Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Activists from Occupy Wall Street, the environmental movement and labor unions, along with victims of home foreclosures, had massive demonstrations at Bank of America’s shareholder meeting in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday morning. Occupiers have characterized the event as a test run for activism ahead of September’s Democratic National Convention … For those gathered, Bank of America has become the quintessential culprit for the Great Recession — a bailed-out bank with a bad record on foreclosures and the environment. For more, see Bank of America Protests and Thousands Turn Out to Protest Bank of America Shareholders’ Meeting. In more bank news: Retired Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill will receive an honorary doctorate, as will his wife, Joan, from Sonoma State University in Northern California, on May 12. Since the university made the announcement, students, faculty and staff have voiced outrage, describing the degree as a “dishonor” to their graduating class and a shame on the school’s ethics and reputation. They even set up a website, www.shameonssu.org to register the flood of complaints that poured in. And here’s why. After retiring as the CEO of Citigroup, the largest “too-big-to-fail” bank that got bailed out by taxpayers several years back, Weill gave $12 million for SSU’s new Green Music Center. How Weill made his money, and what strings were attached to his donation to SSU, are questions many feel still need answering – if the answers aren’t clear enough already. For more, see Amid Outcry, a Mega-Banker Gets His Degree. And did you know that banks gamble on hunger? Speculating on food prices causes spikes in the cost of staple foods, meaning poor people around the world go hungry and poverty worsens. For an infographic, see How Banks Cause Hunger. And Frankfurt’s Municipal Department for Public Order has announced a ban on all actions planned by the Blockupy Frankfurt alliance for the European Days of Action scheduled for May 16 to 19 in Germany’s financial capital. According to the Blockupy Frankfurt website, the ban is an attempt to curb any form of protest against European Union financial and political leaders whose decisions have cut deeply into the lives of millions of Europeans. For the Days of Action, more than a dozen members of the alliance have been preparing protests against the austerity policies forwarded by European governments and the Troika, composed of the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Union and the IMF. Blockupy Frankfurt had filed various requests for its protests, in the forms of demonstrations, rallies, vigils and meetings (asambleas). On the coalition’s website, Blockupiers wrote, “This ban is a scandalous incident quite unique in the history of the Federal Republic and an open insult on the right to demonstrate guaranteed by the constitution.” For more, see Blockupy Frankfurt Banned. In more news from Germany, check out this cool protest called “Wall Street to Your Street”: On May 10, 25 life-size figures appeared in front of a Deutsche Bank branch in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.  The cut-out figures were, in fact, cardboard “clones” of Occupy activists from around the world.  In October 2011 two designers from Berlin visited Occupy Wall Street, Occupy DC and Occupy London to meet Occupiers and take their photos. “The protests of the Occupy movement address global issues,” said Paul. “We wanted to give protesters the opportunity to make their voice heard in other countries.” For the story and a brief video, see Deutsche Bank Protest in Berlin.

Other Occupies/Protests: MassUniting upcoming protest at State Street Bank: Tax Dodging. Prison Profiteering. Misleading Investors. Defrauding Pensions. Job Killing. For years, State Street Bank has managed to avoid accountability for their crimes against the 99% — but you can be a witness at their “trial”. Help us bring State Street to justice May 16, as their executives gather to preside over the company’s annual shareholder meeting. WHEN: Wednesday, May 16 @ 9:30 AM, WHERE:  Meet at Dewey Square (across from South Station).

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: May 4 was the anniversary of Kent State. On May 4, 1970 Allison Krause was shot dead by an Ohio National Guard bullet as she protested the Vietnam War, the American war draft and the military occupation of her college campus at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The Krause family is asking for the Kent State Massacre to be considered before the International Criminal Court. For more, see Justice for Kent State Massacre? In a related story: according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, J. Edgar Hoover and FBI’s “Cointelpro” Operation have been linked to the Kent State killings and FBI cover-up. For the article, see Kent State Killings. And in other news: “How can we help? How can we help? How can we help?” It’s not your average protest slogan, but it’s what the activists chanted Sunday as they marched from Zuccotti Park to 120 Broadway, which houses the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The AG chairs President Obama’s task force to investigate the routine fraud and abuse that characterized Wall Street during the Bush-era inflation of the housing bubble and precipitated the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession. For more, see New York Activists Ask Attorney General “How Can We Help?” And, more on the Occupy/99 Percent Spring debate: are unions and liberal groups like MoveOn valuable allies? Or do they pose a threat, seeing the Occupy Movement as nothing more than a “brand” whose language can be slipped on and deployed to their own ends–namely, a Democratic triumph in November? The source of these fears is the “99 Percent Spring” and similar campaigns. For more, see The Dangers of Co-Option. In a related story, watch this video: a MoveOn.org infiltrator attempts to hijack the General Assembly of Occupy the East End in Long Island, New York. See MoveOn Infiltrator Exposed at Occupy East End. And for more information on the Neo-Nazi party on the rise in Greece, see Q&A: Greece’s Golden Dawn. And here’s an update on the Occupy the Farm action in Albany, CA: The UC administration barricaded the Gill Tract on Wednesday with concrete, metal barriers, and dozens of police who threatened farmers with “chemical agents and impact force.” … A bulldozer loomed on the edge of the farm for the majority of the morning. For more, see UCPD Locks Gate on Professor’s Research, Farmers Move to Remediate Neglected Portions of Gill Tract.

Other Occupies/Protests: Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president at a glittering ceremony on Monday, hours after clashes between police and thousands of protesters in the country’s capital laid bare the deep divisions over his return to the Kremlin for six more years. In the latest demonstrations on Sunday, police detained more than 400 people, including three opposition leaders, after tensions boiled over at a rally attended by about 20,000 people across the Moscow river from the Kremlin. Police hit protesters on the head with batons as they tried to stop demonstrators advancing towards them, carrying metal crowd barriers and throwing objects. The crowd fought back with flagpoles before the police eventually restored order. For more, see 400 Protesters Arrested Hours Before Putin’s Return to Russian Presidency.

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Surveillance cameras are now so powerful they are able to zoom in and read your text messages – leading to fears of further privacy intrusion by a “Big Brother”-style state. As well as being advanced enough to close in on an individual’s phone screen, security cameras will soon be able to pick up on raised voices and sniff out drugs too. The revelations were made at a privacy conference in Wellington, New Zealand, where it was also disclosed that the average person is digitally recorded about a dozen times a day. For more, see Watch what you type! And four generations of a Georgia family, including a toddler, were evicted at gunpoint by dozens of sheriffs and deputies at 3am last week in an Atlanta suburb. The eyebrow-raising eviction, a foreclosure action, might have been another anonymous descent into poverty were it not for Occupy Atlanta activists who tried to help the family stay in Christine Frazer’s home of 18 years. The eviction came as Frazer, 63, who lost her husband and then job in 2009, had been challenging the foreclosure in county and federal courts by seeking to restructure the terms of a delinquent mortgage. For more, see Dozens of Police Evict Georgia Family at Gunpoint at 3am. In Canada, a revolt against a government tuition fee hike is growing into Occupy-inspired dissent against austerity and inequality. Canadian students have been furiously mobilizing for a freeze on tuition fees since last spring, when the Liberal provincial government announced hikes of 75% over five years. A general strike launched this February shuttered most of the province’s colleges and universities. In Montreal, family-friendly street-theatre and marches peaked with a historic rally of 200,000 on 22 March; business-unfriendly blockades of banks, bridges and government ministries have often paralyzed the downtown core. And over the last week, tens of thousands have joined a nightly protest ritual, marching through Montreal past the midnight hour. For more, see Quebec student protests mark “Maple spring” in Canada. And in related news, the Canadian government will support a private member’s bill that would make it a crime to wear a mask or disguise during a riot, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Sunday. The Concealment of Identity Act would create two Criminal Code offences with maximum penalties of five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000. For more, see Legislation would prohibit masks during riots. And across Canada over the past several weeks, police officers have been dressing as panhandlers and clutching cardboard signs to mimic the curbside come-ons in order to get close enough to see drivers using handheld phones while driving. “We don’t want to give panhandlers a bad name by people thinking that they’re cops,” said John Clarke, an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. “They are displacing people who are trying to survive by panhandling. The level of social cutbacks is such that, for panhandlers, there are no survival margins at all. And from a general decency point of view, it is a sneaky and unsavoury tactic.” For more. see No escaping hobo cop. 

Other Occupies/Protests: FREE BUS TRIP TO CHICAGO FOR NATO SUMMIT: 99% Solidarity, a Working Group of Occupy Wall Street, is excited to participate in nonviolent direct actions in Chicago from May 18 to 22, 2012. We have secured buses to bring people to these actions from several U.S cities. So far, there are buses leaving from the following cities: New York City; Washington, D.C.; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; Burlington, VT; Salem, NH; Philadelphia, PA; Atlanta, GA; Oakland, CA; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR. We are currently working on the travel schedule, agenda and other important details of this trip, and we are working hard to add more cities, so please check back often if your city is not listed. We will be contacting you with updated information shortly. For now here are a few updates:

– The Bus trip is free

– 50 people from each city must sign up and board the bus for the trip take place. If a city has less then 50 sign ups, then we may have to cancel the bus for that city.

– Meals will be provided on board the bus to and from Chicago

– We are working on housing and meals while in Chicago

There are several direct actions and events that we will participate in while in Chicago including:

– May 18 – The People’s Summit

– May 19 – the 99% Solidarity People’s Convention

– May 20 – CANG8 rally and march.

Please visit 99solidarity.net often to get the most up to date information and be sure to invite your friends and fellow occupiers to join you on this exciting, historic trip.  In addition, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @99solidarity. http://99solidarity.net/chicago/. *Note: There’s a possibility of undercover law enforcement being present on some of these buses. Do not give information to anyone about activity you wouldn’t want everyone knowing about.

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: The growing number of “ag gag” bills being passed state by state actually stem from “model legislation” prepared by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). These bills make it illegal for undercover investigators, concerned citizens, journalists, or anyone with a camera to capture “behind the scenes” footage of factory farms. Invested corporations are concerned that if Americans could see exactly where their food comes from and the horrors from within, we wouldn’t purchase from those companies anymore. For more, see ALEC’s Influence Over U.S. Food Policy. And ALEC has been under fire lately after the 15 major corporations and organizations pulled their support for the conservative organization, which helps quietly implement corporate-backed legislation in statehouses across the country. Now, the watchdog advocacy group group Common Cause has released a complete list of corporations on ALEC’s task forces. See a 5-minute video, ALEC Explained, for easy–to-understand information on ALEC. To see the trailer for a film project on GMOs, click here: http://www.gmofilm.com. And even before the hospital bills started coming, Lori Duff and her family were living paycheck to paycheck. So when the debt collector called and demanded $1,800 for the prenatal visits she’d had while pregnant with her third son, she panicked. The collector said the local Catholic hospital Duff had gone to could garnish 25 percent of each of her paychecks to pay off the bill. She offered to make a $20 payment—all she could afford at the time—but the collector told her the minimum was $400 down. “I was like, ‘I don’t have that. You can have everything in my account right now. It’s $1.25,'” Duff recalls. Duff was likely eligible for free care under the Mount Carmel Health System’s financial assistance policy, which offers medical care at no charge for patients earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. But the debt collector kept calling and soon informed her that the hospital was planning to sue her for the money. For more, see Sued Over An $1,800 Hospital Bill. And in positive news: Grameen Bank in Bangladesh does what most conventional banks fail to do: provide credit to the poorest people without any collateral. The underlying vision of Muhammed Yunus – founder, managing director, and Nobel laureate – is to lend to people based on their potential, rather than material possessions. For a short video, see Grameen Bank Lifts its Borrowers Out of Poverty. And check out the trailer for the film project American Autumn: An Occudoc.

Other Occupies/Protests: From W0men Occupying Wall Street (WOW): May 17, 6:30pm-9:30pm, Washington Square Park, New York City: Women Occupying Wall Street (WOW) invites people and organizations of all gender identities to the first Feminist General Assembly! Together, let’s stand for justice and disarm the war on women. It’s time to rise up! Misogyny is flagrant in our patriarchal society, not only from the politicians, but even from our comrades. It’s time for us to join, support, and empower each other by amplifying all our voices. This will be the beginning of what we hope will become an ongoing discussion throughout the nation and worldwide. Through this assembly we will create a public space for collaborating to address patriarchy, violence, and hierarchical structures that harm everyone. In the spirit of cooperation and transparency of Occupy Wall Street, we have been meeting, and continue to do so once a week, on various days of the week, and at various locations, to openly plan the event, and make participation in planning accessible to as many as possible.

Please RSVP to us at wowsnyc@gmail.com to let us know if you’d also like to take part in planning with us. And of course, feel free to please pass this along!

Find us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/WOWSNYC
http://www.facebook.com/events/175078435948082/?ref=ts

Follow us on Twitter: @wowsnyc

On Tumblr:
http://wowsnyc.tumblr.com/

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Gloria Steinem

Continue reading “Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-8-12” »

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Rodney Brossart, American Arrested Using Predator Drone, Had Rights Violated, Lawyer Says. Bruce Quick, attorney for the first American arrested using an unmanned drone says his client was subject to “guerrilla-like police tactics.” Quick tells U.S. News that Lakota, N.D., resident should not have been arrested and that authorities had no legal right to use the drone to aid in his capture. Brossart was in a dispute with authorities over the ownership of six cows that had meandered onto his land. The Grand Forks SWAT team borrowed a Predator drone from the Department of Homeland Security. And during the Arab Spring, when tear gas and other chemical weapons were deployed against non-violent protesters, in some cases protesters died from exposure to the gas – especially when it was used in enclosed spaces.  Teargas has been used against Occupy Oakland protesters as well. Toxic chemicals are often banned in warzones, but permitted in order to control a state’s own citizens. And an Occupy Wall Street protester talks about why A Few Good Democrats Are Not Enough to change things. “Despite the hard work of our progressive allies, the unfortunate reality is that our political system, as presently constructed, is simply incapable of responding to people’s needs. The election of the most progressive Democratic nominee of the last 30 years and a Democratic supermajority in Congress resulted in relatively little change, even during a massive economic crisis. The Democrats’ inaction proved that our political system was designed to serve the whims of the market, and no politician has the power to do much about it.” And a family is fighting the federal government after it seized their bank account and took $70,000 of their hard-earned money. It seems the Sower family, who owns the South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, Maryland, is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the post-9/11 “Bank Secrecy Act”. The act makes it illegal to deposit less than $10,000 if you have deposits totaling more than that. Never mind the fact that it’s your money, the feds can literally freeze and seize your account if you don’t deposit your money in accordance with the federal governments new rules. See Government seeking more than $62,000 from South Mountain Creamery owners. In more farm news, a family farm in rural Michigan may be shut down by a Government entity who has passed a law stating that the breed of hogs they are raising are a threat to neighboring croplands and the farmer is accused of being a felon for raising these pigs. The Michigan Pork Grower’s Association is reportedly behind the law. See the video Bakers Green Acres vs. Michigan DNR – Family Farm Under Attack. For more information on how the government is attacking small farms, see the trailer for the movie Farmageddon. And on a lighter note, check out this great pro-Occupy interview on The Colbert Report, which averages 1.2 million viewers per episode!

Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy This Album, which is being heralded as “a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%” is set for a May 15 release by Music for Occupy with Razor and Tie. The majority of the four-disc physical and 99-track digital collection includes songs that have never before been released; Artists like Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Anti Flag and Jackson Browne share the tracklisting with musician and organizer Matt Pless, New Party Systems (featuring members of TV on the Radio) and many more. “Proceeds from the 4-CD Occupy This Album, will benefit the Occupy Wall Street movement,” according to the press release. More information available at www.musicforoccupy.org. Music For Occupy states: “Our Mission is to inspire and celebrate through music the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% who’ve been adversely affected by the economic corruption that has permeated our Democracy, created a near insurmountable disparity in wealth, and hindered life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of an honest living for all. Music For Occupy is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, and all proceeds above board attained through the production and distribution of Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% will go directly towards the needs of sustaining this growing movement.” The album can be purchased for $9.99 at http://new.merchnow.com/products/141477 (don’t buy it from Amazon, which is charging $16.99 and has abusive labor practices!)

“The most violent element in society is ignorance.” Emma Goldman