Occupy Members Protest During President Obama’s Visit to Boston
Protesters plan on planting themselves outside of Symphony Hall today during the President’s campaign-fundraising visit to Boston.
At least fifty protesters said on Facebook they intend to rally outside of the music hall, where President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech and meet with supporters.
Members of Occupy Boston have organized the anti-Obama event along Massachusetts Avenue, and will hold signs voicing their discontent with the Democratic elected official.
More Revelations of Favorable Stock Trading By Members of Congress
One-hundred-thirty members of Congress or their families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees, a practice that is permitted under current ethics rules, a Washington Post analysis has found.
The lawmakers bought and sold a total of between $85 million and $218 million in 323 companies registered to lobby on legislation that appeared before them, according to an examination of all 45,000 individual congressional stock transactions contained in computerized financial disclosure data from 2007 to 2010 . . .
Banned TED Talk video: ‘Job creators’ language chosen to deify capitalists, entrench their status and privilege
(video)
Background on banned TED talk: http://tinyurl.com/bn7e77p
Postal Workers Launch Hunger Strike To ‘Save’ Agency
A group of U.S. Postal Service employees and supporters launched a hunger strike Monday on Capitol Hill, urging action from lawmakers in order to save an agency they said was imperiled by Congress itself.
The postal workers and boosters said they were trying to draw attention to a wonky yet crucial element of postal service reform being considered: the repeal of what’s called the “prefunding mandate,” a 2006 requirement from Congress that the USPS prefund the retiree health benefits for its workers 75 years in advance, to the tune of about $5.5 billion per year.
“Congress created the problem, Congress can fix it,” said Jamie Partridge, a retired letter carrier who worked in Portland, Ore., for 27 years and is taking part in the hunger strike. “We’re just frustrated. We’re indignant, we’re outraged, we’re here to shame Congress into doing the right thing. We’re willing to suffer, to go on a hunger strike in order to show our indignation.”
Military spending creates fewer jobs per dollar than other types of government spending
The basic story here is very simple, when you are in a severe downturn any spending creates jobs. If we spend money on schools and hospitals that creates jobs. If we pay people to dig holes and fill them up again, it creates jobs. And, if we pay people to build weapons for the military it creates jobs.
There is nothing magical about military spending in this story. In fact, research that was not paid for by the National Association of Manufacturers shows that military spending actually creates fewer jobs per dollar than other types of government spending.
Court Rejects Montana Challenge to Citizens United – expands its reach to state campaign finance laws
The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed its controversial 2-year-old decision allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in politics when it struck down a law in Montana banning such spending. In doing so, the justices effectively expanded Citizens United’s reach to state campaign finance laws.
http://tinyurl.com/7gh8utj
Radio host: ‘Pistol whip’ the nuns who are protesting Paul Ryan
A conservative radio host says that the Catholic nuns who have embarked on a nine-state bus tour to protest the injustice of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed budget deserve to be beaten with a handgun because they “threw the first punch.”
“There’s a bus full of nuns headed towards Washington to lobby against the Ryan plan,” radio host Jan Mickelson told Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) last week. “Do you guys, do you have any power to pull the nuns on the bus over and pistol whip them?”
“They say he is evil, they say he is fake Catholic,” he added. “They’re the ones that threw the first punch.”
A Vatican report also recently criticized the nuns for focusing too much on the Catholic Church’s message about social and economic justice instead of spending time opposing abortion and marriage equality.
http://tinyurl.com/6uj4vv5
Pennsylvania Republican lets slip admission that purpose of voter ID laws is to disenfranchise traditionally Dem voters
At the Republican State Committee meeting, Turzai took the stage and let slip the truth about why Republicans are so insistent on voter identification efforts – it will win Romney the election, he said:
“We are focused on making sure that we meet our obligations that we’ve talked about for years,” said Turzai in a speech to committee members Saturday. He mentioned the law among a laundry list of accomplishments made by the GOP-run legislature.
“Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation – abortion facility regulations – in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.”
http://tinyurl.com/7frntfa
Only 55 percent of new law school graduates land a job within nine months
Members of the law-school class of 2011 had little better than a 50-50 shot of landing a job as a lawyer within nine months of receiving a degree, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of new data that provides the most detailed picture yet of the grim market for law jobs.
Under pressure from disillusioned graduates and some professors, the American Bar Association for the first time released a tally of the previous year’s graduates who have secured full-time, permanent jobs as lawyers. Until recently, the ABA required law schools to report only general data about how their graduates fared, such as how many were employed full-time or part-time in any kind of job, whether or not it required a law degree.
The numbers suggest the job market for law grads is worse than previously thought. Nationwide, only 55% of the class of 2011 had full-time, long-term jobs that required a law degree nine months after graduation. The ABA defines “long-term” jobs as those that don’t have a term of less than one year.
http://tinyurl.com/6osnaap
#OccuPride NYC – Occupy Wall St
(video)
http://tinyurl.com/cpk93pw
Occupy Caravan stages events on Asheville stop
Occupy members from across the nation taking part in a cross-country trek to Philadelphia made a stop in Asheville over the weekend, staging a rally Sunday downtown.
About 100 people attended the afternoon event at Pritchard Park, which featured speeches, music, skits and other entertainment.
Called the Occupy Caravan, several groups got under way June 11 from California, Maine and Montreal with participants traveling across the country to an Occupy National Gathering from Saturday-July 4 in Philadelphia.
http://tinyurl.com/c5osq6p
Occupy movement plans California foreclosure rally
A coalition of homeowners, Occupy groups, unions, clergy, community groups and others from throughout California will hold a major rally at the State Capitol June 25 to demand the governor, the attorney general and the legislature declare an immediate foreclosure moratorium.
http://tinyurl.com/7qq4fhv
Occupy protester stuck in Orleans Parish prison, on hold for rant at state Capitol
A gaggle of Occupy New Orleans protesters gathered outside the Orleans Parish criminal courthouse on Monday to plead for the release of a man jailed on a marijuana pinch who also is wanted in Baton Rouge for resisting arrest and disturbing the peace over a protest action on the state Capitol steps.
A New Orleans Municipal Court judge last Wednesday granted Justin Warren, 36, a release on his own recognizance after he was arrested with marijuana near the Occupy the Stage warehouse at Toulouse and North Broad streets, fellow Occupiers said.
But Warren, 38, remained held Monday in Orleans Parish jail on a warrant out of Baton Rouge following a March 12 protest against state education cuts. Warren escaped arrest there, running from officers as they tried to detain him, a video of the incident shows.
http://tinyurl.com/7uhfr8m
Protesters at Oregon State Capitol climb flag poles, occupy offices over logging plans
Police arrested two people Monday morning and are monitoring a crowd of about 50 others at the Oregon State Capitol building who are protesting plans to log the Elliott State Forest.
Oregon State Police arrested two people who climbed flag poles outside the building and put up banners. One said “Oregon For Sale by Kate Brown & Ted Wheeler.” Brown is Oregon’s secretary of state and Wheeler is the state’s treasurer.
http://tinyurl.com/7wguxbu
Launch of ‘Occupy This!’ with Judy Rebick and Musqueam tribal spokesperson Cecilia Point [WA]
On Sunday, June 17, author and activist Judy Rebick spoke at a launch of her new book, ‘Occupy This!’ The event was held at the W2 Media Cafe, and sponsored by rabble.ca. Judy Rebick spoke about the lessons of the Occupy movement and also about the inspiring events around Quebec’s student strike and ‘Maple Spring’. In addition, to open the evening, Cecilia Point of the Musqueam First Nation spoke about their local struggle to save a sacred burial ground.
Thousands Occupy Tel Aviv, Police Respond With Brutal Force
Police arrested 89 protesters after more than 6,500 people flooded Tel Aviv’s Habima Square Saturday night where demonstrators gathered to protest the arrest of Daphni Leef, the leader of last summer’s mass protests against inequality and the high cost of housing in Israel.
Tel Aviv District Commander Aharon Eksel told Haaretz that, “Protesters crossed the line. They set out to clash with the police.”
Police also say the protest was illegal, and that protesters attacked inspectors and police by spitting and throwing objects.
HSBC in bid to evict Hong Kong Occupy protesters
The “Occupy Central” group has set up tents in the public passageway on the ground floor of the HSBC headquarters since October, when similar protests were launched across Asia by the “Occupy Wall Streets” and “Indignants” movements.
The banking giant said it applied to the city’s high court last Friday for an eviction order, after previous attempts to ask the small group of protesters to leave failed.
“We asked them to vacate voluntarily and we haven’t really heard anything formal from them so we went to court,” HSBC Hong Kong spokesman Gareth Hewett told AFP.
Hong Kong Protesters Vow to Stay as HSBC Seeks Eviction
About 20 tents, a couple sofas and bookshelves were scattered around the Hong Kong plaza today as the demonstrators sat around playing musical instruments or engaging passersby.
Tiv Wong, one of the Hong Kong demonstrators, said she hadn’t received notice of the lawsuit and the group doesn’t plan to give up its protest. Jojo Wong, a 22-year-old occupant at the site, said the 40-odd occupiers will discuss the strategy in the light of the lawsuit.
“I hope to maintain my little corner there,” said Ho Yiu-shing, one of the defendants named by HSBC in the lawsuit. He said he had written to the bank to ask for permission to remain there, and that he will decide on his next move after he has studied the court documents.
http://tinyurl.com/8ax7oa3
Cyprus Becomes Fifth Euro Nation To Seek Bailout
Cyprus sought a financial lifeline from the euro area’s firewall funds, becoming the fifth of the euro’s 17 member states to request a bailout.
“The purpose of the required assistance is to contain the risks to the Cypriot economy, notably those arising from the negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure to the Greek economy,” the Cypriot government said today in a statement distributed by the press and information office in Nicosia.
http://tinyurl.com/7yupjnl
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