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    • The OB Media Rundown for 5/5/12

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

    RIP Adam Yauch, Occupy protester

    Adam Yauch marched with us in November over the Brooklyn Bridge. He was a visionary artist who never lost sight of his community. [OWS tweet]

    http://tinyurl.com/coa4839

    Boston protesters send digitized memo to Bank of America

    For two years, Presley Obasohan says he has begged Bank of America to modify a mortgage on a home he bought in Dorchester at the height of the housing bubble. Every time, he has been denied. “They are not listening to me,” said Obasohan, 55.

    Friday night, a group of more than 75 protesters could not ignore Obasohan’s plea. A recording of his voice reading his letter to Bank of America boomed over a pair of speakers in Copley Square. His words were digitized and projected on two floors of a Bank of America building on the corner of St. James and Berkeley streets in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood.

    City Life/Vida Urbana, a Boston-based advocacy group, has been protesting foreclosures throughout the economic crisis, but Friday’s rally in downtown Boston came with a twist. Enlisting the help of volunteer John Hulsey, a Harvard University graduate film student, the organization took their message to the bank. They digitized the words of a handful of homeowners who have either have been foreclosed on or are facing the threat of losing their homes and projected those messages onto the Bank of America building.

    http://tinyurl.com/clbadhz

    New York Times says ‘the jobless young find their voice’ in slick new Astroturf groups drenched in money

    The Campaign for Young America is in the midst of a 21-state bus tour that is set to conduct 100 round tables with young people, Occupy Wall Street protesters, community leaders and entrepreneurs. “One thing we are really focused on is trying to better connect colleges and universities to local employers,” Mr. Smith said. Later this year, the group will endorse specific policy recommendations based on input during the round tables, and host candidate forums, he said.

    Fix Young America is supported by members of the nonprofit Young Entrepreneur Council, based in New York. (Officially the new group has a hashtag in front of its name, to reflect its presence on Twitter.)

    The group assembled more than two-dozen people – including Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, Representative Patrick McHenry, Republican of North Carolina, university leaders and entrepreneurs – to offer prescriptions for solving youth unemployment.

    http://tinyurl.com/84uqgrn

    Continue reading »

    OB Finance Community Work Session – Sunday, May 6

    May 5th, 2012 · · News and Announcements Comments Off on OB Finance Community Work Session – Sunday, May 6
    The Occupy Boston Finance Community Work Session is scheduled for Sunday, May 6, from 1:00 to 4:00, at Hope Church, in Jamaica Plain.  This Work Session is designed to address the issues and concerns raised at the FAWG hosted 4/10/12 Community Conversation, concerning Occupy Boston’s relationship to its finances. FAWG invites the entire OB community to help create the financial decisions necessary, for the next phase of the movement.  Hope Church is located one block from the Green Street T Station on the Orange Line.
    Come decide the what, who, how and why of OB Financial Management.

     

    Please see  FAWG’s transcription and categorization of the comments and identification of issues, from the 4/10 session:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsQk3Yy-nTUxdHgzbUdCd3U2Z0hrUi1jNV93di1XM3c#gid=0
    Also, see these minutes from the 4/10 community conversation:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZDSrDgRgj4yptY0nA7glRNPobJJBcq8FONEozoCxEwk/edit

    Boston Tells Bank Of America “No Coal”

    May 5th, 2012 · · Events Comments Off on Boston Tells Bank Of America “No Coal”

    Join members of the The Occupy Boston Climate Action, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Working Group and the Rainforest Action Network at forums this weekend on Saturday at 2 pm in Sudbury, and Sunday at 3 pm in Cambridge.

    Bank of America is one of the most toxics corporate brands in America. And that has special importance to Boston as many of its top decision-makers make their home here.

    It currently pays no taxes to the government, yet received massive bailouts after they crashed the economy. It is currently the largest forecloser of homes in the U.S. They’ve laid off tens of thousands of their own employees, while bestowing their execs with lavish bonuses. It has just been recently reported that CEO Brian Moynihan’s salary quadrupled in the past year.

    But Bank of America’s policies also have an environmental impact. It is currently the largest financier of the coal industry in the U.S. They fund companies destroying Appalachia’s mountains and they fund companies polluting communities with dirty air and dirty water. It’s relationships have destroyed eco-systems and communities around the country.

    Now Boston’s climate activists are bringing the struggle against Bank of America’s environmental policies to CEO Brian Moynihan’s and other executives’ hometown.

    Early in the afternoon on Tax Day (April 17), climate activists showed up to Bank of America’s downtown offices at 100 Federal St. with flyers, signs and chants. They were soon joined by over 30 housing activists with Right To The City and then more with Occupy Boston. Tax Day all over the country focused on Bank of America’s misdeeds against the American public and this combination of housing, climate and economic justice activists.

    In the past weeks, wanted posters of Moynihan have begun to show up in downtown Boston and Moynihan’s home suburb of Wellesley Hills.  And we’ve begun to see transformations of standard Bank of America ATMs to “Automated Truth Machines.”

    On May 5th in Sudbury, MA (neighboring community to many BofA execs) will host “The Real Cost Of Coal” forum featuring speakers from coal impacted communities from Appalachia to the Powder River Basin. Then on May 6th, another forum will happen in Cambridge, MA.

    A movement in Boston is beginning to awaken against Bank of America and it’s hometown climate criminals. Join us if you can.

     

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 5-5-12

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

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Feminist social critic Naomi Wolf, author of such books as The Beauty Myth and  The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, posted this link on her Facebook page: In a recent interview, private investigator Doug Hagmann said high-level, reliable sources told him the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is preparing for “massive civil war” in America. “Folks, we’re getting ready for one massive economic collapse.” The story has been repeated on a lot of blogs – judge for yourself. For more, click here. For a related story from December 7, 2011, see Detention Camp Order Follows Preparations For Civil Unrest. According to a blog post from July 24, 2011, with similar information that links to another RT report: the Pentagon has announced plans to deploy a 20,000 strong internal troop force within the united states over the next two years civil unrest in the even of a catastrophic even such as a massive large scale terror attacks or economic collapse — thus, dovetailing into the current troop and equipment movements reported around the country reported by truckers and many more sightings by others. For the info, click here. For a related report from RT on the massive amounts of ammunition purchased by the US Department of Homeland Security and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Office, click here. And: a number of remarkable things happened on May 1. So why is the media so bored with social protest? See The Four  May Day Stories the Corporate Media Missed While Fixating On Obama’s College Girlfriend. And Occupy protesters in Minneapolis claim officers are offering them drugs in exchange for telling them what’s going on with Occupy. The officers are all part of a training program run by the Minnesota State Patrol. For the story and video, click here. And a Republican political operative who spent three months in an American prison for making illegal political calls says that fraudulent calls in the last Canadian election are likely an American import. In his 2008 book How to Rig an Election, Allen Raymond tells the story of his 10-year political career, which ended abruptly when he was convicted of jamming the New Hampshire Democrats’ phone bank during a Senate election. Raymond, who now works in Washington as a lobbyist for a labor organization, suspects whoever made illegal voter-suppression calls in Canada in the last election likely learned their dirty tricks south of the border. For more, click here.  And on a lighter note: The 1998 Robert Smigel animated short film “Conspiracy Theory Rock,” part of a March 1998 “TV Funhouse” segment, has been removed from all subsequent airings of the Saturday Night Live episode where it originally appeared. Lorne Michaels claimed the edit was done because it “wasn’t funny.” The film is a scathing critique of corporate media ownership, including NBC’s ownership by General Electric/Westinghouse. See the video here.

    Other Occupies/Protests: From the anti-austerity firebrands of Greece‘s imminent elections to the corruption crusaders in Prague, from the Pirates of Berlin to the populists who scored well in France’s presidential election, a new wave of anti-establishment parties are on the rise across Europe, posing a threat to the political elite. For more, click here. And on May 1, Oakland Police Fired Tear-Gas On Crowds That Included Children. For more, click here. And a federal judge ordered Oakland’s police department to submit a plan to address numerous unresolved complaints regarding their handling of the Occupy Oakland protests, warning that failure to comply within a week could lead to sanctions. District Judge Thelton Henderson’s mandate comes just a day after the release of a report by an outside monitor that concluded Oakland police used “an overwhelming military-type response” to Occupy’s demonstrations — the first official report to confirm Occupy Oakland’s struggles against police brutality. For more, click here.

    “There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” Charles de Montesquieu

    Upcoming Events:

    • May 6: Forum on The Real Cost of Coal sponsored by the Rainforest Action Network. Speakers include: Bob Kincaid (WV) Board president, Coal River Mountain Watch; Lowell Chandler (MT) Student activist, University of Montana; Kristen Owenreay (WY) Organizer, High Country Rising Tide and The GoodMule Project.  WHAT: The Real Cost of Coal Forum-Cambridge, MA. WHERE: First Parish in Cambridge,3 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (near the Harvard T-stop). WHEN: Sunday, May 6, 3PM. FACEBOOK RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/349900668391499/?notif_t=event_name_change CONTACT: Monique, moniqueditullio@gmail.com; 508-769-2599. ADMISSION: Free and open to the public. MORE INFO: http://dirtymoney.org

    • The Occupy Boston Finance Community Work Session, scheduled to address the issues and concerns raised at the FAWG hosted 4/10/12 Community Conversation, concerning Occupy Boston’s relationship to its finances, is now confirmed for Sunday, May 6, from 1:00 to 4:00, at Hope Church, in Jamaica Plain.  FAWG invites the entire OB community to help create the financial decisions necessary, for the next phase of the movement.  Hope Church is located one block from the Green Street T Station on the Orange Line.
    • Keep Immigrant Families Together! Stop the Raids and Deportations! Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Detainees, Sunday, May 6th, 2 p.m.Suffolk County House of Correction, 20 Bradston St., BostonFor more information about the vigil, contact our Facebook page, or email SocialAction@ascboston.org. www.bostonnewsanctuary.org.

      1. Immigration through Faith: Faith through Immigration – Personal experiences of immigration as a moral and religious issue.
        A facilitated panel discussion exploring personal experiences of faith and immigration. This session is designed to help participants articulate and claim religious language and relevancy in a conversation dominated by secular and political messages. The panel discussion will be followed by an open period for questions and reflections.
      2. U.S. Immigration History and Your Faith:  We will look at who came and why?  What laws were enacted as barriers?  What role have people of faith played in this history?  We will also ask where we find ourselves in the story, and who belongs here?
      3. Immigrant Stories in the Struggle for Workers Rights

      To register, go to www.bostonnewsanctuary.org, or call Newell Hendricks at 617 876-5038. $10 suggested donation  

      Continue reading »

    Community Work Session to Decide on OB’s Financial Management

    May 5th, 2012 · · News and Announcements Comments Off on Community Work Session to Decide on OB’s Financial Management
    The Occupy Boston Finance Community Work Session is scheduled for Sunday, May 6, from 1:00 to 4:00, at Hope Church, in Jamaica Plain.  This Work Session is designed to address the issues and concerns raised at the FAWG hosted 4/10/12 Community Conversation, concerning Occupy Boston’s relationship to its finances. FAWG invites the entire OB community to help create the financial decisions necessary, for the next phase of the movement.  Hope Church is located one block from the Green Street T Station on the Orange Line.
    Come decide the what, who, how and why of OB Financial Management.

     

    Please see  FAWG’s transcription and categorization of the comments and identification of issues, from the 4/10 session:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsQk3Yy-nTUxdHgzbUdCd3U2Z0hrUi1jNV93di1XM3c#gid=0
    Also, see these minutes from the 4/10 community conversation:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZDSrDgRgj4yptY0nA7glRNPobJJBcq8FONEozoCxEwk/edit

    Contact us

    Occupy Boston Media <Media@occupyboston.org> • <Info@occupyboston.org> • @Occupy_Boston