Our culture is screwed. Fueled by Black Friday – total spending over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend hit a record of $52.4 billion. But the real question is – at what cost to our society? This year’s Black Friday featured its usual flare of violence, desperation, and death. At a Wal Mart in Little Rock, Arkansas dozens of shoppers rioted over $2 waffle makers. At a Wal Mart in Arizona – trampling injuries were reported as hundreds rushed the door when it opened. At the same Wal Mart – a man was pepper sprayed by police for shoplifting – giving nearby customers a dose of the chemical weapon as well.

Keeping up with the times – a woman in a Los Angeles Wal Mart resorted to pepper spraying fellow shoppers to clear the way toward X-Boxes that were on sale. There were gunshots outside a North Carolina Wal Mart – a bomb scare at a Phoenix Wal Mart – and a brawl at a Pittsburgh Victoria’s Secret over women’s underwear. But most disturbing was what happened in a West Virginia Target – where a man collapsed on the ground and was ignored by shoppers who simply walked over his body to grab bargains rather than helping him. By the time someone did help 61-year-old Walter Vance – it was too late – he died at the hospital.

Economic stimulus aside – is this really the nation we want to be??

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

The Daily Stack

Hour One: Occupy Seattle's 84 year old activist speaks about being pepper sprayed
- Dorli Rainey

Article: "Police pepper-spray pensioner aged 84 and pregnant woman as violence erupts at Occupy protest in Seattle" by Louise Boyle.

Article: "84-year-old: subdued with pepper spray, overwhelmed by attention" by Mike Lindblom.

Article: "L.A. Police Make Arrests Before Withdrawing at Occupy Protest" by Jennifer Medina.

Article: "Occupy L.A. protesters to seek court order to block eviction" by Abby Sewell and Kate Linthicum.

Article: "Student Who Tweeted Criticism About Gov. Brownback Won't Apologize" by David Taintor.

Article: "Brownback Complaint About Student Tweet Lands Kansas Teenager In Principal’s Office" by Eric Kleefeld.

Article: "California attorney general's office subpoenas Fannie, Freddie" by Alejandro Lazo and Jim Puzzanghera.

Video: "Conversations w/ Great Minds - Dr. David Graeber Debt: The 1st 5000 years P1".

Video: "Conversations w/ Great Minds - Dr. David Graeber Debt: The 1st 5000 years P2".

Crazy alert: "Dennis Blackmon: Georgia Judge Mocks U.S. Bank Over Denied Mortgage Modification " by Arthur Delaney.

Article: "Open email from David Graeber regarding OccupyAustin's police relations.".

Article: "Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announces retirement" by David Espo.

Transcript: "Bernie Sanders vs. Alan Greenspan", February 17, 2005.

Latest on Occupy Seattle
- Mark Taylor-Canfield, Occupy Seattle

Article: "Special legislative session draws Occupy protesters to Olympia".

Article: "Occupy Seattle fights eviction from Seattle campus" by Michele Matassa Flores.

Hour Two: Big news on WI's Walker recall
- John Nichols, The Nation Magazine

Article: "Recall Walker volunteers surf holiday crowds for signatures" by Neil Johnson.

Article: "Recall Walker Drive Surpassed Halfway Petition Signature Total of 270,000 To Oust Wisconsin Governor" by H. Nelson Goodson.

Article: "Poll Suggests Most People In Wisconsin Support Recalling Walker" by Patty Murray.

Article: "Manchester Union Leader in New Hampshire Endorses Gingrich" by DaveWade.

Article: "An Editorial: For President, Newt Gingrich" by Joseph W. McQuaid.

Article: "Union Leader Declined To Endorse Romney Because He ‘Represents The One Percent’" by Zaid Jilani .

Article: "Gold and Economic Freedom" by Alan Greenspan.

Video: "Ayn Rand - Faith vs Reason".

Article: "Gov. Brownback Apologizes For Reaction To Emma Sullivan's Tweet" by Alex Knapp.

Twitter: "Emma Sullivan".

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones, White House Correspondent

Book: "Self Empowerment: Nine Things the 19th Century Can Teach us About Living in the 21st " by B. Anne Gehman and Ellen Ratner.

Article: "NY judge rejects $285M SEC-Citigroup agreement" by Larry Neumeister.

Article: "U.N. accuses Syria forces of crimes against humanity" by AP.

Hour Three: latest on Egypt's elections
- Joshua Hersh, Huffington Post

Article: "GOP Rep. Asked Paper To Keep Town Hall Secret, Selected Residents Who Were Invited" by Alex Seitz-Wald.

Article: "Constituents Rebuke GOP Congresswoman For Her Allegiance To ‘No Tax’ Pledge Instead Of The Constitution" by Marie Diamond.

Article: "Billionaire Investor Who Compared Taxing The Rich To Nazi Invasions Will Hold Fundraiser For Romney" by Pat Garofalo.

The good: Federal Judge Jed Rakoff: "NY judge rejects $285M SEC-Citigroup agreement" by Larry Neumeister.

The bad: Bill Looman: "Georgia Businessman Refuses to Hire Until Obama Is Fired" by Amy Bingham.

The very, very ugly: "Liz Cheney Accuses Obama of Being Willing to Let the Economy Slide for Political Benefit" by Heather.

Book, site: "Web of Debt", Ellen Brown.

Article: "Barney Frank Goes Out Swinging, Pledges Not To Be A Lobbyist" by Benjy Sarlin.

Site: "Bank of North Dakota".

Article: "Black Friday weekend: Record $52.4 billion spent" by Jessica Dickler.

Article: "Black Friday violence: Competitive shopping's troubling new edge" by Patrik Jonsson.

Article: "Black Friday: Target Shoppers Step Over Walter Vance As He Collapses, Dies" by Tara Kelly.

Article: "Europe Slipping Into Mild Recession: OECD" by Palash R. Ghosh.

Article: "Prepare for riots in euro collapse, Foreign Office warns" by James Kirkup.

Article: "Pakistan conveys 'deep sense of rage' over NATO strike" by Nasir Jaffry.

Article: "Hezbollah unravels CIA spy network in Lebanon as agency contains damage" by AP.

Hour One: "Incident at Occupy LA...what the MSM isn't telling you"
- Eric Byler, filmmaker & co-founder of CoffeePartyUSA

Hour Two: Building a Healthier Future by Ending Childhood Obesity Summit
- Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ (D)

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program... your media support group for we the people.

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