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    • No More Union Busting! Community Picket to Support Janitors!

    May 7th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements Comments Off on No More Union Busting! Community Picket to Support Janitors!

    Capital Properties, a billion-dollar high-end real estate company, has decided to fire all 20 janitorial workers at their 31 St. James Ave. location in Boston’s Back Bay. They will be replaced by an irresponsible subcontractor that pays lower wages, provides fewer benefits, and offers little job security to its non-unionized employees.

    Rosa, a janitor at 31 St. James Ave. for over 10 years, told the General Assembly of Occupy Boston on Saturday that she doesn’t know how she will support her family of six once she loses her job. Another worker, Claudia said, “I have to provide for my family. My children need food, clothes, and money for school expenses.”

    What does it mean to wonder how you and your family are going to eat next week? The people who are making the decision to fire these workers have not had to answer this question for themselves in a long time, if ever. Instead, they are motivated by greed. Richard Cohen, the CEO of Capital Properties, is the kind of man who has recklessly squandered millions on speculative investments, yet when it comes to the livelihoods of the hard-working janitors who keep his properties clean, he is as coldly calculating as any 1% executive or real estate mogul. This decision shows that Cohen is comfortable with the kind of “success” that comes from exploiting workers and their families.

    If this flagrant act of class warfare goes unanswered, the livelihoods of janitors and workers across the city will be put in jeopardy. Capital Properties is at the forefront of the race to the bottom that seeks to use the down economy as an excuse to strip workers of their hard-earned rights and maximize the profits of those who already own far too much of our country’s wealth.

    We must act now to stop this from happening. Worker rights are under attack. Stand up! Fight back!

    Meet at St. James Ave. and Arlington St. in the Back Bay at 4 pm on Wednesday, May 9 for a raucous picket and rally in support of these workers’ struggle.

    Let Capital Properties know that they cannot get away with this!

    For more information and to spread the word, visit the event page here.

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-7-12

    May 7th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-7-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Rodney Brossart, American Arrested Using Predator Drone, Had Rights Violated, Lawyer Says. Bruce Quick, attorney for the first American arrested using an unmanned drone says his client was subject to “guerrilla-like police tactics.” Quick tells U.S. News that Lakota, N.D., resident should not have been arrested and that authorities had no legal right to use the drone to aid in his capture. Brossart was in a dispute with authorities over the ownership of six cows that had meandered onto his land. The Grand Forks SWAT team borrowed a Predator drone from the Department of Homeland Security. And during the Arab Spring, when tear gas and other chemical weapons were deployed against non-violent protesters, in some cases protesters died from exposure to the gas – especially when it was used in enclosed spaces.  Teargas has been used against Occupy Oakland protesters as well. Toxic chemicals are often banned in warzones, but permitted in order to control a state’s own citizens. And an Occupy Wall Street protester talks about why A Few Good Democrats Are Not Enough to change things. “Despite the hard work of our progressive allies, the unfortunate reality is that our political system, as presently constructed, is simply incapable of responding to people’s needs. The election of the most progressive Democratic nominee of the last 30 years and a Democratic supermajority in Congress resulted in relatively little change, even during a massive economic crisis. The Democrats’ inaction proved that our political system was designed to serve the whims of the market, and no politician has the power to do much about it.” And a family is fighting the federal government after it seized their bank account and took $70,000 of their hard-earned money. It seems the Sower family, who owns the South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, Maryland, is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the post-9/11 “Bank Secrecy Act”. The act makes it illegal to deposit less than $10,000 if you have deposits totaling more than that. Never mind the fact that it’s your money, the feds can literally freeze and seize your account if you don’t deposit your money in accordance with the federal governments new rules. See Government seeking more than $62,000 from South Mountain Creamery owners. In more farm news, a family farm in rural Michigan may be shut down by a Government entity who has passed a law stating that the breed of hogs they are raising are a threat to neighboring croplands and the farmer is accused of being a felon for raising these pigs. The Michigan Pork Grower’s Association is reportedly behind the law. See the video Bakers Green Acres vs. Michigan DNR – Family Farm Under Attack. For more information on how the government is attacking small farms, see the trailer for the movie Farmageddon. And on a lighter note, check out this great pro-Occupy interview on The Colbert Report, which averages 1.2 million viewers per episode!

    Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy This Album, which is being heralded as “a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%” is set for a May 15 release by Music for Occupy with Razor and Tie. The majority of the four-disc physical and 99-track digital collection includes songs that have never before been released; Artists like Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Anti Flag and Jackson Browne share the tracklisting with musician and organizer Matt Pless, New Party Systems (featuring members of TV on the Radio) and many more. “Proceeds from the 4-CD Occupy This Album, will benefit the Occupy Wall Street movement,” according to the press release. More information available at www.musicforoccupy.org. Music For Occupy states: “Our Mission is to inspire and celebrate through music the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% who’ve been adversely affected by the economic corruption that has permeated our Democracy, created a near insurmountable disparity in wealth, and hindered life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of an honest living for all. Music For Occupy is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, and all proceeds above board attained through the production and distribution of Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% will go directly towards the needs of sustaining this growing movement.” The album can be purchased for $9.99 at http://new.merchnow.com/products/141477 (don’t buy it from Amazon, which is charging $16.99 and has abusive labor practices!)

    “The most violent element in society is ignorance.” Emma Goldman

    The OB Media Rundown for 5/7/12

    May 7th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 5/7/12

     Austerity backlash: Sarkozy out in France, ruling parties lose in Greece

    French and Greek voters delivered a sharp rebuff to their governments in national elections Sunday, raising questions about the viability of the European Union’s austerity program intended to preserve the euro as Europe’s dominant currency.

    By a 52 to 48 margin, France elected Francois Hollande its first Socialist president in 17 years, replacing the right-of-center Nicolas Sarkozy, who became the first French leader to be denied a second term in 32 years.

    In Greece, voters delivered a stinging judgment against the two ruling parties that had supported austerity agreements with the EU, cutting their support by nearly half and raising questions about whether they would be able to cobble together a new government. The biggest winners in Greece were the Radical Left coalition, which finished second, and the Golden Dawn party, a neo-fascist group that won parliamentary seats for the first time, with nearly 7 per cent of the votes.

    http://tinyurl.com/cpwfg3v

    How Occupy Wall Street Has Already Won 

    The idea that policy is the only way to make change is precisely the ideological assumption that Occupy subverts. The Occupy movement is non-hierarchical because it recognizes that it’s not leaders we need. The changes necessary to provide human rights to the masses and safeguard the earth can not be outsourced to policy makers, but will require that individual people begin to build the world they wish to live in.

    http://tinyurl.com/7e2467u

    Student loan battle heads to Senate

    The Senate is the newest arena in the election-year face-off over federal student loans, and both sides are starting out by pounding away at each other.

    With Congress returning from a weeklong spring recess, the Senate plans to vote Tuesday on whether to start debating a Democratic plan to keep college loan interest rates for 7.4 million students from doubling on July 1. The $6 billion measure would be paid for by collecting more Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes from high-earning owners of some privately held corporations.

    Republicans want a vote on their own bill, which like the Democrats’ would freeze today’s 3.4 percent interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for one more year. It would be financed by eliminating a preventive health program established by President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

    http://tinyurl.com/6pnh3xs

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    Monday Night Gathering: Teach-in and Debrief!

    May 6th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements Comments Off on Monday Night Gathering: Teach-in and Debrief!

    It’s time for another Community Gathering!

    Meet us at 6pm at St. Paul’s Church, 138 Tremont Street (Park St. T station) for:

    6 -7 pm Climate Action, Sustainability, and Economic Justice (CASEJ) Working Group hosts a teach-in on carbon fee and dividend by Gary Rucinski of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby. Join Free School University and CASEJ to learn about this important environmental issue. Visit CASEJ’s wikipage or learn more here. CASEJ will also facilitate a discussion on Occupy, community, and the environment.

    7-8:30pm Debrief on Camp Charlie and May 1 actions. Whether you came for an hour or organized an event, come debrief with the rest of the Occupy Boston community! This is a time to reflect on what we did well, what we can do better, and to learn about upcoming actions.

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-6-12

    May 6th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-6-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Federal agents announced on Tuesday that they successfully thwarted plans to blow up a bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. What was left out of most reports, however, was that the FBI was instrumental in plotting the potential attack. Police and court records reveal that three of the five suspects entrapped and arrested by the FBI in a supposed plot to blow up a bridge in Ohio suffer from mental health problems, according to a report posted today (click link for story) by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The organisation, money, weapons and motivation for this plot did not come from real Islamic terrorists. It came from the FBI, and an informant paid to pose as a terrorist mastermind paying big bucks for help in carrying out an attack. For  Alicia McWilliams, her own government had actually cajoled and paid her beloved nephew into being a terrorist, created a fake plot and then jailed him for it. “I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone,” she told the Guardian. See Fake Terror Plots, Paid Informants: FBI ‘Entrapment’ Tactics Questioned. For more, see Operation: Entrapment – Cleveland bomb “plot” masterminded by FBI agents. And scary news from Greece: A neo-Nazi party that wants work camps for immigrants is on course to win its first seats in parliament on Sunday. “When the doors opened, they came on to the bus and started to assault the non-Greek passengers. The attackers were wearing T-shirts from the right-wing extremist group Golden Dawn. While panicked people were trying to escape from the bus the men were hitting them with flagpoles. ‘They were beating people with the Greek flag,’ said Mr Roumeliotis. When the police arrived they stood off until the thugs had finished. When he asked the police why no one had been arrested one of the officers replied to him: ‘Why, did they do something to you?'” See Fascism rises from the depths of Greece’s despair. And: The GOP-led House’s version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would not only strip away Senate-passed protections for undocumented, LGBT, and Native American victims, it also contains a dangerous provision that violates an undocumented victim’s confidentiality by allowing immigration officials to speak with, and ask for evidence from, his or her abuser. For more, see House GOP Would Let Domestic Abusers Know Their Victims Called For Help. And: on May 3, NYC Mayor Bloomberg released a budget that guts a wide array of services to the disadvantaged youths of New York City. But most stunning is his proposal to eliminate 160 of the city’s 250 youth shelter beds. How can he possibly think that an appropriate way to deal with budget challenges is to throw poor children out of their shelter beds and into the streets? For more, see Bloomberg Plans to Throw Homeless Youths Out of Their Shelter Beds.

    Other Occupies/Protests: Psychiatric survivors prepare to occupy Canada’s largest psychiatric facility. On Sunday May 6 at 1pm, the Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault (CAPA) and Occupy Toronto are organizing Occupy Psychiatry, a non-violent action during which survivors and activists will occupy the front grounds of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) College Street Site at 250 College St near Spadina. And an Occupy Phoenix protester describes being Inside The Matrix: My Night In Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Jail: Arpaio’s jail is a very dangerous place. The list of deaths from beatings and Tasings by guards and medical neglect of inmates is long, depressing and has cost Maricopa County tens of millions of dollars in lawsuit settlements. The most recent wasMarty Atencio, a Latino Gulf War veteran who suffered from bipolar disorder and who was repeatedly Tased and choked by MCSO guards last December and then left alone in a cell to die. … Arpaio’s cruelty showed in every policy, from the freezing tanks with no place to lie down except on rock hard concrete without something as basic and decent as a blanket, to the crappy food and sick mind games played by the guards. It’s a system designed to beat down, dehumanize and punish those who have not yet even been convicted of a crime, all the while operating under the misguided belief that if they manage to inflict enough suffering, people will somehow never return.

    “Law is often the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.” Thomas Jefferson

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