Protesters stand with Malden foreclosure victim as she battles Wells Fargo
A 23-year Malden resident is claiming victory after Wells Fargo decided to repurchase her house at a foreclosure auction this afternoon, a move she said would give her leverage to re-negotiate her mortgage and keep her children in their home.
Marie Odestin was joined by 30 protesters outside of her home, with members from groups as varied as City Life, Occupy Boston and the Industrial Workers of the World, who said they were trying to send a message to banks like Wells Fargo that they should work with underwater homeowners.
“The Odestin family was mistreated, ignored and stonewalled by Wells Fargo,” City Life Lead Organizer Dominic DeSiata said, accusing the bank of giving the family the runaround as they tried to re-negotiate their loan. “Wells Fargo has been bailed out by taxpayers, and they should be working with people in our communities (to reach) a fair outcome.”
http://tinyurl.com/74ta7de
Students set up camp and occupy UMass Boston
Borrowing a page from the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement, about 20 students on Monday occupied the campus center at University of Massachusetts Boston to protest cuts in public education spending and hikes in tuition.
“Public universities were built for the 99-percent and we intend on maintaining that,” said Amanda Achin, a 22-year-old student of political science at UMass Boston. “We need to end the wars, tax the rich and fund public education.”
http://tinyurl.com/86rxel8
The MBTA’s Proposed Fare Hikes And Service Cuts Draw Attack
MBTA officials absorbed withering attacks Monday on their proposals to hike fares up to 43 percent and slash dozens of bus routes, commuter rail hours, weekend E Line service and ferry service.
A familiar refrain – that the elimination of services would strand people in their homes, shatter a fragile economy and worsen pollution – was amplified during a hearing on the proposed fare hikes and service cuts that drew dozens of boisterous opponents to the state Transportation Building in downtown Boston.
Eliminating weekend and late-night commuter rail service, a component of one of the proposals, would prohibit visitors from the South Shore and central Massachusetts from attending Boston sports games, some of the critics argued. Others drew on the language of Occupy Boston to argue that the “1 percent” had bankrupted the T by borrowing to support the Big Dig and then foisting the fiscal burden on riders.
Riders protest T cuts, fare hikes, call on lawmakers for changes
A coalition of more than 20 community groups and organizations opposed to the MBTA’s proposed fare hikes and service cuts took to the steps of the State House Monday to call on legislators to fund the T, then joined more than 200 others at a hearing focusing on the proposals.
“They’re only looking at the bottom line,” Pamela Bush, a community organizer for the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, told a group of about 70 protesters ranging form members of Occupy Boston, Students Against T Cuts, the T Riders’ Union and other neighborhood groups.
http://tinyurl.com/6wcpj5h
CEO of Apple’s Chinese iPhone manufacturer says workers are ‘animals,’ invites zookeeper to give advice to managers
“Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache,” said Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou at a recent year-end party, adding that he wants to learn from Chin Shih-chien, director of Taipei Zoo, regarding how animals should be managed.
As WantChinaTimes put it, Gou “could have chosen his words more carefully.” But Gou had indeed invited the zoo director to speak to Hon Hai’s top managers in the hope that the zoo-keeper’s advice would help them do their jobs better:
As Chin lectured on the stage, sharing his experience with the audience on how to manage different animals according to their individual temperaments, Gou listened carefully and asked Chin to put himself in his place as the chairman of Hon Hai, to the amusement of the 12 general managers of the group present.
‘Free’ trade: The New York Times hearts Apple’s serf lords in China – ‘anti-suicide netting at no extra charge’
Apple creates a criminogenic environment in its supplier selection process that leads it to, pervasively, hire criminal suppliers.
Honest manufacturers cannot compete with firms that force their workers to work more than the maximum 60 hour work week and fraudulently refuse to pay them for the extra time they work. Firms that provide minimal safety protections also find it difficult to compete with fraudulent rivals. This is known as a “Gresham’s dynamic” in which bad ethics drives good ethics out of the workplace. The perverse dynamic is not limited to Apple’s suppliers. Any honest Western firm that seeks to compete with Apple’s suppliers will be driven to slash its workers’ wages, benefits, working conditions, and pensions while increasing their workload.
http://tinyurl.com/7re9rgg
The State of Obama’s 2008 Promises
Making the rational lesser-evil choice every four years and failing to focus on real work for nonviolent radical change consistently presents us four years later with two choices who are both worse than last time. And those choices are, each time, candidates for a more powerful, more tyrannical office.
Obama has not just failed to “close Guantanamo,” whether one means by that the symbolism of moving one of our smaller lawless prisons to Illinois or actually ending the practice of imprisoning people without trial worldwide. Obama has formalized, codified, and normalized, the presidential power to imprison, rendition, torture, murder, bomb, and invade at will. Obama Version .12 will compete with the “racist candidate” for those powers. I put “racist” in quotes, not because the Republicans aren’t racists (although even Romney’s racism could be phony), but because were it not for racism our nation would not be doing the things it is currently doing to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, etc., etc. Obama is about to promise us more government activism. I can think of several countries that could do with a bit less of his style of government activism. And one of them is ours.
Campaign promises don’t touch every detail, but when Obama’s Department of Agriculture recently approved Monsanto GE corn with Agent-Orange herbicide after receiving 45,000 negative comments and 23 positive, was that the change you could believe it? Obama is working night and day to protect mega-banks from responsibility for mortgage fraud. He will speak in his State of the Union about equality before the law.
http://tinyurl.com/85vysbx
The One Percent was real loser in South Carolina
It is extraordinary to see the two leading candidates from the avowed party of big business and free enterprise arguing over excessive wealth. Gingrich’s success in attacking Romney’s riches reflects a national – if not global – anger that the rewards and opportunities of capitalism are no longer distributed fairly.
Inequality rises across the G20 as anger ignites protests in more than 80 countries globally
Inequality has increased in 14 of the 18 G20 countries since 1990 as economic growth has too often failed to benefit poor people, according to new figures in a report published by Oxfam today as G20 finance ministers meet in Mexico.
Too many governments and policy makers have put economic growth first and the interests of poor people second, allowing their incomes to fall further behind those at the top and leaving them to bear the costs of economic growth such as environmental degradation.
Anger about inequality has been a key driving force behind the Occupy protests that swept around the world last year. Protests have taken place in more than 80 countries amid anger that the top 1 per cent is capturing a disproportionate share of the economic cake. Just last week a panel of experts assembled by the World Economic Forum identified severe income inequality as the biggest threat facing the world.
http://tinyurl.com/6rr4bho
The Corporate State Will Be Broken
Voting is nothing more than a brief chance to register our disgust with the corporate state. It will not alter the configurations of power. The campaign is not worth our emotional, physical or intellectual energy.
Our efforts must be directed toward acts of civil disobedience, to chipping away, through nonviolent protest, at the pillars of established, corporate power. The corporate state is so unfair, so corrupt and so rotten that the institutions tasked with holding it up-the police, the press, the banking system, the civil service and the judiciary-have become vulnerable. It is becoming harder and harder for the corporations to convince its foot soldiers to hold the system in place.
http://tinyurl.com/6u6r6re
Nonviolent Nigeria: The Roots and Routes of Resistance
No revolutionary can precisely determine or accurately predict which last straw will be the one to break the back of any given despot. Many differing and sometimes divergent tactics and strategies and organizational forms may ultimately have to converge before effective actions build into movements which successfully challenge power. The martyrs and the mobilizers all play a role in creating lasting change. The Nigerian movement, which has had more than its share of both, is now poised for something greater than merely minor reforms. In the words of Denja Yaqub, “the revolution is just around the corner… It’s a matter of time, and the time is getting closer.”
Davos: Part of the problem, or solution?
In a world where people power appears to be gaining momentum, you could be forgiven for thinking this month’s meeting of the rich and powerful in the Swiss ski resort of Davos is an anachronism.
For while the World Economic Forum — an informal meeting of executives, presidents, thinkers and stars — brokered history-changing encounters. But now critics say it is struggling for relevance at a time when the future is being shaped in the streets of Cairo or protest camps of Wall Street.
This appears to be borne out by events of the past 12 months. Despite hosting intense meetings about Greece’s debt crisis and hastily-convened talks about the evolving political situation in Egypt, the Forum’s 2011 enclave seems to have little to show for itself.
Members of ‘Occupy Pro Choice’ Crash ‘March for Life’ Meeting
During a ‘March of Life’ ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, pro-choice activists, calling themselves ‘Occupy Pro-Choice,’ interrupted the event (video below, at the 30 second mark) until security guards escorted them out.
The protesters shouted: “Women and men, raise your voice! You can’t trust us with a choice? How can you trust us with a child? It’s pro-choice or no choice, abortion is a right. So we must stand united and fight, fight, fight!”
http://tinyurl.com/7ubptom
Occupiers build and occupy ice house on Minnesota lake in front of insurance CEO’s house
Protestors hiked out onto Lake Minnetonka Sunday to campaign for universal healthcare. They set up an ice house in front of a home they say is owned by the CEO of United Health Group.
The protestors describe United as “the largest most profiteering health insurance company in the U.S..” They call health care a “human right,” and say the 2009 health care reform law passed by congress was “dictated by health insurance and pharmaceutical industries.”
http://tinyurl.com/6thysmd
Occupy Providence Claims Victory over City
Occupy Providence has voted unanimously to suspend the group’s overnight tent protest in Burnside Park if the city opens a day center for the next three months.
In a statement released today, the group called the decision a “victory for Rhode Islanders who are the hardest hit by this economic tsunami caused by the culture of corporate greed.”
“This is a huge victory for Occupy Providence and for the entire Occupy Movement,” said Jared Paul, an Occupy Providence member. “We won the day center but this is just the beginning. Our movement is growing and we’ve got big plans for RI in 2012.”
Occupy Frederick [Md] establishes new occupation to bring attention to foreclosures
Occupy Frederick members are trying to call attention to the local impact of the foreclosure crisis.
The Frederick News-Post reports that about 15 to 20 people braved below freezing temperatures as the group set up tents next to Carroll Creek on Sunday, and a few people spent the night. The group hopes to spread the word about their Occupy Our Homes foreclosure event next week.
Occupy Riverside Student Injured by Police Violence at UC Regents Protest
Close to 800 student activists gathered throughout the day outside the building where Regents board members were meeting behind closed doors to discuss further budgetary cuts and related matters. Police forces already forming a barrier to prevent student access into the building were joined by a legion of armed Sheriff Officers and more police back up toting what looked like guns in hand. They made their way through the hundreds of UC students in order to get to the front line, often brandishing guns or wielding batons while shouting “move.”
As the police and sheriff units finalized their formation at the front line of the protest, seemingly protecting the entrance to the building, they pushed students further back; however in this disorganized attempt to obtain more ground many students lost their footing and either fell or were pushed forward by the dense mob of protesters that stood or were sitting behind them. Among this chaos, as students chanted “Peaceful Protest”, at least one student was pushed forward, seized by police and beaten. Almost simultaneously, officers began to shoot “paint-pellet guns” into the crowd of students in front of them without warning. The officers continued to fire even as the students struggled to move away, in effect using the bullets, which released paint upon impact, as a crowd control mechanism.
Why we fight money in politics
Last week two political actions in downtown Louisville highlighted opposite sides of the same coin.
Heads was a protest put on by Occupy Louisville as part of the nationwide Occupy the Courts day of action marking the two year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision. This decision has turned the deluge of money pouring into the political process into a dam break.
Tails was MoveOn’s delivery of hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to President Obama (via the local headquarters of the Democratic Party on Barret Avenue) begging him not to sign away the Justice Department’s right to investigate or prosecute criminal misconduct committed by the finance and banking industry… which donated $42 million to his 2008 campaign.
Without a doubt, the highlight of both actions was the mock wedding staged by Occupy Louisville, in which the relationship between Corporate America and The Government was legalized, as the “judge” declared, after having been consummated long ago. At least, it would have been made legal except that when the people were given the option of objecting now or forever holding their peace, everyone in attendance chose to object.
http://tinyurl.com/7prrolh
Rick Santorum Gets Glitter Bombed, Again
Two men, who identify themselves as being members of Occupy Tampa, were detained. Becky Rubright, who was with the two men, said the pair was protesting Santorum’s views on homosexuality.
The two were written trespass warnings as they stood outside the venue with glitter-filled hair and hands.
http://tinyurl.com/6t5jucf
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Wall Street Summit Panelists To “Occupy Hip-Hop” in NYC
Later this week, longtime civil and human rights leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson, will show his support by hosting “Occupy Hip Hop New York,” a discussion that will bring together a “Power Panel” from the music, broadcast, and education sectors for what leaders are calling “a Conversation, a Pledge, and a Plan.”
“All that we have gained in recent years has been attacked,” Rev. Jackson told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive, pre-event interview. “We have to protect ourselves from the tyranny of the majority.”
Willie Nelson And Other Artists To Support Occupy With New Album
In cities across the country, due to inclement weather and uncooperative governments, the Occupy Movement has been shut down or has begun to die out. It seems, however, that many people are still ‘occupying’ in their hearts, and those with the capability to get the ball rolling would like to earn some funds for the movement. The best way to do this seems to be by producing some music.
British Government Looks to Rein in Executive Pay
The British government is pushing to give shareholders greater powers to vote on pay, as part of a broader plan to rein in executive compensation.
http://tinyurl.com/86cdse3
Occupy Goes Global…Again
Now that most of the major camps are gone, US Occupiers are also free to focus on global acts of solidarity. I recently sat in on a meeting where activists discussed their intentions to raise money and travel to Latin America and Spain to participate in the resistances there.
In addition to travelling the globe as ambassadors of Occupy, protesters also have actions planned for the upcoming anniversary of the Egyptian revolution in chapters such as Detroit, Portland, and New York City*.
Portland’s flyer for the event reads, “Come rally with #OccupyPortland as we peacefully reflect on our fallen brothers and sisters across the world then peacefully celebrate our freedom and struggle of decolonization with a march around downtown Portland.”
http://tinyurl.com/7hqcxxm
Occupy Nigeria: A Possible Leap Towards Reform in a Fractured Country?
Through the use of protests and a national strike, Nigerians who are normally divided across ethnic, religious, and class lines rallied under one voice in an effort to eliminate corruption in the government. Protesters also employed social media to connect with Nigerians both in the mainland and in the diaspora, helping to spark the movement across borders, including into the United States and parts of Europe.
After one week of protests, Jonathan’s government responded by reducing the pump price of petrol from 140 naira per liter to 97 naira (about $0.60) per liter. Additionally, in a country where repressive military regimes ruled for 33 out of its 52 years of independence, the Occupy Nigeria movement is a great leap forward in the realization of a fair democracy in the country.
http://tinyurl.com/7p4vp4k
Swiss Quakers slam Swiss banks
Quakers in Switzerland have spoken out strongly against the “unethical behaviour” of banks and other financial institutions based in their country.
Geneva Quaker Meeting said that these institutions “are responsible for many of the practices that have led to the acute social and economic difficulties now experienced around the world”. They slammed “banking secrecy in Switzerland”.
They made their comments in a statement today (23 January), in which they also expressed support for “Occupy”, “99 per cent” and “Les Indignés” protests around the world.
http://tinyurl.com/7pemnqv
Occupy at Davos
The Occupy movement, which went global after protests against Wall Street last year, is camping in igloos to bring its argument with the super-rich “1 per cent” to Davos.
It is a reminder to the leaders of finance and industry at the World Economic Forum of the resentment that is leading to questions about the future direction of capitalism.
“At meetings the rest of society is excluded from, this powerful ‘1 per cent’ negotiates and decides about the fate of the other 99 per cent of this world,” says David Roth, “Camp Igloo” organiser and head of the Swiss centre-left’s youth wing.