Occupy Harvard Holds ‘Think Tank’ in Lamont
A day before they plan to end their occupation of Lamont Library Café about 20 supporters of the Occupy Harvard movement talked in the café on Thursday night about the next steps that they will take after they leave this most recent encampment when the library closes at 10 p.m. on Friday.
This discussion was one in a series of small ‘think tanks’ that the group has held twice a day since the beginning occupation of the café Sunday night. According to a flyer distributed by the protesters on Thursday, the think tanks were intended as a “discussion forum where we will engage and collaborate on topics at the heart of our communities, the libraries, and occupation.”
Protesters said that they created the think tanks to make it easier for participants and visitors to contribute their opinions on a focused topic.
Occupodcast Launches
This week, the Occupodcast, – a series of in-depth conversations with individuals immersed in the occupy movement, launched at Occupodcast.org
Dennis Trainor, Jr, a writer, activist, and new media producer whose projects include Acronym TV and an upcoming documentary on the Occupy movement, will serve as host with episodes planned every Monday- Friday. The Occupodcast is available for free streaming and download at Occupodcast.org.
Guests in this, the first week of Occupodcast include Occupy Wall Street organizer and originator of the 99% call to action David DeGraw, Alli McCracken of Occupy DC, Occupy Harvard organizers Derin Korman & Hannah Hofeinz, Susie Cagle – a journalist covering Occupy Oakland, and Glenn Ford of Black Agenda Report discussing Occupy the Dream.
http://tinyurl.com/77ozwbp
Students weary about fallout from transit cuts
In preparation for a March 1 Waltham hearing on MBTA cuts, Student Union President Herbie Rosen ’12 and Vice President Gloria Park ’13 organized a Town Hall Forum on Monday night for members of the Brandeis community to voice their concerns and hear the university’s response to the recent MBTA plans.
While a handful of students attended the Town Hall meeting, others rallied at Occupy the MBTA, an extension of the overall Occupy movement. On Monday evening, protesters organized by the T-Riders Union took to the rail lines as a means of retaliating against proposed service reductions and fare increases.
“The atmosphere in the demo was incredible. Many familiar faces from the Occupy Boston community, standing strong with the T workers union,” Noam Lekach, organizer of the Brandeis protest, said.
How JP helped launch Occupy Boston
Robin Jacks, whose rallying cry for an Occupy Boston launched the local protest movement, lives and works in Jamaica Plain?an experience that has informed her activism.
Jacks is one of several prominent Occupy Boston leaders who call JP home.
“There are a lot of us here,” she told the Gazette in a recent interview. “That’s to be expected. This is JP.”
Economist Jeffrey Sachs Wants Millennials to Lead an Occupy Wall Street Return in Spring 2012
Columbia University professor Dr. Jeffrey Sachs is one of the foremost economists of our time (the author of The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, and The Price of Civilization), but what does he have to say about Occupy Wall Street?
“I am counting on it coming back in the spring. I really hope that the social activism and the social movement continues. We need it in this country. We need it worldwide, in fact. A market economy that is untethered by ethics, by norms of fairness, by decency to the poor is a broken society, and we have a broken society in a lot of ways in the United States right now.”
http://tinyurl.com/6u7g5uu
My tweets refuse to be subpoenaed
When I saw an email from Twitter Legal in my inbox, I figured it was spam. Data phishers use those kind of emails to steal user passwords, but this was a genuine warning from the social media giant. The New York District Attorney’s office had filed a subpoena requesting my account information and all of my tweets from last September to the end of the year. Twitter had attached the subpoena, and there was my handle, called by the County of New York to testify against me, the person it represents.
My tweets were being called to testify against their creator because on Oct. 1 of last year I was one of more than 700 people arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge as part of an Occupy Wall Street action. We had planned to march over the pedestrian walkway, but the crowd was too large. The police retreated and allowed us to cross half the bridge before kettling and arresting the entire crowd. I had my phone with me and was using Twitter to spread information to people following at home, as well as people behind me in the march. After a short stint in a cell, I was charged with disorderly conduct and released. I pleaded not guilty, not because I didn’t block traffic, but because I believe the march across the bridge was a constitutionally protected form of political speech.
Occupy Joins the Fight Against Private Prisons
On Wednesday, January 24, the Occupy movement joined the National Prison Divestment Campaign in 13 cities across the country for a nationwide day of action that gave a voice to an invisible segment of the 99 percent exploited by the private prison industry.
The National Prison Divestment Campaign was organized less than a year ago by Enlace, a coalition of US and Mexican low-wage worker centers and unions, to pressure corporations to divest from private prisons, whose chief investors include some of country’s largest financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, both of which have provoked the ire of the Occupy movement for their role in tanking the economy, among other things.
http://tinyurl.com/75thah7
Bruce Springsteen: Rocker Charges US Government With ‘Un-American’ Acts
Bruce Springsteen didn’t mince words Thursday night at the Theatre Marigny in Paris during a press conference while promoting his upcoming ‘Wrecking Ball’ album. The topic: His utter disappointment with the current state of America.
“What was done to our country was wrong and unpatriotic and un-American and nobody has been held to account,” Springsteen told The Guardian. “There’s a real patriotism underneath the best of my music. But it is a critical, questioning and often angry patriotism.”
http://tinyurl.com/7l9upbl
Occupy Koch Town movement descends on Wichita
It’s called “Occupy Koch Town” and the goal is to draw attention to the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Beginning Friday, protesters from the Sierra Club and the Occupy Movement will rally in Wichita against Koch Industries.
The groups say Koch uses its power and money to promote dangerous energy policies for the country and they believe the company stands to make a financial windfall from the project.
http://tinyurl.com/7fawatl
Statewide Occupy people’s assembly set for Boulder, CU
Boulder and the University of Colorado will play host to a statewide people’s assembly for the Occupy movement today.
The people’s assembly will take place at CU during the day and will be followed by a march from campus to the old Boulder County Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall, where protesters will stay overnight on the courthouse lawn.
Lee Buchsbaum, a member of Occupy Boulder who is involved in organizing the events, said the assembly and march will focus on how the Occupy movement moves forward, techniques for effective activism and alliances that can be formed with other political activists.
http://tinyurl.com/7uvf6pa
Occupy the Truth conference to occur at UC Berkeley
Occupy the Truth, a conference on information and media transparency, will be held this weekend at UC Berkeley and will feature speakers such as Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers in the early 1970s.
The conference will be held from Friday to Sunday at UC Berkeley?s International House and will feature a discussion panel on Bradley Manning, the former U.S. Army soldier currently imprisoned for allegedly sharing national defense information on WikiLeaks, according to the Fresh Juice Party organization website.
http://tinyurl.com/86blzza
After Spreading to Campuses, Occupy Moves into the Classroom
Much like the Occupy Wall Street movement spawned a larger national discussion and spread across the country, the concept is making its way into classrooms nationwide, where professors are teaching about the movement.
Faculty at a number of schools, including New York University, Columbia University, Brown University, Roosevelt University, and the University of California-San Diego, are now offering classes about the movement, which is focused on bringing attention to income inequality among other issues.
Each university has decided to teach the movement in a different context. NYU, for instance, is focusing on an economic context while Brown, Roosevelt, and UC-San Diego are teaching it with a historical context.
http://tinyurl.com/74xvqxo
Hundreds Of Protesters Gather Outside Obama Fundraising Rally
As with many recent protests, several protesters also identified with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and in the middle of the crowd started chants like, “The system has got to die, hella hella occupy.”
Joseph Rosas from Occupy San Jose carried a large sign on his back that said, “I’ll believe corporations are people when San Jose City Hall evicts one.”
Class Warfare: Which Side Are You On?
Are we in the middle of a Class War? Billionaire Warren Buffett thinks so, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Most Americans agree; a recent Pew Poll found. “Two-thirds of Americans said they think there are ‘very strong’ or ‘strong’ class conflicts in society.” But there’s a notable lack of enthusiasm for making fundamental change.
One would think that with the success of the Occupy Wall Street movement, there would be a strong push for radical social reform. After all, 49 percent of Americans believe the US economic system to be ‘unfair.’ But a recent Gallup Poll found that most Americans are not militant on this issue; they would rather promote policies to “grow and expand the economy” than they would to “reduce the income and wealth gap between the rich and the poor.”
This result is perplexing. Time Magazine asked respondents if they agreed with the positions advocated by Occupy Wall Street and discovered extraordinary concurrence. 86 percent agreed that, “Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence in Washington.” 79 percent agreed that, “The gap between rich and poor in the United States has grown too large.” 71 percent agreed with “Executives of financial institutions responsible for the financial meltdown in 2008 should be prosecuted.” And 68 percent agreed that, “The rich should pay more taxes.” Nonetheless, there was a 45-50 percent enthusiasm gap, because many Americans, who expressed these strong positive sentiments, didn’t support Occupy Wall Street. On the one hand the 99-Percent are concerned about the growing economic divide, but on the other hand they appear unready to do much about it.
Eugene’s Downtown Exclusion Zone Opposed
Eugene’s downtown exclusion zone came under fire Friday at a noontime rally held at Kesey Plaza. The zone has been in place since 2008. The police can ban people from the area for violations and previous criminal records. The City Council will vote later on whether to maintain the zone.
Street theater sought to present the exclusions as arbitrary. Occupy Eugene distributed flyers to four dozen people attending. It reads, in part, “The zone tries to hide the hardships our society causes instead of finding solutions.”
http://tinyurl.com/823d5p4
Occupy Allentown protesters take stand against tax scheme to fund new hockey arena
Members of the “Occupy Allentown” movement are saying “no” to the NIZ.
Demonstrators gathered Friday outside Pa. Sen. Pat Browne’s office at 7th and Hamilton streets in Allentown to protest the neighborhood improvement zone, also called the NIZ. It’s a 125 acre zone that focuses mainly on the area surrounding the new hockey arena.
Tax money generated from businesses inside the NIZ will go toward funding redevelopment and revitalization projects within the zone, like the arena, but demonstrators said other tax-dollar supported institutions like public schools are being shortchanged by the NIZ.
http://tinyurl.com/7p3jnkr
Occupy Lincoln hosts ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ to promote dialogue, embolden participants
“Theatre of the Oppressed,” a 40-year-old theatrical movement born in Brazil that has since spread around the globe, is coming to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this Saturday, courtesy of Occupy Lincoln’s Occupy Education initiative.
Doug Paterson, a theatre professor from University of Nebraska at Omaha, will lead the theater from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Nebraska Union Heritage Room. In a phone interview, Paterson said instead of actors on a stage performing to an inert audience, this theater is a traveling, interactive workshop on oppression, justice and the key to liberation: dialogue.
http://tinyurl.com/6v7adru
Occupy Redlands [CA] Calls ‘Mic Check’ Across the Airways
Mic check has taken on new meaning for the hundreds of people who follow the Occupy Redlands movement.
On Feb. 11, the term normally used to focus the attention of a large group on a speaker, has become the name of the group’s new radio show.
“We are going to be producing a series of 13 shows that are going to be airing each Saturday evening at 6 p.m.” said Stephen Kemp, a member of Occupy and co-host for the new show.
http://tinyurl.com/7yrmfkx
Fla. bill would bar local crackdowns on wage theft
South Florida labor and worker’s rights organizations are mobilizing their members and calling on state senators to stop a GOP bill that would prohibit Florida cities and counties from passing ordinances that crack down on wage theft, the practice of stiffing workers out of money they are owed.
http://tinyurl.com/6o3ro62
Occupy Wall Street Shows Solidarity With Struggling Greeks
On February 18th, members of the Greek 99% will take to the streets of Syntagma Square in protest of the extreme austerity measures that have been levied against them by the European Union.
Thanks to the irresponsibility of its politicians and European financial elite, Greece is years deep in one of the worst economic crises the world has ever seen. Instead of acknowledging that the greed of Big Banks and a non-elected government are responsible for the Greek collapse, the International Monetary Fund and other agents of the 1% have instead chosen to slash services for the lower and middle classes (sound familiar?).
This weekend, the people of cities across the world will take to the streets in solidarity with the Greek protesters who have occupied their workplaces and public spaces to resist economic injustice. Demonstrations are planned throughout Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portgual, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, and more.
The average Irish mortgage is now € 1,453 in arrears
NEW FIGURES published by the Central Bank show that 9.2 per cent of all domestic mortgages are now over three months in arrears – with the average mortgage holder in Ireland being € 1,453 behind in their repayments.
By the end of December, 70,911 mortgage holders were more than 90 days behind on their repayments – with over € 1.11 billion in loan repayments due on them, an average of € 15,753 per affected household.
Slovenia’s Occupy Movement to Take EC Offices in Ljubljana
Activists of the Slovenian arm of the Occupy movement announced Friday occupation of the European Commission offices in Ljubljana. They will protest against the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and what they see as “arrogant advocacy” of the agreement by the European Commission.
http://tinyurl.com/7vtbkce
Australian occupiers target Murdoch’s media empire
Adelaide has a new social movement in town, yet with a familiar name: Occupy.
The Occupy movement has been criticised for its lack of focus and demands, yet in Adelaide there is a clear focus for direct action: Rupert Murdoch. Hence the name: Occupy Murdoch.
Occupy Murdoch specifically focuses on corporate controlled media, especially News Corporation. Adelaide’s daily tabloid The Advertiser is a Murdoch paper that publishes rubbish dressed up as ?news? to distract people and supports specific political interests.
One Response to “The OB Media Rundown for 2/18/12”
on February 18th, 2012 at 1:55 am #
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