Latest Posts

The Latest From The “Occupy May 1st” Website- March Separately, Strike Together –International General Strike- Down Tools! Down Work Computers! Down Books!- All Out On May Day 2012- Why You, Your Union, Or Your Community Organization Needs To Join The May Day 2012 General Strike In Boston (And Everywhere)-Stand Up!-Fight Back!

Written by

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=22658920&postID=8967484997901614104

http://www.occupymay1st.org/

******
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend The Occupation Movement And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Occupy Protesters Everywhere!

*******
Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let’s Take It, It’s Ours! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
*******
OB Endorses Call for General Strike

January 8th, 2012 • mhacker •

The following proposal was passed by the General Assembly on Jan 7, 2012:

Occupy Boston supports the call for an international General Strike on May 1, 2012, for immigrant rights, environmental sustainability, a moratorium on foreclosures, an end to the wars, and jobs for all. We recognize housing, education, health care, LGBT rights and racial equality as human rights; and thus call for the building of a broad coalition that will ensure and promote a democratic standard of living for all peoples.
*******
Why You, Your Union, Or Your Community Organization Needs To Join The May Day 2012 General Strike In Boston-Stand Up!-Fight Back!

Markin comment:
Last fall there were waves of politically-motivated repressive police attacks on, and evictions of, various Occupy camp sites throughout the country including where the movement started in Zucotti (Liberty) Park. But even before the evictions and repression escalated, questions were being asked: what is the way forward for the movement? And, from friend and foe alike, the ubiquitous what do we want. We have seen since then glimpses of organizing and action that are leading the way for the rest of us to follow: the Oakland General Strike on November 2nd, the West Coast Port Shutdown actions of December 12th, Occupy Foreclosures, including, most recently, renewed support for the struggles of the hard-pressed longshoremen in Longview, Washington. These actions show that, fundamentally, all of the strategic questions revolve around the question of power. The power, put simply, of the 99% vs. the power of the 1%.

Although the 99% holds enormous power -all wealth is generated, and the
current society is built and maintained through, the collective labor
(paid and unpaid) of the 99%- we seldom exercise this vast collective power in our own interests. Too often, abetted and egged on by the 1%, we fruitlessly fight among ourselves driven by racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, occupational elitism, geographical prejudice, heterosexism, and other forms of division, oppression and prejudice.

This consciously debilitating strategy on its part is necessary, along with its control of politics, the courts, the prisons, the cops, and the military in order for the 1% to maintain control over us in order not to have to worry about their power and wealth. Their ill-gotten power is only assured by us, actively or passively, working against ours our best interests. Moreover many of us are not today fully aware of, nor organized to utilize, the vast collective power we have. The result is that many of us – people of color, women, GLBTQ, immigrants, those with less formal educational credentials, those in less socially respected occupations or unemployed, the homeless, and the just plain desperate- deal with double and triple forms of oppression and societal prejudice.

Currently the state of the economy has hit all of us hard, although as usual the less able to face the effects are hit the hardest like racial minorities, the elderly, the homeless and those down on their luck due to prolonged un and under- employment. In short, there are too many people out of work; wage rates have has barely kept up with rising costs or gone backwards to near historic post-World War II lows in real time terms; social services like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have continued to be cut; our influence on their broken, broken for us, government has eroded; and our civil liberties have been seemingly daily attacked en masse. These trends have has been going on while the elites of this country, and of the world, have captured an increasing share of wealth; have had in essence a tax holiday for the past few decades; have viciously attacked our organizations of popular defense such as our public and private unions and community organizations; and have increase their power over us through manipulating their political system even more in their favor than previously.

The way forward, as we can demonstrate by building for the May Day actions, must involve showing our popular power against that of the entrenched elite. But the form of our power, reflecting our different concepts of governing, must be different from the elite’s. Where they have created powerful capitalist profit-driven top down organizations in order to dominate, control, exploit and oppress we must build and exercise bottom-up power in order to cooperate, liberate and collectively empower each other. We need to organize ourselves collectively and apart from these top down power relationships in our communities, schools and workplaces in order to fight for our real interests. This must include a forthright rejection of the 1%’s attempts, honed after long use, to divide and conquer in order to rule us. A rejection of racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, elitism and other forms of oppression, and, importantly, a rejection of attempts by their electoral parties, mainly the Democrats and Republicans but others as well, powerful special interest groups, and others to co-opt and control our movement.

The Occupy freedom of assembly-driven encampments initially built the mass movement and brought a global spotlight to the bedrock economic and social concerns of the 99%. They inspired many of us, including those most oppressed, provided a sense of hope and solidarity with our fellow citizens and the international 99%, and brought the question of economic justice and the problems of inequality and political voiceless-ness grudgingly back into mainstream political conversation. Moreover this highlighted the need for the creation of cultures, societies, and institutions of direct democracy based on “power with”- not “power over”- each other; served as convivial spaces for sharing ideas and planning action; and in some camps, they even provided a temporary space for those who needed a home. Last fall the camp occupations served a fundamental role in the movement, but it is now time to move beyond the camp mentality and use our energies to struggle to start an offensive against the power of the 1%. On our terms.

Show Power

We demand:

*Hands Off Our Public Worker Unions! Hands Off All Our Unions!

* Put the unemployed to work! Billions for public works projects to fix America’s broken infrastructure (bridges, roads, sewer and water systems, etc.)!

*End the endless wars! Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of all U.S. /Allied Troops and Mercenaries from Afghanistan (and the residue from Iraq)! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!

* Full citizenship rights for all those who made it here no matter how they got here!

* A drastic increase in the minimum wage and big wage increases for all workers!

* A moratorium on home foreclosures! No evictions!

* A moratorium on student loan debt! Free, quality higher education for all! Create 100, 200, many publicly-supported Harvards!

*No increases in public transportation fares! No transportation worker lay-offs! Free public transportation!

To order to flex our collective bottom up power on May 1, 2012 we will be organizing a wide-ranging series of mass collective participatory actions:

*We will be organizing within our unions- or informal workplace organizations where there is no union – a one-day general strike.

*We will be organizing where a strike is not possible to call in sick, or take a personal day, as part of a coordinated “sick-out.”

*We will be organizing students to walk-out of their schools (or not show up in the first place), set up campus picket lines, or to rally at a central location, probably Boston Common.

*We will be calling in our communities for a mass consumer boycott, and with local business support where possible, refuse to make purchases on that day.

These actions, given the ravages of the capitalist economic system on individual lives, the continuing feelings of hopelessness felt by many, the newness of many of us to collective action, and the slender ties to past class and social struggles will, in many places, necessarily be a symbolic show of power. But let us take and use the day as a wake-up call by a risen people.

And perhaps just as important as this year’s May Day itself , the massive organizing and outreach efforts in the months leading up to May 1st will allow us the opportunity to talk to our co-workers, families, neighbors, communities, and friends about the issues confronting us, the source of our power, the need for us to stand up to the attacks we are facing, the need to confront the various oppressions that keep most of us down in one way or another and keep all of us divided, and the need for us to stand in solidarity with each other in order to fight for our collective interests. In short, as one of the street slogans of movement says –“they say cut back, we say fight back.” We can build our collective consciousness, capacity, and confidence through this process; and come out stronger because of it.

Watch this website and other social media sites for further specific details of events and actions.

All out in Boston on May Day 2012.

27557

Events Committee Wish List!

Written by

The Events Committee of Occupy Oakland has a wish list of items we would like to acquire through donations or otherwise so that the Committee can become a more autonomous body, with the ability to set up movie screenings, dance parties, rallies, etc. without always having to rely upon borrowing the equipment of others in order to do so. If you can help in finding and making available any of these items, email events@occupyoakland.org and we’ll get in touch from there!

-Projector

-Screen

-Sound: mic, amp, etc.

-Bullhorn

-extension cords

-Tarps, Easy-ups

-Tables

-Vehicle for transport

-Bike cart/carriages for transport

-Car batteries + inverters

-Silk Screen/ T shirts/ Ink

27545

Sacred Thyme for Permaculture. Interview with Abel R. Gomez: writer, ritualist, community organizer. By Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

Written by

Sacred Thyme for Permaculture.
Interview with Abel R. Gomez: writer, ritualist, community organizer.
By Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

Abel.JPG

http://planetshifter.com/node/2006

now we’re busy making all our busy plans
on foundations build to last
but nothing fades as fast as the future
and nothing clings like the past, until we can see

more than this

i stand alone and so connected
and i’m all there
right next to you
oh then it’s alright
when with every day another bit falls away
oh but it’s still alright, alright, alright
and like words together we can make some sense

much more than this

way beyond imagination
much more than this
beyond the stars
with my head so full
so full of fractured pictures
and i’m all there
right next to you

more than this…

Peter Gabriel – “More Than This” Live. From: Up (edited)

* * * * * * *
Interview with Abel by Willi

What are you principles?

I strive to live my life with the belief and experience that our deepest wounds, our most profound traumas can be the catalysts for our spiritual awakening. What I mean by this is that I believe there is powerful medicine in difficult moments. This medicine is available to us if we allow ourselves to be open to human experience and embrace life fully, even when it is uncomfortable or painful. Witchcraft is, in one sense, an alchemical tradition. We step into the Circle with our various wounds and through magic and ritual, step out into the world with beauty, power, and wholeness. We dedicate ourselves to the practice of becoming fully human, to knowing and loving ourselves in all our parts.

What can we learn from the Earth and healing from Wicca?

The Craft is first and foremost a nature religion. Our myths and rituals arise from an experience of the world in which all things are inherently sacred and interconnected. My body, the earth, the entire cosmos is the body of the divine, what my tradition calls God Herself. That means that my being, my bones, my sexuality, my dreams are all manifestations of the sacred. For me, this has been a source of deep healing and renewal. In a world which seems to constantly tear us down, the Craft reminds us that the essence of our being is holy, that all life is worthy of honor and respect. Through ritual, we step into this consciousness and remind ourselves that the divine mystery is ever-present in the world.

I think one of the most profound lessons the earth teaches us is how deeply interconnected all things are. One of the first steps in permaculture is observation. We find a sit spot and begin to watch, noticing the flows of wind, water, and sunlight in an ecosystem. It doesn’t take long until even the novice permaculturalist sees how all of the forms of life in the ecosystem are interrelated and interdependent. This sense of interconnectivity is one of the underlying principles of Witchcraft as well. I think so many of the myths and rituals of the older indigenous cultures were rooted in this deep sense of interconnectivity of all life. The Craft often describes the Goddess, the Great Mother of all, as the threads of interconnection and interdependence. This sense of connection to all things is a source of deep wonder which is celebrated at the various cycles of the earth, moon, and stars, providing us moments to pause and remember we are part of a larger, more mysterious and miraculous Whole.

Are there symbols and myths that benefit us from your vision?

I think world-renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell said it best when he wrote, “When you see the Earth from space, you don’t see any divisions of nation-states there. This may be the symbol of the new mythology to come; this is the country we will celebrate, and these are the people we are one with.”

What is your role in the current workshop: ELEMENTS OF MAGIC: An Introduction to Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft workshop? How do you prepare for the experience?

I will be co-teaching Elements of Magic with Ewa and Laurel, two lovely witches in the Reclaiming Tradition. There are a series of four core classes that serve as the basis of Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft, each of which are co-taught with two or more teachers. Co-teaching models shared power, which is a quality we strive to embody in Reclaiming community. This also contributes to a wider spectrum of knowledge as each teacher brings a unique perspective and set of skills to the work. To prepare, I’ll be rereading the first six chapters of Starhawk’s book, ‘The Spiral Dance’ which we ask of students before the beginning of the first class as well as exploring my own devotional relationship to the five sacred elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit.

How can permaculturists better incorporate earth-based magic into their projects?

There are several ways for the permaculturist to incorporate magic into their projects and lives. The first I would suggest is to learn the magical properties of the plants growing in your garden. Every plant has a particular magical property that we can use for personal magic. For example, Rosemary is connected with protection, purification, and healing. A great book to start with is ‘Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs’ by Scott Cunningham. You can go into your garden and make offerings to the spirits of the land to partner with you while gardening. Another idea is to make planting seeds a kind of spell. As you plant each seed into the earth, hold an intention in your mind of something you’d like to manifest in your life. As the plant grows, so shall your intention come to be. Starhawk’s book ‘The Earth Path’ is also filled with a number of great ideas.

Please share some positive and negative experiences as you have shared your practice with the world?

I have been really lucky that most people I have encountered have been curious and open about my practice. I can only think of one instance where someone made a negative comment when noticing the pentacle I was wearing. The pentacle is the five-pointed star that represents the five sacred elements. Outside of that, I’ve only had really positive encounters. Friends and family members have gone to public rituals and had really great experiences. Recently, I’ve begun leading participatory rituals at activist conferences and have been quite overwhelmed at the responses. We don’t have public spaces in our society where people feel invited to bring all of who they are into a sacred space. I’ve noticed that it’s been a profound healing experience for many people because it provides them an opportunity, perhaps for the first time, to experience a connection to the earth, to the gods, and to the deepest parts of themselves.

What is “nature awareness?” Do you have stories that help you teach this?

To me, nature awareness is really about observation and understanding that all forms of life are interconnected. I really like the group exercise of asking people in a group to notice what the way the elements are present in an area and use that as a way to invoke the elements into a ritual.

Do you know about deep green religion?

I do and I’m really happy to see more of these sorts of ideas come up in the world. I think the more we remember that all life is inherently sacred and interconnected, the more we take action in the world to ensure nature is treated as such. Ideas like deep green religion bring us back to a more indigenous way of relating to the earth, which I believe can save us from the current environmental crisis so many of us are actively working to heal.

How do traditional churches look at the rituals in your tool kit?

I think one of the biggest distinctions between traditional churches and what we do in the Craft is that in the Craft, each individual person is their own spiritual authority. Each of us has the power to create rituals that connect our hearts to the divine mystery flowing through all things. I think the most fundamental difference, however, is the belief in Witchcraft that all life, all experiences, all things are intrinsically holy. We don’t have concepts of a fallen nature. Instead, we celebrate the gods manifest throughout the natural world, in our bodies, and the body of the earth. We honor the cycles of the seasons as moments of deep mystery and reverence. Our rituals are ecstatic, employing drums, movement, breath, and song as vehicles that open our awareness to the ever-present divine.

What is scared to you? Are these things sacred to your parents?

I hold the cosmos itself as sacred. My parents grew up in religious homes, and while they strive to hold on to the teachings of their childhood, religion is not something they focus on. But for me, the vastness and depth of all that exists is sacred. We touch this mystery in ritual. It’s so big, so mysterious, weaving all of our lives together. All of us are part of this cosmos. Dianic High Priestess Z. Budapest once said, “The Goddess is all nature. Beyond nature there is more nature. There is no end to nature and no beginning and that’s Goddess enough for me”. I resonate with this on a profound level.

Tell us a little more about the emerging myths from permaculture?

This is the first I’ve heard of it.

* * * * * * *
Abel R. Gomez Bio –

Abel is a writer, ritualist, and a community organizer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trained in both Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft and Hindu Shakta Tantra, Abel believes deeply in the power of earth-based ritual and magic as a catalyst for personal and collective (r)evolution. Since 2009, Abel has taught at Teen Earth Magic, a five-day retreat for teens in the Reclaiming Tradition rooted in nature awareness, community building, and earth healing. He has lead workshops and presentations on personal empowerment and pagan spirituality in community, university, and conference settings, including PantheaCon, the largest indoor pagan gathering in North America. As a freelance writer, he has been published in the Reclaiming Quarterly, Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac, and WitchEye.

Connections –
Abel R. Gomez
arg1989 at hotmail.com
reclaiming.org/
www.facebook.com/reclaiming
Willi Paul: Publisher, Business Developer
PermacultrExhange.com, PlanetShifter.com Magazine
sacredpermaculture.net, openmythsource.com
415-407-4688 | pscompub@gmail.com
@planetshifter @openmythsource
@permasacred @PermacultureXch
27536

Court Support Calendar 4/16-4/20

Written by

4/16: One comrade in 115 filing a motion from a Dec. 30 arrest. Two comrades in 104: pretrial hearings from J28.
Melvin Kelley is on for Jury Trial from 12/29 (20th and Mandella) in dep 112, Wiley Manuel, 9am.
4/17: 2nd day of jury trial for Jesus.
4/18: 7 comrades facing pretrial hearings on charges stemming from the January 4th raid of the vigil. One comrade in 104 facing pretrial from an FTP arrest. One comrade filing a motion in 115 with regard to charges acquired at 10th & Mandela.

27528

OGPG 4/15/12

Written by

Single Mother Falsely Accused of Endangering Her Children at Occupy Oakland
by Irene

The authorities apparently stop at nothing to intimidate and scare people from participating in a movement that they fear. Stayaway orders, bogus arrests, heavy charges for minor offenses, sham “lynching” laws, and, most recently, deploying the Child Protective Services to attack a single mother for participating in Occupy Oakland.

Kerie Campbell is an all-star activist at Occupy Oakland. There from the very 1st planning meeting in Mosswood Park, there the night the camp struck back in October, Kerie is also an admin on the OO (Occupy Oakland) website and co founder of the Occupy Oakland Children’s Village. The Children’s Village is an area for kids and parents/legal guardians to hangout and feels safe, and is designed to create a space for children to have their voices respected and heard in ways not common for them. It allows people come to OO events knowing they will have a safe, friendly place to spend time with their kids. Most recently, at the OO Barbecue/Speakout series, kids in the Children’s Village made puppets, got their faces painted, and otherwise hung out together with their parents or guardians. Considering that Kerie is also a single mother with two young children, the fact that she is so heavily involved is impressive.

Around Occupy Oakland Kerie and her children are welcome, familiar faces that everyone loves. Like many other children who spend time around OO, Kerie’s kids became part of the larger OO family. But recently something tragic happened in her life that is angering her and the larger community of OO. This activist who has such a standing in the welfare of children had her own children forcefully taken away from her by an ex-husband under ridiculous charges that are clearly politically motivated.

Throughout Kerie’s marriage to Anthony Sprenger and during the 6-year custody battle of their 2 children, Kerie and her ex-husband had a tumultuous relationship to say in the least. However their legal situation was finally worked out and she had two years of relative calm, which made this most recent attempt to bar Kerie from seeing her children come seemingly from out of the blue.

On Friday afternoon Kerie arrived at her children’s school like any other Friday, the day she her ex-husband normally switched custody. The Friday custody switch-up, until this point, went “like clock work.” Thursday night Kerie’s daughter called her, crying about a classroom conflict. “I told her that I would see her the next day.” Kerie recounts with tears in her eyes. But when she got to school, her children were nowhere to be found. She panicked, until a friend told her that her ex husband had come to pick the kids up before she got there. Frantically, Kerie went to different school administration officials to find out how exactly her ex-husband had done this without any warning to Kerie. The search for more information from the administration, with which she had a good relationship up until this point, was to no avail. “They had their heads and eyes down and said that they couldn’t do or say anything.” Finally, she was forced to call the police (which she did not want to do) who eventually, after a lot of back and forth, produced the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) her ex used to take the children. The restraining order was supposed to be served her before taking her children. It had no supplementary declaration or evidentiary documents.

The TRO stated that Kerie’s children were at risk because she had taken them to the Mosswood Encampment, which was an Occupy Oakland re-occupation that occurred on March 22nd, thus endangering them. That day the encampment was granted permission to be at Mosswood by OPD once the occupiers had taken their tents down. The “recklessly endangering” activities that Kerie and her children were taking partin? They ate pizza, wrote letters to imprisoned comrades, played Frisbee and tag,and read books in an environment largely resembling a park picnic. Clearly, this event was not dangerous. The TRO mentioned quite a few other charges that cite Kerie as an unfit mother because of her involvement in OO, which is absurd given her activities in Occupy Oakland.

This attack has disturbing implications for how repression could affect single parents involved in OO and is something the larger OO community must be on the watch for. Kerie believes this was a targeted attack against her involvement in Occupy Oakland. “[My ex-husband] had gone after everything else before, this was all he had left to go after.”

As occupiers and feminists, we must support Kerie against this attack, and we must continue to provide spaces like Children’s Village that support people with children who want to participate in this movement. Kerie needs letters of support for her court date on Monday, in order to get her children back. Such a letter consists of: a testimony to her character, sharing good experiences about her, especially if you’ve seen her interacting with her kids, in the loving, supportive, and brilliant way she always does!! The court is most receptive to people who have good or high-status jobs, (even though Keri wants letters from everyone and doesn’t value people based on their ‘status’ within capitalism!). If you write a letter, you must include the phrase: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.” Please send letters by Monday, April 16th, to antirepression@gmail.com

To donate to Kerie’s legal fund send checks to her friend Don Macleay:
“KC”. C/O Don Macleay, P.O. Box 20299, Oakland CA, 94620

Mental Health Movement Occupies Chicago’s Woodlawn Clinic to Stop Closures
reposted from occupychi.org

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.

Two of the clinics slated for closure – the Northwest Clinic in Logan Square and the Northtown Clinic in Rogers Park – shut their doors last Friday. Four others (Woodlawn, Auburn/Gresham, Back of the Yards and Beverly/Morgan Park) are scheduled to close April 30th. The Mental Health Movement, which put out a report and a video undermining the Chicago Department of Public Health’s claim that all patients will continue to receive care, has been calling for hearings on the clinic closures since October. Despite repeated promises and a resolution calling for hearings, the Emanuel Administration has prevented any hearings from taking place in order to avoid public scrutiny of the plan, which has come under fire even from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

“We have tried everything we could to be heard. We visited Mayor Emanuel when he was a candidate. We delivered him over 4,000 letters. We have talked to almost all 50 Alderman. We have held press conferences, rallies and even sat-in for 10 hours on the 5th floor of City Hall. We are the ones who know the disaster these clinic closures will mean for our communities and our city but Mayor Emanuel been unwilling to listen to us, so we are taking drastic measures to avoid a tragedy and defend our human rights,” says N’Dana Carter, who goes to one of the city clinics and is a spokesperson for the Mental Health Movement.

The people barricaded in the clinic have enough food and supplies to stay for months and are threatening to do so unless Mayor Emanuel meets the following five demands:
* Keep all 12 city mental health clinics public, open, fully funded and fully staffed
* Stop plans to privatize Chicago’s 7 neighborhood health centers
* Hire more doctors, therapists, nurses, social workers and other clinic staff
* Reinstate the drug assistance program
* Expand the public mental health safety net to cover unmet community needs

The Trial of Cameron Rose – Day One
By Lorien Patton

Thursday, April 12th. Alameda County Courthouse Rene Davidson, Department #4. Hon. Thomas M. Reardon presiding.

The early morning hours of the trial were subdued. Though the crowd increased throughout the day, initially the only audience present included two other participants of the December 30th Tipi Vigil and myself, reporting for the Gazette. So it was to a mostly silent room that OPD Police Captain Israel delivered his testimony. He painted a picture of the December 30th action where reasonable police returned multiple times throughout the morning to warn Tipi Vigil participants to clear the walkways of their ‘unpermitted encroachment’.

The incident which eventually involved Mr. Rose began with another vigil participant. Sgt. Ortiz testified that his officers were attempting to issue her a citation for blocking a walkway with her possessions. He said that his officers approached with citation books out, attempting to write tickets, and that this vigil keeper refused to provide identification, was belligerent, and then attempted to flee custody. He (and other officers) described an altercation where officers repeatedly and reasonably asked for identification, and only resorted to an attempt to handcuff the individual in question when their lawful arrest was not recognized.

However, Citizen Journalist video footage of the event directly contradicts Sgt. Ortiz’ recollections of the event. None of the officers present were carrying citation books, and no citations were issued that day. The initial attempt to cite the female vigil participant lasted only seconds before the officers were attempting to handcuff her. Additionally, she was carrying her belongings in her hands, clearly complying with the order to remove personal property from the walkways.

When questioned later about her apparent compliance, and therefore the apparent illogic of issuing a citation, OPD Officer Patrick Gerrans explained that according to his understanding of the situation, anyone with property on the ground was already in violation of the municipal code, and therefore liable to be cited. He stated that they vigil participants had been ‘given the courtesy’ of an order to remove their property and move along, but that the officers were not required to let anyone go simply because they began to comply with the order. By the time the officers began to issue citations, it was apparently already too late to comply.

Officer Gerrans was also the arresting officer for Mr. Rose, who is accused of striking Officer Gerrans with a folding chair (Assault With a Deadly Weapon) and obstructing his attempt to arrest another vigil participant. None of the witnesses called during the day saw Mr. Rose strike Officer Gerrans, including Off. Gerrans himself, who was facing the other direction when he ‘felt the blow’. His testimony put Mr. Rose directly behind him, approximately five feet away, holding one chair, and with another chair leaning against his legs.

The witness did not offer an explanation of how Mr. Rose might have stepped forward to strike him and then stepped back and leaned the other chair up against his leg again in the instant before the officer turned around and visually identified him. Also, the chair in question was not recovered from the scene by the police.

Next Hearing: Tuesday 04/17/2012 09:30 AM 
Alameda County Courthouse Rene Davidson Dept #4

Joe Hoover, First Occupier To Be Convicted , Sentenced to Community Service for Occupy Oakland Involvement
By Paul T. Rosynsky, excerpted from the Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND — A man studying to be a Jesuit priest was sentenced to six days in a county jail work program and two years court probation Monday in the first successful prosecution of a case related to the Occupy Oakland movement. Joseph Hoover, of Berkeley, was found guilty last week of a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a thoroughfare during a violent demonstration in January that resulted in the arrests of more than 300 protesters who attempted to take over the vacant Kaiser Convention Center near Lake Merritt. Hoover, who is studying to be a priest at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, said he was arrested when he stopped in the street to protect a homeless man from being trampled by a line of police officers who were advancing on a group of protesters.

Hoover testified during his brief jury trial and said after his sentencing Monday that he did nothing wrong and obeyed all police orders but was still arrested… While a jury found Hoover guilty of obstructing a thoroughfare it deadlocked on a charge against Hoover of resisting arrest, and the District Attorney’s Office decided to drop the charge rather than seek another trial.

Hoover said Monday that he was proud of taking part in an Occupy event and said he has not ruled out doing so again. “The cop was doing what he felt he had to do and I felt I did what I had to do,” Hoover said. “I’m grateful to be part of the Occupy movement…”

Hoover was offered a plea deal before the trial in which he would have been found guilty of a misdemeanor disturbing the peace offense and faced two years court probation, but he refused the deal.

Upcoming Events 4/15-4/21
4/17: Occupy the Post Office: Main Post Office 1675 7th Street, Oakland. Event all day from 8:30am-10:30pm. Speakout & Rally 3:30-7:30.
4/17: No War On Iran/End All Wars. Global day of action against military spending. 12-5pm. Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay St.
4/20: Demonstration against Chevron in Richmond. 5:00 p.m. at the Richmond BART station. March to a rally at Richmond Civic Center. details here

Court Support Calendar 4/16-4/20
4/16: One comrade in 115 filing a motion from a Dec. 30 arrest. Two comrades in 104: pretrial hearings from J28.
Melvin Kelley is on for Jury Trial from 12/29 (20th and Mandella) in dep 112, Wiley Manuel, 9am.
4/17: 2nd day of jury trial for Jesus.
4/18: 7 comrades facing pretrial hearings on charges stemming from the January 4th raid of the vigil. One comrade in 104 facing pretrial from an FTP arrest. One comrade filing a motion in 115 with regard to charges acquired at 10th & Mandela.

27512

Is 99% Spring Co-Opting Occupy Wall Street Into The Corporate-Controlled Two-Party System?

Written by

99% Spring: Spring 99% Co-Opts OWS

Is “Spring99%” a rejuvenation of Occupy Wall Street, or a false flag psyop aimed at absorbing OWS into the elite-controlled, false-choice Demopublican facade?

IS THE 99% SPRING INITIATIVE AN ATTEMPT TO ABSORB THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT INTO THE CORPORATE-CONTROLLED TWO-PARTY SYSTEM?

co-opt (verb): To absorb, assimilate or take into a larger group. See also co-opted, co-option, co-optive, co-optate, co-optated, co-optation, co-optative, coopt, coopted, cooptive, cooptate, cooptated, cooptation, cooptative, taken in, taken over, annexed, appropriated, subverted and screwed.

Here you will find the letter that launched the “99% Spring” initiative and the signatories of the 40 organizations who are openly behind it:

http://the99spring.com/who-we-are/

There is no question that Justen Ruben’s MoveOn.org, Van Jones’ Rebuild the Dream and many if not most of the other groups listed there have ties to the Democratic Party and the Bushbama re-election circus. Consequently, it would be prudent for all concerned to question the real agenda behind 99% Spring, as many are:

“There are accusations from Occupy folks that Spring99% is trying to co-opt the OWS movement. That MoveOn is a front for the Democratic Party. And there are denials both from activists within the Spring99% network and members of the Occupy movement itself. It is a needed debate, even though it’s probably under the radar for many progressives and irrelevant for mainstream politics – except for the accusations that Spring99% is a front for the Obama re-election campaign. Meanwhile, paranoia of being co-opted has been a mainstay within the anti-Wall Street movement for months.”

http://obrag.org/?p=58223&cpage=1

“In an interview, activist and author John Stauber – who founded the Center for Media and Democracy in 1993 and ran it until 2009 – laid it out: ‘Democratic donors and unions have – since the 2000 Nader/Gore/Bush election – flowed millions of election year dollars into non-profit organizations and liberal media to rally progressives and create an echo chamber that can impact politics in favor of Democrats… 99% Spring’s activities will surely be carefully and quietly coordinated behind the scenes to have a maximum positive impact in defeating Republicans and re-electing President Obama,” he continued. “These groups will claim independence from the 2012 Democratic campaign agenda, but the fact is that funding will flow to them simply to create buzz and the appearance of a movement that dovetails perfectly with Obama’s campaign rhetoric.'”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/12/moveons-99-percent-spring-obama-and-the-dems-march-in-lock-step/

Clearly, Stauber suspected Spring99% to be a false front. Charles M. Young attended one of their “nonviolent direct action training” sessions this week, and brought back ample proof that it is:

“The first clue… was the sign-up table, where there were a bunch of Obama buttons for sale and one sign-up sheet for the oddly named Community Free Democrats (are they free of community?), which is the local Democratic clubhouse. That killed the ‘inspired by Occupy Wall Street’ vibe right there… Over half the crowd left early. Most of those who stayed appeared to be angry and mystified that they had received no training whatever in nonviolent direct action. I doubt that the Democrats or MoveOn succeeded in co-opting anyone, and I predict that they will be inventing more dreary front groups as the election year grinds onward.”

http://thiscantbehappening.net/node/1126

I have not attended – and I refuse to attend – any 99% Spring or other Demopublican indoctrination sessions. I would never waste my time charging windmills with third parties, but neither will I allow them to sucker me back into the two-party fold. I have been actively supporting the Occupy Movement since day one (9/17/2011) … Morpheus gave me the Red Pill in Washington DC two years before that (9/11/2009) … and I’ve been waging a personal rebellion against the Kleptocracy empowered by 9/11 ever since. And based on what I’ve seen first-hand in venues like the OccupyWallSt.org Forum, if I still had any left I would bet my entire savings that Spring99% was not the first and will not be the last attempt by the corporate fascist elite and their puppet president Bushbama to co-opt OWS. AdBusters says much the same:

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/jump.html

###

NO MORE LEFT. NO MORE RIGHT. TIME TO UNITE. STAND AND FIGHT!

IronBoltBruce via VVV PR ( http://veritasvirtualvengeance.com | @vvvpr )

Related Image: http://veritasvirtualvengeance.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/spring_99_percent_co-opts_ows_for_bushbama.jpg

Related Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7tpjYDWXCg

Show Your Support: https://www.wepay.com/donate/ironboltbruce

Tag: #defendoccupy, #99spring, #spring99, #obama, #bushbama, #fascism, #fascists, #occupy, #ows, #worldwarweb, #vvvpr

Key: 99% spring, spring 99%, obama, bushbama, fascism, fascists, occupy wall street, ows, world war web, vvv pr

 

###

This document may contain links shortened using http://tinyurl.com to facilitate emailing. If you are concerned we might use them to cloak phishing or malware, we recommend you open them with this: http://longurl.org. Also our thanks to the mobile web designs, mobile web designers and mobile web developers that support our efforts.

27503

East Bay Social Forum social, 4/27 6:00 pm

Written by

The East Bay Social Forum celebrates eleven years of Social Forums and half a year of Occupys. Join us on Friday, April 27, from 6:00 to 8:00, at the Oakland Peace Center, 111 Fairmount Ave. (29th St.), Oakland, for the first of many Social Forum Socials to come. We’ll announce People’s Movement Assemblies (PMAs) to be held in the next months and plans for the upcoming Forum, discuss your proposals for PMAs, and provide a space to connect with other engaged folks. Please join us—we look forward to meeting you.

East Bay Social Forum Steering Committee

Participating organizations, activists, cultural workers, and others. More to come as this list continues to grow…

Alameda County United to Defend Immigrant Rights (ACUDIR)
Alianza Latinoamericana por los derechos de los Inmigrantes (ALIADI)
All Ah We/All of Us
Bay Area Boricuas
Bay Area Labor Committee 4 Peace and Justice (LC4PJ )
Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition (BALASC)
Bay Localize
Berkeley Copwatch
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Biosafety Alliance
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Center for Progressive Action
Chiapas Support Committee
Code Pink
Community Democracy Project (CDP)
Community Rejuvenation Project
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE)
Connection Action Project
Disabled People Outside Project
EcoCity Builders
Gray Panthers – Berkeley East Bay
Henry George School of San Francisco
Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas
Move to Amend
LabelGMO’s
Media Alliance
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
National Radio Project, “Making Contact”
National Writers Union, SF Bay Area Chapter #3, UAW Local 1981/AFLCIO
Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NOBAWC)
News and Letters
One Fam
Oscar Grant Committee Against Police Violence and State Repression
Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Support Committee
Pedagogy and Theater of the Oppressed
PEN Oakland (poetry)
Peoples Congress
Planting Justice
POOR Magazine
Prison Literature Project
Priority Africa Network
PUEBLO
Richmond Progressive Alliance
Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY)
RYSE Center
School of the Americas Watch – East Bay
School of the Americas Watch – San Francisco
Street Level Health Project
US Palestinian Community Network – Northern California
Veterans for Peace, East Bay Chapter
Women’s Economic Agenda Project (WEAP)

Last Updated on Monday, 09 April 2012 04:58
©2012 East Bay Social Forum | Oakland CA

27499

Suspect, 57, dies in police custody by Stockton police after being beaten with batons!

Written by

Suspect, 57, dies in police custody

Jordan Guinn
By Jordan Guinn
Record Staff Writer
April 13, 2012 12:00 AM

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120413/A_NEWS/204130324

FRENCH CAMP – A suspect who fought with officers after being pulled over for speeding died at San Joaquin County Hospital early Thursday, according to the Stockton Police Department.

Police identified him as James Cooke, 57, of Stockton. He had three outstanding warrants for his arrest, according to authorities. Specifics of the warrants were unavailable Thursday.

Cooke is the third man to die after a confrontation with the Stockton Police Department in 2012. A countywide protocol investigation into the death is under way, police said, which is standard procedure.

Cooke, who is listed as 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds, had been stopped at West Lane and Bianchi Road shortly before 2 a.m. and, once pulled over, ran from his vehicle, police said. He resisted officers, who struck him with batons after he refused verbal commands and physical force, police said.

A Safe Wrap, a device that immobilizes a person’s legs and hips, was used in addition to handcuffs to restrain Cooke before he was put into a police car, said Officer Pete Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department.

“He was agitated and continued to struggle after being cuffed,” Smith said.

He was carried to the car by officers, placed in the back seat and driven to the hospital, Smith said.

“His legs were laid across the seat, and his back was against the car door and window,” he said.

Although the man had no visible signs of trauma and made no complaints of pain, standard procedure requires officers to take suspects to the hospital for observation after they have had force used against them during an arrest, Smith said. It also is standard procedure for the officers to ignore the suspect in the back seat, the belief being the suspect will soon tire of yelling at officers who don’t respond, and officers, by ignoring suspects, do not antagonize people in custody.

“When you’ve had a physical altercation, you don’t engage them on the ride back,” Smith said. “You don’t turn, and you don’t engage, because you don’t want to reignite the situation.”

At some point during the seven- to 10-minute car ride to the hospital, Cooke grew quiet, Smith said, but the prolonged silence didn’t alarm the two officers taking him to the hospital.

Upon arrival, police discovered Cooke to be unresponsive, and emergency room workers were unable to revive him, Smith said.

Cooke’s official cause of death will be determined several weeks from now, after an autopsy report is completed.

Police identified the five officers involved in the incident as Jeremy Edens, Kevin Hess, Gabriel Guerrero, James Manor and Irshad Mohammed. Authorities did not disclose which two drove Cooke to the hospital, and all five have been placed on a standard three-day administrative leave.

Cooke’s death comes two days after a four-hour protest in downtown Stockton against police brutality. The rally focused largely on Luther Brown Jr., 32, who was shot and killed a week ago after he ran from officers during a traffic stop in the 2700 block of Burlington Place. Police said Brown also assaulted them. Brown and Cooke are black.

The other man to die as a result of a confrontation with Stockton police this year, Chomrean Meas, 19, was fatally shot March 22 on Cody Way after shooting a Stockton police officer in the stomach.

The same gun had been used in the mid-March homicide of Stanley Jones, 42, police said. The wounded officer, Keith Berry, was recently discharged from the hospital.

The deaths of Meas, Brown and Cooke are being reviewed through separate protocol investigations, a process involving multiple law enforcement agencies tasked with determining whether officers’ use of force was justified.

There is no timetable for when the investigations will be completed.

Contact reporter Jordan Guinn at (209) 546-8279 or jguinn@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/crimeblog.
HOME

27460

Seeking sign language interpreter for SF Earth Day 4/22

Written by

There’s going to be a simultaneous multi-city sing-out of “This Land is Your Land” on Sunday, April 22nd .  Hali Hammer of Occupella organized this event, which will take place at SF Civic Center at noon local time.  National and international sites will be video linked.

We’d like to get a sign language interpreter for the song.  There’s one verse (& chorus) in Spanish, but it’s just a translation of one of the English verses.  There are a number of choruses participating, so a group of people signing simultaneously or each person taking one verse would work nicely.  Need this asap so we can advertise that the song will be interpreted.

Thanks!

Leslie

27458