#OWS 99% Movement “We Will NOT Be Co-Opted”

Both mainstream Democratic and Republican parties are working furiously behind the scenes to co-opt the Wall Street protests. But as the Associated Press notes, the protesters are fed up with both mainstream parties, as are most of the American people.

This is not an official statement from the #OWS 99% Movement. As a decentralized leaderless movement, in our opinion, there is no one group, organization, website or individual who can speak for the movement as a whole.

We, a working group of people currently occupying Liberty Park and many other locations throughout the US, are growing increasingly concerned about divide and conquer attempts being made to co-opt the movement. In the following message, we are issuing our first proposed statement. If you agree with the statement, please post it to your website and/or spread it throughout your social networks, both online and offline at occupations throughout the country. If you would like to read this statement at your local GA meetings and vote or edit it, feel free. If you disagree with the statement, please air your disagreements – this is what democracy looks like.

We appreciate, respect and encourage endorsements from individuals and organizations. We invite them. However, just because an individual or organization endorses our movement, does not mean that they in any way have a leadership role in deciding the future direction of this movement. We will not be co-opted by hierarchical organizations. No matter how wonderful their cause may be…….

…We the People, We the 99%, are not the pawns of either wing of the two-party oligarchy.

We emphatically reject the attempted leadership of any political party, organization or individual. If there are elected officials or organizations who endorse our movement, we welcome them….

However, they must do so knowing this: Your voice will be just as loud as any other voice. We are led by no one. You cannot co-opt We The People.

Respect Us.

Washington’s Blog
Sunday, October 9, 2011

India, not Iran, to unleash next Nuclear horror?

We get a lot of stories about Iran’s efforts to get the Nuclear Bomb.

Because our Rulers hate the Iranians and want their oil.

But the Indians have already got there, with lots of help and juicy bribes from the West.

And now they’re hell bent on Fast Breeder Reactors, a technology abandoned for being too dangerous.

Indian macho gangster politicians are frantic to get the plutonium economy.

Diverting billions stolen from Indian workers to the obscenely competing Russians and Nth American war criminals.

To throw bigger and better bombs at the Pakistanis, next time round

and annihalate everybody many times more quickly.

Tamal Nadu heroes take on the Nuclear State

”On Aug. 17, a group of activists started a hunger strike near Koodankulam at the southern tip of Tamil Nadu state. The action was directed against Indian government plans to commission a 1000 MW Russian- built nuclear plant. Kalpakkam has already proven to be a dangerous hotspot. Here, in January 2003, a valve connecting a high-level radioactive liquid waste tank and a low level waste tank leaked, leading to radiation exposure for at least six employees, an unknown number of deaths, and temporary closure of Kalpakkam’s main plant. The Kalpakkam nuclear complex also holds the dubious distinction of having been flooded when the devastating tsunami of 2004 struck.

Kalpakkam hence is an additional reason for worries. Not least because the nuclear complex harbours a test reactor constructed towards enabling India build a plutonium economy. Indian peace activists have expressed suspicions that the plutonium separated at Indian civilian reprocessing facilities will be diverted and used to increase the country’s stock of atomic weapons.

These suspicions have not been allayed by recent developments. Since the beginning of this year, India boasts three reprocessing plants. Further, the U.S. government has in principle granted the Indian government permission to domestically reprocess fuel elements from reactors to be supplied under the 2008 U.S.-India deal. Hence, diversion of plutonium towards India’s weapons’ programme is well possible.

Every day 10,000 people or more would gather from the surrounding area to demonstrate their support. And every day support kept expanding, as students boycotted schools, merchants closed their shops, and gruel kitchens were set up in adjacent villages where fisher folk refused to go out to catch fish.

The reactors being installed at the plants in Koodankulam are Russian in origin. They are known as the VVER-1000/392 design. Though based on light-water reactors in use for long, the design is a new variant. Indian scientists have long questioned whether Russia’s VVER-1000 technology is safe. Doubts have further been fuelled by last March’s Fukushima disaster in Japan, and by the new assessments on nuclear safety made since then.
In a report leaked to environmental organisations in June, an amalgam of Russian state agencies admitted that Russia’s nuclear industry is extremely vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters. Some 31 security flaws were listed.

The Anti Nuclear resistance is the biggest ever in India and deserves all support possible

Read much more HERE. From Peter Custers at IPS with thanks http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105342

Politicos are PAID by Wall St..Occupy the Planet

Obama and Congress ARE Wall Street, Geithner IS the Federal Reserve – Now What?

change — this gang are PAID by Wall Street

As Occupy Wall Street protests intensify around America, it’s important to examine possible solutions

Eric Blair Activist Post ( shortened and slightly adapted, with thanks)

Barack Obama and his 2008 presidential challenger John McCain both received more money from Wall Street donors than their combined lifetime government salaries. It was a billion-dollar-plus campaign. In fact, all of Congress makes more from Wall Street and corporate campaign contributions than their public salaries.

So what could be done if a huge movement could really force change??

Complete Debt Forgiveness:

I have been one of the advocates for a complete write-off of all fraudulent debt, essentially hitting the economic reset button. This act would zap all of the power that the banking cartel has over governments and individuals. Although I truly believe this to be the only way out of this mess, it may require an entirely new free and fair financial structure in place when the button is pushed, or the same group of thugs will likely maintain their control over the system. (blogger’s comment: Seems to me impossible, if most US debt is ‘owned’ by the Chinese, they’re hardly likely to forfeit their savings .)

End the Wars:

Yes, yes, and yes. End the foreign wars. End the phony war on “terror”. And end the war on drugs. They only benefit those funding the wars (with interest) and the pirates who the government gives the spoils to. Because no average citizen ever wants war, it leads some to believe that all wars have been baited by these beneficiaries — and they wouldn’t be wrong. Unfortunately, for too long we have taken the bait and they have gotten their spoils. It is time to stop this insanity. Significantly, this is one of the only practical solutions that will have minimal blowback. It will save trillions in public spending and immediately bring more harmony to the planet. However, America will face the very real challenge of creating new employment for returning soldiers, contractors, and laid-off weapons manufacturers, as well as DEA agents, prison guards and others who participate in perpetuating the war on drugs. So, even though ending all wars is the only sane policy, by itself it is not a silver bullet for economic woes………

Read much more HERE Activist Post

Oct 15: World Strike vs. Capitalism (part 1)

Oct 15th will be 6 months since the ‘Take The Streets’ movement took off in Spain and is still spreading like wildfire around the world. For the first time we can start talking about a worldwide movement without controlling Parties, leaders and authoritarian manipulation. We’re all equally important and deserving to not be mistreated and exploited. The movement is inspired by the obvious lunacy of the Capitalist system, the catastrophic destruction of the biosphere and runaway Climate change, and maybe also by the rise of the Internet, which by its nature pushes horizontal not hierarchical society….

IMAGINE there’s no money.. It isn’t hard to do..

We need a new system. This one measures ‘Progress’ by how fast we can destroy the planet!

October 15th 2011 is a key date in the collective search for a new system. For the first time really on a global level. And may be the precursor to greater actions.

When the Capitalist money system collapses all kinds of unthinkable options may become possible.

276970_129524190464048_65188320_n — Oct 15th 500 demos worldwide

It’s about time people began preparing for the inevitable, instead of desperately trying to keep the Juggle Balls of Capital in the air.

Imagine there’s no Prison.. and no policemen too..

Here’s one ‘thing to do’ list..Destroying the Banks in favour of a phased in Money-Free system. Banning Hierarchical, sexist and homophobic organizations. A minimum world wage, or free rations of basic goods. Abolishing armies and war. Community Co-operatives instead of companies. Phasing out of the Oil Economy in favour of renewables and NH3 fuel. Banning GMO’s. Collectivising excess private property. Abolition of the Prisons and police system….

El 15 de Octubre del 2011 va a ser una fecha inolvidable para la raza humana. Este sera el primer encuentro UNIVERSAL de ciudadanos por un mundo mejor.
NO es un tema de ideas políticas, religión o filosofía.
El asunto es sobre cuanto nos importa nuestro futuro y el futuro de la Tierra

Protesters plan to occupy London Stock Exchange

A group of protesters are organising an occupation of the London Stock Exchange to bring attention to what they see as unethical behaviour on the part of banks, following a similar demonstration on Wall Street.

In a Facebook group called Occupy the London Stock Exchange organisers call on crowds to march on the exchange’s headquarters at Paternoster Square and fortify it with tents and barricades “for a few months”.

“Beginning on October 15, we want to see at least over 20,000 people flood in, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy the London Stock Exchange for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices,” reads the description of the protest on Facebook.

According to the group the protest will begin on Saturday October 15 and run until 11am on December 12.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?31468-Occupy-London-Stock-Exchange-October-15th

See details of 306 demonstrations worldwide on Oct 15th 2011

http://map.15october.net/reports/

List of 306 demonstrations worldwide on Oct 15th 2011

Irrawaddy Dam stopped..VICTORY in Burma

Myanmar’s president called Friday for work on a controversial Chinese-backed hydroelectic dam to be halted and the concerns of its critics settled, in a startling turnaround welcomed by democracy activists and environmentalists. President Thein Sein said in a statement read out on his behalf at Parliament that the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project in the northern state of Kachin should be suspended because “it is against the will of the people.” Thein Sein’s statement said Myanmar would discuss pending contracts regarding the dam with China.

Environmental activists have said the dam would displace countless villagers and upset the ecology of one of the country’s most vital national resources, the Irrawaddy River. It also would submerge a culturally important site in the ethnic Kachin heartland where the Malikha and Maykha rivers meet to form the Irrawaddy. The Myitsone dam was supposed to export about 90 percent of electric power it generated to neighboring China, according to the government. The vast majority of Myanmar’s residents, meanwhile, have no electricity.

“This is the first time in 50 years that the government has given in to the wishes of the people,” said Dr. Than Tut Aung, a prominent publisher who is also one of the leading advocates of the“Save the Irrawaddy” campaign. “The decision to suspend the dam project is not just an environmental issue but a national issue. We welcome the good news.”

Thein Sein came to power in March after the nation’s long-standing junta disbanded, promising to bring democratic reforms to one of Asia’s most repressive nations. But skeptics see his government — dominated by retired military officers — as a proxy for continued army rule, and there has been much debate over whether his reform pledges are merely rhetoric.

The new government has boosted hope for change by unblocking the long-censored Internet, calling on exiles to return, and holding talks with prominent opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from seven years of house arrest last year.Yet more than 2,000 political prisoners remain behind bars, while fighting with multiple armed ethnic rebellions has displaced about half a million people within the country and forced at least 200,000 more to flee abroad.

On Friday, Suu Kyi met for a third time with Labor and Social Welfare Minister Aung Kyi, part of an ongoing dialogue between the two sides that some see as proof the that concrete change is imminent.

Afterward, Suu Kyi said she welcomed Thein Sein’s message on suspending the Myitsone dam. “All governments should listen to the voices of the people,” she said.

OccupyWallSt: Cops arrest 700 / Big Unions joining in

OccWallSt. on bridge — 700 arrested marching over Brooklyn Bridge

More than 700 people from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement have been briefly arrested for marchimng on New York’s City’s Brooklyn Bridge, police say.

They were part of a larger group crossing the bridge from Manhattan, where they have been camped out near Wall Street for two weeks.

“We are unions, students, teachers, veterans, first responders, families, the unemployed and underemployed. We are all races, sexes and creeds. We are the majority. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.” read more at Occupy Wall Street website and occupytogether.org.

NYPD Mass Arrests of Occupy Wall Street Protesters

UPDATE, 6:07 pm Kristen reports via text: ”Now it’s raining. There are still hundreds of us, people are putting backpacks on their fronts, so cops don’t take them when we’re arrested.”

She says that rumors in the crowd include the suggestion that the Lawyers Guild is working on bail money for the arrested protesters and negotiations with the cops. She says, “a friend told me there’s a rumor this is over. It’s not over.”

As for morale? The remaining protesters are huddled together under umbrellas singing “this little light of mine.”

A Massive Union Just Voted To Side With Protesters

According to Daily Kos, The New York Transit Workers Union (TWU) voted to support the Wall Street Protestors at their meeting last night. A member of TWU Local 100 told a reporter that they would join the protest Friday at 4PM.

Here’s more about them from their website: The TWU has four main divisions: Railroad; Gaming; Airline; Transit; and Utility, University and Service. The Union has 114 autonomous locals representing over 200,000 members and retirees in 22 states around the country.

Occupy Wall Street has been picking up some decent support from unions in the past few days. Yesterday we reported that the Teamsters Union declared their support for protestors, and we also found out that the United Pilots Union had members at the protest demonstrating in uniform.

Today we learned the Industrial Workers of the World put a message of support on their website as well.

UPDATE: Verizon union workers have joined the protestors in NYC.

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20111001135826694

Click here to see the protestor’s list of demands >

Occupy Wall St: 1000s defy brutal police

Several thousand anti-Wall Street protesters marched through downtown Manhattan on Friday night to protest against incidents of police brutality at a previous demonstration.

The group was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement which has camped for almost two weeks in a New York square to protest against the finance industry, among other grievances.

The group had attempted a march last weekend which ended in scores of arrests. Numerous incidents of police roughing up protesters were caught on film including one senior officer spraying mace at several female demonstrators being kept behind a police barrier.

Video of that attack went viral on the internet prompted mainstream media – which had mostly ignored the protests – to give them sympathetic attention. Computer hackers also released the name and address of the officer caught on film. Since then the occupation has garnered many new supporters and global press attention.

It has attracted celebrity visits from liberal figures such as filmmaker Michael Moore and actor Susan Sarandon. On Friday an apparently false rumour that the band Radiohead were to play an impromptu gig at the square caused a temporary Twitter storm.

But Friday night’s march was aimed at highlighting the police violence at the previous protest. A long line of placard-carrying demonstrators wound the short distance from Zuccotti Park where the protesters are camped near Wall Street to Police Plaza, where the New York Police Department has its headquarters.

The march was led by a group of elderly grandmothers wearing yellows bibs emblazoned with the words: “Grannies for peace”. That seemed to symbolise the protest’s good-natured mood which appeared to be matched by the police’s willingness to give the group the freedom to demonstrate.

Michele Moore, a former bank worker from Georgia, said she had been on the previous week’s march that had ended in violence. “The videos of those events were completely accurate,” she said. But she added that Friday’s protest had felt completely different. “Everything I saw today was peaceful and positive. It was delightful,” Moore said.

The protest was filled with the usual mix of Occupy Wall Street supporters. But there was also a smattering of people wearing T-shirts with trade union logos as well as ordinary working New Yorkers