In the wake of Oakland’s police crackdown, the mayor’s top legal advisor on police, Dan Siegel, resigned, sending his resignation letter in at 2am on Monday morning, just before police raided the city’s protest camp.

“I regret taking this action, but I cannot be part of an administration that sanctions police attacks on peaceful protesters attempting to reverse this society’s cruel and undemocratic policies,” Siegel’s letter read.

“It is almost beyond belief that our city has become the most hostile in the nation towards this new and positive movement for change.

“History is on the side of the Occupy movement, not those who try to suppress it.”

Occupy OWS http://www.ustream.tv/theother99 -protestors marching towards Zuccotti park now! Lawyers got a restraining order against NYPD! That grants release of all those arrested and that they must show cause for eviction. NYPD is trying to appeal.

WE The People demand that The National Unemployment Agency remove the mandatory “must join” BIG BANKS to receive government unemployment benefits.The people should have a choice as to whether they should receive checks or direct deposit to their credit unions or personal banks. We should not be forced to become members and be subjugated to penalty fees, our private information sold, and giving our money to one of the very banks that is responsible for our country’s financial crisis. Please join us in the next step forward in standing up to big banks and letting them know that the world is watching and we will no longer be silenced. Remove mandatory “must join” BBIG BANKS to receive government unemployment Benefit Checks (EDD). Give the people a choice.

Please sign this petition

As many of you might already know from having followed my escapades with public education corruption at Los Angeles Unified School District, I have been on unemployment since December 2010, when the District put me on unpaid administrative leave in the unnecessarily protracted process trying to force me out of my profession as a teacher. From when I first applied, the unemployment folks at the State of California were already singing the praises of the soon to be rolled out Bank of America Visa debt card system. The plan was simple: Instead of the State of California having to mail out 1.2 million checks every two weeks, they were turning the process over to B of A. The Employment Development Department at the State of California would simply turn all the unemployment payments over to B of A and they would put it on your new B of A debit card. You were not given a choice and nobody bothered to explain why EDD)could not at least offer you the option of direct deposit to your savings or checking account, instead of giving it all to B of A and there debit card system.

(Source: laprogressive.com)

On Sept. 17, about 2,000 people amassed on Wall Street to protest corporate greed and influence in government. They didn’t succeed in occupying all of the financial district, or even all of Wall Street, but they have taken and held a small urban park in lower Manhattan around the corner from Ground Zero. In the early weeks of the demonstrations, a core group of protesters set up a complex tent city from which they organized large marches and rallied around the slogan “We are the 99%.” The movement has since gone national, with rallies and “occupations” in dozens of cities across the U.S., from Oakland, where confrontations with the police became violent, to Atlanta, where protesters expanded the group’s mandate by occupying a house to prevent a bank from taking it in foreclosure. As they prepare for what will be a long and cold winter, the Occupy Wall Street protesters say they are deciding what will be next in their struggle, but they’ve already succeeded in changing the national conversation from a focus on the debt to one of income inequality, opportunity inequality and a system they say has left too many people without a voice.

(Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters blocked a major Oakland intersection on Wednesday in what they called a general strike to protest economic conditions and police brutality, but fell well short of paralyzing the city.

Commerce appeared to carry on largely as usual, with most stores and businesses remaining open and workers going to their jobs, ignoring appeals by Occupy Oakland organizers to shut down the Northern California city.

Protest organizers said they had effectively closed Oakland’s port, one of the biggest container ports in the nation, after longshore workers refused to defy the strike, but a spokesman for the facility said it was open.

“At the seaport, marine terminals are generally operating, although the situation is fluid,” port spokesman Isaac Kos-Read said in a written statement. He said each of the terminals operates independently.

The protesters, who complain bitterly about a financial system they believe benefits mainly corporations and the wealthy, had aimed to disrupt commerce, with a special focus on banks and other symbols of corporate America.

(Source: reuters.com)

It would be an extremely tall order. But today, they might just pull off a feat that appeared all but impossible just a few short days ago.

(Source: alternet.org)

Sign the Move Your Money pledge if you’ve stopped banking with Wall Street or you’re ready to start the process to close an account. Together we can show just how many people are taking action and how much the big banks stand to lose if they don’t change course quickly.

In case you need some help, we’ll also send information about how to find a new bank and how to close your accounts without messing up your finances.

Read more…

At first glance, the synchronized protests that took place in more than 900 cities around the globe on Oct. 15 seemed to indicate that Occupy Wall Street had achieved a kind of worldwide resonance.

But the truth is more complex. Many of the protests elsewhere grew out of movements that pre-date Occupy Wall Street and out of frustrations that, though similar in some ways, are also specific to their countries.

Here’s a look at the origins, demands and affects of five of these global protests, as well as the criticism they’ve faced.

Read more…

(Source: )

Since Occupy Wall Street began, a lot of people I know have expressed interest in my involvement.  I’ve been making suggestions about how people can get involved on their own terms, and I thought it seemed time for a public overview.

This list includes actions large and small that just about anyone, anywhere, can do to support the movement. 

I consider this list to be alive, and wide open and available for edits, additions and suggestions.  So comment below, on Facebook, mention @Averse2Ennui on Twitter, or get in touch if you have ideas for the list.

1. Understand the Movement

Chances are, you’ll find yourself in a conversation about Occupy-something sometime soon.  One of the most important things you can do, short of sleeping in a park, is be able to intelligently defend and support the movement in conversation.

To begin, make some time to do a bit of preliminary reading.  Here are some articles and videos I recommend in the short term to get yourself hip to the overal messages.  Bookmark it, if you like.  I’ll be adding to the list over time.

Don’t parrot the mainstream media’s take on Occupy Wall Street.  They mostly get it wrong.

Read more…