Occupy Wall St.
50 minutes ago (Facebook)

Do you have Student Debt?
Are you tired of Banks profiting off of Education?
Join us tomorrow when Student Debt is projected to reach 1 trillion dollars.

In NYC, Come to the Brooklyn College Quad, 12pm. For Rebel Diaz (political hip-hop), Rude Mechanical Orchestra (radical marching band), Debt Exorcisms! Dancing! And More...

At 4pm, Convergence at Union Square! For Debt Jubilee!!

Wish I could be there - love Rebel Diaz.

Solidarity, TBF

Email from the campaign today. I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) with 2 kids under 10 so I volunteer where I can (local phone, door to door, caucus) but this is currently outside my scope. Others may be interested however so if you haven't gotten this in your email please check the Obama Biden website.

"TBF" --

I'm writing because Barack needs you out there this summer.

Through the Organizing Fellowship program, you can work in a full-time volunteer position, learn the principles of field organizing, and then carry out important grassroots activities on the ground.

This summer, thousands of these organizing fellows are going to help lead our grassroots organization -- recruiting volunteers and running events to help more people make their voices heard.

It's an amazing experience -- one that could change your life while shaping this country for decades to come.

Apply now to be a summer organizing fellow, or pass this note along to someone you know who might be interested.

If you take a position as a fellow, you'll help more people to step up at the local level, where there are so many opportunities to make so much change. You'll register voters, recruit and train volunteers, run phone banks, have conversations with people on their front porches, and build the relationships that will bring your community together to fight for progress.

There will be difficult days, and long ones, too. But being an organizer is one of the best experiences you can have working in politics.

The people who take on this challenge will not only help move this country forward -- they'll also become the next generation of leaders.

The strength of this organization comes from the people involved. We never could have come this far without folks like you who have a passion for organizing and a commitment to finishing what we started together.

If you're ready to play a critical role in our grassroots campaign, apply now -- or forward this note to someone you know who may be interested ...


<snip - took out link because it has my personal info - just contact your local campaign headquarters I would think>

(This is an employment news story - possibly interesting considering the connection to Bain Capital. Please let me know if there's a better forum for it - it didn't seem like late breaking news scope to me).

Fired for not Being Mormon, Managers Say
By NICK MCCANN
Tuesday, April 17, 2012


EUGENE, Ore. (CN) - Former members of Bain Capital fired six out of seven managers of a senior housing company because they are not Mormon, the fired managers claim in Federal Court.

David McCurdy and his co-plaintiffs sued Sorenson Capital Partners, Care Holding Co., Care Senior Living, and SCP Care Acquisition. The plaintiffs claim that Care Senior Living, which manages assisted-living and other care facilities, hired them in March 2011, and that all six of them "had a proven track record of success in the senior housing industry."

They say the private equity firm Sorenson Capital Partners, which controlled Care's daily operations, fired them because they are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The principals of SCP, including a number of its managing directors and officers, are former partners or executives at Bain Capital and Bain & Company," the complaint states.

Republican presidential candidate-in-waiting Mitt Romney founded Bain Capital in 1984 after working for Bain & Co.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/17/45678.htm

We have a 2-yr old lab that we bought from his original owners last year. May have been returned to breeder if he couldn't hunt or something - he is the type that jumps when a door slams. At any rate he's a gorgeous pure-bred with all his papers that has had a lot of training and is really settling in to be an amazing house dog and part of our family. He is our third lab and we've always had one at a time. Well, this spring we've gotten brave and adopted a friend for him. She is about a year old and came from lab rescue (we had worked with them to get a dog a few years ago but he was older and only lived 8 months). We wanted to try rescue again because there is such a need and this spring especially in the Houston area the shelters are all full. So, here they are:

Our new rescue is the chocolate in front -

Was Jesus a communist? — Live Broadcast Mar 27

by: Communist Party USA
March 22 2012

Was Jesus a communist? A priest discusses the message at the heart of the gospel
Tuesday, March 27
8:00 pm Eastern (UTC -5:00)

You can also call in by telephone at (605) 475-4850 (long-distance phone charges may apply)
Dial 1053538# when prompted

A new short film by Matthew Modine is making the rounds at film festivals and is receiving positive reviews. 'Jesus Was A Commie' is sparking a new wave of discussion about religion and economics.

Tim Yeager, a dedicated trade union organizer and Episcopal priest, will speak about the economic and social justice message in Christianity in a video presentation March 27...

More details here for anyone who is interested -- http://cpusa.org/was-jesus-a-communist/


(And just for the record, in case anyone reading this gets confused, this is not advocating a third party - the CPUSA has endorsed Predient Obama for re-election in 2012)

An occupy member posted about upcoming activities for May Day and I wanted to bring them to everyone's attention:


Here are a few websites for info on #M1GS

What is #M1GS?

Worldwide, May 1st is traditionally a ‘Workers’ day – a day of Labor Solidarity, and a public holiday. It’s a day to celebrate and march in support of im/migrant rights. In protest against the corruption of the worldwide marketplace, which has led to illegal foreclosures, mass unemployment, low wages, high taxes and a penalization of all those who do not own the ‘99%’ of the world’s resources, and in solidarity with the im/migrant movements of May 1st, we decided to declare May 1st, 2012 a People’s General Strike. Instead of calling upon unionized Labor to make a specific demand (illegal under Taft-Hartley), we are calling upon the people of the world to take this day away from school and the workplace, so that their absence makes their displeasure with this corrupt system be known.


http://www.occupymay1st.org/

http://occupii.org/events/occupy-may-day-general-strike

Some recent news

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/occupy-wall-street-urges-strike-arrests-15957348#.T2t1Ddn8mSo

Calls for May Day general strikes by occupy general assemblies as of 9 March 2012:

Boston, Massachusetts, 7 January 2012
Brooklyn, New York, 19 January 2012
Bushwick, New York, 1 March 2012
Detroit, Michigan, 21 February 2012
Long Beach, California, 17 January 2012
Los Angeles, California, 19 December 2011
Oakland, California, 29 January 2012
Pasadena, California, 8 January 2012
Phoenix, Arizona, 8 January 2012
Portland, Oregon, 10 February 2012
San Diego, California, (day?) February 2012
San Fernando Valley, California, 23 December 2011
Seattle, Washington, 26 February 2012
Sydney, Australia, 18 February 2012
Tampa, Florida, 7 January 2012
Ventura, California, 7 February 2012
Wall Street, New York, 14 February 2012
Williamsburg, New York, 17 January 2012

http://generalstrikedetroit.tumblr.com/post/18012131742/calls-for-may-day-general-strikes-by-occupy-general


thanks, Zorra! http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1252&pid=1600

Maybe free-agent quarterback Matt Flynn doesn't need to wait for Peyton Manning to make a decision before the Green Bay Packers' former backup starts heating up talks with other quarterback-needy teams in free agency.

Considered earlier as a fallback plan for the teams that fail to land Manning in the coming days, Flynn has begun contract negotiations with the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, according to Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Kelly reported late Tuesday that Flynn is likely to get a contract offer from both teams "soon."

Flynn may still wait until Manning is settled on a team to maximize leverage in contractual negotiations, but an aggressive interest from both teams is an encouraging sign for his value on the open market....

more here - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1103560-nfl-free-agency-matt-flynn-to-negotiate-with-miami-dolphins-cleveland-browns

Cited in Krugman's editorial yesterday, thought it might be useful to post it here for anyone who didn't see it. Goes to our discussion of global capital and how we workers have to organize on a global level to have any chance at defeating them:

http://g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/topincomes/

Very interesting data in here.


The Krugman editorial: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/the-swedish-one-percent/