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    • The General Assembly agrees to fund May First Coalition, InReach WG and approves changes in GA location, process and a special presentation

    April 27th, 2012 · · General Assembly, News and Announcements, Passed Resolutions Comments Off on The General Assembly agrees to fund May First Coalition, InReach WG and approves changes in GA location, process and a special presentation

    The following proposals were passed by Occupy Boston’s General Assembly on April 26, 2012:

    • That 90 minutes of General Assembly time on Saturday, May 12, 2012, should be used for a presentation to develop a common level of knowledge about the current financial crisis and what are the practical alternatives.  The presenters will be Gary Epstein, Professor of Economics at UMass Amherst, and Jim Campen, Professor of Economics at UMass Boston.
    • A $200 donation for the May First Coalition.
    • OJP proposes moving the Occupy Boston General Assembly scheduled for May 5 to the Southwest Corridor Park, location of the Wake Up the Earth Festival. Aria will get an exact location to Facilitators and as many email lists as possible within the next two days. If WUTE is rescheduled to May 6 because of rain–pending approval by SAA–SAA will move to WUTE. GA will discuss details and a topic during the regular meetings between now and May 5.
    • The InReach Working Group proposes to purchase a 1-inch button machine with parts for 2,000 buttons ($632) and reimburse members of InReach for expenses from the Open House ($64.27).  The $397.71 that is left from the Info Tent proposal will go to this purchase, meaning an additional sum of $298.56 will be allocated.  The machine will be the 1-inch button maker purchased in November by Bil Lewis along with remaining parts from the 2000 purchased at that time.
    • To create a “consent bucket,” which is a list of proposals that can be considered to address subjects around which a broad consensus can be reached.  Proposals would be grouped together in a bucket or package.  Initially all new proposals would be introduced as items in the “consent bucket.”  There would be no discussion about the proposals themselves beyond clarifying questions.  If any member felt that any proposal or proposals required discussion, it would be pulled out of the “bucket” and considered as part of the regular proposal process.  Members of the assembly should feel comfortable in expressing reservations about any part of the “consent bucket” and request assistance from fellow members if necessary.  The remaining items in the “consent bucket” would be adopted by unanimous vote.  The “consent bucket” would be considered after announcements and before the agenda.  If adopted this proposal will be implemented immediately.

     

    Stand up with us against the ‘war on women’ today!

    April 27th, 2012 · · Events Comments Off on Stand up with us against the ‘war on women’ today!

    Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality today (Saturday), 10 am – 2 pm, City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Square in Boston.

    Join Americans all across the United States as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, “Enough is enough!” All Americans have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including contraception, without interference from government, business or religious institutions.

    Please join us as we gather together and show both state and federal legislative bodies that we won’t stand silently by as they propose and pass laws that will impact women’s choices, health, and wellbeing. We need everyone’s voice!

    These decisions affect all genders, races, and socio-economic statuses!

    More info on the Facebook event page.

     

    Occupy Boston teams up with Critical Mass! to ride this Friday

    April 27th, 2012 · · Events Comments Off on Occupy Boston teams up with Critical Mass! to ride this Friday

    Occupy joins forces with Critical Mass! to bring awareness to climate change and Earth Day this Friday, April 27, 5:30-8 pm. The American Spring will be rode in on bikes. Bring your bikes/wheeled things and meet at Copley for Occupied Critical Mass!

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-27-12

    April 27th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-27-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Even death isn’t an excuse not to pay your student loans: when Christopher Bryski, a Rutgers University undergraduate student, died from a traumatic brain injury in 2006, his family wasn’t thinking about his student loans. That is, not until KeyBank, a Cleveland-based institution with nearly $90 billion in assets, asked his parents to assume responsibility for his debt. For more, click here. And in another example of aggressive debt collector tactics, an Illinois woman found herelf jailed over a bill she didn’t even owe in the first place. Breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay of Herrin, Illinois was put in debtors’ prison over a $280 medical bill that was sent to her by accident. And here I thought Debtor’s Prison was only continued to exist in Dickens novels… See story here. And in protest news: a group of older and disabled public transportation riders interrupted the Massachusetts House’s budget deliberations Tuesday, leading court officers to temporarily shut down the public’s access to the House chambers. The protesters were escorted out of the public gallery on the fourth floor of the Massachusetts Statehouse while chanting “the riders united will never be defeated” and “they say cut back, we say fight back.” For the story, click here. And an Occupy Wall Street protester describes her first arrest.

    Other Occupies/Protests: UC police used a megaphone late Tuesday to tell the several dozen urban-farm activists who’ve been occupying the UC-owned Gill Tract in Albany for three days that they are trespassing and face arrest and fines if they don’t leave. The group hopes to create an ongoing, sustainable farm at the site that can serve as both an educational resource and source of “fresh, healthy food” and to protest plans to pave over the land for a parking lot and a Whole Foods. UC cut off the water supply Monday. In a related development, UC officials at the last minute pulled their proposal for a Whole Foods market and senior housing at University Village (the UC student housing complex next to the Gill Tract) from the Tuesday night agenda of the Albany Planning & Zoning Commission, Albany Patch reported. For more, click here. Later that night, the Dean of Natural Resources paid a second visit to the Albany lot where protesters have set up tents and begun cultivating vegetables. A university spokesperson says Cal hopes to reach a peaceful resolution to the protest. For more, click here. Hundreds of protesters affiliated with the “99 Percent Spring” movement disrupted the start of General Electric Co’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Detroit on Wednesday, in an attack on the largest U.S. conglomerate’s low tax rate. For the story, click here.

     “Everytime you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” Anna Lappe

    Upcoming Events:

    • MA Unite Against the War on Women Rally, April 28, 10am-2pm, at City Hall Plaza. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, “Enough is enough!” All Americans have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including contraception, without interference from government, business or religious institutions. Please join us as we gather together and show both state and federal legislative bodies that we won’t stand silently by as they propose and pass laws that will impact women’s choices, health, and wellbeing. We need everyone’s voice! These decisions affect all genders, races, and socio-economic statuses! Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/206965382738915/
    • On April 28, 2012 from 5pm to 10pm, artists from Occupy Boston will host a gathering with artist and cultural provocateur Steve Lambert. Taking place at Samsøn (450 Harrison Avenue), this event will be an opportunity for Lambert and the greater Occupy community to connect over questions of messaging, humor, culture jamming, and creative activism as the movement heads into the coming seasons. Following the discussion, we will screen the film The Yes Men Fix the World.
    • Rally for the Guards at “Art in Bloom”
      SATURDAY, April 28, 11:30AM-2PM
      In front of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Huntington side)
      465 Huntington Ave, Boston MA
      (Green Line E to Museum of Fine Arts; Orange Line to Ruggles)
      RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/275860625840007/ The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is seriously considering OUTSOURCING their guard union. Some have been working there for as many as 30 years. They would lose their status as museum employees and would be forced to apply for their jobs to an outside contractor with a bad reputation withtheir workers. (IF they get re-hired) The museum would have non-union workers doing their union jobs! Let’s give the top 1% our 100% effort in stopping these attacks!  ****This is “THE ART IN BLOOM RALLY” and is a big event for the MFA. Many galleries are fitted with flower arrangements to complement a specific piece of art. This draws thousands in three days. Their next very important negotiations are the first week of May.**** GET INVOLVED WITH THE SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE: Next meeting Sunday, April 29, 5:30pm, Food Court at the Marino Center, Northeastern University, Forsyth St & Huntington Ave, Boston MA. (Green Line E to Northeastern; Orange Line to Ruggles). For more information about any of these events, email misu-solidarity-owner@yahoogroups.com.
    • May 1st Training with Occupy Boston: Sunday, April 29, 12pm-3pm, location TBA (see Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/396045130426024/). Gearing up for May 1st? Want to feel more prepared? Join Occupy Boston as we get ready for the General Strike! Direct Action and the Medics will be providing basic training this Sunday in preparation for Tuesday’s General Strike! There will be plenty of fun activities as well as training in basic safety procedures. Join us!
    • Boston New Sanctuary Movement Presents A Return to A Faithful Understanding, An Interfaith Conference: Toward a More Compassionate National Debate on Immigration, Sunday, April 29, 2012, 12:30 – 5 p.m.  (12-1, lunch provided by Brazilian Immigrant Center), Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St., Boston, MAWorship leader:  Rev. Rob Mark, Pastor, Church of the Covenant, Boston, Presbyterian/UCCSpeakers, Reflection leaders:  Members of the Boston New Sanctuary Movement. Schedule: 12:30  Registration; 1:00 Welcome, opening reflection; 1:15  Current Immigration issues in Boston, and the Boston New Sanctuary Movement; 1:40 Workshops, period I; 3:10 Workshops, period II; 4:40 Closing reflection; 5:00    Networking. 
    • Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day, Sunday, April 29, 10am – Monday, April 30, 12am. Where: Lots, medians, privatized public land, unpleasant public land. May 1 is International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day — people all over the world will be sowing seeds of optimism and planting sunflower seeds. It’s about occupying our city and promoting gardening, public space, food and habitats for all the human and non-humans who share the Boston ecosystem. Let’s plant 1,000 seeds!
    • May 1 General Strike! A Day Without the 99%. NO WORK – NO SCHOOL – NO SHOPPING – NO BANKING – NO TRADING. GENERAL STRIKE AND BOYCOTT CALLED! 7am-11am: Financial District Block Party! (corner of Federal and Franklin Streets). Bring a friend and let’s party! Bring whistles, drums, noise makers. Bring street theater ! 12:00pm: Boston City Hall Rally. Can’t make it to Boston City Hall at Noon? Well how about: The Chelsea City Hall? – Gather at Noon – March at 2pm (For More information please contact La Colaborativa (617) 889-6097). 2pm: LoPresti Park Rally/March (Blue Line: Maverick Square) (For more information contact Dominic at City life/Vida Urbana (617) 710-7176). 4pm: Everett – Glendale Park (For more information please contact La Comunidad (617) 387-9996). 7pm: Death of Capitalism Boston Funeral March (Copley Square). We invite people to participate in this piece of street theater which includes puppets, a marching band, and other creative surprises. People will begin gathering at 7pm at Copley Square Park (by the steps of Trinity Church) to put on costumes, puppets and face-paint and get info on their respective role in the funeral procession. We ask that people participate as: mourners (dressed in black), celebrators (wearing neon/bright colors/glow stuff), skeleton block (bring your own skeleton costume). The funeral procession will leave Copley Square Park at 8pm and will travel through areas of wealth and commerce.  
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    The OB Media Rundown for 4/27/12

    April 27th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/27/12

    Occupiers join RAN activists to tell Bank Of America: “No Coal”

    On Tax Day, RAN Boston activists joined a national day of action targeting Bank of America over….. well… everything.

    Bank of America currently pay no taxes to the government, yet received massive bailouts after they crashed the economy. They are currently the largest forecloser of homes in the U.S. and the largest funder of the coal industry. 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.

    Early in the afternoon, RAN Boston 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.

    http://tinyurl.com/cqptron

    The Debate Over Student Loan Interest Is Nothing But a Sideshow

    Inane politics aside, what’s frustrating about this issue is how little it matters in the scheme of college affordability. Yes, a few million students might have to pay more on their college debt if Congress doesn’t act. Given the state of the economy, and how particularly unkind it has been to young graduates, it’s probably worth it to give students a break, at least for another year. But whether or not it happens, this is a sideshow, a distraction from the deeply ingrained problems influencing college costs.

    Just how irrelevant is this issue to the price of an education? The New America Foundation’s Jason Delisle has a great, short rundown that should give you some perspective, but here’s an even shorter version: In July, the interest rate on newly issued subsidized Stafford loans, which make up about one-third of all student debt, is set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. They’ve only been at that rock-bottom rate for one year. By one estimate, the higher rate would cost the average borrower $1,800 more over ten years. Delisle calculates that, at most, borrowers would have to pay an extra $9 a month.

    These are not the sorts of numbers that will make or break a student’s decision to go to college, nor would they vastly impact a graduate’s finances. Of course, keeping rates lower for one year, as Obama has proposed, would cost about $6 billion. It wouldn’t exactly be a budget buster.

    http://tinyurl.com/cfg77ve

    Understanding Student Debt

    Yesterday, the level of American student debt passed the trillion dollar mark. There was little mention of the milestone in the mainstream media, but the Occupy Student Debt Campaign and its allies marked the occasion with “1T Day,” a national day of action. A few hundred gathered in New York’s Union Square and demonstrations were held in 20 other cities.

    It’s a start, but it doesn’t come close to the scale of the problem. That’s an important juxtaposition: student debt and the crisis of higher education more generally is more pronounced in the United States than elsewhere in the developed world, but the level of student organization and resistance is lower here. Part of the trouble is awareness. To do my part, I’ve assembled a quick dossier.

    http://tinyurl.com/cmpykxm

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