Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage.
#Occupy summarized in one chart
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
… And for the rest of you, who just want the whole thing summarized in one quick chart, here you go:
(9 October 2011)
The Occupy protests: A timely call for justice
Eugene Robinson, Opinion, Washington Post
Occupy Wall Street and its kindred protests around the country are inept, incoherent and hopelessly quixotic. God, I love ’em.
I love every little thing about these gloriously amateurish sit-ins. I love that they are spontaneous, leaderless and open-ended. I love that the protesters refuse to issue specific demands beyond a forceful call for economic justice. I also love that in Chicago — uniquely, thus far — demonstrators have ignored the rule about vagueness and are being ultra-specific about their goals. I love that there are no rules, just tendencies.
I love that when Occupy Wall Street was denied permission to use bullhorns, demonstrators came up with an alternative straight out of Monty Python, or maybe “The Flintstones”: Have everyone within earshot repeat a speaker’s words, verbatim and in unison, so the whole crowd can hear. It works — and sounds tremendously silly. Protest movements that grow into something important tend to have a sense of humor.
… Most of all, I love that the Occupy protests arise at just the right moment and are aimed at just the right target. This could be the start of something big and important.
“Economic justice” may mean different things to different people, but it’s not an empty phrase. It captures the sense that somehow, when we weren’t looking, the concept of fairness was deleted from our economic system — and our political lexicon. Economic injustice became the norm.
Revolutionary advances in technology and globalization are the forces most responsible for the hollowing-out of the American economy. But our policymakers responded in ways that tended to accentuate, rather than ameliorate, the most damaging effects of these worldwide trends.
(10 October 2011)
Michael Bloomberg: Wall Street Protesters Can Stay Indefinitely
MacKenzie Weinger, Politico.com
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday the Occupy Wall Street protesters can camp out in Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan for as long as they want.
As long as demonstrators do not break the law, Bloomberg says the city will permit them to stay. (AP Photo)
Zuccotti Park, the movement’s unofficial headquarters located just blocks from Wall Street, is a privately owned, publicly accessible park where protesters have gathered for 24 days. Bloomberg said as long as demonstrators do not break the law, the city will permit them to stay, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“The bottom line is – people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to,” Bloomberg said before marching in the Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. “If they break the laws, then, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do: enforce the laws.”
(10 October 2011)
On the other hand, Greg Mitchell reports in his OWS blog tonight:
“10:35 A media person at #OWS, Jeff Smith, tells me in email, “Could just be coincidence, but a ConEd crew showed up tonight with jackhammers right next to Liberty Plaza. They will be working through the night here for at least the next 2 weeks.””
-BA
Occupy Wall Street protests have now spread to Ireland
John O’Brien, IrishCentral.com
Occupy Dame Street, an Irish protest outside the Central Bank headquarters is gathering momentum as more protesters join outside the center of Dublin location.
The group is based on the ‘Occupy Wall Street” protesters who have demonstrated in several American cities and in other countries.
The group says its mission is to end corruption in Irish life and banish the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank out of Irish affairs.
(8 October 2011)
Citizens of China rally to support the Occupy Wall Street Movement
DongXia He, China Hush
The following news were once on majority of the Chinese mainstream news sites, most of them now have removed it. But it can still be found on various forums where Internet users have reposted it there.
Absolutely support the American people’s great ‘Occupy Wall Street revolution’’
Last week, the movement of Occupy Wall Street started in New York. Over 700 people were arrested. More and more people came to parade on Wall Street. It also aroused some heavy media coverage in China. Hundreds of residents of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province rallied to support the movement of Occupy Wall Street in front of Labor People’s Cultural Center on October 6th.
Holding banners which wrote “Absolutely support the American people’s great ‘Occupy Wall Street revolution’”, people gathered and passed around flyers about the event happening in New York. They wore red armbands and showed their support to this movement. The demonstrators were consisted of workers, cadres of state-owned enterprise and some retirees. A cadre from a state-owned enterprise said “USA is so bad that it bullies any countries as it wishes. Bullying others with its rod of liberal democracy, it interferes with the internal affairs of other countries and overthrows the regimes of other. Now it’s time for pay back of its evil. The true colors of USA are coming out.” A young man who also took part in the rally analyzed the reason of the Occupy Wall Street movement that the capitalism had reached its end and the people in capitalist countries were woken up. Another middle-aged person from Shandong province gave his opinions that the socialism can save China, but also the world.
(9 October 2011)
Occupy Wall Street-Style Protests Spread to Britain
William Kennedy, MSNBC
… Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests on the other side of the Atlantic, demonstrators plan to establish a tent city in London’s City financial district next weekend.
Protests aimed at policies on Wall Street have spread to 45 cities across the US as consistently large crowds continue to occupy the financial district in New York City. NBC’s Lilia Luciano reports.
“The Wall Street protests sort of inspired everything,” said Kai Wargalla, who co-created the Occupy London Facebook group. “It was just time to start here. We need people to step up and speak out.”
(10 October 2011)
