught when the couple's teenage daughter heard him using a pestle and mortar and his wife found the drugs in a locked cupboard.

He admitted administering a poison or noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy. But he escaped prison and was instead given a suspended jail sentence.

Three proposed Rapture dates have come and gone, and the world has not ended.

Controversial Christian broadcaster Harold Camping has acknowledged his faulty projections, and issued an apology to his followers. The Christian Post reports that the longtime radio evangelist has retired.

Brandon Tauszik, documentarian, told the Post exclusively that he had spoken to Camping, who seemed "disappointed" by his failed predictions and said he "is no longer able to lead Family Radio Stations, Inc., or his ministry."

In an audio message posted on Camping's Family Radio website, the 90-year-old broadcaster told his listeners that the Rapture did not occur October 21 because it was ultimately God's will. "He could have stopped everything if He had wanted to," he said.

Government ministers and deputies from opposition parties all joined an outcry regarding a court decision that lowers the sentence for 26 suspects who were tried for allegedly raping a 13 year old girl. Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin called the ruling 'unacceptable and worrying,' in a written statement.

Government ministers and opposition members have joined an outcry over a verdict by the Supreme Court of Appeals that ruled the 13-year-old victim in an alleged rape case had consented to sex with 26 suspects.

Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin called the ruling "unacceptable and worrying," in a written statement issued Tuesday after the Supreme Court of Appeals recently upheld the ruling of a local court in the southeastern province of Mardin to sentence the suspects to the minimum penalty.

"A child's consent is not looked after [when investigating a criminal] act committed against a minor who is categorized as being incapable of understanding the meaning and consequences of the deed [in question]," Şahin said.

The victim, identified only by her initials N.Ç., met the female suspects T. and E., also identified only by their initials, in 2002, after which time the two women facilitated the victim's having intercourse with 26 individuals in exchange for money.

"A judiciary that is incapable of upholding the rights of a 13-year-old child entertains no capacity whatsoever to uphold the Constitution," wrote Education Minister Ömer Çelik on Twitter on Tuesday.

Ron Paul was declared the winner on Saturday of a weeklong Republican presidential straw poll in Democratic President Barack Obama's home state of Illinois.

Texas Congressman Paul won 52 percent of the combined 3,649 online and in-person votes cast between October 29 and Saturday evening. He won 66.5 percent of the votes cast over the Internet and 8 percent of those cast in person.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earned 7 percent of the online votes cast and 35 percent of the in-person votes, winning the most in-person votes cast at 22 locations, the party said.

Businessman Herman Cain won 15 percent of the online vote and 29 percent of the in-person vote.