#occupywallstreet

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shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:48:13 -0400

adbusters: Green & Black Unite An activist movement gets it...

shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:47:59 -0400

Green & Black Unite
An activist movement gets it right.

The Associated Press has this inspiring dispatch from Notre Dame des Landes in western France of a people’s uprising powered by Green and Black unity:

“They hurl sticks, stones and gasoline bombs. They have spent brutal winter months fortifying muddy encampments. And now they’re ready to ramp up their fight against the prime minister and his pet project — a massive new airport in western France.

“An unlikely alliance of anarchists and beret-wearing farmers is creating a headache for President Francois Hollande’s beleaguered government by mounting an escalating Occupy Wall Street-style battle that has delayed construction on the ambitious airport near the city of Nantes for months. The conflict has flared anew at a particularly tricky time for the Socialist government, amid a growing scandal over tax-dodging revelations that forced the budget minister to resign, and ever-worsening news about the French economy.

“A protest held over the weekend is likely to trigger a new round of demonstrations like those that drew thousands of protesters to the remote woodlands of Brittany in the fall. In those earlier protests, heavily armored riot police battled young anarchists and farmers, causing injuries on both sides. On Monday, similar clashes erupted, with three demonstrators injured, according to the radicals’ website.

“The fight has brought together odd bedfellows: Local farmers who represent traditional French conservative values are collaborating with anarchists, radical eco-feminists and drifters from around Europe — who see the anti-airport movement as a flashpoint against globalization and capitalism. Environmentalists and the far-left Green Party also oppose the airport, arguing that it will bring pollution.”

http://bit.ly/ZxVpph http://on.fb.me/17xpFAW

anoncentral: Public Education Fights for Its Life Austerity...

shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:46:49 -0400

anoncentral:

Public Education Fights for Its Life

Austerity measures are eroding America’s public school system. With massive increases in school closures and class cancellations, advocates say educational opportunities for students of all ages are increasingly being diminished.

This is not a new problem, per se. It is, however, an escalating one, and one that is being resisted.

Currently in Chicago—under the auspices of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, the former chief of staff for President Obama—it was announced in March that 54 public schools will be closed, with 61 schools scheduled to be closed before the 2013–2014 school year begins. Emmanuel says that the closings are a “done deal.” Not everyone agrees with Emmanuel, and countering his assertion Karen Lewis says ‘it’s pretty much indicative that he [Emmanuel] has no respect for the law.” Lewis is president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and says that there are supposed to be hearings for each school, and that Emmanuel’s unilateral actions show “the depth of his contempt for people” in the community, especially those who are not “wealthy” and well-connected.

Right now in California, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) is on the verge of losing its accreditation as a direct consequence of a $53 million dollar loss in state funding. Because of this, many classes are no longer being offered. Additionally, the cost of [in-state] tuition at CCSF has risen 25% in the last 2 years, and to boot, student enrollment is way down.

KQED reports that California’s community colleges have dropped to a 20-year enrollment low, and in a video report at the Real News Network, Alisa Messer, President of CCSF Faculty Union, says that “what happened in California in the last several years is that we’ve pushed a half million students out of the community college system.” And though the faculty had agreed last year to a voluntary 2.8% pay cut towards assisting in alleviating budget woes, the district cut faculty wages by nearly 9%.

Elsewhere, like in Michigan, for instance, the Public Schools Emergency Manager,Roy Roberts, announced last year that “underperforming” schools will be targeted for closure, with 130 schools having been closed there since 2005.

In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is attempting to close 17 schools, which are said to be low-performing. However, the Urban Youth Collaborative and the Coalition for Educational Justice have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging the city’s school closures disproportionately affect “students of color and students with disabilities.”

Author and activist, Tolu Orlorunda, shared his findings on how race factors in on public school closings in an article entitled “Journey for Justice: Mass School Closings and the Death of Communities,” stating that:

From 2003-2012, in New York City, 117 schools were closed. Twenty-five more closings are scheduled for 2013. Sixty-three percent of the students affected are black.

Since 2001, in Chicago, 72 schools have been closed or phased out. Ninety percent of the students affected are black.

In 2008, 23 schools were closed in Washington, DC. Ninety-nine percent of the students affected were black or brown.

Since 2005, in Detroit, 130 schools have been closed. Ninety-three percent of the students affected are black.

Curiously, while public schools are rapidly closing, charter schools—using public funding for privately-operated schools—have sprouted and expanded to take their share of budget dollars.

Many find this educational shift troubling, including a public school teacher of 30 years, Stan Karp, who is director of the Secondary Reform Project for New Jersey’s Education Law Center, and the editor to Rethinking Schools. Karp wrote in a March 8^th commentary about charter schools, saying “nearly every teacher dreams of starting a school…[b]ut the current push for deregulated charters and privatization is doing nothing to reduce the concentrations of 70, 80, and 90 percent poverty that remain the central problem in our urban schools.” He says a more “equitable” approach to school reform can be seen in Raleigh, North Carolina, where efforts “were made to improve theme-based and magnet programs at all schools, and the concentration of free/reduced lunch students at any one school was limited to 40 percent or less.” That simple plan, Karp says, resulted in “some of the nation’s best progress on closing gaps in achievement and opportunity.”

Further making his case in the article, Karp says:

Significant evidence suggests that charters are part of a market-driven plan to create a less stable, less secure and less expensive teaching staff…working to privatize everything from curriculum to professional development to the making of education policy.

[C]harter school teachers are, on average, less experienced, less unionized and less likely to hold state certification than teachers in traditional public schools.

As many as one in four charter school teachers leave every year, about double the turnover rate in traditional public schools.

Charter schools typically pay less for longer hours. But charter school administrators often earn more than their school-district counterparts.

It’s past time to refocus public policy on providing a deserved quality education for all Americans, says Shawn Fremstad, an attorney and Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).Because inevitably, he believes, a good education leads to a good career and thus economic security.Fremstad says that actually the funding issue “goes to the larger issue of are we creating good jobs, and what happens when you don’t do that.” Fremstad says there “are all sorts of people who want to start a career, but if there aren’t good paths—what’s available for you—then I think that lacking those resources, the criminal justice system ends up trapping a lot of people in its net.” More and more, he says “the criminal justice system has become the dragnet that is replacing our safety net.” This trend, he says “is a failure to invest in people,” causing undue harm to students, teachers, local economies and communities.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Wednesday, 17 April 2013 16:46By Max Eternity, The Eternity Group | News Analysis

thesubversivesound: Squatting offers a radical but simple...

shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:43:56 -0400

thesubversivesound:

Squatting offers a radical but simple solution to the crises of housing, homelessness, and the lack of social space that mark contemporary society: occupying empty buildings and rebuilding lives and communities in the process. Squatting has a long and complex history, interwoven with the changing and contested nature of urban politics over the last forty years. Squatting can be an individual strategy for shelter or a collective experiment in communal living. Squatted and self-managed social centres have contributed to the renewal of urban struggles across Europe and intersect with larger political projects. However, not all squatters share the same goals, resources, backgrounds or desire for visibility.

Squatting in Europe aims to move beyond the conventional understandings of squatting, investigating its history in Europe over the past four decades. Historical comparisons and analysis blend together in these inquiries into squatting in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and England. In it members of SqEK (Squatting Europe Kollective) explore the diverse, radical, and often controversial nature of squatting as a form of militant research and self-managed knowledge production.

Squatting in Europe.pdf

amodernmanifesto: Ryan Harvey - Tea Party So you say that...

shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:43:11 -0400

amodernmanifesto:

Ryan Harvey - Tea Party

So you say that immigrants,

should go back home.

Well I say know the ground,

that you’re standing on.

‘Cause Arizona was once Mexico,

and your grandparents were Europeans.

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shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:42:40 -0400

Nun Emerges as Spanish Leader in Fight Against Austerity

shawncarrie — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:41:55 -0400

Nun Emerges as Spanish Leader in Fight Against Austerity:

amodernmanifesto:

Sister Teresa Forcades—a Harvard-educated Catalan nun who resides at the convent Sant Benet—along with economist and “indignant” leader, Arcadi Oliveres, has launched a political manifesto that’s amassed nearly 17,000 signatures in just two days.

The document calls for the nationalization of banks and energy firms, housing rights and tough measures against corruption. Forcades and Oliveres also pledge non-violence asking for “international solidarity, not war.”

“The current economic model, institutional and political order has failed,” they write (roughly translated). “It is urgent that we create between them a new political and social model and to do so without repeating past formulas, knowing that the process is not easy nor short.”

Speaking with AFP, Forcades denounced the austerity measures imposed by Spain’s conservative government at the behest of the greater European Union, which have crippled the Spanish economy and caused widespread grief particularly among the middle and lower classes.

“The cuts go against the needs of the majority and go in favour of the interests of a minority,” she said.

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shawncarrie — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:45:21 -0400

sonsonandson: A Voice for Vacancy is a short documentary about...

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:09:51 -0500

sonsonandson:

A Voice for Vacancy is a short documentary about the efforts of Picture the Homeless, a homeless rights group, in their struggle to properly identify vacant properties in NYC - vacancies they argue could and should be reclaimed by communities and put to use.

For more information: PictureTheHomeless.org

Collaboratively made by:
Ahmed Tigani
Alex Mallis | @analectfilms
Rachel Mullon
Ryan Daniels

AnalectFilms.com

anarcho-queer: Documents Reveal That The Government Worked...

domesticterrorism — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:48:06 -0500

anarcho-queer:

Documents Reveal That The Government Worked With Big Banks To Crackdown On The Occupy Movement

It was more sophisticated than we had imagined: new documents show that the violent crackdown on Occupy last fall – so mystifying at the time – was not just coordinated at the level of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and local police. The crackdown, which involved, as you may recall, violent arrests, group disruption, canister missiles to the skulls of protesters, people held in handcuffs so tight they were injured, people held in bondage till they were forced to wet or soil themselves –was coordinated with the big banks themselves.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, in a groundbreaking scoop that should once more shame major US media outlets (why are nonprofits now some of the only entities in America left breaking major civil liberties news?), filed this request. The document – reproduced here in an easily searchable format – shows a terrifying network of coordinated DHS, FBI, police, regional fusion center, and private-sector activity so completely merged into one another that the monstrous whole is, in fact, one entity: in some cases, bearing a single name, the Domestic Security Alliance Council. And it reveals this merged entity to have one centrally planned, locally executed mission. The documents, in short, show the cops and DHS working for and with banks to target, arrest, and politically disable peaceful American citizens.

The documents, released after long delay in the week between Christmas and New Year, show a nationwide meta-plot unfolding in city after city in an Orwellian world: six American universities are sites where campus police funneled information about students involved with OWS to the FBI, with the administrations’ knowledge (p51); banks sat down with FBI officials to pool information about OWS protesters harvested by private security; plans to crush Occupy events, planned for a month down the road, were made by the FBI – and offered to the representatives of the same organizations that the protests would target; and even threats of the assassination of OWS leaders by sniper fire – by whom? Where? – now remain redacted and undisclosed to those American citizens in danger, contrary to standard FBI practice to inform the person concerned when there is a threat against a political leader (p61).

As Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the PCJF, put it, the documents show that from the start, the FBI – though it acknowledges Occupy movement as being, in fact, a peaceful organization – nonetheless designated OWS repeatedly as a “terrorist threat”:

“FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) … reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat … The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country.”

Why the huge push for counterterrorism “fusion centers”, the DHS militarizing of police departments, and so on? It was never really about “the terrorists”. It was not even about civil unrest. It was always about this moment, when vast crimes might be uncovered by citizens – it was always, that is to say, meant to be about you.

Read More

FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 12:35:08 -0500

FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring:

FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF’s Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers explicitly called for peaceful protest and did “not condone the use of violence” at occupy protests.

The PCJF has obtained heavily redacted documents showing that FBI offices and agents around the country were in high gear conducting surveillance against the movement even as early as August 2011, a month prior to the establishment of the OWS encampment in Zuccotti Park and other Occupy actions around the country.

“This production, which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI’s surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement,” stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF). “These documents show that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are treating protests against the corporate and banking structure of America as potential criminal and terrorist activity. These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America.”

“The documents are heavily redacted, and it is clear from the production that the FBI is withholding far more material. We are filing an appeal challenging this response and demanding full disclosure to the public of the records of this operation,” stated Heather Benno, staff attorney with the PCJF.

Canadian aboriginal leaders hold national protest in Ottawa demanding change

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:18:32 -0500

Canadian aboriginal leaders hold national protest in Ottawa demanding change:

Hundreds of First Nations protesters waved flags, chanted slogans and shook a collective fist at the federal government Friday as they gathered on Parliament Hill to put Canada on notice they would be “idle no more.”

More than 1,000 protesters, a group stretching several city blocks, marched through the streets of the capital after meeting with Theresa Spence, the chief of northern Ontario’s troubled Attawapiskat First Nation, who is on a hunger strike.

“We are tired of having the boot put to our head,” Algonquin Chief Gilbert Whiteduck told the gathering beneath the Peace Tower under a steady barrage of snow.

“We want the government of Canada to come to the table in a spirit of unconditional openness and transparency.”

Other rallies were held in various cities across the country. Demonstrations in support of Spence’s cause also took place in the United States.

Hundred of people briefly blocked one of the busiest intersections in Toronto in solidarity with Idle No More, a grassroots aboriginal protest movement gaining traction on social media. Several Manitoba First Nations groups also rallied at the Winnipeg International Airport, congesting traffic.

Idle No More organizers oppose the Harper government’s recently passed omnibus budget legislation, Bill C-45, and accuse the Tories of trampling on treaty rights.

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domesticterrorism — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:46:23 -0500

domesticterrorism: Fast Food Workers Rise Up Fast Food Workers...

domesticterrorism — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:10:50 -0500

domesticterrorism:

Fast Food Workers Rise Up

Fast Food Workers went on a 1 day strike for $15 an hour wages, for a union contract and against illegal retaliation and intimidation. Nov 29-30, 2012. NYC.

This is a huge deal. 2.7 million US jobs are in the fast food industry, which is a 47% increase from a decade ago. The modern American working class works in the fast food and retail industries - industries that are notorious for their exploitation and for the difficulty with which its workers can be organized (due in part to high turnover). Despite the fact that many still see fast food employment as temporary and largely part-time, more and more people have little choice but to try to support themselves and their families by working in the industry. Labor organizing in this industry is of the utmost importance both for labor, and for the good of the working class.

Take it from a food service worker.

thepeoplesrecord: This is Tahrir Square in Cairo right now:...

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:35:28 -0500

thepeoplesrecord:

This is Tahrir Square in Cairo right now: occupied, lively & packed with protesters.

Anti-Morsi demonstrators filled the Square last night after a decree issued on Thursday expanded his powers and shielded his decisions from any sort of judicial review until the election of a new parliament expected in the first half of 2013.

“We don’t want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom,” 32-year-old Ahmed Husseini said in Cairo.

Click here to watch a livestream of Tahrir.

carton-rouge: #NoPipelines: International Actions Against Oil...

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:03:17 -0500

carton-rouge:

#NoPipelines: International Actions Against Oil and Gas Pipelines In Solidarity with Unist’ot’en Camp

Press release [linked] by Unist’ot’en Camp, a resistance community in British Columbia whose purpose is to protect sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory from several proposed pipelines from the Tar Sands Gigaproject and shale gas from Hydraulic Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region. To support the camp, donations can be made at http://forestaction.wikidot.com/caravan. To promote and follow the actions on social media, follow @UnistotenCamp, use #nopipelines, and find them here on Facebook.

socialismartnature: (Top) Black Friday labor protest at...

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:12:12 -0500

socialismartnature:

(Top) Black Friday labor protest at Walmart in Kenosha, Wisconsin - 23 Nov 2012

via Overpass Light Brigade: “This was one of three management/security guys who came up to tell us to leave. The second one stepping off the curb looks pretty pissed. They both came right up to me while I was taking pictures. “We’ll call the police right away!” the one in dark blue stated quite aggressively. I responded, “Oh my! What are we doing wrong?” “You’re causing a dangerous situation!” “Well that’s why we stopped here, because it seems a safe place!” I told him we’d move on after some pictures. He walked away mad. More guys came out. We moved on. (Notice that we are standing in front of a Kenosha County Sheriff’s squad!)”

socialismartnature: International boycott, divestment, and...

domesticterrorism — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:49:01 -0500

socialismartnature:

International boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) efforts helped topple South Africa’s brutal apartheid regime. In the context of Israel’s latest assault on Gaza, a global BDS movement against Israel’s rapacious occupation is necessary - and possible to organize - now more than ever

Here’s what Electronic Intifada founder Ali Abunimah had to say about Barghouti’s book, BDS:

“Barghouti explains with lucidity, passion, and unrivaled intelligence…that bringing an end to apartheid in Palestine and seeing justice and equality for all the people who live there is not a distant dream but a reality we can bring about in the next few years using BDS.”

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domesticterrorism — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 17:58:24 -0500

Business Insider: Why Occupy's Plan To Cancel Consumer Debts Is Brilliant

carton-rouge-deactivated2013051 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:32:41 -0500

Business Insider: Why Occupy's Plan To Cancel Consumer Debts Is Brilliant:

paradoxicalparadigms:

A new initiative is re-energising the Occupy movement. Called the Rolling Jubilee, it is a plan to use money from donations to buy distressed consumer debt from lenders at a marked down price, just as debt collection agencies normally would. But instead of hounding debtors for payments, it will simply cancel the debts. The hope is that the liberated debtors will themselves contribute to the fund, “rolling” the jubilee forward.

The Rolling Jubilee is a genius move for several reasons. First, debt relief is a transpartisan message that eludes conventional political categorisation. As such, it returns Occupy to its origins as an advocate for the wellbeing of ordinary people, neither leftwing nor rightwing. The Rolling Jubilee says, non-threateningly, “We just want to help people in this unfair system.”

But despite its non-threatening appearance, the Rolling Jubilee has significant transformative potential. Two pillars uphold the present debt regime: the moral legitimacy of debt in society’s eyes, ie, the idea that a person “should” pay back what he owes; and the coercive mechanisms that enforce repayment, such as harassment, seizure of assets, garnishment of wages, denial of employment or housing, and even imprisonment. The Rolling Jubilee erodes both. It destigmatises debt by saying, “we’re all in this together, we believe your situation is unfair, not shameful, so we’re going to help you out”. And it lessens the severity of the consequences of default. If defaulting means you might get bailed out, why keep paying?

For this reason, we might expect lenders to balk at co-operating with the Rolling Jubilee, perhaps by refusing to sell loans to anyone who doesn’t agree to seek collection. So here is a third reason why the idea is so brilliant: if the lenders block debt cancellation even when it comes at no cost to themselves (as they would have sold it at the same price to a collection agency), they appear as a bunch of greedy, vindictive Scrooges. Given their current vulnerability, banks might not want to incite hostility by preventing people from helping each other out.

Accordingly, it is important that the Jubilee organisers continue to frame it in precisely that way: people helping each other out of hardship. Yes, they might understand that its political significance runs deeper, but if they portray it as a political ploy then it will be met as such by the banks or other authorities. Public opinion might also not be as sympathetic.

This also goes for the way the organisers portray it to themselves. In a political system that is lost in a maelstrom of hype, spin and messaging, we crave authenticity in others and in ourselves. Let the Rolling Jubilee stay grounded in the simple goal of freeing people from debt. The political effect will be greater, not less, when it comes from a place of sincerity.

The Rolling Jubilee could influence economic policy as a model for a very different kind of bailout in response to the next financial crisis. The problem of unpayable debts bedevils every corner of our financial system – public, corporate, and personal. So far, the response of the monetary and fiscal authorities to nearly every financial crisis has been to bail out the creditors but not the debtors. Governments and central banks purchase all kinds of shoddy loans from the private sector, but rather than reduce interest or principal on those loans, they merely become the new creditor. The underwater homeowner, the indebted university graduate, the laid-off worker juggling credit cards … they get no relief at all.

The Rolling Jubilee brings a different kind of solution into the public consciousness. The next time a systemic crisis breaks, central banks can rescue the banking system by once again buying the delinquent loans – and then cancel them or reduce the amount borrowers owe. Central banks, with their unlimited capacity to print money, have the power to do this at no cost to the taxpayer. The result would be a release of pent-up consumer purchasing power that had been stuck in debt service. Rising demand would fuel employment, wages, and a broad-based economic expansion.

Would this solution be inflationary? Yes. But a little inflation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as wages rise as fast as prices. Then it is an equalizer of wealth, as the relative value of hoarded wealth shrinks.

Debt cancellation, whether a “people’s bailout” or government policy, is only part of the solution to our economic woes. Deep systemic reforms are necessary, especially given the reality that we are operating a growth-dependent system on a finite planet. But right now, debt is the issue staring us in the face. As always, the most innovative solutions rise from the margins. The Rolling Jubilee may be showing us a glimpse of what is to come.

Read here.