Tea party, Occupy groups find common ground in Worcester

More than 100 people who don’t agree on much agreed yesterday that a Congress that passes a law permitting the indefinite detention of Americans without charge diminishes the country.

Among them were Sheila, a 68-year-old tea party member from Worcester who brought her sign “What-cha gonna do when They come for you,” and Occupy Worcester’s Sam Capogrossi. They and a dozen others banged on a 5-gallon plastic container, trying to persuade the drivers in rush-hour traffic on Main Street that the National Defense Authorization Act that passed in December is a threat to their civil liberties. The law permits indefinite detention for terrorism suspects, American or not.

They read in unison the Bill of Rights in the plaza in front of the federal courthouse, under the watchful eyes on three Worcester police officers and two members of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service. There were no incidents, save for a citation written for defacing public property when an Occupy Worcester member wrote in chalk “Occupy Everywhere” on a column in Federal Plaza.

http://tinyurl.com/7muj6ow

The ‘Unworthy Poor’

Remember that “Look, these so-called ‘poor’ have refrigerators” thing? The new model conservative is a Victorian gent who would pity the poor, but has seen them dicing and drinking instead of acting out pathetic scenes from melodramas, and so cuffs them whenever they ask for change. Or a job.

http://tinyurl.com/86htahl

Corporate Rate Is Lowest in Decades – 12.1 Percent

U.S. companies are booking higher profits than ever. But the number crunchers in Washington are puzzling over a phenomenon that has just come into view: Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.

Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.

http://tinyurl.com/83ka7hb

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 2/5/12” »

Menino responds to Anonymous collective’s hack attack on BPD website: ‘Showboats!’ Casts blame at Occupy Boston

These bold cyber attacks drew anger from onetime Occupy supporter and Boston Mayor, Thomas Menino.

“They’re about showboats. They want to cause trouble, but there’s nothing that results out of those troubles…this hacking, we have to change our whole system now,” said Menino. “It’s a concern…If they can hack that, what else can they hack?”

After the hacking, the Boston Police Department’s website was replaced with a message that read, “Anonymous attacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS.” OWS refers to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

http://tinyurl.com/7o5f6d6

Anonymous Hits BPD, Marine Lawyer: Warns of Day of Mayhem

[There’s several dozen stories in news searches right now about the Anonymous attacks from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Europe that reference Occupy Boston, too many to link here.]

Already today they’ve taken credit for attacking the Boston Police Department’s Website in response to their treatment of Occupy Boston a little while back. Later, they took credit for defacing the Greek Ministry of Justice’s website. Both websites are still unavailable at the time of this writing.

They’ve also been mobilizing against Neil A. Puckett and Haytham Faraj, lawyers who defended SSgt Frank Wuterich, a marine accused of leading his troops in a massacre of unarmed Iraqi civillians in 2005. They took their website down and posted personal information on an ominous-looking black and red website.

They’re still playing their cards close to the chest, but they’ve been teasing more and more action for what they’re calling #F***FBIFriday.

http://tinyurl.com/73glgjq

Occupy activists to protest right-to-work at Super Bowl

Anti-Wall Street activists said on Friday they will march to protest Indiana’s new anti-union “right-to-work” law in downtown Indianapolis this weekend, where the New England Patriots and New York Giants will face off in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Organizers of the Occupy Wall Street movement said they expected activists from a number of different unions, including the National Football League Players Association, to participate in the protests.

Greg Lambert with Occupy Indianapolis said the protests would begin each day on the south lawn of the Indiana statehouse, which is located just blocks away from Lucas Oil Stadium, where the NFL championship game will be played Sunday evening.

http://tinyurl.com/6ukrmjg

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 2/4/12” »

200 protesters turn out for rally against Barstool Sports website party

A controversial sports website based in the Boston area brought its national party tour to the House of Blues last night near Fenway Park, but not without vocal opposition from about 200 protesters who blasted the site for posting content that critics say is demeaning to women and makes light of rape.

“We’re down here because we want to let people know that the perpetuation of rape culture is not cool,” said Northeastern University junior Anna Siembor, 21, one of the creators of the blog Knockout Barstool, which organized last night’s protest at the nightclub on Lansdowne Street.

http://tinyurl.com/6sqdz89

Hundreds protest T cuts in JP, highlight diversity of opposition to the plan

A parade of 75 speakers, including many Jamaica Plain officials and residents, blasted the MBTA’s proposed fare hike and service cuts at a Roxbury Community College meeting on Jan. 19. Another meeting was slated to be held Wednesday night in JP as the Gazette went to press.

At least 250 people attended the Jan. 19 meeting. A few people were willing to pay higher fares, but no one wanted service cuts. Those include killing the E Line subway/streetcar on the weekends and eliminating most of the JP Loop bus, among other slashings.

Joining local residents in opposition were officials from such major institutions as Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Northeastern University and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Other organizations joining the protests included Occupy Boston, the T Riders Union and the Massachusetts Senior Action Council.

Sarah Horsley, a JP resident Fenway Community Development Corporation employee, noted the unity of such a diverse group of people against the plan. “We’re not always on the same side of an issue, but we’re all here tonight saying this is not acceptable,” she said.

http://tinyurl.com/6p7qs88

Online Campaign Prompts Sallie Mae to Change Fee Policy for Loan Suspensions

Score two for online consumer advocates – or, as they might be called, Occupy Online.

On Thursday, three months after Bank of America backed down from imposing a $5 monthly debit card fee in response to an online Change.org petition that collected 300,000 signers, Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest private student-loan provider, changed its fee policy in response to an online petition.

For years, Sallie Mae had required unemployed people who could not afford their monthly payments to pay a $50-per-loan fee every three months to suspend their payments temporarily, even as interest charges mounted.

Sallie Mae called this forbearance fee a “good faith deposit” – but it was neither credited to the borrower’s account nor refunded.

http://tinyurl.com/855z7bm

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 2/3/12” »