Paul Volcker, the economist after whom the rule is named. This is a new weekly feature by Occupier staff. Bank of America paying for the sins of its subsidiary: The largest fair practice settlement in history is still too small if it doesn’t come with a formal admission of wrongdoing. Bank…
Category: Authors
How to Infiltrate and Destroy a Political Movement
by Lester MacGurdy When we think of infiltrating and destroying a movement, we assume that means attempting to bring about the immediate end of the movement. This is a naive perception of the actual mechanics of infiltrating and destroying a popular political movement of the people. Why would CIA, FBI, etc. want to destroy OWS?…
Liveblog: LIVE FROM EUGENE on Anti-Eviction Action Night
Hey everybody – Illona here. The Portland Occupier is branching out to support our sister occupations in Cascadia. Tonight, I’ll be reporting from Occupy Eugene on their anti-eviction action night. There isn’t a set deadline for the eviction, as reported in the Register Guard, Eugene police said they have no firm deadline for campers’ departure.…
Forming a More Perfect Occupation
by Janice Leber An analogy came to life in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Along a flyway, I came upon a huge cloud of geese galumphing low in the sky in no discernible pattern – wheeling and circling and getting nowhere. The only thing they had in common was the fact that they were all roughly airborne.…
The Die Is Cast
Last month we published an article concerning the most recent downgrade of the Bank of America Corporation, or BAC, by the credit rating agency Moody’s. The downgrade had triggered a demand for further collateral by the bank’s counterparties–that is, security for those with something to lose should the bank go under. The collateral offered was…
Writing About Horizontal Structure Becomes “Structureless” When We Write About It
by Adam Rothstein As a member of the media, as a contributor to the linguistic and philosophical discourse emerging from the Occupations, and as point-of-contact for The Occupier, I’m constantly confronted with one of my main frustrations throughout the two months I’ve been involved in this Occupation: I can’t stand writers who write about the…
Witnesses: Injured Man Went Unattended For Half an Hour Because the Police Cancelled the Emergency Call
Left: Justin, right, Charles NB: I removed this article the day after posting it (December 15th) in response to a witness of the events and friend of Justin James Bridges contacting me, concerned that Larry Thompson and John Swilley (whose last name I spelled wrong in the original article) had in fact witnessed another man,…
Which Side of History Do You Want to Be On?
by John O. Andersen Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted…
Park Work “Re-Occupies” Chapman and Lownsdale Parks
by Jennifer Alexander On Wednesday, December 14, Occupy Portland protestors were allowed to ‘occupy’ Chapman and Lownsdale parks once again. For this occupation, however, protestors came armed with workgloves and rakes, instead of tents and protest signs. When Steve Pixley of the Portland Parks and Recreation Department put out a call for volunteers to help…
Poor People Taking Care of Poor People
By: Sean Fleek, Portland Comedian, rabble-rouser, Socialist, writer and figurative publicist. Catch more Sean over at his blog: What They’re Feeding Me Right-wing mouthpieces have been telling us poor folk for years, “pick yourselves up by your bootstraps.”So we found a public space, and we started collecting contributions, and taking care of our fellow poor people, and…
