Monday, 30 April 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Occupy the Farm Activists Reclaim Prime Urban Agricultural Land in SF Bay Area
April 22, 2012
Occupy the Farm Activists Reclaim Prime Urban Agricultural Land in SF Bay Area
Contact: GillTractFarm@riseup.net
(Albany, Calif.), April 22, 2012 – Occupy the Farm, a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East Bay area. The Gill Tract is public land administered by the University of California, which plans to sell it to private developers.
For decades the UC has thwarted attempts by community members to
transform the site for urban sustainable agriculture and hands-on
education. With deliberate disregard for public interest, the University
administrators plan to pave over this prime agricultural soil for
commercial retail space, a Whole Foods, and a parking lot.
“For ten years people in Albany have tried to turn the Gill Tract into an Urban Farm and a more open space for the community. The people in the Bay Area deserve to use this treasure of land for an urban farm to help secure the future of our children,” explains Jackie Hermes-Fletcher, an Albany resident and public school teacher for 38 years.
Occupy the Farm seeks to address structural problems with health and
inequalities in the Bay Area that stem from communities’ lack of access
to food and land. Today’s action reclaims the Gill Tract to demonstrate
and exercise the peoples’ right to use public space for the public good.
This farm will serve as a hub for urban agriculture, a healthy and
affordable food source for Bay Area residents and an educational center.
Thousands protest in Ecuador’s capital for “Water, Life, and Dignity of the People”
Quito, Ecuador — Over 25,000 people flooded Quito, Ecuador’s capital, on March 22 in the culmination of a two week march that began in the country’s Southern Amazon region and spanned roughly 700 kilometres.
The march, translated from Spanish to mean the “Plurinational March for Water, Life, and Dignity of the People,” was led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in collaboration with other indigenous, environmental, student, worker, and women’s groups.
The movement was born out of a rejection of the constitutional violations and extractive environmental policies of President Rafael Correa’s national government, which is lead by the Alianza Pais party (“Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance”).
Thousands left Ecuador’s Southern Amazonian province of Zamora-Chinchipe on March 8 – International Women’s Day – to begin their journey to Quito. They arrived on March 22, World Water Day.
ECSA is an international subsidiary of the Canadian natural mineral resource company, Corriente Resources Inc., based in Vancouver, BC.
On March 22, 20,000 demonstrators travelled the final stretch through Quito, arriving from the south to gather downtown at Parque del Arbolito. Another 5,000 arrived from the north.
They carried with them large banners, flags, graffiti, and drums, chanting as they made their way through the city.
Though the protesters marched in unity, they represented a wide variety of issues.
and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance”).
The march, translated from Spanish to mean the “Plurinational March for Water, Life, and Dignity of the People,” was led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in collaboration with other indigenous, environmental, student, worker, and women’s groups.
The movement was born out of a rejection of the constitutional violations and extractive environmental policies of President Rafael Correa’s national government, which is lead by the Alianza Pais party (“Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance”).
Thousands left Ecuador’s Southern Amazonian province of Zamora-Chinchipe on March 8 – International Women’s Day – to begin their journey to Quito. They arrived on March 22, World Water Day.
The starting point was symbolically chosen to denounce the
large-scale, open pit copper mining project initiated in Zamora’s Condor
Cordillera following a contract signed at the beginning of the month
with the Chinese transnational mining corporation, Ecuacorriente (ECSA).
ECSA is an international subsidiary of the Canadian natural mineral resource company, Corriente Resources Inc., based in Vancouver, BC.
The project is the largest scale mining development in the Ecuador’s history, and is contracted to last 25 years, with a $1.4-billion investment in the Southern Amazonian region by ECSA within the first five years.
On March 22, 20,000 demonstrators travelled the final stretch through Quito, arriving from the south to gather downtown at Parque del Arbolito. Another 5,000 arrived from the north.
They carried with them large banners, flags, graffiti, and drums, chanting as they made their way through the city.
Though the protesters marched in unity, they represented a wide variety of issues.
and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance”).
Monday, 23 April 2012
What is Mutual Aid?
In essence, it is the exchange of resources and services in a way that is both voluntary and mutually beneficial to those involved. Everyone has something of value to offer in this society. Instead of looking to corporations or the state, we can rely on one another for what we need!
Who are We?
We are members of the May Day Mutual Aid Cluster involved in coordinating and providing mutual aid on May Day (May 1). May Day 2012 is going to be a global day of strike and action. Occupy Wall Street has called for people to not go to work or school; to do any banking or shopping, but instead take the streets!
Where are we going to be?
@ Bryant Park from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
This is the site for mid-town action staging and the pop-up occupation. This area is not permitted. We want to support protesters with coffee, water and breakfast before morning actions and lunch before stepping off for the afternoon march to Union square. Medical and legal help will have a station here. We will also have a Really, Really Free Market, skillshares and more!
@ Union Square from 12 noon – 5:30 p.m.
This is a permitted park that is being organized by the May 1st Coalition. We will have stations around the park including the Really, Really Free Market, along with space for art, skillshares, workshops, lectures, free food and more!
Occupy Delaware
Banksleep: a new “sleepful” protest by Occupy Delaware aims to bring attention to Bank of America. Corruption.
Armed with sleeping bags and signs, members of Occupy Delaware will be participating in their first Banksleep Protest on Monday, April 23, 2012. Banksleep, a “sleepful” protest, is the latest tactic used by Occupiers in cities like Philadelphia, Washington DC and at OWS to protest the inequities of our current economic reality and the part the banking industry has played in creating this scenario.
Occupy Delaware members will be holding Banksleep actions one night per week and will be rotating their protests at various banks throughout Wilmington, where they plan to spend the night. The group will be focusing on the TBTF banks and especially those that participated in the mortgage foreclosure crisis
Armed with sleeping bags and signs, members of Occupy Delaware will be participating in their first Banksleep Protest on Monday, April 23, 2012. Banksleep, a “sleepful” protest, is the latest tactic used by Occupiers in cities like Philadelphia, Washington DC and at OWS to protest the inequities of our current economic reality and the part the banking industry has played in creating this scenario.
Occupy Delaware members will be holding Banksleep actions one night per week and will be rotating their protests at various banks throughout Wilmington, where they plan to spend the night. The group will be focusing on the TBTF banks and especially those that participated in the mortgage foreclosure crisis
Occupy Wall Street Is Finally Occupying Wall Street (Or At Least Trying)
Seven months after they first set up camp in Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street protesters are actually occupying Wall Street
But after a relatively uneventful week of lawfully sleeping on the sidewalk near the New York Stock Exchange, the protesters have been met with a strong police response over the past two nights.
For the Occupiers, the move to Wall Street -- after a month of high-profile efforts to establish a camp uptown in Union Square -- represents a refocusing on the movement's original message.
"I think it's good we're back down here at Wall Street," said David Intrator, a frequent protest participant. "We're literally confronting the powers that be. "It's good for people who work on Wall Street to see every day and every night a different point of view."
For the Occupiers, the move to Wall Street -- after a month of high-profile efforts to establish a camp uptown in Union Square -- represents a refocusing on the movement's original message.
"I think it's good we're back down here at Wall Street," said David Intrator, a frequent protest participant. "We're literally confronting the powers that be. "It's good for people who work on Wall Street to see every day and every night a different point of view."
"People say, 'Well, why do they have to be here?'" Dobbs said. "But the alternative is you're in your house, where you can't change anything, except by clicking online petitions. There's something special about these camps: It means the people have power. That's why the police want to make sure no one can get out of their house and gather."
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Mayday 2012: It begins...
The Portland Liberation Organizing Council (PLOC) believes in collective control of community resources, including land, housing and space to organize.
Meet us May 1st, 2012 at 9am in Woodlawn Park, Portland to participate in directly demonstrating a liberation of one of these facets as part of a community-powered action.
Visit PLOC at www.liberatepdx.org and join our rapid-response network to help keep community control of resources on Mayday and beyond.
Five Reasons Why The Very Rich Have NOT Earned Their Money
For the most part they're wrong. As the facts below will show, they're not nearly as productive as middle-class workers. Yet they've taken almost all the new income over the past 30 years
Any one of these five reasons should reinforce the belief that the rich should be paying a LOT more in taxes.
1. They've Taken All the Middle Class Wage Increases
2. They've Mismanaged Key American Industries
3. They've Benefited from 50 Years of Public Research
4. They've Increased Their Incomes By Not Paying Taxes
5. They've Contributed Little to Society
Occupy Greensboro
Anyone else who would like their Occupy status, web page, or facebook page added here, just leave a comment.
Saturday, 21 April 2012
What YOU Can Do on May Day
May Day is an international day of celebration to honor the labor movement.
This year the Occupy movement has made a call for mass action—the May First General Strike (#M1GS): a day without the 99%. Over 115 US cities have organized in solidarity with this call to action.
A general strike is a way to build and demonstrate the power of the people. It’s a way to show this is a system that only exists because we allow it to. If we can withdraw from the system for one day we can use that day to build community and mutual aid. We can find inspiration and faith—not in any leaders or bosses but in each other and in ourselves.
If you are inspired by the day of action but don’t live near any organized events you can still take part. If you can’t strike, take the first step. We can work to shift the balance of power back into the hands of the people little by little in our everyday lives.
Here are some examples to get you thinking ...
This year the Occupy movement has made a call for mass action—the May First General Strike (#M1GS): a day without the 99%. Over 115 US cities have organized in solidarity with this call to action.
A general strike is a way to build and demonstrate the power of the people. It’s a way to show this is a system that only exists because we allow it to. If we can withdraw from the system for one day we can use that day to build community and mutual aid. We can find inspiration and faith—not in any leaders or bosses but in each other and in ourselves.
If you are inspired by the day of action but don’t live near any organized events you can still take part. If you can’t strike, take the first step. We can work to shift the balance of power back into the hands of the people little by little in our everyday lives.
Here are some examples to get you thinking ...
Occupy Wall Street: List and map of over 200 U.S. solidarity events and Facebook pages
Occupy Wall Street: List and map of over 200 U.S. solidarity events and Facebook pages
Below, you will find an extensive list of links to local Occupy Wall Street solidarity groups in the United States and Canada. Please, find a group near you and sign up.
Unless otherwise noted, all of these links take you to Facebook pages, so you must be logged into Facebook in order to join them.
If your town is not listed, or if you would rather not use Facebook, you can also connect to local Occupy Wall Street events through Meetup.com.
Below, you will find an extensive list of links to local Occupy Wall Street solidarity groups in the United States and Canada. Please, find a group near you and sign up.
Unless otherwise noted, all of these links take you to Facebook pages, so you must be logged into Facebook in order to join them.
If your town is not listed, or if you would rather not use Facebook, you can also connect to local Occupy Wall Street events through Meetup.com.
Paul Robeson Students call for May 1st HS Student WALKOUT
Dear New York City,
We, the students of public education, are here to inform you about the injustice that is taking place in our school system:
The privatization of our school system
The budget cuts
Lack of appropriate leadership
Malicious closings/phasing out of schools against the communities’ wishes.
Cell phone policies
Overcrowded classes & abuse of SAFE rooms
Over policing of our schools and the criminalization of our youth
We feel that these issues are setting our students up for failure, and we DEMAND a change! We believe that trying to control our schools is just another symptom of the blatant racism in our country similar to the government’s response to the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin.
Because of this, our first action will be a mass student walkout on May 1st at 12pm to Fort Greene Park. We will be holding teach-ins, teen summits & other peaceful events.
Please add your name to our letter and support us in our struggle for our education.
Signed,
Student Leadership
Paul Robeson HS
We, the students of public education, are here to inform you about the injustice that is taking place in our school system:
The privatization of our school system
The budget cuts
Lack of appropriate leadership
Malicious closings/phasing out of schools against the communities’ wishes.
Cell phone policies
Overcrowded classes & abuse of SAFE rooms
Over policing of our schools and the criminalization of our youth
We feel that these issues are setting our students up for failure, and we DEMAND a change! We believe that trying to control our schools is just another symptom of the blatant racism in our country similar to the government’s response to the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin.
Because of this, our first action will be a mass student walkout on May 1st at 12pm to Fort Greene Park. We will be holding teach-ins, teen summits & other peaceful events.
Please add your name to our letter and support us in our struggle for our education.
Signed,
Student Leadership
Paul Robeson HS
Spain’s contagious collapse
The EU faces its biggest challenge to date: Containing Spain's economic woes
Spanish flu spread around the world in the early 1900s. The pandemic didn’t begin in Spain, but it was there that the world realized how serious — and unstoppable — the outbreak had become.
Now, as Spain takes up a central position in Europe’s economic crisis, the analogy is clear.
Sickly economies in Greece, Portugal and Ireland may yet respond to the European Union’s limited array of economic remedies.
But if Spain’s attempt to heal itself with a shock-treatment of austerity fails, the EU may not be strong enough to prevent the infection from spreading to Italy, France and beyond.
“The big question is, can Europe ring-fence Spain, can they draw a line to stop this contagion happening? This is their biggest challenge,” says Carsten Brzeski, senior Brussels economist at the Dutch bank ING.
Spanish flu spread around the world in the early 1900s. The pandemic didn’t begin in Spain, but it was there that the world realized how serious — and unstoppable — the outbreak had become.
Now, as Spain takes up a central position in Europe’s economic crisis, the analogy is clear.
Sickly economies in Greece, Portugal and Ireland may yet respond to the European Union’s limited array of economic remedies.
But if Spain’s attempt to heal itself with a shock-treatment of austerity fails, the EU may not be strong enough to prevent the infection from spreading to Italy, France and beyond.
“The big question is, can Europe ring-fence Spain, can they draw a line to stop this contagion happening? This is their biggest challenge,” says Carsten Brzeski, senior Brussels economist at the Dutch bank ING.
Orangutan Emergency in Indonesia: The Edge of Extinction
Massive fires, intentionally and unconscionably started by palm oil companies as a means of clearing forests, are, right now, ripping apart the world-renowned Tripa rainforest of Indonesia. This man-made inferno inside one of the world's most ecologically important forests is still smoldering, and has killed more than 100 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans -- a third of the local population -- so far.
The Tripa rainforest fires are a wake up call to the world that the iconic orangutan is in serious danger of becoming the first of the great apes to be pushed to extinction.
If this unspeakably sad fate were to come to pass, no one would be able to say we did not see it coming.
At the heart of these fires is a seemingly unassuming additive -- palm oil. Palm oil is in nearly 50 percent of all packaged goods in grocery stores across the country and is grown in rainforest-cleared plantations in places like the Tripa forest. Despite widespread international concern, global palm oil traders, like the U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill, continue to ensure that the palm oil produced in Tripa, and places like it, wind up on our grocery store shelves and in our homes.
Companies like Cargill are ensuring that you and I are unwittingly financing the destruction of Indonesia's precious rainforests... and unwittingly endorsing the fires started in the Tripa forest.
This is a moment for people across the globe to come together to call for the protection of man's closest relative and insist that the palm oil in our products be free from controversy. A coalition called Save the Tripa Peat Swamp Forests has created a bold set of demands in response to this ongoing crisis, and has called for an international day of action on April 26 to highlight this massive tragedy, and they need all of us.
Fires started by profit-hungry palm oil companies are tearing through the critical Tripa peat forest of Sumatra, threatening the survival of one of the densest populations of wild Sumatran orangutans in the world.
What you can do! Take action today!
Cargill cannot ensure that it is not trading palm oil from Tripa or companies profiting from the destruction of Tripa because it has no safeguards in place to prevent it. It is past time for Cargill to adopt key environmental, social and transparent safeguards on the palm oil it trades to guarantee that it is not profiting from situations like Tripa across Indonesia and Malaysia
The emergency underway in the rainforests of Indonesia is a moment of truth that tests our resolve and ultimately our values. When a crisis of this scale erupts it is actions that matter, not words
The Cree had it right before all this madness. How come we're all so fucking stupid today!!
Selfish, ignorant, cruel! Humans are a fucking disgrace to the world.
USDA to Let Industry Self-Inspect Chicken
As early as next week, the government will end debate on a cost-cutting, modernization proposal it hopes to fully implement by the end of the year – a plan that is setting off alarm bells among food science watchdogs because it turns over most of the chicken inspection duties to the companies that produce the birds for sale.
Whistleblower inspectors opposed to the new USDA rule say the companies cannot be trusted to watch over themselves. They contend that companies routinely pressure their employees not to stop the line or slow it down, making thorough inspection for contaminants, tumors and evidence of disease nearly impossible.
Riot erupts in Montreal between police and protesters
A protestor is arrested by police after a student demonstration against tuition hikes in Montreal on April 20, 2012(Reuters / Christinne Muschi)
Law enforcement officers in Montreal, Quebec, Canada fired grenades and tear gas into crowds of protesters on Friday as students demonstrated against tuition hikes in a rally that turned violent.
A clash between college students protesting the continuously increasing cost of education in Canada and police erupted on the streets of the city center. Hundreds of demonstrators are reported to have rallied in downtown Montreal against tuition hikes, only to be confronted with police in riot gear during the early afternoon.
Law enforcement officers in Montreal, Quebec, Canada fired grenades and tear gas into crowds of protesters on Friday as students demonstrated against tuition hikes in a rally that turned violent.
A clash between college students protesting the continuously increasing cost of education in Canada and police erupted on the streets of the city center. Hundreds of demonstrators are reported to have rallied in downtown Montreal against tuition hikes, only to be confronted with police in riot gear during the early afternoon.
Friday, 20 April 2012
We're Not Broke, Just Twisted: Extreme Wealth Inequality in America
It's not a new film, but still relevant.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
2 Years After the BP Oil Spill, Is the Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing?
The BP oil spill started on April 20, 2010. We’ve previously warned that the BP oil spill could severely damage the Gulf ecosystem.
Since then, there are numerous signs that the worst-case scenario may be playing out:
- New York Times: “Gulf Dolphins Exposed to Oil Are Seriously Ill, Agency Says
- MSNBC: Gulf shrimp scarce this season (see the Herald Tribune‘s report)
- Mother Jones: Eyeless shrimp are being found all over the Gulf
- NYT: Oil Spill Affected Gulf Fish’s Cell Function, Study Finds
- CBS:Expert: BP spill likely cause of sick Gulf fish (and see the Press Register’s report)
- “Study confirms oil from Deepwater spill entered food chain|
-Pensacola News Journal: “Sick fish” archive
- Agence France Presse: Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews
- MSNBC: Sea turtle deaths up along Gulf, joining dolphin trend
- MSNBC:Exclusive: Submarine Dive Finds Oil, Dead Sea Life at Bottom of Gulf of Mexico
- AP: BP oil spill the culprit for slow death of deep-sea coral, scientists say (and see the Guardian and AFP‘s write ups)
- A recent report also notes that there are flesh-eating bacteria in tar balls of BP oil washing up on Gulf beaches
“The fishermen have never seen anything like this,” Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. “And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.”
Since then, there are numerous signs that the worst-case scenario may be playing out:
- New York Times: “Gulf Dolphins Exposed to Oil Are Seriously Ill, Agency Says
- MSNBC: Gulf shrimp scarce this season (see the Herald Tribune‘s report)
- Mother Jones: Eyeless shrimp are being found all over the Gulf
- NYT: Oil Spill Affected Gulf Fish’s Cell Function, Study Finds
- CBS:Expert: BP spill likely cause of sick Gulf fish (and see the Press Register’s report)
- “Study confirms oil from Deepwater spill entered food chain|
-Pensacola News Journal: “Sick fish” archive
- Agence France Presse: Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews
- MSNBC: Sea turtle deaths up along Gulf, joining dolphin trend
- MSNBC:Exclusive: Submarine Dive Finds Oil, Dead Sea Life at Bottom of Gulf of Mexico
- AP: BP oil spill the culprit for slow death of deep-sea coral, scientists say (and see the Guardian and AFP‘s write ups)
- A recent report also notes that there are flesh-eating bacteria in tar balls of BP oil washing up on Gulf beaches
“The fishermen have never seen anything like this,” Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. “And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.”
Pork Lobby Forces Small Pig Farmers To Shoot Their Baby Piglets
I was served a search warrant yesterday at 7: 45am.
After 8 guys 3 four wheelers, and 4 hours, DNR decided I was correct. I have killed all my hogs. They gave me papers that say I do not have any hogs on my property. All they saw were dead hogs laying around from my mass slaughtering. It took 12 guys 4 times in there to kill all of them, sows with young, Pregnant sows, dozens of piglets, and old mature boars. It has been a sad few weeks.
The Bakers have published a very well put together video that describes the state sanctioned violence that is being directed against them and other small farms. Watch a man’s family get run out of business by the state:
You may not have heard about Bakers Green Acres family farm before, but their story is as tragic as it is common. You see, farms like the Bakers are being assaulted by armed commandos in state issued costumes for the heinous crime of raising pigs humanely. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, welcome to the land of the free!
Allow me to explain. The Bakers raise a particular type of hog that can withstand the tough Michigan winters outdoors. This outdoor type of pig farming is very humane and very cost efficient. The pigs get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, while eating as much as they like. As far as being a pig goes, they are living the high life. Meanwhile, the large corporate pig farms raise a different breed of hog indoors under extremely inhumane conditions. The corporate pigs actually have to have their tails docked to prevent them from cannibalizing themselves under the stressful conditions.
Because the Bakers are able to raise hogs so efficiently, they pose a competitive threat to the corporate indoor pig farms. Thus, the pork lobby in Michigan decided it would try to push a bill through that labeled the type of hogs being raised by the Baker family as being “feral” in order to drive the outdoor pig farmers out of business. - The lobby was successful. Now, it is a felony in Michigan to raise pigs that have the specific characteristics of the Bakers’ hogs that allow them to withstand the cold climate outdoors.
Of course, the pork lobbyists didn’t actually show up with guns, they simply managed to get a bill passed in the Michigan state legislature that had armed government agents do their dirty work for them.
Bangladeshi Worker Rights
Whether you are a fast fashion junkie or a slow fashion gourmand, there is no disputing that today’s fashion tragedies are not just about outrageous celebrity tastes or luxury brand designers with major burnout, but rather the crimes committed against the enslaved individuals who make our clothes under abysmal conditions.
With last week’s announcement in the New York Times about the torture and murder of Aminul Islam, a Bangladeshi labor rights activist and former apparel worker, the garment production crisis was heightened like never before with global outreach efforts and activism seeming to be a moot point.
The loss of an outspoken individual like Aminul Islam is surely meant to strike fear into the hands and hearts of garment workers who produce goods for Western labels like Walmart, Tommy Hilfiger and H&M.
The ultimate tragedy exists in the apparent lack of meaningful involvement and unwillingness to issue statements after an event like this, particularly when a company like H&M has made a “conscious” decision to promote itself as an “ethical” fast fashion alternative (an oxymoron to some). Both Walmart and Tommy Hilfiger came forward to provide written statements via e-mail following the announcement of Aminul Islam’s brutal death, but H&M refused comment and did not seize the opportunity to highlight their commitment to improving abusive conditions for Bangladeshi workers.
With last week’s announcement in the New York Times about the torture and murder of Aminul Islam, a Bangladeshi labor rights activist and former apparel worker, the garment production crisis was heightened like never before with global outreach efforts and activism seeming to be a moot point.
The loss of an outspoken individual like Aminul Islam is surely meant to strike fear into the hands and hearts of garment workers who produce goods for Western labels like Walmart, Tommy Hilfiger and H&M.
The ultimate tragedy exists in the apparent lack of meaningful involvement and unwillingness to issue statements after an event like this, particularly when a company like H&M has made a “conscious” decision to promote itself as an “ethical” fast fashion alternative (an oxymoron to some). Both Walmart and Tommy Hilfiger came forward to provide written statements via e-mail following the announcement of Aminul Islam’s brutal death, but H&M refused comment and did not seize the opportunity to highlight their commitment to improving abusive conditions for Bangladeshi workers.
10 Big Companies That Pay No Taxes (and Their Favorite Politicians)
Between 2008 and 2011, 26 major American corporations paid no net federal income taxes despite bringing in billions in profits, according to a new report (PDF) from the nonprofit research group Citizens for Tax Justice.
CTJ calculates that if the companies had paid the full 35 percent corporate tax rate, they would have put more than $78 billion into government coffers.
Here's a look at the 10 most profitable tax evaders and the politicians their CEOs ...
Verizon Communications
Profits: $19.8 billion Effective tax rate: -3.8%
Top recipients, 2011-2012
President Barack Obama: $51,493
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.): $24,450
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $23,700
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio): $22,500
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.): $15,000
...
CTJ calculates that if the companies had paid the full 35 percent corporate tax rate, they would have put more than $78 billion into government coffers.
Here's a look at the 10 most profitable tax evaders and the politicians their CEOs ...
Verizon Communications
Profits: $19.8 billion Effective tax rate: -3.8%
Top recipients, 2011-2012
President Barack Obama: $51,493
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.): $24,450
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): $23,700
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio): $22,500
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.): $15,000
...
Democracia Real Ya: Five Reasons to Take The Streets
The following was translated from Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now) Barcelona, a Spanish protest movement that helped inspire #OWS.
While some things are specific to Spain/Europe, they echo our reasons for taking the streets on the May 1st General Strike here in North America and beyond. For more about Democracia Real Ya and the upcoming #12M15 global days of action in English and other languages, see here.
We will take to the streets on May 12th in a creative, nonviolent popular demonstration to continue working toward a May 15th in defense of the people!
On May 15th, 2011, millions began a process of social change, delivering a clear and unequivocal signal that we are not commodities in the hands of politicians and bankers, and stating publicly that our current representative democracy is dying. The political class and the powerful have not gotten the message. Despite the growing protests and cries of distress from the 99%, these elites are exploiting the crisis to plunder the common wealth and endangering the lives of the people.
Some of us have organized and are building alternatives and solutions with our own hands, but in the face of repression and blockades imposed on us by the state, who are jeopardizing the integrity of the people with inhumane measures, we are forced to demand our basic needs for survival. Thus, in order to ensure the 99%'s right to exist, we demand:
Not one more euro to rescue banks. We demand a citizens' debt audit. We will not pay illegitimate debt created by those who caused the crisis.
Free and quality education and health care. Do not cut public spending or privatize public services.
Fair distribution of labor, living wages, and an end to precarious labor. No retirement at 67 and withdrawal of the Labor Reform.
Guaranteed right of access to decent housing. Retroactive foreclosure foregiveness. Social rental housing. Promotion of housing cooperatives.
Tax reform that allows a fair distribution of t
While some things are specific to Spain/Europe, they echo our reasons for taking the streets on the May 1st General Strike here in North America and beyond. For more about Democracia Real Ya and the upcoming #12M15 global days of action in English and other languages, see here.
We will take to the streets on May 12th in a creative, nonviolent popular demonstration to continue working toward a May 15th in defense of the people!
On May 15th, 2011, millions began a process of social change, delivering a clear and unequivocal signal that we are not commodities in the hands of politicians and bankers, and stating publicly that our current representative democracy is dying. The political class and the powerful have not gotten the message. Despite the growing protests and cries of distress from the 99%, these elites are exploiting the crisis to plunder the common wealth and endangering the lives of the people.
Some of us have organized and are building alternatives and solutions with our own hands, but in the face of repression and blockades imposed on us by the state, who are jeopardizing the integrity of the people with inhumane measures, we are forced to demand our basic needs for survival. Thus, in order to ensure the 99%'s right to exist, we demand:
Not one more euro to rescue banks. We demand a citizens' debt audit. We will not pay illegitimate debt created by those who caused the crisis.
Free and quality education and health care. Do not cut public spending or privatize public services.
Fair distribution of labor, living wages, and an end to precarious labor. No retirement at 67 and withdrawal of the Labor Reform.
Guaranteed right of access to decent housing. Retroactive foreclosure foregiveness. Social rental housing. Promotion of housing cooperatives.
Tax reform that allows a fair distribution of t
Clean the Cloud
Clean the Cloud
Check our e-mail, store our music, and share photos and status updates. It’s a key part of how we connect with our friends and family.
But have you ever stopped to wonder… where does the cloud actually exist?
It turns out the companies that give us the cloud keep all that data in huge warehouses called data centers, and those use lots of electricity, much of which comes from dirty, dangerous energy like coal and nuclear power. This problem is growing fast. We found that if the cloud were its own country, it would rank fifth in the world for how much electricity it uses, and that electricity demand will triple by 2020!
Thankfully, our growing cloud could actually be a really good thing for the planet. The cloud could be powered by clean energy, not coal. We’re already seeing companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook lead the way by moving toward powering their clouds with clean energy, partly in thanks to you.
But have you ever stopped to wonder… where does the cloud actually exist?
It turns out the companies that give us the cloud keep all that data in huge warehouses called data centers, and those use lots of electricity, much of which comes from dirty, dangerous energy like coal and nuclear power. This problem is growing fast. We found that if the cloud were its own country, it would rank fifth in the world for how much electricity it uses, and that electricity demand will triple by 2020!
Thankfully, our growing cloud could actually be a really good thing for the planet. The cloud could be powered by clean energy, not coal. We’re already seeing companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook lead the way by moving toward powering their clouds with clean energy, partly in thanks to you.
Greenpeace activists scale Apple's HQ in Ireland
Early this morning climbers from Greenpeace International scaled the European HQ of computer giant Apple in Cork, Ireland challenging Apple to clean up its act and stop powering their iCloud with dirty coal.
The very public message covering 15 metres by 5 metres across the glass roof of the HQ asks the company to ‘Clean Our Cloud’.
Alongside the roof protest, a number of Greenpeace International activists greeted the 2000 Apple employees as they made their way into the building to explain why Greenpeace was demonstrating against Apple.
Yesterday we released the How Clean is Your Cloud? report that showed that Apple, along with Microsoft, Amazon and other technology companies, are investing in a new generation of data storage centres that are to be powered mostly by dirty fuels like coal.
The irony here in Cork is that Apple’s HQ is powered by renewable energy sources. The much needed jobs this HQ provides to the local community are also increasing the jobs in the Irish renewable energy sector. Apple has shown it can power with clean energy in Cork, it is now time to clean up globally.
You can take action along with them to call on Apple, Microsoft and Amazon to Clean Our Cloud!
The very public message covering 15 metres by 5 metres across the glass roof of the HQ asks the company to ‘Clean Our Cloud’.
Alongside the roof protest, a number of Greenpeace International activists greeted the 2000 Apple employees as they made their way into the building to explain why Greenpeace was demonstrating against Apple.
Yesterday we released the How Clean is Your Cloud? report that showed that Apple, along with Microsoft, Amazon and other technology companies, are investing in a new generation of data storage centres that are to be powered mostly by dirty fuels like coal.
The irony here in Cork is that Apple’s HQ is powered by renewable energy sources. The much needed jobs this HQ provides to the local community are also increasing the jobs in the Irish renewable energy sector. Apple has shown it can power with clean energy in Cork, it is now time to clean up globally.
You can take action along with them to call on Apple, Microsoft and Amazon to Clean Our Cloud!
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
OWS Sleepful Protests April 2012
#OWS kitchen delivers food - A few photos of sleepful protests and GA's.
A GA in the shadow of Washington.
Breaking Over300 ppl now directly occupies the WallStreet!
Occupy Boston's 1st sleepful protest is on! 100 Federal Street, downtown Boston. RT
A GA in the shadow of Washington.
Occupy Boston's 1st sleepful protest is on! 100 Federal Street, downtown Boston. RT
Four Ways to Support Re-Occupation
Occupiers to use sidewalk sleeping in front of banks earlier this month. Empowered by the federal court ruling, #SleepfulProtest first came to New York as a way to escape constant police harassment at Occupy Union Square and soon spread to the heart of the financial district. This new tactic allows us to rebuild the face-to-face community and constant public presence that were so crucial to the Occupation of Liberty Square, without the complex logistics of maintaining a permanent encampment. Our new Occupations are mobile, viral, and targeted right at the heart of the 1%'s power.
SEE THE LAST POST WHERE THEY'RE TRYING TO MAKE THIS ILLEGAL
NYPD Decides Occupy Wall Street’s Sidewalk Sleepovers Are Illegal
With the weather warming up, a new Occupy Wall Street protest tactic has started gaining popularity, with groups of demonstrators staying overnight on public sidewalks in lower Manhattan.
Citing a court ruling from 2000 that defends their right to do so as political protest, occupiers have lined Nassau Street and Wall Street for a week, careful not to take up too much room or block doorways, and until now cops have allowed it. This morning came the first crackdown.
"Sitting or lying down on the sidewalk is not permitted," a captain announced, according to the New York Times. "Anyone who is sitting or lying down must now get up or be subject to arrest. Also, it is unlawful to leave moveable property on the sidewalk." Then it got physical.
Citing a court ruling from 2000 that defends their right to do so as political protest, occupiers have lined Nassau Street and Wall Street for a week, careful not to take up too much room or block doorways, and until now cops have allowed it. This morning came the first crackdown.
"Sitting or lying down on the sidewalk is not permitted," a captain announced, according to the New York Times. "Anyone who is sitting or lying down must now get up or be subject to arrest. Also, it is unlawful to leave moveable property on the sidewalk." Then it got physical.
Stamping out this new trend before it grows — and gains widespread media attention — is ideal, lest an Occupy Wall Street renaissance seem possible to not just the protesters, but to the public. For the city, fighting a few demonstrators in court might be preferable to facing growing numbers of them on the streets again.
We're Not Broke - Film
America is in the grip of a societal economic panic. Lawmakers cry “We’re Broke!” as they slash budgets, lay off schoolteachers, police, and firefighters, crumbling our country’s social fabric and leaving many Americans scrambling to survive.
Meanwhile, multibillion-dollar American corporations like Exxon, Google and Bank of America are making record profits. And while the deficit climbs and the cuts go deeper, these corporations—with intimate ties to our political leaders—are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax.
WE’RE NOT BROKE is the story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how seven fed-up Americans from across the country, take their frustration to the streets . . . and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share.
Meanwhile, multibillion-dollar American corporations like Exxon, Google and Bank of America are making record profits. And while the deficit climbs and the cuts go deeper, these corporations—with intimate ties to our political leaders—are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax.
WE’RE NOT BROKE is the story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how seven fed-up Americans from across the country, take their frustration to the streets . . . and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share.
99 Percent: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
99 Percent: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
In a process that mirrors the OWS movement itself, 99 award-winning filmmakers & artists are making a film about it. Together.
Millions Against Monsanto by OrganicConsumers.org
Join this facebook group, information, protests, petitions to sign, get involved!
Monsanto files patent for new invention: the pig
It's official. Monsanto Corporation is out to own the world's food supply, the dangers of genetic engineering and reduced biodiversity notwithstanding, as they pig-headedly set about hog-tying farmers with their monopoly plans. We've discovered chilling new evidence of this in recent patents that seek to establish ownership rights over pigs and their offspring.
Oneway or another, Monsanto wants to make sure no food is grown that they don't own -- and the record shows they don't care if it's safe for the environment or not. Monsanto has aggressively set out to bulldoze environmental concerns about its genetically engineered (GE) seeds at every regulatory level.
The Monsanto Pig (Patent pending)
The patent applications were published in February 2005 at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva. A Greenpeace researcher who monitors patent applications, Christoph Then, uncovered the fact that Monsanto is seeking patents not only on methods of breeding, but on actual breeding herds of pigs as well as the offspring that result.
"If these patents are granted, Monsanto can legally prevent breeders and farmers from breeding pigs whose characteristics are described in the patent claims, or force them to pay royalties," says Then. "It's a first step toward the same kind of corporate control of an animal line that Monsanto is aggressively pursuing with various grain and vegetable lines."
And if you're not worried, you should be: central control of food supply has been a standard ingredient for social and political control throughout history. By creating a monopoly position, Monsanto can force dangerous experiments like the release of GMOs into the environment on an unwilling public. They can ensure that GMOs will be sold and consumed wherever they say they will.
By claiming global monopoly patent rights throughout the entire food chain, Monsanto seeks to make farmers and food producers, and ultimately consumers, entirely dependent and reliant on one single corporate entity for a basic human need. It's the same dependence that Russian peasants had on the Soviet Government following the Russian revolution. The same dependence that French peasants had on Feudal kings during the middle ages. But control of a significant proportion of the global food supply by a single corporation would be unprecedented in human history.
It's time to ensure that doesn't happen.
It's time for a global ban of patents on seeds and farm animals.
It's time to tell Monsanto we've had enough of this hogwash.
Why/How You Strike on May 1st/#M1/May-Day
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
The Occupy movement's call for a general strike on May 1 raises important questions about what coordinated workplace resistance can look like today in the United States, at a time when much of traditional organized labor has been weakened. Can online social media be used to orchestrate resistance in the place of unions? Can a strike be effective in building power for the 99%? Can a strike be an end in itself, rather than a means of winning certain demands? How can precarious workers participate in a strike if missing work isn't an available option?
Iceland forgives mortgage debt of its population
The government of Iceland has forgiven the mortgage debt for much of its population. This nation chose a very different way of stopping the crisis from the rest of European countries. It decided to hear the requests of the population and to put politicians and bankers on the bench of the accused three years after their financial excesses would sank one of the most prosperous economies in 2008.
Monday, 16 April 2012
The perfect drug? Monsanto hooks Nepal on GMO corn
The Nepalese government has teamed up with notorious agricultural giant Monsanto to force farmers use its GMO seeds. The strain, banned in several EU countries, will be used to substitute imports and boost the starving nation’s maize production.
Soon after the initiative was introduced, public anger spilled onto both social media and the streets. Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the US embassy in Katmandu to speak out against Monsanto.
“You start buying seeds from them,” explained protester Sabin Ninglekhu. “Year one: it can produce a bit of yield. Year two: yield starts going down. And then it means you have to increase inputs. You have to annually buy seeds from this company because seed fertility keeps going down.”
The ultimate goal of the protests was to put pressure on the government of Nepal to cancel its agreement with USAID and Monsanto before the consequences hit. They say the partnership will shift the country's dependence from imported maize to genetically modified seeds from abroad.
Monsanto’s history is not exactly branded in glory. Allegations of monopolization of local markets follow the corporation, as it has been sued by hundreds of thousands of farmers around the globe.
Join ILRF on May Day
Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives
Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.
"If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."
- Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994
"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."
- Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications, quoted in the New York Times, October 25, 1998
For nearly two decades, Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have exercised near-dictatorial control over American agriculture, aided and abetted by indentured politicians and regulatory agencies, supermarket chains, giant food processors, and the so-called "natural" products industry.
Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.
This November, in a food fight that will largely determine the future of what we eat and what we grow, Monsanto will face its greatest challenge to date: a statewide citizens' ballot initiative that will give Californians the opportunity to vote for their right to know whether the food they buy is contaminated with GMOs.
A growing corps of food, health, and environmental activists - supported by the Millions against Monsanto and Occupy Monsanto Movements, and consumers and farmers across the nation - are boldly moving to implement mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods in California through a grassroots-powered citizens ballot initiative process that will bypass the agribusiness-dominated state legislature. If passed, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act will require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods and food ingredients, and outlaw the routine industry practice of labeling GMO-tainted foods as "natural."
Passage of this initiative on November 6 will radically alter the balance of power in the marketplace, enabling millions of consumers to identify - and boycott - genetically engineered foods for the first time since 1994, when Monsanto's first unlabeled, genetically-engineered dairy drug, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), was forced on the market,
"If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."
- Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto, quoted in the Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994
"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."
- Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications, quoted in the New York Times, October 25, 1998
For nearly two decades, Monsanto and corporate agribusiness have exercised near-dictatorial control over American agriculture, aided and abetted by indentured politicians and regulatory agencies, supermarket chains, giant food processors, and the so-called "natural" products industry.
Finally, public opinion around the biotech industry's contamination of our food supply and destruction of our environment has reached the tipping point. We're fighting back.
This November, in a food fight that will largely determine the future of what we eat and what we grow, Monsanto will face its greatest challenge to date: a statewide citizens' ballot initiative that will give Californians the opportunity to vote for their right to know whether the food they buy is contaminated with GMOs.
A growing corps of food, health, and environmental activists - supported by the Millions against Monsanto and Occupy Monsanto Movements, and consumers and farmers across the nation - are boldly moving to implement mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods in California through a grassroots-powered citizens ballot initiative process that will bypass the agribusiness-dominated state legislature. If passed, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act will require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods and food ingredients, and outlaw the routine industry practice of labeling GMO-tainted foods as "natural."
Passage of this initiative on November 6 will radically alter the balance of power in the marketplace, enabling millions of consumers to identify - and boycott - genetically engineered foods for the first time since 1994, when Monsanto's first unlabeled, genetically-engineered dairy drug, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), was forced on the market,
Explosive: Monsanto ‘Knowingly Poisoned Workers’ Causing Devastating Birth Defects
The farmers are now suing not only Monsanto on behalf of their children, but many big tobacco giants as well. The birth defects that the farmers say occurred as a result are many, and include cerebral palsy, down syndrome, psychomotor retardation, missing fingers, and blindness.
The farmers come from small family-owned farms in Misiones Province and sell their tobacco to many United States distributors. The family farmers say that major tobacco companies like the Philip Morris company asked them to use Monsanto’s herbicides and pesticides, assuring them that the products were safe. Through asserting that the toxic chemicals were safe, the farmers state in their claim that the tobacco companies ”wrongfully caused the parental and infant plaintiffs to be exposed to those chemicals and substances which they both knew, or should have known, would cause the infant offspring of the parental plaintiffs to be born with devastating birth defects.”
The majority of the farmers in the area used Monsanto’s Roundup, an herbicide with the active ingredient glyphosate that has shown to be killing human kidney cells. What’s more, the farmers say that the tobacco companies pushed Monsanto’s Roundup on the farmers despite a lack of protective equipment. In other words, these farmers — many in dire economic conditions — were being directly exposed to Roundup in large concentrations without any protective gear (or even experience or skills in handling the substance). Still, the farmers say the tobacco giants required the struggling farmers to ‘purchase excessive quantities of Roundup and other pesticides’.
Most shocking, the farmers were ordered to discard leftover herbicides and pesticides in locations in which they leached directly into the water supply. With Monsanto’s Roundup already known to be contaminating the groundwater, this comes as a serious threat to pure water supplies.
The farmers end their landmark case with an explanation as to why the tobacco companies allowed Monsanto’s herbicides and pesticides to be unloaded on the small family farms in such vast quantities and purchased in excessive amounts.
In their claim, the farmers state that the tobacco companies were ”motivated by a desire for unwarranted economic gain and profit,” with zero regard for the farmers and their infant children — many of which are now suffering from severe birth defects from Monsanto’s products.
Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive.
Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management. Can the human race survive?
OWS Sleepful Protests April 2012
For the third consecutive night, Occupy Wall Street protesters used a tactic that many of them hope will emerge as a replacement for their encampment at Zuccotti Park, which was disbanded by the police in November.
Norman Siegel, a prominent civil-rights lawyer who visited the protesters on Wednesday night, said a decision by a federal court in Manhattan arising from a lawsuit in 2000 allowed the protesters to sleep on sidewalks as a form of political expression so long as they did not block doorways and took up no more than half the sidewalk.
The protesters first cited that ruling last week while sleeping outside bank branches near Union Square, but said this week that they wanted so-called sleep-outs to occur nightly around the New York Stock Exchange.
An organizer, Austin Guest, said protesters had scheduled such events for Friday night at four other spots, each related to the Occupy Wall Street message that the financial system benefits the rich and corporations at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The protesters’ presence on and near Wall Street has drawn the attention of the police, but officers have not dislodged them.
Occupy Bahrain: The Hugest Funeral of Bahrain
The funeral procession of the Bahraini martyr Ahmed Ismael from Salmabad village which was on 13th of April. Ahmed is a Bahraini photographer who was killed by the regime security forces using live bullets
Battle for Soul of Occupy
First they silenced our uprising with a media blackout… then they smashed our encampments with midnight paramilitary raids… and now they’re threatening to neutralize our insurgency with an insidious campaign of donor money and co-optation. This counter-strategy worked to kill off the Tea Party’s outrage and turn it into a puppet of the Republican Party. Will the same happen with Occupy Wall Street? Will our insurgency turn into the Democrats’ Tea Party pet?
Will you allow Occupy to become a project of the old left, the same cabal of old world thinkers who have blunted the possibility of revolution for decades? Will you allow MoveOn, The Nation and Ben & Jerry to put the brakes on our Spring Offensive and turn our struggle into a “99% Spring” reelection campaign for President Obama?
We are now in a battle for the soul of Occupy… a fight to the finish between the impotent old left and the new vibrant, horizontal left who launched Occupy Wall Street from the bottom-up and who dreams of real democracy and another world.
Whatever you do, don’t allow our revolutionary struggle to fizzle out into another lefty whine and clicktivist campaign like has happened so many times in the past. Let’s Occupy the clicktivists and crash the MoveOn party. Let’s #DEFENDOCCUPY and stop the derailment of our movement that looms ahead.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Spring Awakening 2012: Occupy NYC People's Assembly
Saturday, 14 April 2012 13:00 in EDT Central Park, South side, on the west side of Wollman Rink
Join Occupy Wall Street on #A14 to kick off exciting spring and summer events. On April 14th, New York City will converge on Central Park to unite with organizations and activists to create a transformative, citywide, mass movement. The day will give individuals an opportunity to connect with organizations and foster ongoing collaboration of groups working on common issues.
1pm: Open space format for community-based organizations, issue-based organizations, unions, neighborhood GAs, working groups, etc, to table and conduct outreach. There will be food, music, teach-ins, and other cultural events taking place.
*If you would like to blanket, host a teach-in, or perform, please fill out the TEACH-IN/PERFORMANCE FORM at the bottom.
3pm: While the open space continues, at 3pm, a facilitated assembly will convene for those interested in serious citywide organizing and interactive movement building. It will open with several short, rallying speeches and followed by discussion and planning of strategic vision for the next 3-6 months. This will focus on campaigns, initiatives, and project from groups and organizations around the city.
Occupiers sow the seeds of a ‘Spring Awakening’
Far from just a day in the park, planners hope to plant the seeds of something new — a democratic mechanism through which disparate organizations can come together to strategize about how to combine their campaigns to attack the root causes of shared problems, including corruption and the unchecked political influence of the 1 percent.
Join Occupy Wall Street on #A14 to kick off exciting spring and summer events. On April 14th, New York City will converge on Central Park to unite with organizations and activists to create a transformative, citywide, mass movement. The day will give individuals an opportunity to connect with organizations and foster ongoing collaboration of groups working on common issues.
1pm: Open space format for community-based organizations, issue-based organizations, unions, neighborhood GAs, working groups, etc, to table and conduct outreach. There will be food, music, teach-ins, and other cultural events taking place.
*If you would like to blanket, host a teach-in, or perform, please fill out the TEACH-IN/PERFORMANCE FORM at the bottom.
3pm: While the open space continues, at 3pm, a facilitated assembly will convene for those interested in serious citywide organizing and interactive movement building. It will open with several short, rallying speeches and followed by discussion and planning of strategic vision for the next 3-6 months. This will focus on campaigns, initiatives, and project from groups and organizations around the city.
Occupiers sow the seeds of a ‘Spring Awakening’
Far from just a day in the park, planners hope to plant the seeds of something new — a democratic mechanism through which disparate organizations can come together to strategize about how to combine their campaigns to attack the root causes of shared problems, including corruption and the unchecked political influence of the 1 percent.
Why We Need Free Media
Free and independent journalism is under attack. From violent police suppression to corporate media censorship, the need to create and defend movement-based journalism has never been greater - especially as we prepare for May Day and beyond -- see below for a list of Occupy media.
In response to the need for real coverage of our movement, independent journalists have worked tirelessly to document Occupy since the beginning. OccupyWallSt.org was one of the first movement-based sources of information to arise even before the Occupation of Liberty Square. Thanks to our horizontal, participatory structure, we are now just one of many - more than we could count. Dozens of other media sources have arisen since, across virtually every type of media from print magazines to Tumblr. While the mainstream media may claim that our movement in waning, the truth is that there far too much happening across the country and the world for one website to cover - even one focused on the Occupy movement like ours. We not only encourage people to read movement-based journalism, we also encourage anyone who is interested to get involved with existing projects, donate resources, or start making your own!
In addition to the main websites of General Assemblies, Occupy-related projects, and countless working group Twitter accounts and other social media, here is a brief list highlighting some of the active media projects and excellent sources of information around #OWS.
The Occupied Wall Street Jounrnal
Reddit.com/r/OccupyWallStreet
We Are The 99%
@OccupyWallSt
The Occupied Chicago Tribune
Tidal: Occupy Theory, Occupy Strategy
The Occupied Times of London
The D.C. Mic Check (formerly the Occupied Washington Times)
Occupy Together
Global Revolution Livestream
Take The Square
Real Democracy Now! International
The Boston Occupier
Occupy Oakland Media
The Portland Occupier
Occupied Stories: First Person News from the Occupy Movement
Occupy.Com
Occupy.Net
The Daily Occupation
Yes We Camp - Compilation of Global Revolution Twitter Hashtags
InterOccupy
Occupy News on Facebook
OccuPrint
Art Is My Occupation
IndigNación - Spanish language newspaper of OWS
In response to the need for real coverage of our movement, independent journalists have worked tirelessly to document Occupy since the beginning. OccupyWallSt.org was one of the first movement-based sources of information to arise even before the Occupation of Liberty Square. Thanks to our horizontal, participatory structure, we are now just one of many - more than we could count. Dozens of other media sources have arisen since, across virtually every type of media from print magazines to Tumblr. While the mainstream media may claim that our movement in waning, the truth is that there far too much happening across the country and the world for one website to cover - even one focused on the Occupy movement like ours. We not only encourage people to read movement-based journalism, we also encourage anyone who is interested to get involved with existing projects, donate resources, or start making your own!
In addition to the main websites of General Assemblies, Occupy-related projects, and countless working group Twitter accounts and other social media, here is a brief list highlighting some of the active media projects and excellent sources of information around #OWS.
The Occupied Wall Street Jounrnal
Reddit.com/r/OccupyWallStreet
We Are The 99%
@OccupyWallSt
The Occupied Chicago Tribune
Tidal: Occupy Theory, Occupy Strategy
The Occupied Times of London
The D.C. Mic Check (formerly the Occupied Washington Times)
Occupy Together
Global Revolution Livestream
Take The Square
Real Democracy Now! International
The Boston Occupier
Occupy Oakland Media
The Portland Occupier
Occupied Stories: First Person News from the Occupy Movement
Occupy.Com
Occupy.Net
The Daily Occupation
Yes We Camp - Compilation of Global Revolution Twitter Hashtags
InterOccupy
Occupy News on Facebook
OccuPrint
Art Is My Occupation
IndigNación - Spanish language newspaper of OWS
Montreal Students Occupy Banks in 12-Hour Protest Marathon
Students in Montreal and across Quebec today continue their protest against tuition increases and austerity measures in education with a 12-hour ¨“marathon of intensive vindication,” according to organizers.
Today will see rolling student protests mostly focused against banks. In Montreal, marches leave from Victoria Square every hour and will each take unique routes through downtown.
Just after 8am ET this morning, Montreal police dispersed a blockade ot the Banque Nationale tower using chemical weapons, preventing hundreds from getting to work inside. Meanwhile, in Quebec City, 60 protesters occupied a CIBC bank near the National Assembly. When police entered to remove them, the group merely crossed the street and occupied a Banque Nationale branch.
Student groups have held demonstrations nearly every day since they declared an indefinite strike on classes nearly two months ago. The strike is the longest in Quebec's history and some marches have topped 200,000.
Just after 8am ET this morning, Montreal police dispersed a blockade ot the Banque Nationale tower using chemical weapons, preventing hundreds from getting to work inside. Meanwhile, in Quebec City, 60 protesters occupied a CIBC bank near the National Assembly. When police entered to remove them, the group merely crossed the street and occupied a Banque Nationale branch.
Student groups have held demonstrations nearly every day since they declared an indefinite strike on classes nearly two months ago. The strike is the longest in Quebec's history and some marches have topped 200,000.
Monday, 9 April 2012
Riots erupt in Greece after 'martyr' shoots himself over debt crisis
He lived, said neighbours, an ‘everyday’ life.
But in death Dimitris Christoulas has become an extraordinary symbol of how Greeks are struggling to cope as their country falls apart under the burden of austerity measures.
On Wednesday morning, the 77-year-old former pharmacist walked into Greece’s Syntagma Square, just yards from the nation’s parliament.
As thousands of commuters swarmed to work, the pensioner shot himself, deciding to end his life rather than face his final years on the breadline.
His death has shocked Greece, even though the nation has already seen suicide rates increase by around 20 per cent in the past two years.
Yesterday, police clashed with demonstrators for a second day at the site where Mr Christoulas killed himself in downtown Athens.
But in death Dimitris Christoulas has become an extraordinary symbol of how Greeks are struggling to cope as their country falls apart under the burden of austerity measures.
On Wednesday morning, the 77-year-old former pharmacist walked into Greece’s Syntagma Square, just yards from the nation’s parliament.
His death has shocked Greece, even though the nation has already seen suicide rates increase by around 20 per cent in the past two years.
Yesterday, police clashed with demonstrators for a second day at the site where Mr Christoulas killed himself in downtown Athens.
Friday, 6 April 2012
How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash
WASHINGTON — In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.
Goldman's sales and its clandestine wagers, completed at the brink of the housing market meltdown, enabled the nation's premier investment bank to pass most of its potential losses to others before a flood of mortgage defaults staggered the U.S. and global economies.
Only later did investors discover that what Goldman had promoted as triple-A rated investments were closer to junk.
Only later did investors discover that what Goldman had promoted as triple-A rated investments were closer to junk.
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