Category: News & Current Events

Purchasing Prisoners, Creating Criminals, and How Occupy Could Be Next

This story is from the Occupied News Wire. It was originally published in the Occupied Wall Street Journal. by Arvind Dilawar Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), owner of the largest private prison system in the United States, recently sent a letter to 48 states offering up to $250 million to manage government-owned detention centers. The…

Occupy Portland Members Shot While Sleeping

by Lester Macgurdy In the early morning hours of the 21st of this month, two Occupy Portland participants and former Chapman and Lownsdale encampment residents were shot in an act of random violence while asleep under the Morrison bridge. Both men are reported to be in fair condition. The victims have been identified as Carter…

Nonviolence Still Wins the Public—and Major Changes

Czech dissident/president, Václav Havel (1936-2012), after nonviolent ouster of Soviets by Barbara G. Ellis In mid-December, a man died who for years worked for a nonviolent overthrow of Soviet control over Czechoslovakia that finally happened in 1989. He was Václav Havel, playwright, leading dissident against Soviet domination, and long-time political prisoner. He was the “voice…

Chicago Workers Occupy Factory, Win Concessions

By Shawn Fleek A threatened closure of a window factory in Chicago has been delayed 90 days, after workers there occupied their factory for three days. The factory may still close, or a similar occupation may again take place, if the union or management can not find a new owner. The factory closure threatened 50…

Cindi and Siddharta Fisher

by K. Kendall Cindi Fisher is trying to save the life and sanity of her 34-year-old son, Siddharta Fisher, and she wants our help. Siddharta was identified as “gifted and talented” as a child. He was the Washington State Chess Champion at the age of 11, and when he was 12, he won an award…

The N-Word: A Question of Identity

By K. Kendall “If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions… and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own.” –Carter G. Woodson.…

Shut Down The Corporations, February 29th

by Shawn Fleek and Adam Rothstein Feb 29th: Shut Down ALEC from Kontra on Vimeo. On February 29th, Shut Down The Corporations plans a nationwide day of action to draw attention to the American Legislative Exchange Council, (ALEC) a group which uses the money of large corporations to pass favorable legislation in all 50 states.…

F29 Direct Action Training: This is What Democracy Looks Like

by Pranksterbtch On Saturday, February 4, members of a group called the Portland Action Lab (PAL) conducted a teach-in entitled the “#F29 Direct Action Training” seminar. The goal of this citizens training session was to share PAL’s de-escalation tactics during planned citizen actions such as the upcoming nationwide protest against corporations on February 29, 2012.…

Hanford: North America’s Fukushima

by Miriam German The Occupy Portland rally, Hanford: North America’s Fukushima, came about from a simple request from an Occupier originally from Tri-Cities. My friend called me one night to ask if we could do something about the Hanford Nuclear Waste Site. Anything. She called me because as well as being a musician, I’ve been…

Interview with Portland Mayoral Candidate Cameron Whitten

Cameron Whitten, an activist from Occupy Portland, is running for Mayor. Adam Rothstein interviewed him, and asked him some questions about his campaign, and how it came out of the Occupy movement. Adam Rothstein: How is the campaign going? Cameron Whitten: It’s going really well. I’m meeting new people every day. AR: What’s in the…