Community Stands With OWS To Condemn NYPD Violence

Yesterday, members of the New York City Council decried the NYPD’s behavior during the March 17th re-eviction of Liberty Square. Today, Occupy Wall Street protesters joined with members of other American communities routinely targeted by police, and called for the resignation of NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly for authorizing brutality and extreme abuse of police power.

“Hardly a day goes by without another story of NYPD abuse hitting the news and undermining the ability of the community to trust the police department,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, in a statement on Monday. “We know the NYPD is watching us, but who is watching the NYPD? New York City is in desperate need of an Inspector General to bring strong, meaningful NYPD oversight, as well as a strong ban on religious and racial profiling. It’s time for the City Council to quickly act and pass these important reforms.”

http://tinyurl.com/7jtx9es

Calling for Police Commissioner’s Resignation, Occupy Wall Street Teams Up With Victims of NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk

Occupy Wall Street protesters have issued a joint call with members of New York City’s black, Latino and Muslim communities for New York City’s police commissioner to resign.

http://tinyurl.com/7r45wdz

99% v 1%: the data behind the Occupy movement

(video)

http://tinyurl.com/73uoqgx

The JOBS Act is so Criminogenic that it Guarantees Full-Time Jobs for Criminologists

The “Jumpstart Our Business Startups” Act, the comically forced effort to create a catchy acronym, is the most cynical bill to emerge from a cynical Congress and Administration.  It is an exemplar of why Congressional approval ratings are well below those of used car dealers.  The JOBS Act is something only a financial scavenger could love.  It will create a fraud-friendly and fraud-enhancing environment. It will add to the unprecedented level of financial fraud by our most elite CEOS that has devastated the U.S. and European economies and cost over 20 million people their jobs.

Financial fraud is a prime jobs killer.

http://tinyurl.com/7lvqnhd

Small Meetings of Occupy, Germinating the Seeds of Democracy

There is a side of the Occupy movement that does not consist of street marches and confrontations with police. It doesn’t involve the occupation of parks or shipyards. It is a side that receives little to no press, but in the end may be one of the most important aspects of the movement: The community meeting. There are scheduled meetings listed practically every night of the week on the Occupy Portland Calendar. Some are planning meetings, some are lecture meetings, some are for team-building. There are also community cell meetings that do not make it to the calendar-small groups, quietly working behind the scene to network, organize and create change.

http://tinyurl.com/8yx96z8

Occupy Northampton parlays with Northampton officials

The protesters said they wanted city money spent on items such as food for the hungry and orchards, and spoke out against tax breaks for corporations like Coca-Cola and Kollmorgen. They also said the city does not need the $20 million police facility currently being built.

Council President William H. Dwight proposed a meeting to discuss these issues and Monday night came to fruition. Lisa DePiano, an organizer with the group, started the evening by outlining the topics and going ove the hand signal the group uses to express approval, disapproval and the wish that someone would stop talking.

Those in attendance then separated into five groups to address economic development, civil iberties, public space, civic engagement and corporate accountability. Names were exchanged, hand signals reviewed and the talking was on.

http://tinyurl.com/7drkvqm

Occupy University of Rhode Island, with singing help from Rrraging Grrranies, protests rising tuition

Political theater came to the regular meeting of the Board of Governors for Higher Education Monday as Occupy URI and the Rrraging Grrrannies of Greater Westerly drove home the point that high tuition is sinking college students.

The group, including a half-dozen women wearing oversize hats, sang “Bail Out the Students,” their original lyrics set to the tune of “Beer Barrel Polka.”

http://tinyurl.com/893eutl