Occupy the T.P.P. Stop the Corporate Coup!

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is called a trade agreement. In reality it is the stealth delivery mechanism for a long-dreamed of template for implementing a binding system of global governance. This NAFTA on steroids is being negotiated behind closed doors by the U.S. and ten Pacific Rim Countries, with a ‘docking agreement’ to add even more nations.

TPP is being planned with the advice and participation of 600 U.S. corporate lobbyists, but they refuse to tell the public what is in the text. They refuse to tell Congress what is in the text. They are negotiating in secret to hide the content. The TPP will redefine ‘trade’ in ways that make corporations unaccountable to the people and nations we live in.

The TPP is poised to become the largest ‘free trade’ agreement in the world. The Obama administration will try to ‘fast track’ it through Congress to prevent any amendments to terms of the agreement. Why?

Powerful corporate interests want to use the TPP to:

-Offshore good-paying jobs to low wage nations, undercutting working conditions globally and increasing unemployment.
-Create new tools for attacking environmental laws, labor laws, consumer safety standards, or any other laws that limit profit.
-Expand the deregulation of banks, hedge funds, and insurance companies.
-Further concentrate global food supplies, displacing family farmers and subjecting consumers to wild price fluctuations.
-Establish longer drug patents that will restrict access to affordable generic medications.
-Restrict our right to free speech and threaten Internet freedom by turning service providers into copyright cops.
-Establish a parallel court system allowing multinational corporations to bypass U.S. courts and sue countries before tribunals whose judges are unaccountable international trade lawyers. TPP countries will have little to no right to appeal.

Here are some of the lessons I've learned as an activist since the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Sept 17, 2011.

Personal Empowerment = Social Empowerment

As we learn to accept and allow folks to use their own individual voices, the group is empowered. With OWS we are learning how to bring the best out of people rather than just condemn or judge them for their personal style, spiritual beliefs or political views. Welcoming new people to the movement should be a major focus of our activities if we want to succeed. The 99% is just waiting for someone to come along and say, "Join our side – we are all getting screwed by Wall Street and the multinational corporations!"

Last year we marched in the streets, set up occupy camps, and were arrested by unsympathetic corporate controlled police and political officials. Having been empowered personally by our connection to the movement and it's values, we can now begin to build that world we have all been dreaming about. 

This year people are at stage two of the process. In 2011 we focused on confronting the power structure with our demonstrations. We were an infant throwing a tantrum – crying and hoping to evoke sympathy from our parental authorities.

But on the one year anniversary of the movement it is perhaps time for us to stop asking the question, "Why won't the political, religious and economic elite reform the systems that oppress us?"

The answer to that question is obvious. The economic power structure is not interested in supporting any governmental, religious or financial reforms, let alone a global social revolution. Changing the system would be detrimental to their own self-interests, and butting our heads up against a brick wall becomes tedious after a while.

Instead, I beleive that we are now empowered and compelled to build this new world ourselves – DIY!

We are no longer waiting for any of our so-called "leaders" to do the work for us. Our infantile stage has now passed and it's time for us to mature as a movement, to put the past behind us – the political repression, and the negative corporate media propaganda.

Bottom line: it doesn't matter what CNN or NPR say about Occupy Wall Street! Most of the US media doesn't understand the altruistic, loving spirit of this movement, anyway. These values are foreign to them. They are only interested in asking, "Where's the money?" "Where are your political candidates?" 

So, in their eyes the movement has been a failure, but the real transformation has been on a personal level with everyone involved in OWS. Our collective eyes have been opened because we have been educating one another. And our apathy is gone because we now feel empowered to affect the changes we want within our own communities – our households, our neighborhoods and our cities.

In reality, the Occupy Wall Street movement has now turned a corner. A paradigmn shift has taken place over the last 12 months which has brought us to this moment where occupy activists across the nation and around the world are finally becoming aware of one another and are acknowledging their solidarity. Students across the country have been marching in solidarity with the students of Montreal. Orgainzers from the Idignados movement in Spain have been talking with occupy groups in the US. Hordur Torfason has addressed American occupiers on how Iceland managed to create its peaceful revolution. US activists have corresponded with Anna Hazare about the social justice movement in India. Wherever one looks on the planet, you will find people activley involved in the transformation of their society.   

If this pro-democracy/anti-corruption movement is to succeed in the US, it will have to join forces with and become a full partner in the global movement for peace and freedom. We must listen and learn from our sisters and brothers throughout the world who are working to overcome corporate/state oppression. The movement can be easily stamped out in individual nations, but no one can stop something that is happening all over the planet in unison!

Many of the US activists have found roles within their own local occupy groups and in their local communities. Hundreds of Occupy working groups have been taking on a number of local and regional issues including the Keystone pipeline, Citizens United, GMO's, anti-labor union legislation, student debt, attacks on the rights of immigrants, police brutality, homelessness, unfair tax policies, etc. Wherever the need arises for support of the poor and middle class, occupiers seem to be there. www.interoccupy.org

In Seattle folks are showing the way. Despite the usual infighting and burn-out isssues, the Occupy Seattle working groups have survived and some are actually flourishing. Operation "Mic Check" has conducted numerous money drops and organized flash mobs. The Student Noise Brigade marches every week. Activists in Seattle are organizing to open a free university and library as a response to student debt. 

To combat hunger and poverty, groups in Seattle are providing free food disribution programs. And now some occupiers are talking about forming a local worker controlled coffee co-op to counter the mainstream culture of corporate greed. 

With the urging and support of occupiers, the Seattle City Council and Washington State State Representative Bob Hasagawa are calling for the establishment of a publicly owned state bank as a way to bypass the rampant corruption and financial speculation taking place on Wall Street. 

So, the lesson of the occupy movement has been, "Don't wait for national leaders to create these new sustainable and equitable systems – build them yourself!"

Wall Street banksters are not going to reform themselves, no matter how many protests we stage, and regardless of how many activists are arrested. Since the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, money has become the only focus of national political campaigns. Any talk of abolishing the electoral college or of adopting publicly financed elections is ignored by both Washington, DC and the corporate media.

But even if our elected representatives refuse to listen to us, the hard work still must be done. At some point in this process, any objections or harassment from political officials will seem irrelevant because these new systems will be established at the local level without their assistance. The harsh austerity measures currently being forced on this country gives politicians a free license to cut all public funding for projects which promote the health, education and safety of our communities. 

Apathy and a sense of powerlessness have been two of the typical symptoms of a consumerist society. People have come to believe that nothing important ever happens unless major corporations, the media, politicians or celebrities are invovled. The Occupy movement has proven that kind of midset is totally false and it's counterproductive to personal and social development.

If your state refuses to set up a publicly owned bank, you can create a whole new underground economy through bartering and networking at the local level or within your own small community. Transfer your money from Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase to a small local bank or credit union.  

If the local government is allowing people to go hungry – feed them! If they are uneducated teach them valuable skills.

The change has to start somewhere! It's very obvious that our political leaders are unwilling to challenge the corrupt economic and electoral systems that have brought them to power. Our elected representatives are not going to take care of the people because they're far too busy bailing out their corrupt friends on Wall Street!

WIth the limited resources available among the occupy groups, great things have been accomplished already and much more can be done to turn the tide of corporate greed and effect change in our own commuities. Our most valuable resourse is, of course, people. The knowledge and skills that these individuals possess will be the necessary tools we need to transform our society. 

As we continue to bust the myths about our powerlessness, we must also understand the "power of non-importance". What I am referring to here is the fact that because the movement has been largely dismissed by our political leadership as ineffective and unimportant, we have actually gained more freedom to organize. It is better for that us that the "powers that be" ignore us rather than see us as a direct threat to their system. In this way, we are able establish our new set of values and co-operative social arrangements in obscurity – below the radar, so to speak.

Without the media's magnifying lense observing our behavior, it may be easier to work on the many of the group projects that occupiers have created. If you take away the negative corporate media scruntiny, you will most likely have a less insecure and less objectified movement. We are, after all, not really just "occupiers" anymore – we are individual human beings with real lives, authentic aspirations and important issues to tackle.

The media says, "You have no goals!"

I say, "Tell that to the activists who are trying to stop the homeforeclosures and end fracking!"

They say, "You have no organization!"

My response: "Explain that to the thousands of people who have been participating and organizing together at regional and national occupy conferences and forums in Gainesville, Des Moines, Olympia, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York City, etc." 

The corporate media myths are a lie. We are now entering a new era of confidence and action. You may not see mass demonstrations and encampents at the parks, but if you look closely underneath the curtain of censorship, you willl find a highly effective and relevant social justice movement that is slowly transofrming American and global society. We are probably in a situation much like the abolitionists after the Missouri Compromise, or the Dred Scott decision. Our campaign for economic and social justice has been ignored and vilified by the media, but eventually our goals will be met. We are the future… 

The uprising against Wall Street in New York City inspired an entire nation of activists to protest political and financial corruption.

It's becoming quite obvious to me lately that the rumors about the death of the occupy movement have been greatly exaggerated…

this article appeared in the Huffington Post and can be found here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-taylorcanfield/occupy-wall-street-anniversary_b_1884356.html

Mark Taylor-Canfield is an independent journalist, activist and musician (and many other things…) from Seattle, WA

EVENTS AROUND AND ABOUT:
Find useful links to events and pages surrounding the one year aniversary of OWS.
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Occupy Seattle Information Booth
Most days between now and #OS17, noon to 6:00pm
Westlake Park, 400 Pine
The Westlake Info Booth is gearing up for Occupy BirthdayWe will be @ Westlake everyday now. Stop and say Hi.
Bring us your ideas! (written format for distribution. thx!)
Global Banks and the 1% get extra special attention.

https://www.facebook.com/events/383573248379536/

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BACK TO THE ROOTS Closing Bell March
Today at 4:00pm at Henry M. Jackson Federal Building
Every Day between noe and $S17

WHEN:every weekday till S17, starting Tuesday September 4th, 4-6pm (rush hour)
WHERE: Federal Building, 2nd & Marion.4-6pm (rush hour)
HOW: Make it when you can. Bring signs.Suits with or without Nooses optional.C U in the crosswalks.
WHY: By joining the nationwide Occupy movement, we want to focus elected officials and the public on the majority’s desire to take our government and country back from the big-money interests that currently hold undue sway over decisions affecting us all. We are coming together in large numbers to affect this change.

https://www.facebook.com/events/396538060399986/?context=create

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Occupy Seattle One Year Anniversary Photo Exhibit-Alex Garland
9/17/12, noon- 3pm
Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets 1814 Summit Avenue

Occupy One Year Exhibit Photo Show- by photographer Alex Garland has been extended. The show is availible for viewing during PSKS open hours: Monday, W and Friday noon-3 PM located at-1814 Summit Avenue (Denny and Summit) for public viewing. The center will be closed to the public on Friday September 21st.

Over 300 photos displayed in a unique format, highlighting Occupy Seattle andthe different groups, actions, and protests inspired by common grievances.This is an opportunity to view yourself, your friends, neighbors, or completestrangers, standing up, addressing the issues facing our country, and makingthemselves heard.

https://www.facebook.com/events/123241411155104/

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All call to washington state occupies! #OS17
September 17 at 12:00am until September 18 at 12:00am
westlake park, 400 pine

On the one year anniversary of occupy wall street, let’s show new york city that The Upper Left is still where it’s at!

Please join the working group and share ideas for Seattle’s #s17 birthday party!

Free U is organizing Facilitate Open Space Workshops

Alex Garland’s 1 Year Anniversary of Occupy Seattle photo exhibit @ PSKS, 1814 Summit Avenue

https://www.facebook.com/events/123241411155104/

Occupy Sanctuary will be there with chaplains staffing it 10-7.

GMOP may be having an information booth set up for S-17.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/358958394116847/

Occupy Info sponsers….. BACK TO THE ROOTS Closing Bell RallyFederal Building, 2nd & Marion.4-7pm (rush hour)

https://www.facebook.com/events/396538060399986/?context=create

#S17 #OWS Year 1: Silent Flash March 6:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/233391223450866/

There will be cake, 6:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/110749515744544/

The Health Care Working Group may also having an information table/tent on S17 at Westlake.

#OS17 working group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/415191658538263/

event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/325725990856430/

Occupy Chaplains is recruiting for more members.

We are seeking lay people, ordained ministers, seekers and peacemakers of any faith or spiritual inclination who feel a calling to support the transformation of American society into a more just and humane place for all. We see the Occupy phenomenon as a deeply spiritual movement. Its call for economic and political justice reflects the wisdom of many our world’s religions. While the more visible Occupy encampments are gone, there are a variety of groups protesting student debt, opposing home foreclosures, advocating for a state bank, developing neighborhood gardening, among other things.  

Presently our active membership draws from these traditions: Christian, Buddhist, Baha’i, Quakers, Sufi, earth-based spirituality, and native spirituality. We offer peaceful presence, a sanctuary tent at rallies, marching in solidarity, friendship, conversation, prayer and meditation. We also reach out to religious congregations and spiritual circles to facilitate heartfelt and faith-centered discussion on the Occupy movement and the issues it brings up.

There are many levels of involvement possible. Some of these opportunities include:

• Serving as a liaison between Occupy Chaplains and your own community and neighborhood
• Attending a weekly meeting of Occupy Chaplains
• Joining us at an Occupy action
• Offering meditation and pastoral care in the Sanctuary Tent
• Offering meditation before the weekly Occupy General Assemblies.

You can request to be on our email list (one to three emails per week) by sending an email to:  occupy-chaplains+subscribe@googlegroups.com.  

We currently meet every Monday at 10:00 AM to noon at the Interfaith Community Church located at 1763 NW 62nd St., Seattle 98107.

We are hosting an orientation meeting for those who wish to become more involved on October 13th from 10:00 AM to noon at the Interfaith Community Church. 

please RSVP to:  occupychaplains@gmail.com. 

If you would like to discuss how you might become involved, message us or email occupychaplains@gmail.com.

FB event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/270063419777611/
 

Olympia City Hall

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SEE MORE ECOLOGY REPORTS HERE:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/news.html

photocredit:
http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc205.php

King County Prosecutor's office dismissed charges against a photographer who had been arrested at the May Day protests. Prosecutors had charged 28-year-old Joshua Alex Garland, on assignment that day for Real Change, with assault for allegedly grabbing an officer's hand, twisting his arm and trying to pull him into the crowd. But lo and behold, videos posted to YouTube suggest it didn't happen that way at all.

Robertson credits prosecutors office for being "extremely professional" in their willingness to look at the videos with her and then drop the charges, without dragging Garland through a trial. But things would have turned out differently had there been no video.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2012/05/joshua_alex_garland_case_shows.php?page=2

photocredit:

http://fiannaiochta.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/film-the-police-you-might-save-an-innocent-person-from-going-to-jail/534533_264060147040341_552410889_n/

In the 19th century, state laws around the country defined rape as the carnal knowledge of a woman when achieved by force by a man other than her husband. According to a principle known as coverture, a husband had authority over his wife's person and property. Therefore, women could not withhold sex from their husbands. Similarly, enslaved women could not refuse sex with their masters or testify against them in court. After emancipation, the presumption that African American women had no say over what happened to their bodies persisted. For generations afterward, many men had impunity in raping black women.

Even white women had difficulty making the case that they had been raped. Evidence of physical injuries to prove resistance and corroborative testimony that a woman had cried out would improve her believability in court. But all-male juries and members of the judiciary often assumed that once a woman had consented to sex, any subsequent sexual activity was consensual. An unwanted sexual encounter could usually be classified as rape only if the woman was white and chaste, the perpetrator was black, and the act was violent.

Advocates for women's rights and racial justice started questioning these views in the mid-19th century, and their efforts helped reshape the meaning of rape in three important ways. First, legal remedies such as laws on criminal seduction and statutory rape made it easier to prosecute coercive but nonviolent sexual relations with acquaintances. African American activists insisted that black women could be victims of rape and that white men should be held accountable for assault. And feminists renamed a range of non-consensual acts, particularly with acquaintances and husbands, as rape.

In the late 20th century, second-wave feminism generated an anti-rape movement that identified sexual assault as an abuse of power that has been central to women's oppression. Feminists rejected the notion that only a violent stranger could rape a woman. In addition to coining the term "date rape" to describe unwanted sex with an acquaintance, they targeted sexual abuse within the family. Because of their efforts, in the 1980s states began to outlaw marital rape. Other reforms included revising rape statutes' requirements of corroboration and of the use of "utmost force" to prove resistance.

Feminists also exposed the extent of child sexual abuse within the home, schools and religious institutions. Rethinking rape as a form of power contributed to the recognition that boys and men could be victims and that rape is not solely a heterosexual crime. Only in 2011, however, did the FBI revise its definition of rape — for the first time since 1927. In Uniform Crime Reports, the FBI now includes any form of forced sexual penetration of a man or a woman as well as "non-forcible rape."

In recent years, as at every turn in our history, critics have chafed at the more expansive definitions of rape. As in the past, some may fear a loss of sexual privileges. Some skeptics have cast doubt on the extent and the damage of acquaintance rape. Others have tried to limit the meaning of rape to advance broader political agendas.

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Consent:
an active, non-coercive, continual agreement to engage in sexual activity. Consent is not silence, agreeing to sex after being pressured into it, or getting a “yes” from someone while their judgment is impaired by substance use – the only thing that counts as consent is an enthusiastic “yes.” Consent can be revoked at any time, by anybody, for any reason. Only human adults can give consent.

SlutWalk Seattle has compiled a manifesto of political and legal recommendations to guide citizens and their elected officials in fighting rape culture.
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Reduce DNA evidence backlogs
An evidence backlog exists at a crime lab when the lab receives more requests to analyze evidence than it can process. Even though crime lab capacity has increased dramatically over the past few years, backlogs continue to exist because the growth in the number of requests to analyze evidence exceeds crime lab capacity.

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Eliminate untested sexual assault kits
Sexual assault kits (SAKs), often colloquially referred to as “rape kits,” sit untested in hospitals, clinics, rape crisis centers and police evidence storage all across the country. The reasons for this include lack of funding, inadequate evidence-tracking systems used by law enforcement, and a failure to prioritize funding for cases of sexual assault.
The Washington State Legislature should require all hospitals, clinics, rape crisis centers and police stations to audit the extent of their untested SAKs, and make the results of such audits public.

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Ensure every victim receives treatment from a certified medical forensic examiner
Sexual assault is unique as a crime because evidence often isn’t collected by a law enforcement officer. Instead, evidence is generally collected by the nurse or other health care professional who initially treats the victim after the assault. It is critical that such individuals are adequately trained to collect forensic evidence; without such training, the evidence collected is of a lower quality and more rapists walk free.

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Ensure every victim receives a high-quality, compassionate response from law enforcement
Sadly, many law enforcement officers and detectives who work crimes of sexual assault aren’t adequately trained to handle such crimes. This reality was clearly demonstrated by the results from a recent study funded by the Department of Justice on the Los Angeles police and sheriff’s departments’ response to crimes of sexual assault.

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The Washington State Legislature can take the following steps to prevent such occurrences among law enforcement in our state:

~~Commission the WSIPP to research the extent of such problems in state and local law enforcement and recommend areas for improvement.
~~Mandate that all law enforcement officers, detectives, and district attorneys who work crimes of sexual violence must undergo the sexual assault investigation and prosecution training outlined in RCW 43.101.270.
~~Direct the appropriate state agency to periodically issue a list of “best practices” recommendations to local law enforcement units regarding sexual assault, incorporating the latest research on effective criminal justice system response.
~~Direct the appropriate state agency to issue binding guidelines to law enforcement detailing how to fairly treat members of minority and other disenfranchised communities,and require all law enforcement officers, regardless of their unit, to undergo cultural sensitivity training to prevent unfair treatment.
~~Mandate that all law enforcement departments in the state develop a manual specific to investigating sex crimes that codifies the policies and expectations of detectives working such crimes.
~~Pass a law that requires the district attorney handling a sexual assault case to provide detailed reasons to the victim when a charge is rejected.

SEE MORE:
Policy Positions of SlutWalk Seattle

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE???

Please Join event: No more victim-blaming. No more slut-shaming. SlutWalk Seattle is part of an international protest movement fighting rape culture. The date of SlutWalk Seattle 2012 has changed to September 9th, 2012, from 12 to 4. Visit slutwalkseattle.com for more info.

August 28, 2012

Solidarity is What the State Fears
Because We Must
http://becausewemustdotorg.tumblr.com/post/30427730282/solidarity-is-what-the-state-fears

Because We Must is founded on the idea that all forms of oppression and, in turn, the struggles against them, are intimately connected.  The subjugation of the earth, it’s non-human animal inhabitants, and the people that are not members of the wealthy white male elite are not unrelated phenomena.
 

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*UPDATE: Leah’s date has been pushed back. It is no longer tomorrow (8/30). The event has been pushed back to September 13th…Details coming soon.

see full story:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/political-convictions/Content?oid=14397498

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http://leahxvx.tumblr.com/

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Rally at the Courthouse Support Grand Jury Resistors
700 Stewart St Seattle, WA
9/13/12 12:00pm

FB event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/103300593152385/

The Occupy movement flourishes again in Seattle with the opening of “The Peoples Library,” in the Central District. Due to city-wide budget cuts, the City of Seattle has closed all branches of Seattle Public Libraries, beginning August 27th – September 3rd.

In response, a “People’s Library” has sprouted. Situated on the steps of the gorgeous- but- closed Douglass-Truth Library at 23rd & Yesler, a group of individuals who share some common ground with the Occupy movement, have gathered together to pick up the slack while the City cannot.

Providing a space for education and community building, and at no cost, this people-built library provides the following:

• A selection over 1000 donated books 
• 4 internet workstations with free wi-fi 
• A kids station with coloring and games 
•  Lunch Well stocked with shelves, tables, and milk-crates full of books, residents of the Central District are noticing what has sprouted… and are participating. 

Neighbors bring donations of books and food; a mother and her 7 year old, walked away each with an armful of books.

“This is fantastic! It’s so healthy and nourishing for the community,” says Karen, a local resident and mother of two.

Families stop by, children play with puzzles, adults browse and share stories.

The People’s Library aims to stay open from 10am-8pm every day until Sept. 4th, at which time Seattle Public Libraries including Douglas-Truth will re-open for business.

The library has no check-out system, no limit on number of books you can take.

Only a promise to either return what you have taken when you can, or pass it on to someone else.

At a time when our communities are facing huge losses of public resources due to budget cuts, the People’s Library and its creators serve as an inspiration that we as people can still engage and educate, despite increasing austerity and dependence on the almighty Dollar.

For more info on the People’s Library, please check out the following contacts:

website:http://duetobudgetcuts.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @duetobudgetcuts email duetobudgetcuts@gmail.com

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/357274784349722/360527184024482/?notif_t=event_mall_comment

By Aliana Bazara, 99% Media

It was never exactly rocket science. You didn’t have to be Einstein to figure it out. In early 2003, the Bush administration was visibly preparing to invade Iraq, a nation with a nasty ruler who himself hadn’t hesitated to invade another country, Iran, in the early 1980s for no purpose except self-aggrandizement. (And the Reagan administration had backed him in that disastrous war because then, as now, Washington loathed the Iranians.)

There was never the slightest evidence of the involvement of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 9/11 attacks or in support of al-Qaeda; and despite the Bush administration’s drumbeat of supposed information about Saddam’s nuclear program (which was said, somehow, to threaten to put mushroom clouds over American cities), the evidence was always, at best, beyond thin and at worst, a potage of lies, concoctions, and wishful thinking. The program, of course, proved nonexistent, but too late to matter.

And the millions of protestors who took to the streets of the great cities (and small towns) of the planet in unprecedented numbers to oppose the coming invasion, waving signs like “No Blood for Oil!” “How did USA's oil get under Iraq's sand?" and “Don't trade lives for oil!” grasped perfectly well just what they had in mind — and more prescient still, they knew it would be a disaster. If only they had been listened to. Instead, they were generally dismissed in the mainstream media for their hopeless naïveté.

They were right. It was about oil (though not oil alone, given the over-determined nature of all events on this planet of ours), while so many of the sophisticated types as well as the geopolitical visionaries of the Bush administration proved dismally wrong, completely mistaken in their assessment of our world of energy and how it might be controlled. Now, more than eight years later, no one here even wants to think about Iraq and the multi-trillion-dollar war we fought there. Mission accomplished? You be the judge. Recent headlines indicate that the new Iraq is actually helping Iran evade the Obama administration’s oil sanctions. Think of it as the grim geopolitical version of slapstick comedy.

You Were Right When You Waved That “No Blood for Oil” Sign. Iraq Was About Oil

by Tom Engelhardt

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/24

And it gets worse…

"Tony Hayward, who resigned as chief executive of BP amid the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, is set to become the head of another oil company.

Vallares, the investment vehicle Mr. Hayward co-founded with the financier Nathaniel P. Rothschild this year, agreed on Wednesday to buy Genel Energy International, an oil producer in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in a $2.1 billion deal."

Ex-BP Chief’s Firm to Buy Iraqi Oil Company in $2.1 Billion Deal

by Julia Werdigier

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/haywards-vallares-to-buy-genel-energy-in-2-1-billion-deal/

photocredit:

No Blood for Oil

by Clay Claiborne

http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=1663

Leak Brings Safety of Hanford Nuclear Site Into Question
By Kim Murphy

"As part of the biggest, costliest environmental cleanup in the nation's history-disposing of 53 million gallons of radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state-one thing was supposed to be sure: Toxic waste stored in sturdy, double-wall steel tanks wasn't going anywhere. That reassurance has been thrown into question with the discovery of a three-foot-long mound of radioactive material between the inner and outer steel walls of one of the supposedly safe tanks."

http://phys.org/news/2012-08-leak-safety-hanford-nuclear-site.html

Hanford Double-Shell Tank Leaks Nuclear Waste

"The public interest group Hanford Challenge Friday released disclosed a memo from U.S. Department of Energy inspectors to the Washington State Department of Ecology detailing the leak.

Dated August 14, the memo acknowledges a highly-radioactive chemical waste leak that was detected in early August from Tank AY-102 on the floor of the “annulus,” the space between the two walls of the double-shell tank.

The dry radioactive waste was found in two locations, according to the memo, one of them in a “mound approximately 2 ft. x 3 ft. x 8 inches.”

Environment News Service
http://ens-newswire.com/2012/08/20/hanford-double-shell-tank-leaks-nuclear-waste/

Washington State: Possible radioactive leak at Hanford tank farm

"“There’s been this presumption that the double-shell tanks at least are sound and won’t fail, and they’ll be there for us,” said Tom Carpenter of the advocacy group Hanford Challenge. Several days ago the group obtained a memo from the cleanup site detailing discovery of the mysterious substance.

“This changes everything. It is alarming that there is now solid evidence that Hanford double-shell has leaked,” Carpenter said in a separate statement on the discovery."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hanford-tank-leak-20120821,0,2831821.story

Possible Radioactive Tank Leak At Hanford Being Investigated

Some are concerned with the longer-term implications. Here’s why: There are a total of 177 waste tanks, some of them are single shelled and some have double-shells. The government has been moving waste out of the known worst of those single-shelled tanks for awhile and into the double-shelled tanks.

Tom Carpenter heads the Seattle-based watchdog Hanford Challenge. He says what if this possible leak shows that the double-shell tanks are more venerable than we thought?

“Then we’re going to have to look for something else to do," he says. "Because frankly we’re out of room in the double-shelled tanks. There is not a whole lot of room left to move waste around.”

Another question: If this tank is proven to be leaking — can the tanks last the nearly five decades it’s going to take to stabilize this radioactive waste in glass?
by ANNA KING, NPR
Listen to the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=159959785&ft=3&f=159959785

Routine periodic visual monitoring (via camera) of the AY-102 annulus found material that was never before seen. Photo courtesy of Dept. of Energy
 

ENLOE DAM PROJECT CRITICIZED BY ENVIRONMENTALISTS

Five environmental groups say the state Department of Ecology didn't consider water quality standards when when it approved plans to rebuild Enloe Dam near Oroville, WA. Water quality is one of many considerations in a proposal by the Okanogan County, WA PUD to rebuild the Enloe Dam to generate electricity.

The PUD has been working for seven years toward restarting operations at the dam. The dam was built in 1920 but stopped producing power in 1959 when it became cheaper to buy from the Bonneville Power Administration.

The environmental groups claim that if the dam is rebuilt, it will nearly dry up the Similkameen (sim-IL'-ka-MEEN') River. The Wenatchee World reports the five groups have filed an appeal with the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018960972_apwacleanwaterenloedam.html

PUD UPDATES OROVILLE CHAMBER ON LICENSING EFFORTS FOR ENLOE DAM

Representatives from Okanogan County PUD made a presentation at the Oroville Chamber of Commerce on the utilities efforts to license Enloe Dam to once again generate hydroelectric power. The dam and powerhouse, which are about 3.5 miles up the Similkameen River from Oroville, have not generated power since the mid-1950s. The PUD has been trying to license the dam with a new modern powerhouse and generators, this time located on the opposite bank of the river.

http://www.cbbulletin.com/412876.aspx

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The Okanogan Public Utility District obtained a new license for power generation from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1983, but the license was withdrawn in 1986 because the dam's impact on anadromous fish had not been addressed. A second license for a 4.1 megawatt plant was granted in 1996, but was again rescinded on the same grounds in 2000. Yet another application was submitted in August 2008, seeking to build a new powerplant to generate 9 megawatts, fed by a new intake channel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enloe_Dam_and_Powerplant

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ENLOE PROJECT ON SIMILKAMEEN RIVER NOT COST EFFECTIVE

“Okanogan PUD ratepayers are going to take a big hit for this expensive and unprofitable project,” said Jere Gillespie of CBEP. “We are calling on the Okanogan PUD to replace its out-of-date 2008 analysis and provide ratepayers with a realistic evaluation of Enloe Dam economics. We think such an update will show that the dam project is not a wise investment for ratepayers and should be dropped.”

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article/view/articleid/31286/

You can download the economic analysis here: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Document/view/documentid/981/

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photo credit:

Foster Fanning

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46928609

OCCUPY SUKKOT:
CASE DISMISSED!!!
Congrats to Shanti and boo for this ridiculous charge having been dismissed

Shanti Wyatt's Case regarding Occupy Sukkot. October 13 2011 is Dismissed as of August 16th 2012.  Some words from Shanti's lawyer – "The prosecutor emailed me yesterday informing me that she is dismissing."

The following is a description from the Occupy Sukkot (facebook) Event:
By Emma Epstein, Andy Barr and Robert Beiser:

The eight-day festival of Sukkot reminds us of the abundance we have, and how very fragile that abundance is. The sukkah that we build, reminiscent of the fragile huts built in the days the Israelites spent wandering through the desert, represents shelter in a time of crisis, “the halfway point between slavery and liberation.” We are again at a halfway point. The movement has begun – will it take hold?

This space will not only serve as a metaphor for the shelter of the Israelites. It will be a space to challenge economic injustice, racism, oppression, displacement, and exploitation that so many in our country and world face.

https://www.facebook.com/events/151818668246678/

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Occupy Seattle in Pictures: Police Arrest 10, Then Stand Down, But Forbid Sleep

last night the protesters defiantly erected a tent in celebration of the Jewish holiday Sukkot. A number of people sat inside the tent peacefully, determined not to be intimidated by police orders banning any structures (other than the permitted medical tent) in the park. Others formed a human chain around it.

When we arrived at Westlake, the demonstration was in full swing. A lively and entirely peaceful crowd was chanting in the middle of the park, next to the newly erected tent.

Signs proclaimed the demands and messages of the protesters

Suddenly, the police moved in to take down the Sukkot tent and to arrest the people in it, as well as those blocking the way to it

Seeing the number of police on the scene, I asked one of the officers: "Who is keeping the rest of the city safe?" He said, angrily, "Other cops!"

please see wonderful photo essay from Zoltan here:

Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/14/1026274/-Occupy-Seattle-in-Pictures-Police-Arrest-10-Then-Stand-Down-But-Forbid-Sleep-Updated

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photo credit
Joshua Trujillo 

Discussion GA at 7:00 PM at Westlake every Wednesday evening.

Events listed here are NOT necessarily sponsored or endorsed by Occupy Seattle or approved by the General Assembly. Many events are put on by work groups, outside organizations or individuals in solidarity to our movement.

Times are subject to change. Please click on individual events for more details. Check back regularly for the most up to date information. 

Send an email to OccupyseattleICT@gmail.com In the subject line put "Calendar item"

WHAT: In the body of the email put a name for the event, as well as a short description.

WHEN: the date, time (start and end), recurring events will be scheduled for 8 repeats.

WHERE: place for the event

Indicate if it's an event sponsored by Occupy Seattle as a whole (something that would need to have been brought up in GA), a Working Group event, an independently organized Direct Action or an Event sponsored and organized by an outside allied group.

The Secret to Solar Power

Two factors have hurt the industry’s growth. The first is abstract and well ingrained in the American psyche: the negative association of “green” technologies with inefficiency and idealistic, hippie-fueled impracticality. The second is concrete and recent: the sleek, vacant headquarters of Solyndra, the infamous federally subsidized solar-panel manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2011.

The advantages of such a system are obvious. Not only would Americans pay less for energy, but with solar they would also provide power back to the grid at peak hours, when utilities are the most taxed — and when they turn to their most expensive and dirtiest “peak” power plants, which are standing by for just such occasions. We would also avoid some blackouts, because fewer houses would be reliant on the grid, and transmission failures wouldn’t cascade in the same way. By some estimates, 500 megawatts of rooftop solar — roughly the total amount of solar that California installed just last year, equivalent to about 80,000 residential systems — would have prevented the blackout of 2003 and saved the U.S. economy several billion dollars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/magazine/the-secret-to-solar-power.html?pagewanted=all

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Solar Leasing: Key Market Driver As Government Incentives Dry Up

New residential financing mechanisms and third party ownership models will be the key drivers through 2015, says Pike.

They expect the distributed solar market to grow from $66 billion in 2010 to more than $154 billion annually by 2015, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18%, raising world capacity from 9.5 gigawatts (GW) to more than 15 GW.

Between 2006-2010, total global capacity of many renewable energy technologies – including solar PV, wind power, concentrated solar power (CSP), solar water heating, and biofuels – grew at rates ranging from around 15% to nearly 50% a year. Solar PV, the dominant form of renewable distributed energy generation, increased the fastest of all renewable technologies during this period.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23610

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Community Solar Gardens, A First for New Mexico

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, the city of Taos and the Clean Energy Collective of Carbondale, Colorado have entered into a 1.2 megawatt agreement to launch New Mexico's first community solar gardens.

Under this model, members can buy solar panels located in community arrays, on the roofs of schools and parking lots.

The Clean Energy Collective builds and maintains the solar gardens, and the local utility agrees to buy electricity from them. Members receive the same tax credits and electricity discounts as they would if the panels were installed on their own roofs. The panels have warrantees for 50 years.

This makes it possible for people to use solar even if they are renters or have properties that can't accommodate solar, and makes solar accessible to people of more income levels.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23770

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Small Solar is 40% of US Project Pipeline

Favorable incentives and financing models continue to fuel interest in small solar projects, with installations at schools, municipal buildings, hospitals and retail stores now accounting for 40% of the US pipeline, reports NPD Solarbuzz.

More than 1,300 projects underway are between 50 kilowatts (kW) and 500 kW in capacity with a cumulative PV generation of about 200 MW, they say in the US Deal Tracker report.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23964

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SEIA:
View and download the Major Solar Projects List on Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/SEIA/seia-major-solar-projects-list

From: OS Main Facebook

First and foremost we need your participation!

We Are Raising Funds to Pay For one year’s rent on a server for Occupy Seattle and the dozen occupations we currently serve and to allow us to increase that number. Our servers are currently paid for and donated on a month to month basis.

We can always use help with technical services and content creation. You can reach our services group through admin@occupyseattle.org

We need office space, warehouse space, and space to set up camp or communal living quarters.

Needs we still have:
– medical (contact occupyseattlestreetmedics@gmail.com)
Please either review our Working Group page and contact the group/person with whom you can co-ordinate sharing your support, add an “event” to our calendar or just come down!

1) Please show your support for our folks in court! (check out the main page soon for more dates and details)
2) We currently have no base camp. The best thing you can do is to donate your time. Bring your ideas, willing hands, and an open mind and heart. Check our Calendar for a current schedule of General Assemblies, Work Group meetings and other events.

Contact: Ian Finkenbinder 216.236.4680
Email: ianfinkenbinder@gmail.com

GLITUR and Waid’s Restaurant Hosting

DRAG OUT CAPITALISM!

An Anti-Capitalist Drag Show

5/19/2012– The Grand Legion of Incendiary and Tenacious Unicorn Revolutionaries is happy to announce that we and the fabulous Bearded Lady J hosting a radical queer dance party this Friday, June 22nd, at Waid’s Restaurant in Seattle. This event, far from your run-of-the-mill celebration during the Pride season, will feature alternative queer voices and local talent such as Honey Bucket and Sashay Supernova in a drag show and dance party designed to bring revolution back to queer liberation.

On the 22nd, instead of attending for-profit club events costing more than $20 to enter, GLITUR invites you to join us in coming together to strike back against popular assimilationist models of mainstream gay rights. We know that our work does not begin and end with the attainment of a gay marriage bill in WA. State or with a begrudging presidential endorsement of it that seems more like a political strategy than real progress. And as long as ADAP is being cut, CeCe is behind bars for defending herself and anyone has to experience homophobia, transphobia, trans-misogyny, sexism or racism from the state or this capitalist society we will resist.

It will be 21+ with ID, and $5 to get in. All proceeds will go to Lifelong Aids Alliance, because Pride is about coming together and giving back, not turning a profit.

Note: this post originally appeared on PugetSoundAnarchists.org and can be read in full here:

http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/1792

Over the past few weeks the FBI has contacted and spoken with at least two individuals who have been involved in Occupy Seattle. In both instances, the agents have threatened to take these individuals away from their loved ones. From what is known, these individuals were contacted because of the events surrounding the May 1st General Strike.

It is unknown what specific allegations and accusations the FBI is leveling against these individuals, but the standard tactic of the FBI is to exaggerate the seriousness and consequences of an offense in order to scare someone into cooperating with them or becoming an informant. We would like to remind everyone involved in Occupy Seattle that under no circumstances should anyone talk to the FBI. Anything that is said to them, no matter how seemingly insignificant, can potentially put someone else at risk.

Some tips if you, or someone you know, has been targeted by the FBI:

1: Do not talk to the FBI if they approach you. Simply refuse to answer any questions pertaining to your or others’ opinions or activities. Agents will typically use various manipulative tricks to get information out of you—threats, intimidation, claiming that they already know more than they actually do, claiming that another person has already spilled the beans, etc. Stay strong and keep silent—they do not care about you, they only want to use you to hurt others.

2: If you are contacted by the FBI, contact a lawyer as soon as possible. If you need help raising funds or finding a lawyer, seek help from friends.

3: If possible, make a public statement that explains what the FBI was asking. This is an important step, as it will prevent paranoia from spreading, something the FBI desires to happen within a social movement.

4: Remember that there are thousands of people on your side, ready to help and protect you to the best of our abilities. Anyone whose lives are negatively impacted by the FBI will be supported and no one will be forgotten. Reach out to your comrades and not the FBI.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2012/05/29/inside-the-fbi-entrapment-strategy/

Update 10:20am 6/8/12: We we’re working with the Yes Men on this one. Check out the full story here.

Original Post

Last night Logan Price, a Seattle Occupier who’s now living in New York, managed to infiltrate a private party thrown by Shell Oil at the Space Needle to celebrate the launch of its Arctic drilling program. He caught this amazing video.

He also has some photos on twitter.

Logan sent us this explanation:

“It all started with a malfunction…. of the event’s centerpiece, a scale model of the Kulluk, one of the rigs heading up north, which was sitting in a basin of liquor (rum and coke?) next to an ice sculpture in the shape of an iceberg.

I guess the photo-op was meant to be a symbolic tapping of the Arctic. There was a ridiculous three-foot-high scale model of their Arctic drilling rig, the Kulluk, and the mini-rig had a tap to pump liquor for the guests.

“The guest of honor was an elderly Japanese man introduced as the original Chief Engineer of the Kulluk rig who used to work at Mitsui back in the ’80s. But when the man went to turn on the ‘rig,’ the liquor went everywhere – and the first to be hit was another elderly guest, the widow of the man who’d actually designed the Kulluk back in the 1980s.

“The guy in charge kept asking the old engineer to fix it but he obviously had no idea how to turn it off. Shell’s PR people got REALLY worked up, and the designer’s widow started yelling. At this point the guy who was presenting the new ad campaign told me to turn off my camera and got pretty aggressive.”

Logan (who grew up on Vashon Island) helped capture an equally wacky moment last year when Obama told him at a fundraiser that Bradley Manning “broke the law.” That’s expected to have an effect on the army private’s case.

A Seattle judge has ruled 16 activists were not trespassing after they occupied a vacant Capitol Hill building in December. Some 200 activists occupied the Union Cultural Center at 10th and Union for about 10 hours before they were forced out in a pre-dawn SWAT raid by Seattle police.

According to court records, Judge Judith Hightower ruled the building was abandoned, incapable of being trespassed. The building had been empty for more than a year and was scheduled for demolition two weeks after the activists moved in.

Hightower dismissed the trial May 24; it was slated to start this week. The 107-year-old building had since been demolished to make way for new mixed-use development.

Kimberly Mills, spokesperson for the City Attorney's office, tells CHS the judge denied the prosecutor's request to reconsider the ruling.

Braden Pence, who represented some of the UCC 16, says the ruling calls into question how and why Occupy crackdowns were carried out.

From: CHS

For some background on the

10th and Union Occupation

10th and Union Warehouse Marriage Celebration

FREE U SUMMER IS HERE!

Free University Website

The Summer Series has now begun to take shape! We now have an initial listing of courses and activities with times and places at our website.  Keep an eye on the website for a much easier to follow calendar coming soon! We are still sorting through all of the results from our many survey participants. There is a lot of people interested in learning way more together than what is currently listed under the summer series, please be patient while we take the time to translate survey results into more summer courses.

If you want to participate in this process, please fill out the Doodle poll to express your time availability for helping out: http://www.doodle.com/4apsrzemnd9w5c6i We will also be undergoing much needed improvements to the website over the next few weeks, as we now have volunteers with much better web design knowledge to help out!

Contact: Facebook

This is a group for the Occupy Office Space that opened March 10th. The space is 450 sq. ft divided into two offices and a front workroom. It's even got furniture!

There are three rules: 1) No camping 2) No illegal substances 3) No name calling/factional bs/attacking people because of their political identity. This is a place to communicate with other people related to Occupy, see how we can support each others' efforts, and, of course, do work!

We’re doing it again! But we need your help!

It’s time we declared independence from Citizens United.

The United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United established money as speech, reaffirmed that corporations are people, and paved the way for a head-long rush towards plutocracy.

We think this is wrong and we hope you agree. To protest this truly spectacular decision and raise awareness of the issue, we want to do something equally spectacular this July 4th.

To help us reach our goal of $5000 we’ve setup a WePay page for you to donate a few spare dollars and be a part of it making it happen.  And Join Our Newsletter   #MicCheckWallSt Newsletter  miccheckwallst.us5.list-manage.com

Money is the new tea.

We intend to print “If money is speech, I should be free”, on all the donated money before throwing off a building somewhere in Seattle on the 4th of July.

As much installation art as protest, we believe it will be powerful and we hope you’ll contribute to making it a reality.

What the heck is a Money Drop and why would I donate any money to it?

Check out  this video we put together after the very successful Valentine’s Day money drop and see for yourself.  And don’t worry - all donations go directly towards being thrown off a building.

Interested in organizing your own money drop? We’ll be posting some downloadable templates and more information on our website soon. Stay tuned!

Make a statement. Take a stand. Be a part of history.