Tufts Occupiers protest student debt with kiss-in

Members of Tufts Occupiers on Saturday were joined by members of
Students Occupy Boston at a kiss-in protest at Dewey Square.

Roughly 20 students held banners, posted letters of protest and kissed
each other in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Citibank
and the Massachusetts State House. The theme of the event, highlighted
by the tag line “If the banks can make out like bandits, so can we,”
was meant to draw attention to the issue of persistent student debt,
according to Nate Matthews, a member of Tufts Occupiers who planned
the event.

http://tinyurl.com/czux5xp

Confronting Empire from Port Huron to Occupy

Fifty years after Port Huron, the Occupy movement has brilliantly
shaped the terms of public debate about class and, uniquely, class
struggle. But like the signatories of the Statement, the Occupiers
need to expand beyond the narrower interests of their original
members. When Occupy began, its social composition was primarily white
and middle class, and it targeted the corporate criminals and the
capitalist elite, a.k.a. Wall Street. Occupy, however, has struggled
to extend its reach to strategically essential low-income communities
of color. Besides the critical component of the movement’s social
composition, there is also the challenge of fleshing out the content
of its political program. The question is whether Occupy can truly
give voice to all of the “99 percent” that it wants to represent.

http://tinyurl.com/cnnnkun

White People Need to Join the Justice for Trayvon Martin Movement in
Greater Numbers

Whatever you think about the Trayvon Martin case, it’s clear that a
major travesty of justice occurred in Sanford, FL a few weeks back. So
it’s no surprise that a large spontaneous nationwide movement arose to
see Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, brought to trial, and ideally
to usher in a top-to-bottom housecleaning in the Sanford Police
Department – and possibly in the Sanford city government itself for
good measure.

And it’s great to see such a movement grow so quickly. It gives me
hope.

What I think is problematic is that white people are not yet joining
the new justice movement in serious numbers. Certainly not in Boston.
I’ve been to two public actions for Martin since the case came to
light. One rally in March in Harvard Square. And one march yesterday
from Ruggles to Dudley Square (which we’ll file a news piece on in a
couple of days, btw). Both events were called by the new
Boston4Justice network – that’s led by a number of young
African-Americans around town. The first event drew about 200 people.
The second drew closer to 300 people. Credible turnouts, but not
what’s needed to effect change. Those actions could have been bigger.
And would have been, if white Bostonians – including many progressive
“usual suspects” that I was surprised to find missing – had turned out
for them in greater numbers.

http://tinyurl.com/76yas33
Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/13/12” »

H.R. 347, State Trooper Love, and Over-Thinking Occupy Boston’s Overnight Eviction From Camp Charlie

Tuesday, even as new developments unfolded in the transit funding quagmire, that message was silenced in the place where it needs to be heard the loudest – Beacon Hill. As for the kind and benevolent troopers – I’m sure they handled things the best they could. But it’s unlikely that their vehicles will be available to help out once bus and train fares go up and service gets slashed. (Boston Phoenix)

http://tinyurl.com/cc6sq42

Gates Foundation cuts support for ALEX

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation   > said it will end its financial support for the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

As Reuters reports, the Seattle foundation’s support of ALEC will end after the remainder of a $376,000 grant involving education budgeting and teacher effectiveness has been completed.

http://tinyurl.com/d6wavuw

45 Signs That America Will Soon Be A Nation With A Very Tiny Elite And The Rest Of Us Will Be Poor

The middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in the United States today.  America is a nation with a very tiny elite that is rapidly becoming increasingly wealthy while everyone else is becoming poorer.  So why is this happening?  Well, it is actually very simple.

Our institutions are designed to concentrate wealth in the hands of a very limited number of people.  Throughout human history, almost all societies that have had a big centralized government have also had a very high concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite.  Throughout human history, almost all societies that have allowed big business or big corporations to dominate the economy have also had a very high concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite.

Well, the United States has allowed both big government and big corporations to grow wildly out of control.  Those were huge mistakes.  Our founding fathers attempted to establish a nation where the federal government would be greatly limited and where corporations would be greatly restricted.  Unfortunately, we have turned our backs on those principles and now we are paying the price.

http://tinyurl.com/6rhz5dk

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/12/12” »

Letter to the editor: Dig’s costs surface

Camp Charlie seems to be the only place to call out the Big Dig culture that will cost you and I another $54 million due to corrupt cronyism, no bid contracts and incompetence (“Occupiers take over State House,” April 5). Big Dig debt should get a separate line item that we all can track and be taken off the back of the MBTA, the disabled and the students. They did not sell out the taxpayer, Beacon Hill did. (Boston Herald)

http://tinyurl.com/6twyn9m

Winchester residents gather to discuss Occupy movement

More than six months after the Occupy movement began, one group of Winchester residents is still discussing its meaning and impact.

Seventeen individuals met at the Winchester Unitarian Society April 1 to screen film clips about the Occupy movement and discuss how they applied to Winchester residents and society at large.

The group, which counts about 40 members on its email list, has been meeting about once every two weeks since October 2011. It began after Darcy Roake, the intern minister at Winchester Unitarian Society, began noticing that more and more congregants were attending worship services with buttons saying they were “the 99 percent,” showing their support for the Occupy movement. (Winchester Star)

http://tinyurl.com/6s5qpbl

Occupy Boston protesters move ahead of Brazilian president’s State House visit

State police say about 40 Occupy Boston protesters who were camped outside the State House have moved to Boston Common so that security can be tightened for a visit by the president of Brazil. (Associated Press via WWLP)

http://tinyurl.com/7s5mmnf

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/11/12” »

Occupy Boston protesters evicted from Statehouse steps in anticipation of Brazilian president’s visit

The Massachusetts State Police have asked approximately 40 Occupy protesters who were camped outside the State House to move on Monday night.

State Police asked the protesters to move at the behest of the US Secret Service and in the interest of tightened security for Tuesday’s visit of the Brazilian president to the State House.

http://tinyurl.com/6roqlrn

On the Occupation which has taken up the Massachusettes State House steps

Cue the Occupation, with these already debt saddled and marginalized groups being, yet again, targeted and raked over the coals by those granted authority to do so, so that, once again, some of the largest and most ruthless banks in the world can collect, it begins to makes sense that the sleeping bags and pillows have come out, and this time, there are demands; namely, “No Hikes, No Cuts, No Layoffs!” as the rallying call, but further, and just as serious, “A fully -funded, sustainable, and affordable transportation plan that works for the entire 99% of Massachusetts.”

This is Massachusetts,… and as Grace Ross of the Green rainbow Party informed onlookers and activists on Saturday at a teach in at “Camp Charlie”, the name of the Occupy Encampment on the State House steps, we are the third riches state in the country, it isn’t that the money isn’t there, it is that we aren’t willing to go and get it from those who have it.

http://tinyurl.com/7um99qj

Occupy foreclosure stories in the media

In foreclosures, Occupy groups see a unifying cause

Interviews with Occupy activists in 11 states show groups from coast to coast have taken up foreclosure fights through rallies, home occupations and court appearances.

Matt Browner Hamlin of occupyourhomes.org, a national group focused on this cause, counts “more than 100 Occupy groups” that have taken direct action or formed foreclosure working groups.

http://tinyurl.com/82rumje

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/10/12” »

Higher MBTA fares, less service lie ahead

Starting July 1, riders who have been taking weekend trips on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Greenbush and Kingston/Plymouth rail lines will have to find new ways to travel.

Wait times for the Red Line trolley from Dorchester’s Ashmont Station to Milton and Mattapan will be considerably longer on Sunday and much of Saturday. On weekends, the ferry from Quincy to Boston won’t leave the dock.

And on almost all modes of public transportation in Greater Boston, rides will be significantly more expensive. (Boston Globe)

http://tinyurl.com/7h7r7g9

Use RICO statute to compel resignation of corrupt Supreme Court justices

While the use of the RICO act to prosecute corrupt judges, who take money for decisions, is not unprecedented, this would be the first time a judge as powerful as a Supreme Justice were targeted. In 2011, Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering for the infamous “Kids for Cash” scam, in which he took money from prisons for sentencing children to jail time.

The first criteria to proving a RICO case against an individual is showing that they have committed at least two of thirty-five federal crimes in a period of no longer than ten years. Among the federal laws that compose RICO cases, there are several which could potentially be applied to corrupt members of the Supreme Court: honest service fraud, tax non-compliance, and obstruction of justice.

http://tinyurl.com/7hgmx9j

Is Cultural Liberalism Getting in the Way of Economic Equality – ‘Same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to choose do not cost the wealthy anything’

As White House aides and Congressional leaders flood the media with dueling leaks about just how far President Obama was willing to go last summer to meet the budget-cutting demands of House Speaker John A. Boehner, many liberals have reacted with shock and horror at how much of their historic achievement the president appears to have been ready to bargain away. If a Democratic president could consider cutting America’s shredded safety net further when unemployment remained stiffly high and the country was undergoing an explosion of inequality, was the “liberal moment” of American politics finally over?

Yet Maryland recently became the eighth state to join the same-sex marriage club (which includes the District of Columbia). Rush Limbaugh was force-fed a triple helping of crow for his failed attempt at “slut shaming,” after opening up the gender gap again. Women, young people, college graduates and mixed-race Americans, surveys indicate, are spurning conservative arguments about contraception, same-sex marriage and sexual freedom.

In other words, economic liberalism is on life-support, while cultural liberalism thrives. The obvious question is why. The simple answer is that cultural liberalism comes cheap. Supporting same-sex marriage or a woman’s right to choose does not cost the wealthy anything or restrict their ability to become wealthier. But there is more to it than that.

http://tinyurl.com/dxq77hk

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/9/12” »