Month: March 2012

Portland General Assembly Returns to Terry Schrunk Plaza

By Mungen Cakes On Sunday March 25, for the first time since eviction, Occupy Portland General Assembly was held in Terry Schrunk Plaza. For the past four months the GA has been held under cover at Director Park, eight blocks away. It was moved back to the open air venue, for one night, in solidarity…

The History of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement

by Sandy Polishuk The spark that ignited the social and political activism of young people in the decade known as “the 60s” flashed on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley in 1964. The Berkeley Free Speech Movement grew out of the Civil Rights movement of the previous decade, and from resistance to…

The Case for Voting

This story is from the Occupied News Wire. It was originally published by The Boston Occupier. By Josh Sager The voting booth is the means by which average Americans can directly affect their federal, state, and local governments. Voting allows Americans to select politicians who represent the views and ideologies that they would like represented in…

The Four Legs of Activism

By Michael Schultz The first leg of activism is knowledge. It is important to look squarely at the issues of the day without illusion. As a good friend of mine is fond of saying, the core of activism is “between your ears”. Critical analysis of the world is the first step toward understanding what is…

Portlanders Rally For Trayvon Martin, And For Themselves

By Adam Rothstein On the beautiful spring morning of Saturday, March 24th, over three hundred Portlanders gathered in Peninsula Park in North Portland to not only enjoy each others’ company, but to express their outrage and frustration for the death of Trayvon Martin. The unarmed seventeen year-old was shot by another man, who suspected him…

Constitutional Rights on Trial

By Kendall Five Occupiers arrested in the February 6 and 29 actions were rearraigned today in Judge Cheryl Albrecht’s courtroom at Multnomah County Courthouse. With the support of Stu Sugarman and the Portland National Lawyers’ Guild, those appearing today filed Motions to Join, which means they’ll appear for hearings with other Occupiers, 75 in all,…

Springtime in Iran

By Lauren Paulson Springtime in Iran 2012 In 1953, President Eisenhower gave his ‘Atoms for Peace’ speech. As the only country having used the atom for war, we set about to export nuclear technology all around the world for peaceful purposes. Oops, this was the program that lead to Pakistan and India getting nuclear weapons.…

A Corporate Budget or a People’s Budget?

By Shamus Cooke How are government budgets created, and in whose interests? In Portland, Oregon, the city recently held the second and last of its public budget forums, where the community could offer feedback to help craft the city’s budget. Over two hundred people attended the Wednesday evening meeting at Cleveland High School, many more…

From Stand Your Ground To ALEC in a Few Easy Steps

This story is from the Occupied News Wire. It was originally published in the Occupied Wall Street Journal. Lisa Graves and Nick Surgey Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, which Trayvon Martin’s killer is using to shield himself from arrest – with the full complicity of the Sanford Police Department – became the template for “model” legislation endorsed and…

Democracy: Now or Later?

by Eric Reygers de·moc·ra·cy noun \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\ plural de·moc·ra·cies Definition of DEMOCRACY a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority The ideology of our country–America, that is–is an integrated system of democracy aimed towards “freedom” but failing by governmental succession from the majority. Unfortunately, the current American governmental idea of democracy is…