Dewey Square fills with Occupy Boston protestors after march from Copley Square

Between 80 and 100 protesters claiming to be activists of the Occupy movement have rushed onto Dewey Sqaure after marching through the Back Bay and downtown Boston with signs and banners.

After a slow march that ended in a sprint, some protesters shouted “Welcome home, Occupy” as they reached the green space from which the protest group was removed from last month. Others planted a flag reading “Occupy Boston at Dewey Square.”

http://tinyurl.com/7q72und

Boston: Student movement formed from Occupy, protestors camp at UMASS

Friday marked day five of Occupy UMASS Boston protestors camping inside the university’s student center. With three tents and donated food, the group of approximately 25 students say they’re comfortable sleeping overnight on campus and returning to class in the morning all for the sake of lowering tuition and fees.

UMB Senior and Occupy protestor Stephanie Fail passionately spoke about the lack of student voice in the decision making process, “When students trustees in the past have gone to request for more student spots on the trustee board they were pushed aside too and said ‘No we would have to add more non-students trustees to keep it balanced.’ I don’t see how it’s balanced to have 20 or more trustees and two students.”

http://tinyurl.com/7jjdqh7

It’s Time to Occupy for the Minimum Wage

As a student at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., I witnessed the Occupy Minnesota movement in downtown Minneapolis. While interning in the Boston area, I visited the Occupy Boston encampment in the city’s financial district. In both regions, there appears to be widespread support for the Occupy movement, although critics say the movement lacks an issue or demand to focus on.

The minimum wage is an issue that spans partisan lines and that the Occupy movement should embrace. According to a 2011 American Values Survey, over two-thirds of Americans support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10. At the same time, polls are mixed but many show that a majority of Americans support the goals and principles of the Occupy movement.

Although President Barack Obama did not mention the Occupy movement in his State of the Union message on Jan. 24, his call for “economic fairness” for all families was a major point of emphasis, and proposals to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor can be seen throughout the speech. Increasing the minimum wage would be a great starting point.

http://tinyurl.com/8ys627o

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 1/30/12” »

Occupy joins other protesters in march on Super Bowl Village

A mix of union members and Occupy protesters from across Indiana led a rally Saturday that began at the Statehouse before weaving through the crowded pre-game attraction. Speakers at the rally included two state representatives, a state senator and several union workers.

Indianapolis Education Association President Ann Wilkins told the crowd of about 75 protesters to remember which legislators voted for the right-to-work bill and vote them out in the November elections.

http://www.heartlandconnection.com/sports/story.aspx?id=713115

Police clash with Oakland protesters, 100 held

Riot police arrested more than 100 anti-Wall Street protesters during a series of clashes in the streets of Oakland on Saturday that saw officers in riot gear firing tear gas at activists who tried to take over a shuttered convention center.

http://tinyurl.com/83t9wn4

Study: Finance industry execs rule political spending

Over the last 30 years, political contributions made by financial industry executives increased by 700 percent, according to new analysis by the watchdog Sunlight Foundation. Roughly 5,500 members of the finance, insurance, real estate sector (FIRE) gave $178.2 million to political committees and candidates during the 2010 election cycle, up from $15.4 million in the 1990 cycle.

Giving was concentrated most among securities and investment executives and, although tilted slightly toward Republicans, the finance-industry greenback geyser gushes in both directions of the political spectrum. Although the finance sector gave 54 percent of its cash to Republicans in 2010, it gave 51 percent of its cash to Democrats in 2008.

http://tinyurl.com/6oox5vz

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 1/29/12” »

Occupy Wall Street-NYC Builds Momentum for Spring Resurgence: Launches 5-Week Bus Trip and will arrive in Boston today

Early Wednesday morning, nearly two dozen occupiers boarded a 24 seat conversion bus in Brooklyn. For the next five weeks, members of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) from New York City will be touring the Northeast to connect with other occupations.

“Interoccupy communications and face to face community building is a key step in growing solidarity in a global movement,” says Austin Guest, member of the OWS Direct Action group. At each stop along the trip, occupiers will share skills and knowledge with each other. By building relationships between occupations, occupiers are setting the stage for nationally coordinated actions.

http://tinyurl.com/6me9k85

[OWS-NYC Occupiers will be attending OB events all weekend and Monday for skill sharing/building and to strengthen bonds]

MassUniting and Occupy Boston march on GE with a simple message: “PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES”

Everyone who met in Dewey Square this afternoon had one thing in common – whether they’re an activist with MassUniting, a member of Occupy Boston, or one of the police officers assigned to chaperone today’s protest. They all paid a lot more taxes than General Electric last year.

And so the group of roughly 100 pissed off people poured across Atlantic Avenue, and marched one block from Dewey to GE’s Boston offices on Summer Street. Their message was simple: “Pay your fucking taxes!” They even brought an invoice for the company.

http://tinyurl.com/7xz7zao

Insights and predictions 2012: More resistance needed

There is only one way things will get better, and that is politicians and bankers and the oligarchs start fearing the population, and believing that the military and police can’t protect them.  The longer citizens insist on being “nice” and letting oligarchs steal their future, beat them, imprison them, take their homes, their jobs and their lives, the longer the oligarchs and their servants will do so.  Why shouldn’t they?

http://tinyurl.com/6st72nl

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 1/27/12” »

Less ride for your money on the T? – MBTA proposes unpopular weekend service cuts and fare hikes

On Jan. 3, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which operates Boston’s public train and bus systems, proposed two fare increase and service reduction plans that could raise the price of a single T trip to as much as $2.40 with a CharlieCard (up from the regular $1.70).
. . .

MBTA patrons were less forgiving than the state of Massachusetts. On Monday, the T Riders Union, Occupy Boston members, and local student activists rallied in front of the State House, holding signs saying “We need affordibiliT” and “MBTA: My Bus Taken Away.” During the public meeting that followed, a popular idea among attendees was to look to the state government for funding, as an alternative to service cuts.

http://tinyurl.com/87zbod3

The trouble with sellouts – Formerly ‘courageous’ law enforcement dissident will co-chair mortgage fraud committee comprised of fraud enablers

[Obama announced the creation of yet another federal investigative committee in his SOTU address that will further the cause of running out the clock on the statutes of limitation on mortgage and finance industry crimes, or the political will to do something about them. It will be co-chaired by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.]

Remember, as we discussed when the Roosevelt Institute accepted money from the Peterson Foundation and then repudiated FDR’s legacy by publishing policy papers on how to “reform” entitlements, the real prize for the neoliberals is to get trusted progressive organizations to do their dirty work.

It’s clear what the Administration is getting from getting Schneiderman aligned with them. It is much less clear why Schneiderman is signing up. He can investigate and prosecute NOW. He has subpoena powers, staff, and the Martin Act. He doesn’t need to join a Federal committee to get permission to do his job. And this is true for ALL the others agencies represented on this committee. They have investigative and enforcement powers they have chosen not to use. So we are supposed to believe that a group, ex Schneiderman, that has been remarkably complacent, will suddenly get religion on the mortgage front because they are all in a room and Schneiderman is a co-chair?

http://tinyurl.com/7a5pxmf

Global wave of activism comes in part because civil society groups and NGOs have failed to resist, to effect change

Many of today’s large mainstream NGOs started out as scrappy, confrontational groups of activists. Greenpeace, to take just one example, rose out of antinuclear protests in 1971. Today the group maintains offices in 40 countries. “If you look at any protest movement in the last 50 years, they have started off as challengers,” said Brayden King, an assistant professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “But with success they have all become more institutionalized,” he added. “Now they are no longer really a movement anymore, but professional advocacy groups.”

That institutionalization entails compromise and inevitably requires professional staff, many of whom come from the private sector. King says that students in his MBA classes often say their goal is to make a lot of money and then pursue their passion by working for an NGO. “While that is great and noble, they don’t have the same background in activism and have little in common with the activists they end up working with,” King said. A perfect illustration of his point can be seen at Davos, where leading executives of mainstream NGOs have become fixtures. Last year, for instance, executives from Mercy Corps, Greenpeace, and World Vision International – a Christian humanitarian organization – were all in attendance.
. . .

The most recent data available from the Internal Revenue Service show that the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers earned a minimum of $343,927. Data provided by Guidestar, which collects information on nonprofit organizations, shows that the median compensation for the CEO or executive director of nonprofits – which includes museums, some universities, and hospitals – with budgets of more than $50 million rose 60 percent to $422,000 between 2000 and 2009.

http://tinyurl.com/7qcrpor

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 1/26/12” »