Police look on at the Occupy Nova Scotia camp in Halifax on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011.

Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX — Occupy Nova Scotia is exploring the possibility of legal action over arrests made more than six months ago during the dismantling of the group’s tents in Halifax.

Organizer Ian Matheson said the group has also decided to assemble a people’s tribunal to hold the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Halifax Regional Police accountable.

Eleven people were charged with obstruction of justice after police moved into Halifax’s Victoria Park on Remembrance Day to evict the protesters. However the Crown withdrew all charges against the protesters earlier this month.

Now Occupy Nova Scotia will look into possible legal action against the municipality or police, Matheson said.

“We will be continuing to hold all people accountable to make certain that the public has a say in whether or not this can happen again,” said Matheson on Saturday.

About 30 people came out to Grand Parade on Saturday to express their views, with some citing finances as a big hurdle when proceeding with legal action.

John Thibeau, a spokesman for Occupy Nova Scotia, said he personally believes the group should not be looking into suing the municipality or police, but stands by the group’s decision.

“I don’t always agree with the decisions the group makes, but that’s part of being in a democracy where everybody gets a say,” said Thibeau.

Police who tore down the tents were acting on a municipal bylaw that prohibits overnight camping in a public park.

The group moved into Victoria Park after protesting for several weeks at Grand Parade in order to make room for Remembrance Day ceremonies at the public square in front of city hall.

Demonstrators said they were protesting peacefully and were caught off-guard when police officers moved into the park and tore down their tents during a torrential downpour.

Many people at Saturday’s Occupy gathering accused the police of using unnecessary violence.

“We’d like to hold officers accountable for actions towards individual members of our group, particularly those who are under age and who were assaulted by police without any arrest or charges being laid,” said Matheson.

Halifax Regional Police said the protesters were arrested for allegedly resisting officers during the eviction. The department has also said it has no concerns about the actions of its officers.

Article source: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1181262--occupy-protesters-in-nova-scotia-to-explore-possible-legal-action

Associated Press

Associated Press

German police officers escort an anti-capitalism protest march with some 20,000 people in Frankfurt, Germany, on Saturday.

At least 20,000 people held a major rally of the local Occupy movement in Frankfurt on Saturday to decry austerity measures affecting much of Europe, the dominance of banks, and what they call untamed capitalism.

The protesters peacefully filled the city center of continental Europe’s biggest financial hub on a warm and pleasant afternoon, said Frankfurt police spokesman Ruediger Regis. He said 20,000 people were there, while organizers put the number at 25,000.

The protest group, named Blockupy, has called for blocking access to the European Central Bank, which is located in Frankfurt’s business district.

Organizer spokesman Roland Seuss said the protest is “against the Europe-wide austerity dictate by the [creditor] troika of ECB, the EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund.”

Last year, thousands in Germany took to the streets in rallies during the world-wide Occupy movement. But as Germany’s economy is robust and unemployment at a record low, those protests mostly have fizzled out.

But Europe’s lingering debt crisis has given new fuel to some demonstrations.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, suffers none of the austerity measures now heavily affecting southern European nations, such as Greece, Portugal and Spain. But Germany has championed sometimes-harsh spending cuts across Europe to get budget deficits under control.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed through a European treaty enshrining fiscal discipline, but she is being criticized for suffocating growth through her insistence on austerity measures.

Her conservative government has rejected significant new stimulus measures, but Mrs. Merkel is increasingly pressured—not least by newly elected French President François Hollande and President Barack Obama—to prop up investment to foster growth and avoid another recession in Europe.

“We are in solidarity with the people of Greece and other European countries who are already gravely suffering from [budget] cuts across the board which threaten their very existence,” Mr. Suess said.

“International resistance against the austerity imposed by troika and governments,” read one banner, followed by protesters waving Greek and Spanish flags. “Break the bank’s power,” read another banner.

An Occupy tent camp in front of the ECB was cleared Wednesday as a safety measure ahead of Saturday’s protest. Some 340 activists left, some of them carried by police. Authorities say the camp can be re-erected late Sunday.

Police on Friday temporarily detained some 400 demonstrators during unauthorized Blockupy protests by thousands of activists after they erected barricades and staged sit-ins.

Some 5,000 police officers are assigned to keep the weekend protests in check.

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303360504577414370915099252.html

BERLIN — Some 20,000 activists took part in a major rally of the local Occupy movement in Frankfurt on Saturday, German police said.

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Protesters peacefully filled the city center of continental Europe’s biggest financial hub in their protest against the dominance of banks and what they perceive to be untamed capitalism, Frankfurt police spokesman Ruediger Regis said.

Police revised the initial turnout estimate of 10,000 quickly upward to 20,000 as protesters jammed Frankfurt’s downtown business district on what was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon.

A spokesman for the organizers, Roland Suess, said turnout has already reached 25,000. Organizers had told authorities that they expect between 10,000 and 40,000 participants.

The protest group calling itself Blockupy has called for blocking the access to the European Central Bank, which is located in Frankfurt’s business district.

Last year, thousands in Germany took to the streets in rallies during the worldwide Occupy movement. But as Germany’s economy is proving to be robust and unemployment at a record-low those protests have mostly fizzled out.

But Europe’s lingering debt crisis has given new fuel to some protests, even though Germany — Europe’s biggest economy — suffers none of the austerity measures now heavily affecting some southern European nations such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.

An Occupy tent camp in front of the ECB was cleared Wednesday as a safety measure ahead of Saturday’s protest. Some 340 activists left, some of them carried by police. Authorities say the camp can be re-erected late Sunday.

Police on Friday temporarily detained some 400 demonstrators during unauthorized Blockupy protests by thousands of activists after they erected barricades and staged sit-ins.

Some 5,000 police officers are assigned to keep the weekend protests in check.

___

Juergen Baetz can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jbaetz

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47486187

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Police in Germany have temporarily cleared the Frankfurt Occupy tent camp next to the European Central Bank.

Some 340 people left, some of them carried by police as they offered passive resistance, the DAPD news agency reports. There were 13 arrests.

The clearance was completed when the last two protesters came down from trees they had climbed.

The tent camp was cleared as part of security measures ahead of protests this weekend by a group calling itself Blockupy, which has called for barring access to the bank.

City officials say the Occupy tents can be re-occupied on Sunday.

Article source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Police-temporarily-clear-Frankfurt-Occupy-camp-3562727.php

Occupiers Protest Rush Limbaugh In Chicago, Where He Does Not Live

Board of Trade has a message for Occupy Chicago: We Are The 1% | WindyCitizen.com

Occupy Chicago, city officials to meet – chicagotribune.com

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/18/occupy-chicago-nato_n_1528901.html?ref=mostpopular

Matt Gade | MLive.comBen Cohen, co-founder of Ben Jerry’s Ice Cream, talks about the Occupy movement at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies conference Thursday in Grand Rapids.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — To Ben Cohen, the sustainable small business community and the Occupy Movement are a “match made in heaven.”

“These are two organizations that, as far as I’m concerned, should be working together,” said Cohen, co-founder of Vermont-based Ben Jerry’s Ice Cream company.

“Each organization would be stronger if they were doing that.”

Cohen was in Grand Rapids on Thursday for a discussion about wealth inequality and economic justice during the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) conference wrapping up Friday after several days worth of tours, “visioning sessions” and interactive workshops.

Cohen, an active voice in favor of liberal causes and social activism, co-facilitated the discussion among about a hundred BALLE conference attendees from across the country with Chuck Collins from the Institute for Policy Studies.

Related: National sustainable business leaders gathered in Grand Rapids

Cohen said the BALLE business leaders are “value-led” and favor local economies and progressive values, positions that mirror some in the various Occupy groups.

“It’s becoming really clear to me that the huge majority of people in Occupy are really supportive of small local business,” he said.

“Most the movement is anti-corporate and it seems to me that the BALLE movement is anti-corporate, especially in terms of those huge multinational corporations who are using their power in their own self interest to rig the rules in their favor.”

The wide-ranging discussion comes as the embers of the Occupy movement nationwide are starting to rekindle after peaking in intensity last fall when the Occupy Wall Street camp was evicted from Zuccotti Park in New York City.

Members of Occupy camps across the country are arriving in Chicago by the busload this week ahead of the NATO summit there this weekend. Tensions are reportedly high in the Windy City. A national Occupy gathering is also being planned for July 4 in Philadelphia, said Cohen.

Cohen said the best use of the movement right now is to focus on “getting money out of politics” by pushing for a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would prohibit equating money with speech, obviating the controversial 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case. Several loosely affiliated groups, most notably Move to Amend, have been pushing the issue around the country.

Cohen showed the room a picture of a dollar bill stamped with the words “Not To Be Used For Bribing Politicians” and advocated for a money-stamping campaign using variations of the message, spurred on by small business owners in the BALLE network. The idea is to raise awareness of the issue through a grassroots effort.

“You guys can really make this thing happen, you can even encourage your customers to pay with stamped cash,” he said. “Give them a discount.”

MLive file photoKaren Grah, left, of Grand Rapids, Pat Locke, center, of Grand Rapids and Oren Snyder, right, of Allendale gather Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 at Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids.

Although many Occupy groups — including the Occupy Grand Rapids group which were camped at Fountain Street Church last fall — have gone under the radar since last fall, Cohen said they have been successful in changing tactics to combat inequality by pressuring banks on foreclosures in some cities.

Related: Demonstrators ‘occupy’ Grand Rapids’ Calder Plaza

Related: Would Jesus Occupy? Fountain Street Church says yes and backs movement

Cohen said the physical occupation of public spaces was a valuable tactic that grew out of most Occupy groups control because they weren’t ready for the physical infrastructure necessary to maintain them.

“People say, “these people are clueless, disorganized and the things they do don’t make sense,’” he said. “What we need to understand is that Occupy never set out to be a movement. They set out to be 200 people in a park camping there to protest Wall Street.”

Despite the lack of infrastructure, the message resonated so well that Occupy groups spring up organically around the country, he said.

“Tactics need to evolve. We need to come up with the next new tactics,” he said. “One option is massive nonviolent civil disobedience. That’s really how so much of the revolutionary change has happened in our country and the world.”

“That requires a lot of discipline and organization,” he said.

“The reality is, ‘the man’ ain’t gong to allow any more occupations.”

Email Garret Ellison or follow him on Twitter.

Article source: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/05/why_ben_jerrys_founder_thinks.html

LONDON (Reuters) – A seventh century gospel discovered in a saint’s coffin more than 900 years ago, and the oldest European book to survive fully intact, has been acquired by the British Library for $14 million (nine million pounds), the library said on Tuesday. The manuscript copy of the Gospel of St. John called the St. Cuthbert Gospel was produced in the northeast of England in the late 7th century and was placed in the saint’s coffin on the island of Lindisfarne, probably in 698. …

Article source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/occupy-nl-removes-camp-st-johns-deadline-120441332.html

I imagine that in the Main Street Media, this will be billed as, “Tree Huggers Meet Wall Street Bashers.”

You can be certain that something close to this will be the spin put on the conjoining of the still-fledgling Occupy Movement with the veterans of the environmental movement — the latter now gaining its second breath and much traction.

What’s the fuss?

Occupy is rallying its foot soldiers as well as a major online army to see that the upcoming U.N. Rio+20 Earth Summit on the environment will get the sort of press and attention once reserved for Zuccotti Park. It is only logical that a movement galvanized in South America some 20 years ago might need “buzz” to make it current and relevant.

For those not readily familiar with Rio+20, this was the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro. It has been acknowledged as a key milestone in placing sustainable development as a top priority for the international community.

How does the Occupy Movement figure in this picture two decades down the road? Both are being either under-reported or poorly reported, and both are met with tepid enthusiasm or even resistance, no matter how important their struggles.

Whether it be saving a rainforest or saving a foreclosed home, the need is the same: something is terribly wrong and the word must be gotten out, and strong action applied.

If you are an environmentalist — the upcoming Rio+20 Conference on June 20-22 is a hot topic. If you are an occupier, helping these two movements merge and help each other grow will be your hot topic.

At least, that’s the view of Ted Schulman, who is both an Occupier and an Environmentalist and a man who has always inhabited interesting — if opposing — worlds. At one time a member of the “Mad Men” culture we see pictured on HBO, Ted managed a technology group for TBWAChiatDay, the global ad agency known for campaigns for Apple Computer, Absolut, Nissan, Pepsi, and Visa.

Along the way, he also was instrumental in creating an award winning interactive technology demonstration project, The Learning Center at Ellis Island, and HarlemNYC.US as an example online community developed for New York State’s application as a Federal Empowerment Zone.

Living in the Wall Street area, it was easy for him to walk two blocks over to be one of the very first “citizens” of the Occupy world at Zuccotti Park in September, 2011. Being someone who understood both business and societal needs (his degree is in Social Anthropology) and one who also honed his tech skills at the Ad Agency, he set about with people like Deven Balkind and Drew Hornbein, “kids” 20 years his junios to create a “TechOps” group. Naturally, it was informed by work he had done previously in the sustainability world.

Ted thus far has managed to weave together the two worlds of climate and financial concerns. In a very symbolic, if not real sense, the arctic meltdown has its equivalency in the Wall Street Collapse and that action must be taken. And, he is working hard with people here in the U.S. and around the world to see that this awareness is brought to the general population.

The chosen vehicle is the Earth Summit called RIO+20, and likely a People’s Summit to take place in the southern Hemisphere. “It could be transformative,” Ted believes, and is laboring to bring about an online forum for people to vote on economic as well as climate actions — actually a “first layer of a consensus system” as pioneered in the Occupy General Assemblies.

The logical and now forthcoming fruits of all this? “Occupy Climate,” of course.

For those wanting more information on this and how to join the “communities of practice” that will focus on collaboration and innovation between OWS and Rio+20, more details can be found at: www.OccupyTheEarth.net, or by contacting Ted at his company, www.Transcoms.com.

A more detailed “15 Minutes of Fact” oral interview with Ted Schulman can be found at: http://bit.ly/JeYNju.

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-ashton/occupy-rio20-earth-summit_b_1520472.html

I imagine that in the Main Street Media, this will be billed as, “Tree Huggers Meet Wall Street Bashers.”

You can be certain that something close to this will be the spin put on the conjoining of the still-fledgling Occupy Movement with the veterans of the environmental movement — the latter now gaining its second breath and much traction.

What’s the fuss?

Occupy is rallying its foot soldiers as well as a major online army to see that the upcoming U.N. Rio+20 Earth Summit on the environment will get the sort of press and attention once reserved for Zuccotti Park. It is only logical that a movement galvanized in South America some 20 years ago might need “buzz” to make it current and relevant.

For those not readily familiar with Rio+20, this was the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro. It has been acknowledged as a key milestone in placing sustainable development as a top priority for the international community.

How does the Occupy Movement figure in this picture two decades down the road? Both are being either under-reported or poorly reported, and both are met with tepid enthusiasm or even resistance, no matter how important their struggles.

Whether it be saving a rainforest or saving a foreclosed home, the need is the same: something is terribly wrong and the word must be gotten out, and strong action applied.

If you are an environmentalist — the upcoming Rio+20 Conference on June 20-22 is a hot topic. If you are an occupier, helping these two movements merge and help each other grow will be your hot topic.

At least, that’s the view of Ted Schulman, who is both an Occupier and an Environmentalist and a man who has always inhabited interesting — if opposing — worlds. At one time a member of the “Mad Men” culture we see pictured on HBO, Ted managed a technology group for TBWAChiatDay, the global ad agency known for campaigns for Apple Computer, Absolut, Nissan, Pepsi, and Visa.

Along the way, he also was instrumental in creating an award winning interactive technology demonstration project, The Learning Center at Ellis Island, and HarlemNYC.US as an example online community developed for New York State’s application as a Federal Empowerment Zone.

Living in the Wall Street area, it was easy for him to walk two blocks over to be one of the very first “citizens” of the Occupy world at Zuccotti Park in September, 2011. Being someone who understood both business and societal needs (his degree is in Social Anthropology) and one who also honed his tech skills at the Ad Agency, he set about with people like Deven Balkind and Drew Hornbein, “kids” 20 years his junios to create a “TechOps” group. Naturally, it was informed by work he had done previously in the sustainability world.

Ted thus far has managed to weave together the two worlds of climate and financial concerns. In a very symbolic, if not real sense, the arctic meltdown has its equivalency in the Wall Street Collapse and that action must be taken. And, he is working hard with people here in the U.S. and around the world to see that this awareness is brought to the general population.

The chosen vehicle is the Earth Summit called RIO+20, and likely a People’s Summit to take place in the southern Hemisphere. “It could be transformative,” Ted believes, and is laboring to bring about an online forum for people to vote on economic as well as climate actions — actually a “first layer of a consensus system” as pioneered in the Occupy General Assemblies.

The logical and now forthcoming fruits of all this? “Occupy Climate,” of course.

For those wanting more information on this and how to join the “communities of practice” that will focus on collaboration and innovation between OWS and Rio+20, more details can be found at: www.OccupyTheEarth.net, or by contacting Ted at his company, www.Transcoms.com.

A more detailed “15 Minutes of Fact” oral interview with Ted Schulman can be found at: http://bit.ly/JeYNju.

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-ashton/occupy-rio20-earth-summit_b_1520472.html?ref=green

From the Adbusters ad announcing their latest activist campaign against the financial follies of our times.

From the motley Canadian crew that brought us Occupy Wall Street comes Friday’s “laugh riot”. Thousands of Occupy Wall Street plan to take to the streets on May 18 in uproarious laughter. What’s so funny? Jaime Dimon’s serving of humble pie! Hilarious!

How about the fact that since the fall of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, many in the market are now wondering if FinReg has any teeth to curb high risk gambling that guys like whale-sized loophole swimming JP Morgan trader Bruno Iksil found when he lost a minty $2 billion.

Bruno recently gave up his gig as a JP Morgan derivatives trader in London, but does anyone doubt this guy won’t be laughing all the way to the bank? Not that he broke any laws. He didn’t. He gambled with JP Morgan’s money; some of which it got for pennies on the dollar in Treasury swaps with the Federal Reserve and in its cash windfall from a bargain basement purchase of Washington Mutual in 2008.

The Occupiers at Adbusters, the Vancouver-based magazine that launched the OWS movement last summer, said in a note to their readers Wednesday that a global “laugh riot” could “break through the G8’s veneer of legitimacy and expose the Camp David Summit and our current capitalist model for the farce that it really is.”

Activists will be taking to the streets again next week, when the G8 Summit is in full swing in Chicago.

“At a time when our human experiment is buckling under austerity, financial madness and eco-angst, there is something so ludicrous, bizarre, even insane about the eight most powerful people in the world trying to conduct the people’s business – to set things right – from behind closed doors and razor wire fences,” Adbusters editors wrote. As if planning the future of all mankind behind closed doors was anything new. Geesh. What planet are they on?

Maybe the global laugh-in is what we’ve all been waiting for. If their latest May Day demonstrations are any indicator of future results, then maybe not. Otherwise, Chicagoans and New Yorkers might be watching people break out in uproarious laughter for no apparent reason. They’re not crazy. They’re activists.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/05/16/occupy-wall-street-plans-laugh-riot-at-g8-summit-and-beyond/?feed=rss_home