The OB Media Rundown for 2/23/12

Student Activists Occupy Novartis

AIDS activists, students, and community groups “OCCUPIED” the offices of pharma giant Novartis today in three US cities on the eve of the Swiss pharmaceutical company’s annual shareholders meeting in Switzerland.  The effort was part of a global day of action drawing attention to the company’s lawsuit against cancer patients and the government of India, aiming to reinterpret India’s patent standards to block access to life-saving generic medicines.

In 2006, Novartis sued the Indian government after its request for a patent on its blockbuster cancer drug Gleevec was denied. The Novartis version of the drug costs roughly ten times the cost of the high-quality generics on the market and the company is trying to stop production of those versions.

Since Novartis initiated action against the Indian government, protests have been held around the world. On Wednesday, demonstrators in New York, Washington, and Boston stood in solidarity with actions in India, Switzerland, and other regions. “We’re here to try to ensure that India remains the pharmacy of the developing world,” said Katrina Ciraldo, Boston University medical student and member of Occupy Boston’s Health Justice group.

http://tinyurl.com/82tbaze

After a long winter of discontent, can Occupy Boston bloom again this spring?

As the weather warms, though, the question looms: will there will be an Occupy Spring? Will the movement once again reign in the national headlines – not just as a sideshow tailing presidential candidates, but in cities like Boston, where much of the fall was dominated by Occupy actions and the response to the sudden surge in activism?

All signs point to “yes.” In addition to vague plans to establish another camp in April – a surefire way to attract news cameras – daily Occupy Boston strategy meetings remain staffed by significant numbers of dedicated operatives. Saturday-night general assemblies draw roughly 80 attendees. The crowds are smaller than those that rallied on Dewey Square at the height of Occupy intensity, but a core group of direct-action-minded folks are regularly joining more established forces like City Life and the T Riders Union in protesting everything from MBTA service cuts to foreclosures and, this past weekend, prisoner abuse. College occupations are also picking up some slack; earlier this month, a New England student summit at Harvard attracted delegates from more than a dozen schools (as well as Occupy godfather Noam Chomsky).

http://tinyurl.com/7hcc6mg

Chris Faraone Q&A: Living with the 99 percent

When the Occupy movement was raging last fall, Chris Faraone was there. In Boston. In Seattle. In New York. [Chris Faraone] the 32-year-old Boston Phoenix writer and Jamaica Plain resident spent more time at the encampment here than any journalist, not to mention his visits to Occupy movements around the country, from Miami to New York to Seattle to Oakland. This month he releases his self-published book, “99 Nights With the 99 Percent,” and on Feb. 27 he’ll speak at Brookline Booksmith at 7 p.m.

http://tinyurl.com/6r3w9c3

Education gap between wealthy and poor widens

During the 1950s and 1960s, race was seen as the largest factor in determining educational success among youth. Today, much less variance is seen between youth of different races. Instead, educational endeavors have been linked more closely to family income.

Education has the potential to be an equalizer in society, an outlet in which all students are presented with opportunities to improve their futures. As the achievement gap widens between those from affluent families and those from origins of poverty, the aspect of the equalizer diminishes.

In the United States, students from high-income families score up to 40 percent higher on standardized tests than students from low-income families. Similarly, students from affluent families are 50 percent more likely to finish college than those from low-income households.

http://tinyurl.com/8yz74rr

Security firm describes ‘how companies can use social media to predict potential threats’ during upcoming national Occupy corporate protests on Feb. 29th

The Occupy movement took hold last year, sweeping up grassroots organizers, courting unions and blue-collar workers, and sparking protests outside of corporate offices. Cold weather and disappearing camps have slowed the movement to a crawl, but a massive demonstration is planned to try and reignite the embers that may have survived through the winter. “Shut Down the Corporations” on February 29 will target ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart locations nationwide, according to the Occupy Web sites.

Twitter and Facebook have been some of Occupy’s primary mediums for organizing since its inception, so for companies looking to predict the impact of Shut Down the Corporations on their own operations, information valuable to investigations sits hidden in plain sight on the Internet.

Data pulled from open sources, like forums and social media profiles, can go a long way to protecting a company’s personnel and assets, according to a librarian turned investigator Cynthia Hetherington. The Occupy Web sites provide general information for people interested in assembling, but tuning in to social networks can provide more detailed logistical information, Hetherington says.

http://tinyurl.com/7ng8s82

As live streaming expands, challenges intensify

Outside of the danger of war zones, live streamers face a wide spectrum of challenges unique to the medium. The panoptic coverage exposes them to the ire of illicit-minded citizens; lack of official credentials leaves them susceptible to the whim of authorities; and operating on shoestring budgets means the loss of even a single piece of equipment can silence the broadcast.

Live streaming is revolutionizing how news is gathered and consumed. The 2011 Arab Spring uprisings were initially covered by citizen journalists using social media and online video-sharing websites, providing a never-before-seen level of coverage. As mobile technology improves, this model of rapid-fire journalism is getting even faster as professional reporters and citizen journalists alike take to live streaming events as they happen.

http://tinyurl.com/76v9bxs

Occupy Un-Occupies Its Own Strike Campaign

The next major action planned by Occupy Wall Street is a nationwide general strike set for May 1, and to promote it they’ve started producing a lot of great-looking works of propaganda that largely downplays the involvement of Occupy itself. The videos, posters, and paintings promoting the strike that actually mention Occupy tend to place it in the background rather than as the central component. Organizers say they’re aiming a much larger audience than the folks who camped or protested in city squares last fall. “A general strike really needs to be general,” organizer Joe Sharkey said. “May Day is a traditional day for workers movements and revolution, so I think that’s the main emphasis. It’s to broaden the appeal and not just attach it to Occupy. People have preconceived notions of what occupy is or isn’t.”

http://tinyurl.com/7cz2zt6

On the Brink: Fiscal Austerity Threatens a Global Recession

(video)

http://tinyurl.com/869ezlg

Fox News declares The Lorax is indoctrinating children into supporting Occupy Wall Street

(video)

Fox News doesn’t get a lot of mention on this site, as we typically talk movies, not politics. But Lou Dobbs drew our attention when he spoke out a supposed conspiracy between President Obama and Hollywood to brainwash children with cartoon characters. On his show, Dobbs declared that two new movies, The Secret World of Arrietty and The Lorax were created by Hollywood to “indoctrinate” children into supporting environmental causes and Occupy Wall Street…or something. His logic is pretty mind boggling, but can be viewed in below in this clip:
. . .

For his final stroke, Dobbs turns to his guests for their thoughts. One flat-out denies this is a threat, and says parents should monitor what their kids see and determine for themselves if it suits their own ideology. A second insists that parents need a break from all this liberal media brainwashing! And his third guest suggests that conservative parents subvert The Lorax’s green message by buying a bunch of snacks and paper products and then trash the theater with the materialistic mess to prevent kids from becoming “Occu-toddlers.” That’s right, make those movie theater workers feel your disdain for environmental awareness! That’ll show Hollywood!

http://tinyurl.com/7jlj7yz

Price Shock: Watch Cost of Gas Jump 10 Cents During ABC’s ‘World News’ Broadcast

The swiftness at which those gas prices continue to climb was crystal clear Wednesday night during the broadcast of ABC News’ “World News with Diane Sawyer.”

As ABC News’ Cecilia Vega introduced her piece on high gas prices, the sign at the downtown Los Angeles gas station behind her showed the price of regular gas at $4.99 a gallon.   However when the piece concluded nearly two minutes later the price of regular gas had jumped 10 cents to $5.09 a gallon.

http://tinyurl.com/86j3n4t

Occupy the Department of Education: Just What Education Activists Were Looking for

On behalf of the people of New York City, the Panel for Educational Police (PEP) assembled on the evening of February 9. On behalf of the people of New York City, it deliberated the closure of 23 city schools. And on behalf of the people of New York City, it ignored the thousands of parents, students, teachers and taxpayers who had come to protest and axed the schools anyway.  Democracy in action.

Apart from the balcony, the Brooklyn Technical High School auditorium (which seats 3,100) was packed when I arrived. The security detail roaming the aisles dutifully dispensed their pro forma pleas that those in the aisle find a seat, but they knew their task was Sisyphean: no one had a seat. Virtually everyone was standing, chanting, holding signs, condemning the proceedings by way of the people’s mike and roundly booing each of the panel’s suits for silence.

These were the only indication the panel gave those in attendance that they even knew a protest was in progress. For the most part, they proceeded through the minutiae of the event, droning on over the amplification system, charging inexorably toward what everyone knew was a foregone conclusion. That this whole hearing was proceeding patently without the consent of the governed seemed more or less irrelevant to the panel, which never bothered to identify the counter-constituency, New Yorkers against the closing down of the schools. Amid the unrelenting din, one panelist, called on to testify, replied, “I’m sorry, I can’t hear anything,” to which the exasperated chairman responded, “Welcome to the club!”

http://tinyurl.com/8329btu

UC Davis students sue over pepper-spray incident

The lawsuit claims the university violated the demonstrators’ constitutional rights and seeks campus policies to prevent similar responses to non-violent protests, as well as unspecified damages.

http://tinyurl.com/72f9ly5

More MN homeowners pledge to stay and fight foreclosure

Since last fall, Occupy Minnesota activists have defended the houses of two Minneapolis homeowners facing foreclosure – Monique White in North Minneapolis and ex-Marine Bobby Hull in South Minneapolis. In doing so, they’ve helped galvanize a growing Occupy Homes movement nationwide.

Now Minnesota homeowners are beginning to pledge en masse to resist bank foreclosures and stay in their homes. At a rally at Hull’s house on Friday night, five new homeowners pledged to fight the system and, if necessary, resist eviction with the help of local Occupy activists. They included Vietnam veteran John Vinje and his wife Lucinda Adams-Vinje who live in Bloomington, Minn., Frank from Coon Rapids, Ruby Brown in North Minneapolis, and Colleen Espinosa, whose son Nick is a well-known Occupy activist.

http://tinyurl.com/7vpjzea

Why Did Occupy Redwood City Occupy Safeway?

High-fives greeted the protesters as Safeway was called out for its unsavory corporate behavior. While Safeway employs union workers in their stores, the company has been building big-box, “lifestyle” stores without union labor and without prevailing wages here on the Peninsula.

Safeway also has been giving massive bonuses to their executives for minimizing the labor costs of each of these big-box projects in San Mateo County. This means low bids and the hiring of out-of-area workers who do not have medical or pension benefits and who are the least trained in personal and public safety. This means exclusion from jobs for the 14,000 unionized, apprenticed, and trained local workers who are out of work due to the recession.

In contrast, the three “lifestyle” stores Safeway erected in San Francisco were built using local union contractors. Without a similar commitment from Safeway to local wages and local hiring in San Mateo County, the thirty percent of local carpenters, painters, electricians and other workers who are still out of a job will remain out of a job. This leads to the loss of medical benefits, more foreclosures, and more cuts to working families and local governments.

http://tinyurl.com/7uzbvde

Occupy offshoot plans assembly in Phila. near July 4

A breakaway group from the Occupy Wall Street movement is organizing a national assembly in Philadelphia around the Fourth of July to draft a petition for “redress of grievances.” The assembly would not be an Occupy-style event, Michael S. Pollok, a New York lawyer and organizer, said Wednesday.

The group would meet in a “state of the art” facility near Independence Hall as opposed to occupying a public space, he said. Also, the delegates who attend must be elected, a major shift from how Occupy Wall Street or Philadelphia operated.
. . .

A sampling of 21 grievances listed on the group’s website, www.the99declaration.org, include the end to the war in Afghanistan, an overturning of the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling on campaign contributions, the implementation of universal health care, an emphasis on debt reduction, and banking and securities reform.

http://tinyurl.com/78e68a7