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    • Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-16-12

    April 16th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-16-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Blame the victim: Anu Bhagwati, a former company commander in the Marines and executive director of Service Women’s Action Network, a veterans advocacy group, says she sees a pattern of the military using psychiatric diagnoses to get rid of women who report sexual assaults. CNN has interviewed women in all branches of the armed forces, including the Coast Guard, who tell stories that follow a similar pattern — [they suffer] a sexual assault, [then face] a command dismissive of the allegations and a psychiatric discharge. For more info, click here. And here’s an interesting opinion piece that posits that Either Way, Motherhood Is a Dismal Financial Decision for American Women. And here’s an article on How Mitt Romney Ruined Countless Lives And Helped Create The Welfare State, which includes a 3-minute video by Robert Reich explaining in simple terms how private equity firms help the 1% and hurt the 99%. And here is coverage of the rally by farmworkers, Fair Food allies, and members of Occupy Boston who called on Stop & Shop to join the Fair Food Program.

    Other Occupies/Protests: Here’s an artistic way to protest: Lite Brite Activism meets The Peoples’ Movement of Wisconsin with the Overpass Light Brigade. Article with photos here; brief video here.

    “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” Benjamin Franklin

    Upcoming Events:

    • Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.
    • A public hearing on the third and latest risk assessment for the NEIDL (the Boston University bioweapons lab) has been scheduled for Thursday, April 19, 2012, from 6:30-9:30 PM at Roxbury Community College,  Media Arts Building, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Boston. The closest T stop is Roxbury Crossing. 

For almost 10 years, the Safety Net (a Roxbury-based community group) and the Stop the BU Bioterror Lab Coalition have successfully fought to prevent this dangerous high containment  biological laboratory from being opened in the densely populated Roxbury/South End neighborhood.  High-level containment laboratories do research on pathogens that can cause severe illness and death. The highest level (BSL-4) labs study lethal diseases that can be transmitted by air and for which there are no vaccines or treatments.  The lab is located in an Environmental Justice neighborhood which already faces significant health and environmental hazards.

 Two previous risk assessments have been severely criticized by the courts and by a National Research Council panel of experts.   This latest 1700-page effort can be viewed at http://nihblueribbonpanel-bumc-neidl.od.nih.gov/,   The National Institutes of Health have scheduled the April 19th hearing because they are required to offer  community members and other concerned citizens an opportunity to comment on the risk assessment. We must make it clear to BU, NIH, and the political establishment that this lab is not acceptable to us.   It is essential that we turn out in large numbers. Please plan to attend! A large turn-out could have an impact on the final disposition of the research done in this lab. For more information, please contact Ridgely Fuller, ridgelyfuller@gmail.com.
    • What is Occupy Wall Street? A film screening. Occupy HCC (Holyoke Community College) is hosting a film screening of short films produced by Occupy Wall Street in the Forum at HCC, April 27, 3pm-5pm. Come and find out about the Occupy Movement that started on Wall St. and has spread across the globe! There will be a Q&A session following the films with activists from different Occupy groups across the Northeast. This event is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College Student Senate.
    • 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!
    • 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.
    • Occupy New England – M12 Day of Action and Regional Gathering. May 12: Come join Occupy groups from all around New England as we converge in Worcester for a day of action and networking! At Worcester City Hall and Common. More information to be announced.

    Continue reading »

    The OB Media Rundown for 4/16/12

    April 15th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/16/12

    Ask Not Who’s Co-Opting You, Ask Whom You Can Co-Opt

    In plenty of situations, the Occupy movement has known to stay on the offensive when it comes to co-option, not the defensive. The planning process for May Day in New York is a great example of that. By getting labor and community organizers in on the ground floor, and demanding that they follow Occupy rules, Occupiers have managed to draw these rigidly hierarchical institutions into an anarchist-style spokescouncil meeting format, and they’ve ensured that a massive march of labor and immigrant groups will coincide with the movement’s agitation for a general strike.

    As for the 99% Spring. Of course these organizations and their Democratic Party allies would love to take advantage of the movement for their own ends – which include everything from reelecting Barack Obama to victories on environmental and labor issues. Who can blame them for trying? But it’s not like they were training 100,000 in nonviolent direct action last year, or in 2008, or on behalf of John Kerry. They’re doing it because the Wisconsin Uprising, and Tar Sands Action, and Occupy Wall Street all changed their sense of what is politically possible in this country, and they want to get in on it however they can.

    Maybe it would be different if the Occupy movement itself were training 100,000 people in direct action right now, too. But it’s not. Tens of thousands people who’ve never done activism or civil disobedience are taking baby steps toward doing so, and Occupy can count that as a big victory – which it needs right now, since many of the occupations themselves have dwindled and most Americans seem to think that the movement is over.

    http://tinyurl.com/cazuhw3

    If 25,000 people rally in midtown, is that a story?

    Absent the tent communities, shut down when cities barred Occupiers from sleeping in parks, it’s an open question whether most of the press outlets will be willing to provide substantive coverage of the issues raised by the protesters. It will be disappointing but not surprising if major press outlets provide coverage only when there is a police angle – that is, when there are mass arrests or injuries at one of the protests. Without decisions by editors to cover all aspects of protests and not just the arrests, it is likely that, once again, the substance and message of the various actions will be ignored or muffled.

    Over the last few months, mainstream news outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Post generally adopted the story line that the Occupy movement was fading. The Times, for example, in its April 1 edition, all but pronounced the movement as being on life support in an article written by Michael S. Schmidt, a national reporter in the paper’s Washington bureau.

    http://tinyurl.com/d6yqv3a

    Media report: ‘99% Spring is the 2012 version of Occupy Wall Street’

    When the 2012 version of “Occupy Wall Street” emerges from hibernation, it will be after having been to school.

    A coalition of liberal, union, and progressive organizations hoping to capitalize on the success of last year’s Occupy movement held a series of “99% Spring Action Training” sessions in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas Saturday.

    http://tinyurl.com/bqdckqe

    Continue reading »

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-15-12

    April 15th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-15-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Ex-Reporter Sues After Alleged Police Brutality Deleted Off Camera. For more, click here.  Single mother accused of endangering her children by bringing them to Occupy Oakland. The “recklessly endangering” activities that Kerie and her children were taking part in? They ate pizza, wrote letters to imprisoned comrades, played Frisbee and tag, and read books in an environment largely resembling a park picnic. For more, click here. And here’s another take on Occupy vs. the 99% Spring movement: How Occupy “Co-opted” the 99% Spring. On a lighter note: Occupy Circus and Film Festival Tour launches in the Midwest.  And check out this music video about the 99% called 99th Problem.

    Other Occupies/Protests: A public hearing on the third and latest risk assessment for the NEIDL (the Boston University bioweapons lab) has been scheduled for Thursday, April 19, 2012, from 6:30-9:30 PM at Roxbury Community College,  Media Arts Building, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Boston. The closest T stop is Roxbury Crossing. 

For almost 10 years, the Safety Net (a Roxbury-based community group) and the Stop the BU Bioterror Lab Coalition have successfully fought to prevent this dangerous high containment  biological laboratory from being opened in the densely populated Roxbury/South End neighborhood.  High-level containment laboratories do research on pathogens that can cause severe illness and death. The highest level (BSL-4) labs study lethal diseases that can be transmitted by air and for which there are no vaccines or treatments.  The lab is located in an Environmental Justice neighborhood which already faces significant health and environmental hazards.

 Two previous risk assessments have been severely criticized by the courts and by a National Research Council panel of experts.   This latest 1700-page effort can be viewed at http://nihblueribbonpanel-bumc-neidl.od.nih.gov/,   The National Institutes of Health have scheduled the April 19th hearing because they are required to offer  community members and other concerned citizens an opportunity to comment on the risk assessment. We must make it clear to BU, NIH, and the political establishment that this lab is not acceptable to us.   It is essential that we turn out in large numbers. Please plan to attend! A large turn-out could have an impact on the final disposition of the research done in this lab. For more information, please contact Ridgely Fuller, ridgelyfuller@gmail.com.

    “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” James Otis

    Upcoming Events:

    • On April 16th, students will once again stand up and protest against egregious tuition increases and their ever growing student loan debt. Occupy Colleges encourages students across the nation to voice their opinions on our Nation’s Tax day by either marching to their administration buildings on campus, demonstrating before their respective student unions or simply moving their money from a large bank to their local credit union. Occupy Colleges also asks that students, parents and alumni take the time to sign our “No Cuts, No Compromise” petition to maintain affordable higher-education and legislative budget cuts throughout the country. For more, see this website: http://occupycolleges.org/sign-up-for-april-16th-event
    • Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.
    • What is Occupy Wall Street? A film screening. Occupy HCC (Holyoke Community College) is hosting a film screening of short films produced by Occupy Wall Street in the Forum at HCC, April 27, 3pm-5pm. Come and find out about the Occupy Movement that started on Wall St. and has spread across the globe! There will be a Q&A session following the films with activists from different Occupy groups across the Northeast. This event is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College Student Senate.
    • 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!
    • 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.
    • Occupy New England – M12 Day of Action and Regional Gathering. May 12: Come join Occupy groups from all around New England as we converge in Worcester for a day of action and networking! At Worcester City Hall and Common. More information to be announced.

    Continue reading »

    The OB Media Rundown for 4/15/12

    April 14th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/15/12

    Reducing taxes on the wealthy to ‘kick start’ economic growth is dangerous to our national well-being

    In practice, we therefore see that proposals to “kick start” economic growth through reductions in tax rates are in fact proposals to lower tax rates on the wealthy. The wealthy are assumed to be productive and innovative, in general. However, it’s obvious that some of the wealthy – and perhaps even very many of them – will decide to invest their increased income or wealth in socially less desirable or even dangerous activities. They may buy real estate, which can lead to a housing bubble; they may speculate on the stock market or in toxic mortgage backed securities etc. There is rarely a trickle down effect of these activities; incentivizing them by keeping taxes low won’t help anyone but the incentivized, and may even – in the longer term – cause recessions. One should be conscious of this risk when claiming that low taxes promote growth.
    . . .

    Another reason why low tax rates may not be particularly beneficial and perhaps even harmful to economic growth has to do with income inequality. The supposedly beneficial effect of low taxes on economic growth occurs not necessarily because everyone’s tax rates are low but rather because the productive and innovative segments of society and those who have the means to invest can benefit from low tax rates. The growth enhancing effects of low tax rates should be most obvious in those segments, although there may also be an effect for the rest of us. As stated before, the wealthy are often a proxy for those segments, given the difficulty of identifying the really productive and innovative individuals and of targeting tax reductions at them.

    This means that low tax rates will tend to exacerbate income inequality. There is some evidence that income inequality reduces growth  and that it leads to credit bubbles, financial crises and recession.

    http://tinyurl.com/cxubndy

    Increasingly in Europe, Suicides ‘by Economic Crisis’

    On New Year’s Eve, Antonio Tamiozzo, 53, hanged himself in the warehouse of his construction business near Vicenza, after several debtors did not pay what they owed him.

    Three weeks earlier, Giovanni Schiavon, 59, a contractor, shot himself in the head at the headquarters of his debt-ridden construction company on the outskirts of Padua. As he faced the bleak prospect of ordering Christmas layoffs at his family firm of two generations, he wrote a last message: “Sorry, I cannot take it anymore.”

    The economic downturn that has shaken Europe for the last three years has also swept away the foundations of once-sturdy lives, leading to an alarming spike in suicide rates. Especially in the most fragile nations like Greece, Ireland and Italy, small-business owners and entrepreneurs are increasingly taking their own lives in a phenomenon some European newspapers have started calling “suicide by economic crisis.”

    http://tinyurl.com/chg7dg9

    Second victim in Modesto eviction shooting was a locksmith

    The Stanislaus County Coroner’s office released the name of a locksmith fatally shot Thursday at a Modesto apartment when he accompanied a deputy trying to serve an eviction notice.

    Glendon Engert, 35, of Modesto was one of two men killed by a gunman who authorities say opened fire as authorities attempted to evict him. The deputy, 16-year veteran Robert Paris, was also fatally wounded.

    http://tinyurl.com/cdmm3zw

    Continue reading »

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-14-12

    April 14th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-14-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Chicago police are preparing to use Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) on protesters during the G-8/NATO Summit. LRAD devices send sounds, warnings and tones that are painful to the human ear.  According to the ACLU of Pennsylvania, a bystander during the Pittsburgh protests in 2009 has sued the city of Pittsburgh for hearing loss and pain resulting from the use of LRAD. Read more here. And one of the more extreme government abuses of the post-9/11 era targets U.S. citizens re-entering their own country. With no oversight or legal framework whatsoever, the Department of Homeland Security routinely singles out individuals who are suspected of no crimes, detains them and questions them at the airport, often for hours, when they return to the U.S. after an international trip, and then copies and even seizes their electronic devices. For the story of a documentary filmmaker who is trying to produce a trilogy of War on Terror films and has repeatedly been subject to this treatment, click here. And Occupy Returns to its Roots with “Sleepful Protests.” And Occupy Wall Street Finally Occupies Wall Street!

    Other Occupies/Protests:  A press release from Occupy Chicago states: Mental Health Clinic Facing Closure Occupied by Patients and Advocates. Dozens of people who use Chicago’s mental health clinics along with other advocates have barricaded themselves into the Woodlawn Clinic at 6337 S. Woodlawn, one of 6 clinics facing closure. They intend to remain there until Mayor Emanuel agrees to keep all of Chicago’s public clinics open, fully funded and fully staffed. For more, click here.

    “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to accept what is true.” Søren Kierkegaard

    Upcoming Events:

    • On April 16th, students will once again stand up and protest against egregious tuition increases and their ever growing student loan debt. Occupy Colleges encourages students across the nation to voice their opinions on our Nation’s Tax day by either marching to their administration buildings on campus, demonstrating before their respective student unions or simply moving their money from a large bank to their local credit union. Occupy Colleges also asks that students, parents and alumni take the time to sign our “No Cuts, No Compromise” petition to maintain affordable higher-education and legislative budget cuts throughout the country. For more, see this website: http://occupycolleges.org/sign-up-for-april-16th-event/
    • Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.
    • 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!
    • May 1 General Strike! A Day Without the 99%. NO WORK – NO SCHOOL – NO SHOPPING – NO BANKING – NO TRADING. GENERAL STRIKE AND BOYCOTT CALLED!
      FOR IM/MIGRANT RIGHTS
      FOR AN END TO ALL WARS
      FOR ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND LABOR RIGHTS
      FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE
      FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES AND AN END TO THE POLICE STATE
      FOR HOUSING, EDUCATION, AND HEALTH CARE AS HUMAN RIGHTS
      FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUITY      7:00am-11:00am: 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 RallyCan’t make it to Boston City Hall at Noon? Well how about: The Chelsea City Hall? – Gather at Noon – March at 2:pm (For More information please contact La Colaborativa (617) 889-6097)

      2:00pm: LoPresti Park Rally/March (Blue Line: Maverick Square) (For more information contact [redacted])

      4:00pm: Everett – Glendale Park (For more information please contact La Comunidad (617) 387-9996)

      7:00pm: 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 7:00 PM 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 8:00pm and will travel through areas of wealth and commerce.

    Saturday, April 14, 2012

    Please note events are subject to change; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

    Event Highlights:

    Memorial for Andrews Claude, at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Avenue, Suite 1-A, Somerville, from 4:30 pm to 9:30pm. Please come to the Armory in Somerville to celebrate Andy Claude’s life.  It’s hard to even describe how important Andy was to our Dewey Square encampment.  He kept people safe.  He untangled disputes with generous peaceful wisdom.  He led from within.  No one felt less than wonderful around Andy.  I thank the universe that I got to know him.  If you knew him at all, or enjoyed the safety or joy of the camp at Dewey, please join us for a celebration of Andy’s life. If you want to help with the procession, or with Sinkerella, or if you can play music or make some food, please contact Terra Friedrichs, terraf@compuserve.com, or Cailin.  If you can read some poetry or share some thoughts or a song, there will be an open mike as well as an on-going jam session.  Please join us… And please pass this on to all connected to Occupy and the Boston Music Scene.  Andy was an important part of the Boston music scene.  The folks from all walks of life who call their home the Middle East Club in Cambridge will be joining us Saturday.

    Continue reading »

    Contact us

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