Occupy Boston Holds March for Free Public Higher Education for All
Almost 100 students from several Boston area colleges held a protest march around Boston as part of a National Day of Action for Education – called by students in the Occupy movement around the United States. The local action was organized by Students Occupy Boston – a working group of the Occupy Boston movement – and its core demand reflected the main theme of the national action: free public higher education for all.
Nate Matthews, a Tufts University student and press representative for Students Occupy Boston explained, “We held this march in solidarity with students in California, New York, and around the nation who called for action on these issues. Tuition has gone up by 900% since 1978, 650 points over inflation. Student debt has soared in recent years, nearing $1 trillion and passing credit card debt as the nation’s leading form of debt. If this bubble bursts, the effects will be felt throughout the economy.
http://tinyurl.com/7ampl4p
Education takes spotlight in Occupy protests
Student protesters said the recent activity among Occupy protesters nationwide does not reflect a new emphasis on education, but rather a possibly more narrow approach to addressing students’ concerns._The Occupy movement resurged Thursday with the National Day of Action for Education.
BU Occupies Boston members joined local supporters and protested throughout downtown Boston and at the Massachusetts State House Thursday, said College of Arts and Sciences junior Brandon Wood, a BU Occupies Boston member.
http://tinyurl.com/87kkvgc
For homeless advocate, paid employment doesn’t bring shelter
Cherie King, 36, has been living in and out of shelters since August 13, 2011. She’s homeless because she dropped everything to care for her mentally ill brother and bedridden mother, the latter of whom died last year. In her work as a homeless advocate with Occupy Boston, King has made it a point to bring light to her story, and to those of more than 1000 other Boston adults who are in the same predicament. She’s also quick to dispel homeless stereotypes: King doesn’t drink or use drugs, and she works as many part-time jobs as she can land. According to a 2011 survey by the US Department of Mayors, Boston’s homelessness rate is in moderate decline. Still, the plight of the working, struggling people on the street remains a real one.
According to past surveys, only about 30 percent of the homeless population in Boston is female. What makes it especially hard to be a woman on the street?
There are not enough beds for women in any shelters. At the same time, there are less services to help men. I came across a single father of a 12-year-old boy; the mother, who is also homeless, is out of the picture totally. There are very few services are out there to help this man keep his child.
http://tinyurl.com/6m92whq
Occupy Boston Fights Cuts to Public Transit
In order to defeat the fare hikes and service cuts, we will need to build a movement that reaches out into all affected communities. We need to do “Mic Checks” on morning and evening commutes – on the subway, commuter rail, and buses. All unions should join to fight this attack on working people, especially the MBTA unions. We should reach out to elderly communities who would have to pay the largest percentage fare increases.
http://tinyurl.com/72orkyy
“Occupy Rush Limbaugh on International Women’s Day” Protest Planned at Lincoln [NE] Radio Station
The conservative talk show host is losing advertisers and being targeted after calling a law school student a “slut” and “prostitute” for advocating for insurance coverage of contraceptives.
“Occupy Rush Limbaugh on International Women’s Day” is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday at KLIN, 4343 O St. The protest is being sponsored by Occupy Lincoln, which has a tent camp on the mall in front of the state capitol in Lincoln.
Susan Watson, who is active with Occupy Lincoln, said the general assembly endorsed the protest of what she called Limbaugh’s “horrific” comments a week ago. She thinks KLIN should take him off the air.
http://tinyurl.com/7avvcxn
States slash birth control subsidies as federal debate rages
After losing much of its state family-planning grant, the Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas in January began charging most patients a flat $25-per-visit fee.
In the first two weeks of the policy, 362 women cancelled appointments because they could not make the co-pay. Only 20 percent found the money to get care within a week or two, hospital officials said.
Another 20 percent were referred to one of the two Parkland locations still providing free services. Those sites are now so busy, the first available appointment at the Irving Women’s Health Center is August 21.
Most of the remaining women never came back for care after learning about the co-pay, said Paula Turicchi, a Parkland senior vice president.
http://tinyurl.com/86ed5nd
Gen Y Struggles With Declining Wages
“Young people entering the job market are taking the brunt of the downward pressure on wages caused by high unemployment, according to a new analysis of pay trends.
In data compiled for a coming report, the Economic Policy Institute, a center-left think tank in Washington, found that the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates aged 23 to 29 dropped 11% over the past decade to $21.68 in 2011. For female college graduates of the same age, the average wage is down 7.6% to $18.80.
‘New college graduates have been losing ground for 10 years,’ said Lawrence Mishel, president of the institute, which derived the figures from regular government wage surveys. The drop in average wages for young adults is in contrast to U.S. government figures showing that average inflation-adjusted hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers of all ages and education levels are up 3% from a decade ago.”
‘Occupy’ Protesters Break into Foreclosed North Hollywood Home of Woman Who Was Deported
Occupy L.A. demonstrators angered that a mother of two was deported to Mexico after protesting the foreclosure of her North Hollywood home broke into that home Monday during a demonstration, according to KTLA.
The rally was intended to be a peaceful candlelight vigil, but the break-in led to a standoff with Los Angeles police, according to the report, which said the standoff ended peacefully with no arrests.
http://tinyurl.com/7j3h7o5
Oakland goes after Occupiers arrested for vandalism with lawsuits
Oakland sued Cesar Aguirre, a man arrested Nov. 3 after smashing windows of some police offices in City Hall plaza.
Barbara Parker, Oakland’s city attorney, said the lawsuit is to recover damages caused by Aguirre, who lives in Elk Grove.
Jenkintown’s Occupy-aligned Kleinman will run write-in campaign in primary
The 29-year-old Jenkintown resident said Monday he withdrew his petition to be on the primary ballot at a hearing March 2 in Commonwealth Court because “it became clear to me that I wasn’t going to get a fair shake.”
“The judge made a statement about me that was patently false … not based on anything from opposing counsel, and it was made clear they would try to get me to pay Schwartz’s campaign’s legal bills,” Kleinman said. “I thought it was best to get the campaign out of the court of law and into the court of public opinion.”
Still involved with the Occupy Philly movement, Kleinman said he is working on setting up community gardens in Philadelphia; involved with projects to support teachers, school nurses and construction workers whose jobs are at risk due to budget cuts; and with the Occupy Philly “food team,” working to feed the homeless and protest city health department requirements “to restrict the ability of citizens to feed people who need food.”
Foreclosure fighters and occupiers
Bob Thawley, research coordinator at San Francisco General Hospital’s Positive Health Program said, “I’m part of Occupy Bernal, trying to prevent foreclosure of our neighbors’ homes.” He goes door to door talking to homeowners under foreclosure threat.
Bob educates people about banks’ predatory lending practices.
Occupy Bernal is fighting the foreclosure of six neighborhood families, negotiating with Wells Fargo for principal reduction and a reasonable accommodation to keep people in their homes, pressuring Wells Fargo for a moratorium on all foreclosures.
He feels the city’s multicultural wonders are being stolen by banks and powerful people who would rather amass wealth than care for their communities. They cycle money out, leaching vibrancy from close-knit neighborhoods.
BCC to host applied ethics conference
Broome Community College will hold its fourth annual conference on applied ethics March 16 and 17.
This year’s theme is “Ethics and Democracy.” The event will include panel discussions of the Occupy movement, deliberative democracy, ethics and campaigning, tribal democracy, democracy and coercion, and jazz as a democratic art form, as well as workshops. This year’s keynote speaker, at 7 p.m. March 16, is Alberto Olivas from Maricopa Community College in Arizona.
http://tinyurl.com/7r3vav5
Occupy AIPAC Confronts Bibi Netanyahu’s Insane Push for War with Iran
Palestinian flags flew high while Arabic music blared and young Palestinian women wearing kaffiyeh scarves danced in a circle. Mock settlements were lined up in front of a group of activists, while the anti-war group CodePink gathered on the steps of the Washington Convention Center holding signs that spelled out “No US Tax $ For Israel.” Activists chanted “Free, free Palestine,” and signs held high decried the assassinations of Iranian scientists and a potential U.S. or Israeli war on Iran. A large banner was unfurled in the back that read, “Occupy AIPAC.”
This was the scene on March 4, Occupy AIPAC’s main day of action. Hundreds of activists had begun to arrive the day before for the counter-summit, organized by CodePink, challenging the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the center of gravity of the Israel lobby.
http://tinyurl.com/7m7jad4
One Response to “The OB Media Rundown for 3/8/12”
on March 8th, 2012 at 7:11 am #
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