March 23, 2013

Taking a break from DU.

"GD". 'nuff said.

Hoping that everyone will continue to post the good message. Reposting here what flies across the Twitter feed for #Occupy is good stuff. We are all leaders! Another world is possible when we work together!

March 22, 2013

Friends of Wells Fargo Typo Victim Larry Delassus Suing For Wrongful Death

via Carlos of Occupy Fights Foreclosures

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/03/wells_fargo_larry_delassus_wrongful_death.php

Attorney Anthony Trujillo sits at his desk overlooking the Pacific Ocean, clicking through hundreds of files on his computer. Each relates to his late friend and client, Larry Delassus, who died of heart failure in a Torrance courtroom in December as he sat in a wheelchair watching Trujillo argue a negligence and discrimination case on his behalf against banking giant Wells Fargo.

Now, Trujillo and Delassus' close friend Debbie Popovich say they will file a wrongful death claim in April against Wells Fargo and its tax service provider, CoreLogic. (CoreLogic was listed as First American Real Estate Tax Service in court documents until recently.)

On March 21, Trujillo will request an extension in his discrimination case from Superior Court Judge Laura C. Ellison, who had tentatively sided with Wells Fargo the day before Delassus collapsed in her courtroom. The tragic events set off a storm of complaints against Wells Fargo and the judge when L.A. Weekly published its article "Wells Fargo Typo Victim Dies in Court." On April 18, Popovich will ask a probate judge to name her the special administrator of Delassus' modest estate, so someone can act on his behalf.

Trujillo is not harboring any delusions about the difficulty he faces in pursuing a wrongful death suit against the banking giant. He'll need to prove that Wells Fargo's negligence exacerbated Delassus' illness -- a rare blood disorder called Budd-Chiari syndrome -- causing Delassus the stress that led to his December death in the courtroom.

(More at the link.)

March 21, 2013

Occupy Oakland Activist Arrested on Charges Related to MayDay Protest – #FreePrince

Don’t surrender ?@Platypus64 34m

Occupy Oakland Activist Arrested on Charges Related to MayDay Protest – #FreePrince
http://politicalfailblog.com/archives/7129

During the 2012 Mayday protests in Oakland, the OPD switched up it’s normal crowd control tactics and sent in ‘snatch squads’ to remove people who they perceived to be planning unlawful actions. Without any warning, groups of officers marched in formation directly through the crowd in search of their targets, as you can see in the below video. Prince was one of the activists to be targeted and arrested early in the day. More than three officers assaulted Prince, before one used their tazer to bring him down. It’s more than clear that there was no reason for any of these arrests to be made, as no illegal activity (on the part of the protesters) was taking place. Prince was held for 72 hours, brutalized, and released with no charges. The DA quietly filed charges later, and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Two of the officers involved in Prince’s brutal arrest on MayDay have been identified as Officer Fukuda and Officer W. Burke. Officer Burke was seen on Mayday, multiple times, pointing his rifle at people in the crowd, and waving it around carelessly. Officer Burke was also fired at one point, for falsifying search warrants, but was rehired in arbitration.

On Tuesday, March 19th, 2013 the Oakland Police Department sent ten officers to Prince’s home to make good on their warrant. With their rifles drawn, the officers surrounded his home before entering and removing him from his bedroom in handcuffs. Prince’s warrant came from a court date where a third charge, PC 69, (threatening an officer) was added by the Alameda District Attorney’s office without notice.

With his first child expected to be born within the month, Prince needs all of our support so he can be home and ready to embark on the journey of fatherhood, rather than battling the legal system because he decided to stand up for what he believed in. A better world for the next generation, is that too much to ask?

(Video and more at the link.)

March 21, 2013

The Rolling Jubilee Transparency Page

http://rollingjubilee.org/transparency/#debtbuys



The Rolling Jubilee Fund ("RJ&quot is a Non-Profit 501(c)(4) Organization formed in October, 2012 as a project of Strike Debt, with the exclusive mission of buying and abolishing debt.

RJ is currently comprised of a Board of Directors ("the Board&quot , three designated sub-committees and a host of volunteers (many of whom are from Strike Debt and Occupy Wall Street networks). No board member or volunteer is compensated for their work on RJ. Brokers and web developers have been paid, as they are not volunteers working for the cause but individuals in areas of expertise offering their services, often well below market value.

RJ is possible because of the labor of many volunteers; The Board is made up of a few volunteers who have stepped up to be publicly accountable for managing finances and carrying out the mission of the organization.

RJ is committed to operating with transparency, integrity and in the spirit of the Strike Debt principles. The Board has agreed to a policy of transparency and openness while being careful not to compromise the complicated work of carrying out its mission. This page is an attempt to practice the principles we preach. It contains the following information about RJ, all of which will be updated regularly.

Status of funds
Operations, policies & protocols
Individual debt buys

In Solidarity,

The Board

(More at the link.)

March 21, 2013

Without Taxpayer Help, Too Big to Fail Banks Would Only Break Even

Occupy Wall Street ?@OccupyWallStNYC 2m

This is how much of your taxes goes to propping up too-big-to-fail banks:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/02/22/bloomberg-too-big-to-fail-banks-not-profitable/ … #OWS


Wall Street banks once occupied a unique position of power, privilege, and prestige in this country. Looking back, the apogee was probably late in the Clinton administration, in the era of deregulation, when Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin -- former co-chair of Goldman Sachs and future director of Citigroup -- appeared on the cover of Time magazine with his protégé, Lawrence Summers, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, over the headline "The Committee to Save the World."

After the cataclysm of 2008, much of the power and privilege remains, but the prestige is rapidly fading. Today brings what seems like a minor milestone in the banks' fall from grace: a Bloomberg editorial alleging that Wall Street's largest financial firms would only break even without taxpayer backstops, and calling for an end to the perverse incentives that the current arrangement creates.

Bloomberg knows that its business-focused readers may be unprepared for such news: "Granted, it's a hard concept to swallow." But as the editors explain, the widespread perception that JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS) et al. are too big to fail effectively gives them a discount when they borrow money, since creditors presume -- with good reason, given recent history -- that the government will step in and bail the banks out if they get into serious trouble. A recent study by two economists concluded that Wall Street's borrowing costs are thereby reduced by about 0.8 percentage points, a discount which "applies to all their liabilities, including bonds and customer deposits."

Calculate the total cost of that seemingly tiny reduction and you arrive at an $83 billion annual taxpayer subsidy to the 10 largest U.S. banks by assets -- "tantamount to the government giving the banks about 3 cents of every tax dollar collected." As if that weren't shocking enough, Bloomberg goes on to explain that the top five banks -- JPMorgan, Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Goldman -- aren't actually profitable, since the share of the total subsidy that they receive, $64 billion, is "roughly equal to their typical annual profits."

(Links and more at the article.)

March 21, 2013

I will be Live Streaming No Kxl arrests today at 12am eastern time (Update: About 25 Arrests)

RadicalMedia_ ?@OCCUPYCARLISLE 13m

I will be Live Streaming #NoKxl arrests today at 12am eastern time

http://www.ustream.tv/occupycarlisle

@KXLBlockade @350

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Tar Sands Blockade ?@KXLBlockade 9s

BREAKING: About 25 Arrested for #NoKXL Actions in Washington, DC today! The day opened with prayers from about...
http://fb.me/2x34nT1Dx

March 21, 2013

Activist sues San Francisco PD after warrantless search of his phone

Amber Lyon ?@AmberLyon 45s

Activist sues San Francisco PD after warrantless search of his phone

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/activist-sues-san-francisco-pd-after-warrantless-search-of-his-phone/ … via @arstechnica #Privacy #SFPD


Offer-Westort was nervous about the police looking through his text messages because he had recently sent text message that included negative comments about a local politician and that he intended to relay exclusively to the message's recipient but otherwise to keep private; if this text message were made public it could adversely affect his ability to work with this politician and with other politicians.

Offer-Westort was therefore extremely concerned about the government reading his private text message about [the] politician; Offer-Westort asked Officer Chambers what he was doing [and] Officer Chambers stated something to the effect of: “Looking for text messages—how do you feel about that?”

Offer-Westort objected to the search, stating, "I don’t give you consent."

Officer Chambers did not cease the search upon Offer-Westort’s objection, instead responding with statement to the effect of: “The California Supreme Court gives me the right after I arrest you.”

(More at the link.)

March 20, 2013

Man charged with inciting terrorism during Que. student protest pleads guilty

Anon GovernmentWatch ?@Anon_GovWatchCA 6m

Breaking: In #Canada, activism is now considered terrorism
http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/man-charged-with-inciting-terrorism-during-que-student-protest-pleads-guilty-1.1202693
… #cdnpoli #canpoli #ukpoli #auspol #nzpoli #uspoli


MONTREAL -- A man arrested during a raucous student protest following an education summit pleaded guilty Tuesday to various charges, including inciting terrorism.

A judge accepted a joint Crown-defence suggestion that Denis-Marc Pelletier be sentenced to nine months in prison.

The 29-year-old Pelletier was facing at least seven charges, including possession of explosives, possession of an arson device and uttering threats.

He was also charged with inciting terrorism, stemming from online musings in the weekend before the Feb. 26 protest.

(A little bit more at the link.)

March 19, 2013

HudBay sues First Nation over Idle No More blockade

Collective Cognition ?@cognitiveslap

HudBay sues FirstNation over #IdleNoMore blockade

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/03/18/mb-first-nation-sued-idle-no-more-protests-manitoba.html …

HudBay: long history persecuting indigenous people throughout world



A Manitoba First Nation is being sued by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting for a series of Idle No More protests and blockades.

The company claims protestors from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) caused a safety risk to employees when they blocked the entrance to where the company's gold, zinc and copper mine is being developed near Snow Lake in January and March.

Protestors claim it was the company that closed the gate. They also disagree it was a blockade.

"Actually we didn't organize blockades. We organized demonstrations where you go and exercise some of our treaty rights on our ancestral lands," said MCCN Chief Arlen Dumas.

(More at the link.)

March 19, 2013

Rumsfeld posted tweet CELEBRATING Iraq War 10 year anniversary.

Frank Conniff ?@FrankConniff

Rumsfeld posted tweet CELEBRATING Iraq War 10 year anniversary. Impressed he can even type with so much blood on his hands.