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01 Oct 2011 16:43

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U.S.: Labor unions slowly latching onto Occupy Wall Street

  • I think it’s a tactic and a valid tactic to call attention to a problem. Wall Street is out of control. We have three imbalances in this country—the imbalance between imports and exports, the imbalance between employer power and working power, and the imbalance between the real economy and the financial economy. We need to bring back balance to the financial economy, and calling attention to it and peacefully protesting is a very legitimate way of doing it.
  • AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka • Talking on C-SPAN Friday about mass protests in general and Occupy Wall Street in particular. Trumka’s endorsement of the protests shadows the growing support the movement is getting from such labor unions as the Transport Workers Union. If the movement grows among labor unions, that will help swell the growth of the movement significantly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Sep 2011 10:13

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U.S.: NYT indirectly calls Occupy Wall Street protesters stupid

  • So even as the members of Occupy Wall Street seem unorganized and, at times, uninformed, their continued presence creates a vexing problem for the Police Department.
  • New York Times writer Joseph Goldstein • In an article about the NYPD’s seemingly poor handling of Occupy Wall Street. The article as a whole makes intelligent and understandable points (and goes in-depth about the use of pepper spray on Saturday), but this particular line really bothered us. This comes off as The New York Times ripping the dirty hippies for being dirty hippies, which is just an approach they should not take here. It’s condescending and shows a lack of respect for the protesters. What if they just dropped a line like that into an article about the Tea Party? It’d get savaged by the blogs! Instead of just interviewing your sources at the NYPD, Mr. Goldstein, why don’t you interview the protesters (who, we don’t know if you’ve noticed, have been clamoring for media attention), instead of discretely calling them idiots? You did it before, with this article. This piece feels like you’re writing an article about one side of the story. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Sep 2011 22:45

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U.S.: Video: Slow-motion sights and scenes from Occupy Wall Street

  • Sent to us via Twitter user Eric Brown, this five minute clip from last night does a good job capturing the mood of the still-budding protests near Wall Street in New York City. “This is a group of passionate, concerned, and intelligent people,” Brown writes. “Their behavior in the park suggested a great appreciation of democracy, and a desire to cut through the clogged media and political channels to communicate a message they feel is incredibly important.” Brown notes a large police presence was there when he shot this last night, but both sides were peaceful. Great clip. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Sep 2011 22:33

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U.S.: “Occupy Wall Street” protesters see first true test tomorrow

  • The method of protest that we’re using, the purpose is to interrupt the flow of Wall Street.
  • Occupy Wall Street protester Joe Sharkey • Revealing that the group’s purpose is to make it difficult for workers to get around the protesters — a method that will see its first real test tomorrow, when an actual work day hits. While the protest has remained largely peaceful, things could start to get thorny in the next day. Starkey says tomorrow is a “crucial period” for the group of roughly 1,500 to 2,000 protesters. “We are going to ride and coordinate and communicate,” he said. “The process takes a long time.” The protests, put together by anti-consumerism magazine AdBusters, have been planned for a number of months. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Aug 2011 04:51

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World: Arab League, Saudi King denounce Syrian violence

  • 200 Syrian tanks rolled into the city of Deir el-Zour on Sunday, accompanied by soldiers and armored cars
  • 50+ people were killed in the assault, which took place during the dawn call to prayer  source
  • » For the first time, the Arab League has condemned the al-Assad regime’s violent assaults on the protesters, and Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its ambassador to Syria. Saudi King Abdullah strongly denounced the violence, calling for “an end to the death machine and bloodshed.”
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2011 17:24

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World: Pro-Assad protesters confront U.S. and French embassies in Syria

  • Embassies in Syria beset by protests: Throngs of protesters loyal to the embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad descended on the embassies of both France and the United States today, ostensibly to protest ambassadors visiting the violence-stricken city of Hama over the weekend. We say ostensibly because there’s little reason to doubt this was organized by the Syrian government, which has been using violence, intimidation and torture on its citizenry for months — rounding up a posse isn’t as hard when you wield that sort of brutal muscle. The U.S. thinks so, at least: “The Syrian government can organize protests at our embassy if it wants, but the world will not be distracted from the fact that it is the Syrian government that is imprisoning, torturing and killing people who want to peacefully protest,” said press attaché JJ Harder. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2011 18:48

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World: Protests continue in Greece after austerity plan passes

  • Tumult, violence in Greece: Passions continue to run hot in Greece after the party-line vote in favor of a harsh new set of austerity measures — the new tax burden placed on minimum wage earners, in particular, has inflamed swaths of the public against the plan. Protests had been increasingly violent leading up to the vote, and have sustained after the plan’s passage — police have responded with teargas attacks on the protesting crowds. As always, we hope people find a way to keep themselves safe in all this. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Jun 2011 16:22

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Politics: Fervor over gay marriage vote grows in NY as state senate stalls

  • Still waiting on history: Protests and passions have continued to flare as the New York state senate has still not yet resolved the gay marriage bill before it. The AP is reporting that Wednesday might be the decisive day, but it’s not certain — legislative schedules change dynamically, as they did last week when it rumors swirled that Friday would bring a vote for the bill. Also of note in this video is the New York Giants’ Super Bowl hero of a few seasons ago, David Tyree, giving one of the most common, irritating arguments against gay marriage; if marriage is one way for a long time, why change it? This argument’s been used in other cases, of course — ones which most people now view as pretty dubious. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jun 2011 13:43

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World: Yemen: Allies suggest injured president Saleh will return soon

  • Rebels in Yemen do not welcome this news. A few weeks ago, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was badly injured and burned in an attack on his palace, forcing him to receive medical treatment in nearby Saudi Arabia — a situation which led to an interim leader and celebrations in the streets. But the celebrations might have been a little premature if there’s any truth to reports that Saleh will return to the country soon, having recovered significantly from his injuries. “He will return home after medical reports said he is getting better,” ruling party official Yasser al-Yamani explained. Protesters rallied in the wake of the news; as you might guess, they’re not ready to welcome him back. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 17:07

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World: Yemen’s Sanaa airport closed amidst chaotic violence

  • The scene in Yemen: The depressing, daily drumbeat of violence, upheaval and power struggle continues, and in this case, things are looking like they could get a lot worse before any better. The airport in Sanaa has closed, amidst some of the most sustained, violent clashing in Yemen since the initial protests against the Saleh government. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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