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    • The OB Media Rundown for 3/31/12

    March 31st, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown One comment

    Occupiers propose local governments use eminent domain to seize mortgage contracts from banks to keep families in their homes

    This year, activists working with the Occupy Wall Street movement have proposed eminent domain as a wide scale solution for keeping owners facing foreclosure in their homes. The proposed mechanism would have localities (or their appointed representatives) seize large batches of mortgage contracts at or below fair market value, allowing the homeowner to refinance at the fair market value. Proponents say that the solution would be politically and economically feasible.
    . . .

    In his talk to InterOccupy.org, Michael Sauvante noted that eminent domain applies not just to real property, but to contract rights as well. Specifically, it would apply to the mortgage contracts and promissory notes held by big banks against the homes of millions of people. He noted that suggestions to use eminent domain on behalf of beleaguered homeowners would surprise those campaigning against the power following the Kelo decision, including some who have had victories at the state level, as in the case of this legislation in New Hampshire.

    http://tinyurl.com/bmnn2qv

    Colleges Withhold Transcripts From Grads in Loan Default

    A spokesman from Temple confirms that it is school policy to withhold official transcripts from graduates who are in default on their student loans. As it turns out, the school is not alone; this is the position taken by most colleges and universities, though there is no law requiring such an extortionate position. They do this despite the fact the colleges themselves are not out the money. They have received the students’ tuition payments in full and are in effect simply acting as collection agencies for the federal government.

    http://tinyurl.com/c2oj4tg

    Rampant student loan debt, an economic recovery’s worst nightmare

    I knew that if I ever got my health back that picking up the pieces of my life wouldn’t be easy. I would still be crippled by the damage done to my credit. My ability to get a car back on the road, ever own a home, have children, start a business, or live a fruitful life has been severely damaged. Nobody ever thinks they will lose their health overnight, but it happens all too often. My lender not only had no sympathy for my situation, but they did all they could to capitalize on it.

    http://tinyurl.com/7ggbbve

    Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 3/31/12” »

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 3-31-12

    March 31st, 2012 · · Daily Digest One comment

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Documents released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to a FOIA request filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, filmmaker Michael Moore and the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Committee reveal that federal law enforcement agencies began their coordinated intelligence gathering and operations on the Occupy movement even before the first tent went up in Zuccotti Park on September 17, 2011: See How Homeland Security Is Hiding the Feds’ Role in Occupy Crackdown. California lawmakers vote to overturn Citizens United. And peep this: the Washington Post Peep Diorama Contest winning entry was OccuPeep D.C.!

    Other Occupies/Protests: For info on the plans for protests at the G8/NATO summits, click here.

    “An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.” Thomas Paine

    Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

    • Did you know? Working groups are teams of people within the Occupation, each focused on a particular area or task. These groups are like organs supporting the body of the Occupation. Within them you will find resources, discussions, and courses of action in every field.Working groups are open, which means anyone can help out, including you! Like the Occupation as a whole, each working group is a horizontal democracy, with decision-making by consensus, and publicly accessible meetings. For more information about Occupy Boston’s many different working groups, click here!
    • Have you entered the Occupier’s Haiku Contest yet? I did! Send submissions to submit@occupier.com by April 7, no more than 3 haikus per person. Prizes!
    Upcoming Events:

    Sunday, April 1, 12 noon-11 pm, Take Back Dewey, Dewey Square, at South Station, Boston

    • 12:00pm – Lunch (Bring some to share).
    • 1:00pm – April’s Fools March – The theme is to sarcastically invoke the ideas and thoughts that Occupy Boston are fighting against.
    • 3:00pm – Livestream training (meet by Gandhi)
    • 3:00pm – Clothing Swap (Got stuff you don’t wear anymore? Bring your clothes, and trade with friends! Surplus clothes will be going to a worthy cause).
    • 4:30pm – Open Mic/Stack
    • 5:30pm – Occupy Boston’s General Assembly
    • 8:00pm – Direct Action Planning Meeting: On the agenda: How to institute anti-oppression? How can we organize without endangering others? Creating a decentralized model(spokes, affinities, etc)

    Monday, April 2, 6 pm-8:30 pm (doors open 5:30), Occupy Boston Open House at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston. All WGs are welcome to attend, the idea is to make it like a job fair so that people can learn about what the working groups do. Please bring fliers/literature relevant to your group if you have it, and please make a sign with your group’s name on it. Please tell us in advance if your group plans to attend, you can contact me at AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org.

    Wednesday, April 4, 3pm-11:30pm Occupy Boston – National Day of Action for Public Transportation, Massachusetts State House

    Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all. Service cuts and fare hikes will have a devastating and disproportionate impact on low-income communities, communities of color, students, workers, seniors and the environment. We say NO TO PRIVATIZATION of our common resources and NO MORE EXCUSES! We will not accept any funding strategies that attempt to divide the 99% against each other or shift the burden onto the backs of the 99%: the poor and working classes. End the wars and tax the rich! On April 4th, we will stand together to demand public transportation for the 99%. If our call is not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.

    Saturday, March 31, 2012

    Event Highlight:

    3pm-6pm, Ocupemos el Barrio Forum on the new Anti-Immigrant Law that the Massachusetts Senate is currently discussing. East Boston Social Center, 68 Central Square, East Boston. Contact: 781-656-5632 or Ocupemoselbarrio@gmail.com

    Calendar for Saturday, March 31, 2012

    1pm-2pm Peace Vigil, at Park Street T Station

    2pm-4pm Safer Spaces Cluster Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111

    3pm-4:45pm Facilitation WG meeting, at City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building

    3pm-5pm Media WG Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111

    5:30pm-8:30pm Anti-Oppression WG Meeting, at Arlington St. Church (1st floor) 351 Arlington St. (corner of Arlington and Boylston Sts.)

    5pm-8:30 pm General Assembly, at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St. Tonight’s GA will feature: Presentation from the Medics Working Group and discussion hosted by Safer Spaces on our collective values and practices in the spaces we Occupy (after Announcements and through the end of General Assembly)

    For more information on GA including passed resolutions, click here! 
    There’s More: Check out our Daily Calendar for full descriptions of events at Occupy Boston.

    And if you’re interested in learning more about Occupy Boston and how you can participate, click here!

    Contact Us: Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning! All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org. And subscribe to the Occupy Boston Media Rundown, a daily listing of Occupy-related news, by contacting JohnM@OccupyBoston.org.

    The OB Media Rundown for 3/30/12

    March 30th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown One comment

    Occupy Pittsburgh Answers Call to Join National Day Of Action For Public Transportation

    On Wednesday, April 4, Occupy Pittsburgh invites the people of Allegheny County to stand together with those across the country to demand public transportation for the 99%. Public transportation provides vital access to work, housing, medical care, school, and other services for citizens in our county. It is a basic human right which helps everyone reach a decent standard of living, and secures health and well-being of our families.

    April 4th is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s groundbreaking speech “Beyond Vietnam: Breaking the Silence” in which he spoke of the connections between war and poverty. He explained his understanding that “America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube”, and that he had become “increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”

    In this spirit, we recognize that attacks on public transportation happening across the country, from Boston to Portland, Pittsburgh to Oakland, and DC to LA are part of a larger austerity program being enforced against the 99% of Americans. We also recognize that these and other austerity measures are a result of the military adventures that “draw men and skills and money” away from the poorest and weakest in our society and for the benefit of the richest and most powerful 1%. These are fronts of the same struggle for a humane society, in which the needs of all come before the profits of the few.

    http://tinyurl.com/dxp6jml

    Occupy May Day: Not Your Usual General Strike

    One thing is for sure: Such a May Day action is unlikely to be very much like the general strikes that have cropped up occasionally in US labor history in cities like Seattle, Oakland, and Stamford, Ct., or the ones that are a staple of political protest in Europe. These are typically conducted by unions whose action is called for and coordinated by central labor councils or national labor federations.  But barely twelve percent of American workers are even members of unions, and American unions and their leaders risk management reprisals and even criminal charges for simply endorsing such a strike.
    Most Occupy May Day advocates understand that a conventional general strike is not in the cards. What they are advocating instead is a day in which members of the “99%” take whatever actions they can to withdraw from participation in the normal workings of the economic system – by not working if that is an option, but also by not shopping, not banking, and not engaging in other “normal” everyday activities, and by joining demonstrations, marches, disruptions, occupations, and other mass actions.

    http://tinyurl.com/7jj5uqx

    The Making of a 99% Spring

    Next month, activists and organizers across the country are planning to train 100,000 people in nonviolent direct action for what they call The 99% Spring. But despite borrowing one or two of the Occupy movement’s favorite slogans, The 99% Spring hasn’t been called for by any general assembly. Rather, this massive and controversial effort is coming from the institutional left – a diverse coalition of labor unions, environmental and economic justice groups, community organizations and trainers’ alliances. While some celebrate what appears to be a mainstreaming of resistance thanks to Occupy, others are crying co-option.

    http://tinyurl.com/c66n6z3

    Battle Still On Between Americans, Wall Street Fat Cats

    (video)

    http://tinyurl.com/bmh9puo

    Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 3/30/12” »

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 3-30-12

    March 30th, 2012 · · Daily Digest One comment

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Occupy Boston hosted a viewing of the movie “Thrive” when it was released on 11/11/11, but if you haven’t seen it yet, now is your chance. Starting April 5, you will be able to stream it for free at http://www.thrivemovement.com. “The world is waking up… Follow the money… ” And, from the City University of New York to the University of California, students increasingly find themselves on the frontlines, not of a war on terror, but of a war on “radicalism” and “extremism” – see “Repress U, Class of 2012: Seven Steps to a Homeland Security Campus.” And Monsanto wants to brainwash children with their ‘Biotechnology Basics Activity Book’ – see kids, GMOs are fun!

    Other Occupies/Protests: Spanish workers angry at austerity measures the government calls a necessity staged a general strike on Thursday, bringing factories and ports to a standstill.Hundreds of thousands attended largely peaceful marches throughout Spain, waving red flags and beating drums to protest budget cuts by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

    “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” Mark Twain

    Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

    – A musician who will be playing at Dewey Square on April 1 is looking for a couple of people to help unload equipment around 11 am. Contact: mark@melodeego.com

    – Did you enter the Occupier’s Haiku Contest? I did! Send submissions to submit@occupier.com by April 7, no more than 3 haikus per person.

    Prizes: The top 3 haikus will be published in Issue 7 of the Boston Occupier (out April 18th), as well as on bostonoccupier.com.  In addition…

    1st place: A Boston Occupier bumper sticker, screen-printed bandana, and a 12-issue subscription to The Boston Occupier!

    2nd place: A Boston Occupier bumper sticker and screen-printed bandana

    3rd place: A Boston Occupier bumper sticker

    Upcoming Events:

    Sunday, April 1, 12 noon-11 pm, Take Back Dewey, Dewey Square, at South Station, Boston

    12:00pm – Lunch (Bring some to share).
    1:00pm – April’s Fools March – The theme is to sarcastically invoke the ideas and thoughts that Occupy Boston are fighting against.
    3:00pm – Livestream training (meet by Gandhi) 🙂
    3:00pm – Clothing Swap (Got stuff you don’t wear anymore? Bring your clothes, and trade with friends! Surplus clothes will be going to a worthy cause).
    4:30pm – Open Mic/Stack
    5:30pm – Occupy Boston’s General Assembly.

    Monday, April 2, 6 pm-8:30 pm (doors open 5:30), Occupy Boston Open House at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston. All WGs are welcome to attend, the idea is to make it like a job fair so that people can learn about what the working groups do. Please bring fliers/literature relevant to your group if you have it, and please make a sign with your group’s name on it. Please tell us in advance if your group plans to attend, you can contact me at AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org.

    Wednesday, April 4, 3pm-11:30pm Occupy Boston – National Day of Action for Public Transportation, Massachusetts State House

    Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all. Service cuts and fare hikes will have a devastating and disproportionate impact on low-income communities, communities of color, students, workers, seniors and the environment. We say NO TO PRIVATIZATION of our common resources and NO MORE EXCUSES! We will not accept any funding strategies that attempt to divide the 99% against each other or shift the burden onto the backs of the 99%: the poor and working classes. End the wars and tax the rich! On April 4th, we will stand together to demand public transportation for the 99%. If our call is not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.

    Friday, March 30, 2012

    Event Highlight: OB Decolonize supports Free Palestine Rally & March, 6pm – 8pm. Copley Square

    March 30 marks Palestine Land Day in Palestinian national memory. The march’s aim is to mark it as an international event to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and to protect Jerusalem.  Join us in Boston to stand in solidarity with this global effort to bring justice to Palestine and to end US and Israeli aggression against Iran. Sponsored by Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights (BCPR), Boston United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), the International Action Center (IAC), the Palestine Task Force of United for Justice with Peace, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade, Code Pink and Students for Justice in Palestine Boston University Chapter.

    Calendar for Friday, March 30, 2012

    Occupy Lent: Prayers of Repentance for Economic Injustice, 8:00am – 8:30am, Bank of America Building, 100 Federal St, Boston, MA 02114

    Free School University WG Meeting, 5:30pm – 7:30pm, Harvest Food Coop Community Room, 581 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

    Women’s Caucus Working Group,  5:30pm – 7:00pm, 14 Beacon St, First Floor, Boston.

    Occupy MBTA WG Meeting, 6pm – 8pm, SEIU 26 West St.
    Radio WG Meeting, 7pm – 9pm, City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)

    There’s More: Check out our Daily Calendar for full descriptions of events at Occupy Boston.

    And if you’re interested in learning more about Occupy Boston and how you can participate, click here!

    Contact Us: Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning!All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 3-29-12

    March 29th, 2012 · · Daily Digest One comment

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: MBTA unveils final proposal: 23 percent fare hikes, multiple service cuts (see below for April 4 action). And how you dress really does make a difference: OWS people in suits get arrested and police apologize for arresting them! And here’s a playful DIY instructional video on how to dress for a protest – hint, pockets!  And in case you feel like monitoring the Boston police scanner while listening to ambient music, click here!

    Other Occupies: This morning before rush hour, teams of activists, many from Occupy Wall Street, in conjunction with rank and file workers from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Amalgamated Transit Union, opened up more than 20 Metropolitan Transit Authority stations across the city for free entry. 

    Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

    Do you like writing poetry?  Do you like writing three lines of it?  Then submit your entries for The Boston Occupier’s 1st Annual Haiku Contest today!

    The rules for the contest are as follows:

    -Submissions are open…starting now!  They will remain open until April 7th, 2012.

    -Writers are allowed 3 submissions max

    –All submissions must be sent to submit@bostonoccupier.com

    -All submissions must be haikus (no iambic pentameter shenanigans, please).  See here if you don’t know exactly what a haiku is.

    -All submissions must be the original work of the author.  Any plagiarism will mean instant disqualification.

    -The content of submissions should be relevant to the content of The Boston Occupier, or touch on related subjects.

    -The tone of submissions can be humorous, dramatic, whimsical, whatever you want!

    -Submissions will be judged by the editorial staff of The Boston Occupier

    PRIZES!

    “Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them.”

    –Abbie Hoffman

    Upcoming Events:

    Sunday, April 1, 12 noon-11 pm, Take Back Dewey, Dewey Square, at South Station, Boston

    12:00pm – Lunch (Bring some to share).
    1:00pm – April’s Fools March – The theme is to sarcastically invoke the ideas and thoughts that Occupy Boston are fighting against.
    3:00pm – Livestream training (meet by Gandhi) 🙂
    3:00pm – Clothing Swap (Got stuff you don’t wear anymore? Bring your clothes, and trade with friends! Surplus clothes will be going to a worthy cause).
    4:30pm – Open Mic/Stack
    5:30pm – Occupy Boston’s General Assembly.

    Monday, April 2, 6 pm-8:30 pm (doors open 5:30), Occupy Boston Open House at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston. All WGs are welcome to attend, the idea is to make it like a job fair so that people can learn about what the working groups do. Please bring fliers/literature relevant to your group if you have it, and please make a sign with your group’s name on it. Please tell us in advance if your group plans to attend, you can contact me at AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org.

    Wednesday, April 4, 3pm-11:30pm Occupy Boston – National Day of Action for Public Transportation, Massachusetts State House

    Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all. Service cuts and fare hikes will have a devastating and disproportionate impact on low-income communities, communities of color, students, workers, seniors and the environment. We say NO TO PRIVATIZATION of our common resources and NO MORE EXCUSES! We will not accept any funding strategies that attempt to divide the 99% against each other or shift the burden onto the backs of the 99%: the poor and working classes. End the wars and tax the rich! On April 4th, we will stand together to demand public transportation for the 99%. If our call is not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.

    Thursday, March 29, 2012

    Event Highlight: General Assembly,  7:00pm – 10:30pm

    Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street (close to Arlington street)

    Calendar for Thursday, March 29, 2012

    Street WG meeting,  5pm – 7pm, Boloco, next to Community Church (Copley Square)

    Facilitation WG Meeting, 5pm – 6:45pm, CITY PLACE FOOD COURT – aka TRANSPORTATION BUILDING – Boylston, Charles and Stuart Streets
    General Strike (May 1) WG Meeting, 5:15pm – 6:45pm, Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, Boston (5th floor)
    There’s More: Check out our Daily Calendar for a list of all events at Occupy Boston.

    Contact Us

    Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning!

    All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org

    Contact us

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