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Issues Pages:
Occupy Global
Fri, 2012-01-20 14:54
#1
Occupy Global
Fri, 2012-01-20 14:55
#2
Project for a walk to Jerusalem for peace
Faced with the inability of the powers that be to enforce the rights to self determination of Palestinians, other than their persistent focus on profit that results in their continued permanent oppression, a group of people are marching from Nice to Athens together with people from all over the world present at the Rome Agora, are calling for a to walk to Jerusalem for peace.
A broad platform will be created to enable a participatory process for the creation of this project, which will be submitted to the Agora of Athens upon the arrival of the marchers.
http://takethesquare.net/2012/01/20/project-for-a-walk-to-jerusalem-for-...
Fri, 2012-01-20 15:05
#3
Situation of the movement in Barcelona after nine months of Indignation
After we decentralized the movement and took the concept of assemblies back to our neighborhoods, and the main camp was evicted by the police, the General Assembly of Barcelona lost its direct authority and became a vehicle for information instead which take place every month in Plaza Catalunya.
All decisions are now taken in the 23 neighborhoods during their weekly assembly, coordinated by the ‘inter-barrios’ group. They also have ‘inter-pueblos’ assemblies to coordinate the villages around the city, a 15M Catalan meeting, and have had two face-to-face national meetings alongside the regular virtual assemblies conducted on the open-source ‘Mumble’ platform.
The movement is open both to neighborhoods who reject the centralized nature of ‘the square’ and consider the General Assembly of Barcelona illegitimate, and those who value it as a central point of co-ordination.....
http://takethesquare.net/2012/01/20/situation-of-the-movement-in-barcelo...
Sat, 2012-01-21 00:23
#4
Landless Peasants with 80 Families Occupy and Take Over Farm in Northern Uruguay
The landless peasants’ movement has reached Uruguay: the self called “shaggy” ones, with eighty families, have taken over a 400 hectares farm in the extreme north of the country Artigas, and have been occupying the land since.
Source: MercoPress
“We have been through seven years of Broad Front government and very few peasants or paid farm hands have had access to a plot of land”, said Jorge Rodas president of the Union of Sugar Workers from Artigas, (UTAA).
The union was originally founded in the sixties by the Uruguayan urban guerrilla leader Raul Sendic and whose organization now as a political party belongs to the ruling catch-all Broad Front coalition which extends from the conservative Christian Democrats to Communists, Socialists, anarchists, Trotskyites and obviously the former guerrilla, whose current leader was elected in 2009 president of the country, Jose Mujica.
The idea of the ‘shaggies”, very similar to the MST, landless movement in Brazil and who have introduced the 80 families, is to remain for some time to send “a strong message to the government and the people of Uruguay”....
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/3412-landless-pe...
Sat, 2012-01-21 17:30
#5
Chile rising
Fault Lines follows Chile's student protest movement and examines the underlying issues driving the anger.
video:
Chilean students have taken over schools and city streets in the largest protests the country has seen in decades.
The students are demanding free education, and an end to the privatisation of their schools and universities. The free-market based approach to education was implemented by the military dictator Augusto Pinochet in his last days in power.
The protests are causing a political crisis for Sebastian Pinera, the country's president. But what are the underlying issues driving the anger?
As the demonstrations in Chile coincide with protests erupting globally, Fault Lines follows the Chilean student movement during their fight in a country plagued by economic inequality.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/20111111039132571...
Sun, 2012-01-22 18:23
#6
Occupy Wall Street At the Crossroads - by Ismael Hossein Zadeh
http://counterpunch.org/2012/01/20/occupy-wall-street-at-the-crossroads/
"...Why aren't more of the 99% joining the movement? And why has support for protest actions of the Occupiers declined?"
Tue, 2012-01-24 16:47
#7
Cultural Outcomes of the Occupy Movement
quote:
The single most important thing to understand about the Occupy movement[deleted plural ending] is that it is primarily a movement about cultural change, not institutional and policy change. Cultural change means changing the nature of political discourse and the various spheres in which it is carried on, especially mass media. Changing what is salient on the public agenda can open discursive opportunities for various groups seeking specific institutional and policy changes.
The cultural mission of the Occupy movement is to raise consciousness about the corporate domination of American political, social, and economic institutions – and to the enormous inequalities in income and wealth produced by this domination. At the same time, it attempts to build a collective identity within its constituency by making personal suffering a shared experience. While I have no systematic data to prove it has done so, I am quite confident that, when such data is available, it will show that in various forums there has been a sharp increase since September, 2011 in references to corporate power and actual or potential abuse of corporate power and to statistics showing the dramatic increases in wealth and income controlled by the richest one percent or fewer families....
http://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/cultural-outcomes-of-the...
Tue, 2012-01-24 17:04
#8
Occupy San Francisco gets down to business
SAN FRANCISCO–Act II of the Occupy Wall Street movement, San Francisco version, kicked off on a rainy, blustery Friday in the heart of the city’s financial district. Targeting specific corporations like Wells Fargo and Bank of America and emphasizing real, tangible issues like home foreclosures, affordable health care and education as well as broader ones like the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, several hundred protesters – the exact number was impossible to estimate – fanned out across the city, snarling traffic, getting arrested, holding sidewalk teach-ins, and generally serving notice that after its brief winter hibernation, the Occupy movement was back and kicking.....
http://politics.salon.com/2012/01/21/occupy_san_francisco_gets_down_to_b...
................................................
Heroic Occupiers Close BoA, Hold Off Police for 10 Hours.
Yesterday, in San Francisco, Occupiers did just that.
The entire financial district (and beyond) became the stage for OccupyWallStWest, as multiple bank shutdowns and other protests took place over the course of the day.
quote:
The Bank of America branch on Montgomery St. between California and Pine stayed eyes-wide shut from 8:00 AM until the Occupiers declared victory at 6:00 PM. Not a single customer made it into that bank; the only two people I ever saw inside it were a lone security guard and a bank official....
Wed, 2012-01-25 06:21
#9
Occupy Post Offices
The destruction of the Post Office has moved into a higher gear. Last year 3600 communities were put on notice that they will likely lose their local post office. “We will start to see post offices closing at the rate of a hundred a week,” predicts Steve Hutkins whose Save the Post Office is by far the single best source of information on all things post office. “They've been closing at a rate of one hundred a year for the past 40 years.”
The Postmaster General promises to close half the country's 32,000 post offices over the next four years. He will be closing more than half the nation’s 487 mail processing centers even more rapidly.
quote:
A nationwide grassroots resistance is emerging that cuts across party lines, uniting rich and poor, rural and urban, black, white and Hispanic. Rallies protesting closures have occurred in half a dozen states. They are fighting to save a government institution that fundamentally contributes to their sense of community, of social cohesion, of well-being. “The postal service tries to say there is no historical significance to (our) post office”, writes William Duncan, a resident of Grapevine, Arkansas. “We beg to differ. 131 years in a community is historical no matter where you are located. It is the only office remaining in our community, due to school consolidations. But, without the post office, Grapevine no longer exists. It becomes a place, not a community....
Wed, 2012-01-25 13:40
#10
European day of action against capitalism on March 31
quote:
It‘s the system!
Over the past decades, capitalist globalisation has intensified competition between private corporations and national economies alike. All leading industrial nations have thoroughly deregulated their markets, and have imposed that model on others. They have cut benefits, privatised public goods, cut labour rights, and increased social control – all in the interest of unimpeded capitalist growth. In Europe, supposedly on the sunny side of world capitalism, our lives are becoming ever more precarious, and social divisions increase. The so called “emerging markets” find themselves in a state of constant social crisis, with rigid expropriation and ruthless exploitation, backed by governments in the interest of a national growth that only serves the privileged few. In an obsessive hunt for competitive advantages, neoliberal policies have brought financial markets to a boiling point. Be it the dotcom boom, the bonanza of real-estate-funds and derivatives – those bubbles have burst one after the other. This is not the result of individual “greed” or the “corruption” of a tiny elite, as many claim, but of the trivial systemic imperatives of capitalism as a social order. That’s why the system needs to be changed....
http://takethesquare.net/2012/01/25/european-day-of-action-against-capit...
Wed, 2012-01-25 23:58
#11
Occupy London publicly repossesses empty nine-storey building in the Barbican in the City of London
The Occupy London campaigners – part of the global movement for social and economic justice and real democracy – stated that they intend to occupy the building – their fifth occupation – until such time as the City of London Corporation publishes full details of its City Cash Accounts. This is a request that Occupy London has consistently asked of the Corporation, so that it can become financially transparent – just like every other public body in the country...
*** For update on Roman House occupation and further information about the the Teach out focusing on the City’s secret finances & lobbying activities see http://occupylsx.org/?p=3281 ***
Thu, 2012-01-26 13:13
#12
Making Worlds: An OWS Forum on the Commons
February 16-18, 2012
An Invitation
The Occupy movement is entering a new phase, one in which many of us feel the need of combining a renewed engagement with direct actions and mobilizations with a deep reflection on the strategic objectives of our movement. In order to fulfill this need, the organizing committee of Making Worlds* is inviting all the Occupy supporters and sympathizers as well as other organizations to participate in this Forum on the politics of the commons. In particular, we are interested in understanding how groups and communities working on housing, health care, education, food, water, energy, information, communication and knowledge resources can develop a vision of these resources as commons, that is, as an alternative form of social organization to the state and corporate capitalism. Making Worlds has the ambitious goal of articulating a strategic vision from and for the movement as well as specific political initiatives aiming at its realization.....
Thu, 2012-01-26 13:43
#13
Adbusters Issues New Call to Action: Occupy Chicago for G8/NATO Summit
Now, Adbusters has issued a Call to Action to Occupy Chicago for the G8/NATO summit this coming May:
Hey you redeemers, rebels and radicals out there,
Against the backdrop of a global uprising that is simmering in dozens of countries and thousands of cities and towns, the G8 and NATO will hold a rare simultaneous summit in Chicago this May. The world’s military and political elites, heads of state, 7,500 officials from 80 nations, and more than 2,500 journalists will be there.
And so will we.
On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.....
Thu, 2012-01-26 17:47
#14
Longshore Union, Occupy Poised to Greet Grain Ship
Waiting somewhere in the Columbia River is a freighter. The transnational grain exporter EGT wants to use scab labor to load it at the small Washington state port of Longview and send it to Asia.
It won’t be easy. Hundreds of Occupiers and Longshore union (ILWU) members in the Northwest have vowed to protest when the freighter attempts to dock and load. ILWU members have stood together in Longview since June, halting trains, dumping the grain they carry, and invading the port terminal to stop scab work.
Their campaign of nonviolent resistance has been met with escalating police action and 130 arrests, some so aggressive they have sent ILWU allies to the hospital.
The stakes are higher this time. A Coast Guard escort will join the grain ship as it attempts to dock. Dan Coffman, president of ILWU Local 21 in Longview, expects vessels with mounted .50 caliber machine guns, armed Coast Guardsmen on the grain ship, and a big law enforcement presence bristling with weaponry.....
http://labornotes.org/2012/01/longshore-union-occupy-poised-greet-grain-...
Sat, 2012-01-28 07:05
#15
Then in May more than 30,000 people protested in Santiago against the HidroAysén project to build five mega dams in Patagonia (a project supported by both the government and the opposition) without consulting the public. Never before had an environmental action united so many people, an indication that change was underway.Soon after, victims of the 2010 earthquake began to demonstrate. Most of them were still homeless, spending their second winter in highly precarious conditions. As they pointed out, highways used to transport goods had been repaired, but not the homes of the poor and working class.
At the end of April, students began to mobilize. On June 30, 200,000 marched along the Alameda, Santiago's most important thoroughfare. From then on, there were dozens of marches. "Young people were moved by a festive spirit," according to historian Mario Garcés. There were no political party banners or uniform signs. Above all, there were no marches to familiar state symbols-Congress and the President's Office, the usual destinations for unions and political parties.
In the following weeks, students, especially high school students, occupied the television network Chilevision to protest coverage of the mobilizations. They also occupied political party headquarters, both the ultra-rightist UDI and the opposition Socialist Party.
Occupy and superimpose freedom and life over the existing ruins of society..everywhere. Appeal to none of it because it is dead to us, but only refuses burial. Zombie institutions populated by the dead from the neck up.
Sat, 2012-01-28 16:20
#16
Anonymous hacks another private intelligence company, reveals spying on Occupy Austin and Deep Green Resistance
Computer hackers known as Anonymous leaked information obtained by hacking into private intelligence firm Stratfor’s computer network. The documents—what Anonymous is calling a teaser—suggest that from at least October to November 2011 Stratfor worked with Texas law enforcement to infiltrate the Occupy movement and spy on the Deep Green Resistance (DGR) movement. The document contains emails in which Stratfor employees discuss Occupy Austin and DGR. Stratfor “Watch Officer” Marc Lanthemann writes about receiving information on Occupy Austin and DGR from a “Texas DPS agent.” The Texas Department of Public Safety is a statewide law enforcement agency that includes an Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division....
https://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/anonymous-hacks-another-...
Sun, 2012-01-29 10:34
#17
Flash-grenades & tear-gas: 300 arrested at Occupy Oakland (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Police in Oakland, California, have used tear-gas and flash-grenades as a 2,000-strong Occupy Oakland march turned violent, with some protesters claiming that rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd. At least 300 people were arrested.....
Sun, 2012-01-29 11:20
#18
Longshore Union Settles Grain Dispute as Confrontation Loomed
quote:
Head for Longview
Talk had swirled from the Bay Area to Seattle about the need for ILWU supporters to mass in Longview to prevent a waiting ship from docking at EGT’s terminal—though the logistics of such an action were unclear. The ship would have been loaded by IUOE members with grain bound for Asia.
Occupy groups on the West Coast had lined up hundreds of volunteers, and ILWU President Bob McEllrath had called on members to be ready to come to Longview on short notice—while making sure that enough members remained at home to work the ports in their home cities.
ILWU officials feared more fines if they were seen to violate the Taft-Hartley Act’s prohibition on sympathy strikes. In September as many as 800 ILWU members from Seattle, Longview, Tacoma, and Portland descended on Longview to invade EGT’s terminal, block railroad tracks, and dump grain on the tracks. As a result, port work was shut down in Tacoma and Seattle for the day.
Michael Eisenscher has been active in the Occupy Oakland Labor Solidarity Committee, where plans for supporters to head for Longview were being made. “The ILWU has a strong culture of solidarity,” he said. “And it’s a history of recent practices, not a distant memory.” ILWU Local 10 in the Bay Area had authorized $10,000 for its members’ transportation.
Longtime labor activists speculated that Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, who brokered Monday’s agreement, feared ILWU members would shut the ports again in her state, despite McEllrath’s plea.
When West Coast ports were closed in a contract dispute in 2002, employers that depend on imports, such as Walmart, pushed President George W. Bush to intervene.
No Tugboats, Just the Coast Guard
Those organizing the protests were aided by the solidarity of tugboat operators in the area—ILWU members—who refused to escort the grain ship. The ship was forced to wait as EGT contracted a non-union operator from Panama, which would have taken days to arrive....
http://labornotes.org/2012/01/longshore-union-settles-grain-dispute-conf...
Sun, 2012-01-29 15:28
#19
Oakland police could face federal takeover
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mayor Jean Quan vowed Wednesday to quickly reform the scandal-plagued Oakland Police Department after a frustrated judge threatened a federal takeover if it fails to quickly make good on changes agreed to nine years ago.
U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said he "remains in disbelief" that the department has failed to adopt the reforms.
Henderson's frustration with the pace of improvements was evident throughout a scathing five-page ruling issued Tuesday.
"This department finds itself woefully behind its peers around the state and nation," he wrote.
In his ruling, Henderson increased the oversight authority of a court-appointed monitor. Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan must now consult with the monitor before making important department decisions such as promoting and disciplining officers and changing policing policy and tactics....
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gwU-2jAsrYECdrZLEleedL...
Mon, 2012-01-30 14:19
#20
Eventually when all of the trappings of faux democracy are finally thrown off, when popular dissent is finally crushed as a result of having become criminalized and associated with terrorism, and the project of reducing workers and the working poor, who dare not grumble anymore in public, to the status of low paid serfs in the employ of conglomerations and their political wings in government comes to fruition, the total implementation of which not being too far off at all; it will be the turn of the unionized cop who assisted in all of that to be replaced by lower paid security personnel, who might only need to come by their qualifications through an online course or something. And when even those become too expensive, they'll just import security guards at a fraction. And so the cop swinging his baton and spraying his pepper spray at the faces of today's activists, ultimately fights for the right of corporations to eventually replace this ‘service' on their behalf with indentured servitude from elsewhere. Profit's destination is to drain from everywhere until there is nothing left.
Mon, 2012-01-30 15:48
#21
and it seems to be working like a hot knife through butter - especially here in Canada...
Mon, 2012-01-30 17:25
#22
DC Metro Labor Council Backs Occupy Against Eviction
In their daily publication, Union City, the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, issued a strong statement to their 20,000+ readership in support of Occupy DC, calling on the rank and file to join the protesters in fighting for the rights of the 99%. The statement reads as follows:
Occupy DC to Resist Eviction at Twin Noontime Actions Today: Occupy DC protesters are urging area supporters to join them at noon today as they resist eviction threats by the National Park Service (NPS). “Occupy DC has been on the frontlines for working people,” said Metro Council President Jos Williams. “They’ve been fearless in standing up and marching in the streets for the 99%, now it’s our turn to stand with them.”.....
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2012/01/30/dc-metro-labor-council-backs-occupy...
Tue, 2012-01-31 12:44
#23
Catchfire
After Journalist Arrests, U.S. Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings
According to this report, the U.S. has dropped 27 places to 47th in the world. This is especially troubling as we head into an election year which is sure to spark new conflicts between police and press covering rallies, protests and political events.And these Occupy arrests are not isolated incidents. According to organizations like the Society for Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists, the arrests at Occupy events are part of a growing trend in the U.S. and worldwide.
President Obama has often made media reform and press freedom part of his platform. As a candidate he called for Internet freedom, greater media diversity and limits on media consolidation. “The arc of human progress has been shaped by individuals with the freedom to assemble,” Obama said in a speech at the United Nations in 2009, “and by organizations outside of government that insisted upon democratic change and by free media that held the powerful accountable.”
Tue, 2012-01-31 12:54
#24
Maybe they can swap stories with economic migrant detainees held in those barbed wire encampments they've arranged, courtesy of Homeland Security.
Tue, 2012-01-31 13:23
#25
Stun Guns Vs Occupy DC (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/occupy-police-taser-protestor-033/
"Cops tase protester in pyjamas"
Tue, 2012-01-31 13:51
#26
Moscow and New York fighting together. Show them your support!
Moscow and New York General Assemblies are preparing a joint statement in favor of nuclear disarmament. A symbol of a new era in history, in which people can find each other to build a better world beyond borders, beyond the fear established by governments, beyond who taught them to be be enemies.
This is the provisional statement:
http://www.nycga.net/groups/antiwar/docs/draft-joint-declaration-of-occupy-moscow-and-ows-approved-by-antiwar-working-group
The process is not finished yet and some may show reluctance on the road, so we want to tell them they are not alone, that the whole world looks with pride what they are doing and support them to move forward. To do this, we ask that you write an email to: [email protected] showing your support and the support of your assembly in case you are part of any.
Together we can go further. Together we can achieve anything. Thank you!
Fri, 2012-02-03 01:03
#27
Occupy London Tours … Showing you another side of London
Bored with Big Ben? Tired of the Tower of London? Let us show you another side of the capital with our informative and entertaining tours. ‘Enlightening’ – the Independent
After the success of our first tours, we are holding additional tours on the dates listed below.
Mayfair
The most expensive place on the Monopoly board, and the no.1 destination for hedge funds in Europe. Among the luxury hotels, boutique shops and exclusive clubs, we’ll take you to some of the secretive institutions that operate in the shadows of the world economy. Take a walk with Occupy London as we delve into the murkiest corners of ‘hedge fund alley’…
Meet outside Green Park tube (Piccadilly north exit). Look out for the tour guide with the umbrella! The tour takes around two hours.
Saturday 4th February, 2pm
Saturday 11th February, 2pm
Canary Wharf
London’s brash new financial district, home to some of the giants of the investment banking world. From the big banks to the ratings agencies, from the auditors to the regulators, we’ll tell the story of the financial crisis in one of the places where it all happened… Those of a nervous disposition should be warned to expect tax dodging, financial chicanery, and bonus bonananzas.
Meet outside Canary Wharf tube. Look out for the tour guide with the umbrella! The tour takes around one hour.
Thursday 2nd February, 6pm
Thursday 9th February, 7pm (later time)
And look out for upcoming tours of the City, to be announced soon!
Fri, 2012-02-03 01:14
#28
Yo no pago! Report from Barcelona by Mikifus
quote: - This is the situation:
In Spain, public transport is being affected by the austerity and the companies decided to lower the salaries, fire the employees and increase the price of the service. There was no needing of anything of this, they’re just taking profit.
Also, the public transport increases every year the price, it’s normal because salaries also increase.
This year the salaries are freezed because of the crisis (only some governors increased theirs…), so the price of the transport shouldn’t increase.
Well, they did it, 12% of increasing. So fucking nice, privatization of healthcare, families on the streets, closing of public schools… Everybody is having fun.
- This is the reaction:
Most of people does nothing, you know.
Well, public transport it’s not a basic need, so it’s nothing to care so much, there are worse things out there. But the ideas on how to solve it are really interesting: an increase of price has become an opportunity to use the services for free!
Based on the greek movement, we are starting one with the same name: “I don’t pay”, in spanish: “Yo no pago”. Of course Occupy/15m gives support and the movement medias are being used to collaborate.
This movement started with a massive jumping inside the metro (underground,subway I never know how to call it in english), it was a success and yesterday the did it again.
Yesterday in Madrid the metro station was sorrounded by a lot of police and 5 persons were arrested, the protesters made also an improvised demonstration.
In Barcelona was so nice, nobody did nothing to stop it, the doors were open and blocked for hours and workers or police didn’t care. Everybody could enter for free and some random people also joined the demonstration inside the midtown big station.
You’ll find photos and videos here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/yonopago
These ones are great: http://yfrog.com/h65vvbrj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PltYATuelmg
And today I was surprised when reading about a new parallel movement: “Yo no paro”, in english: “I don’t stop”, literal translation makes it not understandable, I would call it “I won’t stop them”. This is a calling made by the public transport workers from Madrid, they said that they’re not going to ask the people for the tickets nor stop them when jumping the doors in solidarity with the “yo no pago
http://takethesquare.net/2012/02/02/yo-no-pago-report-from-barcelona-by-...
Fri, 2012-02-03 11:29
#29
Post-education: empowering the children of the revolution
quote:
Children of the Revolution
Of course the present is never as easy to navigate through as the past or the idealized future. It is in the present that our flaws and internal contradictions are brought into play, and become impossible to run away from. The past always seems more polished, and it is easier to keep on building the present as a perfected replica of the past — or as an eternal anticipation of the future. It is easier to simply insert ourselves into pre-tested roles, “for” something and “against” something, anything that can give us some sense of back-and-forth continuity, clear old paradigms to break and clear new paradigms to adopt, all external to ourselves and to our individual needs. It is easier to just pick a side.
For us young people of a generation that seems to be essentially post-everything, however, it becomes impossible to pick a side without attributing to it elements of theatrics and self-mockery, as it implies giving up being your true, wildly confused self to indulge in a plastically manufactured identity that no one could possibly take seriously. And yet, the other option isn’t much better. To come to terms with our state of drifting in a rapidly changing world suddenly puts us in a position we have not at all been prepared for — we are suddenly the Children of the Revolution, a revolution that hasn’t happened yet, but that manifests itself in the ongoing deterioration of all symbols and institutions of the past. And yet without any alternatives being presented, we are left not with a bright new world, but with a disconcerting void to be filled....
http://roarmag.org/2012/02/post-education-talita-soares-children-revolut...
Sat, 2012-02-04 12:02
#30
European Forum in Rome: Minimum Income, Common Goods and Democracy
quote:
Throughout Europe, we are witnessing massive transfers of resources from the public to the private sphere. The political responses to the crises are defined by austerity measures and by cuts to social spending, driving Europe further into recession.
From Greece to Spain, from London to Rome, European people are increasingly aware of the need for a different model of globalisation. From those resisting the privatisation of resources (for example in Italy with the water referendum, and currently in Romania) to the recent occupations of public spaces against neoliberalism (for example in the UK and Spain), this is the moment to construct and alternative Europe which is not a product of neoliberal politics, but the political expression of European citizens.
Within this context, over forty organisations, networks and social movements from eight European countries will meet in the 600-seat Valle Theatre in Rome to organise a common front to construct an alternative European model. This three-day forum will focus on the construction of common transnational campaigns on the thematics of the commons and guaranteed minimum income as well as the battle against precarity, also utilising the new method provided with the European citizens’ initiative. The event will be a true opportunity to build European networks and campaigns that will take concrete forms in follow-up meetings in Spain, the UK, Romania, Bulgaria and France in the following months to continue the work begun in Rome. The emphasis on concrete campaigns will be the starting point to engage in a reflection on the revision of the EU Treaties, to propose an alternative vision of Europe.....
http://www.euroalter.com/2012/european-forum-in-rome-minimum-income-comm...
Sat, 2012-02-04 22:44
#31
Things in Greece are moving now in a different way – Report from Athens by MK
quote:
The range and variety of these new projects and activities is enormous. Some are totally practical like helping the homeless or cooking for families others even consider constitutional reforms……
As for the occupations, there are artistic occupations and the project collective kitchen ELCHEF which goes well and is already known. There are also work collectivas operating. These are businesses that close down and the ex employees took over. There is also a major crisis in the mainstream media and the tv channel ALTER (employees unpaid fro months) now is broadcasting strike news. The big Eleytherotypia, a newspaper with a long history, is rumored to be taken over by the employees, at least to produce some strike issues…
Although things are pretty overwhelming several groups try to participate also in the European demonstration agenda, for example there are announced demonstrations in Salonica and Athens for the 11 February worldwide Anti-ACTA day.
The big masses stand frightened and chilled. but even this stasis is quite unstable.They are afraid that what might come up next might be even worse. Let us not forget that Greece has a long traumatic history of foreign forces interfering in its affairs
It is my belief that when the tormented society will be at the breach of exploding, at that exact time, the political elite will decide to go to elections in order to gain time by adding some “democratic” cold water to the boiling society. It will be nothing more that a magician’s trick that will only postpone that which now seems inevitable. A solution of some kind to the Greek tragedy. And there is no tragedy without solution.
http://takethesquare.net/2012/02/04/things-in-greece-are-moving-now-in-a...
Mon, 2012-02-06 10:54
#32
Greek hospital now under workers' control
Health workers in Kilkis, Greece, have occupied their local hospital and have issued a statement saying it is now fully under workers control.
The general hospital of Kilkis in Greece is now under workers control. The workers at the hospital have declared that the long-lasting problems of the National Health System (ESY) cannot be resolved.
The workers have responded to the regime’s acceleration of fascism by occupying the hospital and outing it under direct and complete control by the workers. All decisions will be made by a ‘workers general assembly’.
The hospital has stated that. “The government is not acquitted of its financial responsibilities, and if their demands are not met, they will turn to the local and wider community for support in every possible way to save the hospital defend free public healthcare, to overthrow the government and every neo-liberal policy.”....
http://libcom.org/blog/greek-hospital-now-under-workers-control-05022012
Tue, 2012-02-07 01:44
#33
Wall Street's Secret Spy Center, Run For the 1% By NYPD - by Pam Martens
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/06/wall-streets-secret-spy-center-ru...
"...the center is jointly shared and operated by the NYPD along with the largest Wall Street firms. The Wall Street firms that were bailed out by the 99%, are now policing the 99%..."
Tue, 2012-02-07 01:50
#34
'US Brutality Against OWS Overwhelming' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225297.html
"Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS) emerged when a group of demonstrators gathered in New York's financial district on September 17, 2011 to protest against social and economic inequality, high unemployment as well as corruption and the influence of corporations on government.
Interview with Oscar Leon, Latin American broadcaster who talks about the domino effects of the Occupy movement from the US to Latin American countries and a new anti-imperialist force..."
Wed, 2012-02-08 10:42
#35
The Heroes of Super Bowl Sunday - by Dave Zirin
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166097/heroes-super-bowl-sunday
"...My new heroes are the people in the Occupy and Labor movements who gathered to protest on Super Bowl Sunday. All of these proud trade unionists and Occupy activists showed up even though the AFL-CIO explicitly instructed people not to protest on the day of the big game.
That's why it's so important that the people were a presence at this Woodstock for the 1 percent, leaving energized and excited about further forging connections between the Occupy and the Labor movements. After all, we don't have $3 Million for a 30 second ad. We just have the ability to gather and be heard..."
Wed, 2012-02-08 11:12
#36
The Story Behind "The Battle Of Oakland": Perspectives From Move-In Day (Video)
"On January 28th, 2012, Occupy Oakland moved to take a vacant building to use as a social center and a new place to continue organizing. This is the story of what happened that day as told by those who were a part of it. Features rare footage and interviews with Boots Riley, David Graeber, Maria Lewis, and several other witnesses to key events."
Thu, 2012-02-09 02:18
#37
Horizontalism and Territory
Horizontal social relationships and the creation of new territory, through the use of geographic space, are the most generalized and innovative of the experiences of the Occupy movement. What we have been witnessing across the United States since September 17th is new in a myriad of ways, yet also, as everything, has local and global antecedents. In this essay I will describe these two innovations, and ground them in the more recent past, specifically in the global south in Argentina. I do this so as to examine commonalities and differences, but also to remind us that these ways of organizing have multiple and diverse precedents, and ones from which we can hopefully learn....
http://www.possible-futures.org/2012/01/09/horizontalism-and-territory/
eta: Horizontalidad is a social relationship that implies, as its name suggests, a flat plane upon which to communicate. Horizontalidad necessarily implies the use of direct democracy and the striving for consensus, processes in which attempts are made so that everyone is heard and new relationships are created. Horizontalidad is a new way of relating, based in affective politics and against all the implications of “isms.”1 It is a dynamic social relationship. It is not an ideology or political program that must be met so as to create a new society or new idea. It is a break with these sorts of vertical ways of organizing and relating, and a break that is an opening.
quote:
One of the most significant things about the social movements that emerged in Argentina after the 19th and 20th of December is how generalized the experience of horizontalidad was and is: from the middle class organized into neighborhood assemblies to the unemployed in neighborhoods, and with workers taking back their work places. Horizontalidad, and a rejection of hierarchy and political parties was the norm for thousands of assemblies, taking place on street corners, in workplaces and throughout the unemployed neighborhoods. And now, ten years later, as people come together to organize, the assumption is that it will be horizontal, from the hundreds of assemblies currently occurring up and down the Andes fighting against international mining companies, to the thousands of Bachilleratos, alternative high school diploma programs organized by former assembly participants and housed in recuperated workplaces.....
Sat, 2012-02-11 21:26
#38
Income, Commons, Democracy From European campaigns to the construction of an alternative Europe
10-12 February
Teatro Valle Occupato, Rome
Throughout Europe, we are witnessing massive transfers of resources from the public to the private sphere. The political responses to the crises are defined by austerity measures and by cuts to social spending, driving Europe further into recession.
From Greece to Spain, from London to Rome, European people are increasingly aware of the need for a different model of globalisation. From those resisting the privatisation of resources and services (for example in Italy with the water referendum, and currently in Romania) to the recent occupations of public spaces against neoliberalism (for example in the UK and Spain), this is the moment to construct and alternative Europe, one which is not a product of neoliberal politics, but the political expression of European citizens.
Within this context, over forty organisations, networks and social movements from eight European countries will meet in the 600-seat Valle Theatre in Rome to organise a common front to construct an alternative European model. This three-day forum will focus on the construction of common transnational campaigns on the thematics of the commons and guaranteed minimum income, also utilising the new method provided by the European citizens’ initiative. The event will be a true opportunity to build European networks and campaigns that will take concrete forms in follow-up meetings in Spain, the UK, Romania, Bulgaria and France in the following months to continue the work begun in Rome. The emphasis on concrete campaigns will be the starting point to engage in a reflection on the revision of the EU Treaties, to propose an alternative vision of Europe....
http://www.iuctorino.it/content/income-commons-democracy-european-campai...
Sun, 2012-02-12 03:57
#39
This article was produced as part of the Rio+20 preparation meeting of the World Social Forum, from the ‘Thematic Group on the Commons’. More information: dialogos2012.org/grupos-tematicos/benscomuns/?lang=en
quote:
Resistance and construction: commons, commoning
The processes of enclosure face resistance. And most of them can be analysed from a commons perspective. On each continent, organized communities are confronted with these challenges. In Bolivia, for example, there is the emblematic case of TIPNIS, the indigenous territory and national park threatened by the construction of a highway that would split in half a pristine park. Indigenous organizations marched more than 600km during two months in defence of this park and long-standing ways of life based on the communion with nature and on self-government, receiving extraordinary support and urban solidarity. As in this local struggle, the resistance is global. Attacks on water as a commons are encountering organized community resistance in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Seven million signatures were collected in a referendum on “water as a commons” in Italy in 2011.
On each continent movements like Occupy, the Indignados and others are arising that do not simply resist, but actively search for alternatives. All over the world people are cooperating via the Internet to create shared works and tools –Wikipedia and free software are the most visible examples– and new forms of social mobilization. Each can be thought of and connected to each other by a larger vision of the commons.
The resistance is also propelled by proposals for alternatives that emanate from the social practices of the commons. These practices form an alternative framework for the transformation of daily life as well as for the design of new public norms and policies that recognize self-management as the central element for a necessary social transformation.....
Mon, 2012-02-13 17:49
#40
SouthEastern Regional Convergence of Occupations
Occupy Gainesville invites you to the first SouthEastern Regional Convergence of Occupations (affectionately dubbed SERCO).
This event was approved via consensus by the statewide Florida General Assembly on December 11, 2011.
SERCO will take place from March 23-25, 2012, in the lush cypress groves of North Florida.
Occupy Gainesville commits to providing a safe campsite to host three days of workshops, skill-shares, and assemblies. But rather than setting the agenda ourselves, we invite all participants to help shape this event. We will help coordinate the planning, but you will decide the program itself, so that SERCO reflects the interests and concerns of all attendees....
http://interoccupy.org/southeastern-regional-convergence-of-occupations/
quote:
Through this, we can build and strengthen a network of activists and occupations from the Caribbean to the Southeastern U.S.; achieve a model for more effective global coordination in the spring, summer, and the coming years; celebrate the great diversity of our cultures; and find new cohesiveness in our common aims of creating a more just, free, and sustainable world.
Tue, 2012-02-14 01:06
#41
Paris Indignadxs’ Call to Launch a Constituent Assembly
After Metz, Quimper, Nantes and Lyon, the Paris General Assembly has decided on Sunday 22 January 2012 to join the process for a referendum to hold a Constituent Assembly, in response to the frequent question “What do you want?”, which we still answer by saying “Real Democracy Now!”
What we want is for the people themselves to finally make the decisions.
Those who hold power should not be allowed to write the rules that govern power.
Because “Our dreams won’t fit in their ballot boxes,” we call on you, in every city and town, to take part in the referendum for a Constituent Assembly....
http://takethesquare.net/2012/02/14/paris-indignadxs-call-to-launch-a-co...
Tue, 2012-02-14 02:00
#42
The Occupy Wall Street Journal: A New Declaration - by Derrick Jensen
http://www.countercurrents.org/jensen120212.htm
"We hold these truths to be self-evident:
That the real, physical world is the source of our lives and the lives of others...
Once we've recognized the destructiveness of capitalism and industrial civilization - both of which are based on systematically converting a living planet into dead commodities - we've no choice, unless we wish to sign our own and our children's death warrants, but to fight for all we're worth and in every way we can to overturn it..."
Sat, 2012-02-18 12:37
#43
Occupy Piccolo! Chicago Communities Occupy School In Protest of Privatization
The Brian Piccolo Specialty School in Humboldt Park, Chicago is currently Occupied by parents and students. Occupy Chicago and other allies are outside the building in solidarity and have set up an encampment. Around one hundred people are present and are taking shifts to ensure the safety of the occupation. The Chicago Teachers Union has expressed support for the action. Piccolo, an elementary school with a student body that is almost entirely from low income communities of color, is one of 16 Chicago public schools slated to be closed by Mayor Rahm's service cuts to the poor.
As of 3:30AM Central Time, it is believed that Chicago Police have decided to leave and protesters have declared victory for Day 1 of Occupied Piccolo! If you are in Chicago, please come to 1040 North Keeler Avenue to show your support, and bring a tent! Follow #takebackourschools, #piccolo, @OccupyChicago and @TBOurSchoolsChi on Twitter.
Update: As of 10AM Central Time on 2/18, the police are still not attempting to remove protesters inside. However, they will not allow anyone else inside, and will not allow occupiers to leave and return. Parents and occupiers inside are being denied food and medicine.
Via Occupy Chicago Press:
Declaration #1 from Piccolo Occupation
11:49pm - February 17th, 2012
Piccolo has failed because CPS has refused to invest in public education. The school has struggled for years butWe, the Piccolo Occupation, are putting our childrens' education first....
Sat, 2012-02-18 12:54
#44
"... are being denied food and medicine"
Starving them out ... how original. Anybody still think the 'state' represents the best interests of 'the people'?
Corporate 'person' rule is blind to humanity and sees only $$$$.
Sat, 2012-02-18 16:32
#45
Chicago Parents, Students Occupy Piccolo Elementary, School Targeted For 'Turnaround' (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/18/chicago-parents-students-_n_128...
Sun, 2012-02-19 08:45
#46
Occupy Brief: Common Sense Resources to End 1%'s War Crimes
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/02/occupy-brief-common-sense-resourc...
"This brief explains, documents, and proves objective and independently verifiable facts of the 1%'s crimes that kill millions, harm billions, and cost trillions...Please Report and Share
Sun, 2012-02-19 11:16
#47
Occupy Piccolo! Chicago Communities Occupy School In Protest of Privatization
4:00PM: Occupiers have emerged from the school to thunderous applause and declared victory! The demands have been met, proving that direct action and community power can be leveraged for real change! Parents will be given the opportunity to meet with the Board of Directors to submit a counter-proposal for local education. This is what real community control looks like.
Sun, 2012-02-19 19:55
#48
[Url=https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/16-0] Thanks to Occupy, Senate Looks at Inequality by Sarah Anderson[/url] [I] I had the opportunity to testify on inequality before the Senate Budget Committee last week. No one seems to recall the last time the committee devoted a whole hearing to this issue. So you can add this to the signs of the Occupy movement's impact on our political discourse. ... The Committee's Ranking Member, Senator Jeff Sessions, and Republican witnesses tried to raise doubts about the inequality data, questioning whether things were really as bad as they look. I didn't envy them the task of being an inequality denier in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. [/i]
Awesome work by Occupy bringing attention to inequality, and now it's paying off!
Sun, 2012-02-19 23:45
#49
The School of Ideas open to the public for the free sharing of ideas and solutions
The School of Ideas is situated on corner of Bunhill Road and Featherstone Street, Islington EC1Y 8RX in an abandoned school building. It is a space complete with 10 class rooms. We’re open to visitors and guests from 12 noon to 9 pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 10 am to 9 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
It has been opened to the public for the free sharing of ideas and solutions, to help solve the pressing economic, social and environmental challenges globally and locally.
There is also room for community groups and other public services that have lost their space due to Government spending cuts to come and use a space for free.
Artists, performers and creatives are welcome to come entertain and to help transform the space. We also encourage games, workshops and skillshares.
Sharing in ideas or skills for free, no one should need to pay to take part in the School’s activities.
Everyone should feel safe and welcome in the School. Our Safer Spaces Policy asks people to be mindful and respectful of how their ideas or actions might effect others, and there is a No Smoking, No Alcohol Policy.
As this is a community space we ask everyone to respect the people and the building.
We are a community coming together to find positive solutions to our current crises. We ask all people who come into the space to come in with respect.
Everyone is warmly welcome and encouraged to be part of creating the School of Ideas. Email us with your ideas, suggestions and requests at [email protected].
Thank you very much for reading!
Mon, 2012-02-20 23:55
#50
How r’evolution carries itself forward by the Working Groups of Occupy
R’evolution is shorthand for the jump time of evolution, when social relations that have been frozen for a long time start thawing and the obsolescence of the dominant social order becomes obvious to the multitudes. It’s a time of unfreeze, a fascinating moment, when what the future can become is up to us, to our collective consciousness and connective intelligence.
Collective consciousness is the intimate knowing of our collective self, who we are as a movement, as a social force capable to change the future. Connective intelligence is much more than a wordplay on collective intelligence. It is the act of connection that gives rise to new life forms, thought forms, and forms of organizing.
Differentiation
Working Groups are organs of the awakening social body of the 99%. Currently, they carry out functions essential to the well-being of the Occupations. I see them also as seeds for the new institutions that we’ll need for stewarding the well-being of the emerging, post-capitalist society.
They can be roughly broken into three categories: operational, sectorial, and strategy-focused. The first deals with everything needed to assure the viability of a given Occupation, including its finances, outreach, press relations, process, etc. The work of WGs in the second category is focused on such sectors of social life as education, health, economics, etc. In the strategy-focused WGs, members address issues of the emerging Occupy vision, strategic planning and navigation, and how the 99% can win.
eta:
But what is it that we, as a movement, are learning from the experience of WGs? While Occupy is re-inventing itself for Phase 2, something is also happening to the longer and bigger learning journey, the evolution of human society and consciousness. What is that? Let’s observe the answer to both questions through the lens of some evolutionary drivers that are at play, namely, the one that affects emergence at all scales: the triad of “differentiation-integration-transformation”.
Integration
Life is carrying itself forward through the workings of the “d-i-t” triad. Permanent differentiation without integration is decay, which in the social domain means a loss of cohesion and capacity to evolve into higher-order social forms. This is also known as balkanization. When a social movement balkanizes, its potential for bringing more justice, dignity and joy into the life of people is lost.
That fragmentation is not to be confounded with the initial conditions of a multi-centric mass movement, such as Occupy, where the globalized existence of capital evokes similar phenomena of resistance in various part of the world. While balkanization is a post-unity state of affairs, the unnecessary duplication of effort in Occupy is a pre-unity symptom. How can we address that? Here is an example:
We need the work of the various Economics/Corporations/Economy WGs around the world to evolve to the point where they can see and become attracted to the benefits of organizing themselves into a rich ecosystem of people, joint research and prototyping projects, and the shared knowledge resources, of an “economy commons”. Only then will they have the chance to tackle the complexity of the planetary economic and environmental crises created by capitalist globalization, and only then can we work out the fine points of issues like how to assure a basic income for everyone....
Wed, 2012-02-22 16:57
#51
F28: Stand with Occupy!
Don’t Suppress The Occupy Movement!
Tuesday February 28 Mass nonviolent actions to Stop the Suppression of Occupy
…if this illegitimate wave of repression is allowed to stand… if the powers-that-be succeed in suppressing or marginalizing this new movement… if people are once again “penned in”—both literally and symbolically—things will be much worse. THIS SUPPRESSION MUST BE MASSIVELY OPPOSED, AND DEFEATED.*** From “A Call for Mass Action Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement <http://dontsuppressows.org/>”
NYC, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston,
Minneapolis/St. Paul
No Rubber Bullets, No Beatings, No Tear Gas, No Mass Arrests.
Drop all charges against the Occupiers.
#F28 #dontsuppressows