The Occupy Chicago movement prevented Scott Walker from speaking at a business breakfast November 3rd in Chicago. Take a look.
To view Walker’s humiliation go to:
November 22, 2011
October 30, 2011
Community hearing: OCCUPY The HOOD / OCCUPY MILWAUKEE Oppose Senate Bill 207
| WISCONSIN- We are in a state of emergency. The employment crisis will take yet another hit if Senate Bill 207(SB 207) is passed. This bill has already sped through the Assembly (AB 286), reached the Senate table, and will be passed if not challenged immediately. SB 207 gives employers the right to legally discriminate against over 62,000 Wisconsin residents.
Occupy the Hood, a coalition of organizations and individuals, is demanding that politicians put reelection hopes aside and represent the best interests of the people. This current piece of legislation is reflective of the solidarity between politicians, corporations, and other employers that are aligned in the exploitation of the working class. The overall unemployment rate in Wisconsin is already a staggering 7.9% and in Milwaukee County alone 9.2% of people are without work. In these trying economic times, Governor Scott Walker promised 250,000 jobs, but instead we are being blindsided by SB 207. Not only will this further inhibit job creation, it also makes Wisconsin less competitive in the global marketplace. In an effort to counter this covert attack, the voice of the people needs to be heard! The following event will be taking place… • Wed., November 2, 6pm. A People’s Hearing will be held at Union Hall (ATU), 734 N. 26th St, Milwaukee. We encourage ALL of Wisconsin to attend this hearing to voice their concerns and propose Calls for Action about SB207. OCCUPY MKE On FaceBook: ============== |
Call Representatives “KILL THE BILL”
KILL- AB 286/SB207.
This Bill “SB 207″ gives employers the right to legally discriminate against over 62,000 Wisconsin residents, and disproportionately people of color. It allow employers to fire employees and refuse to hire job-seekers who have committed felonies.
* Call senate committee on labor and public service to DELAY SB207 and hold a Public Hearing in Milwaukee!
Sen Coggs
608 266 2500
414 442 0739
Sen Taylor
608 266 5870
414 342 7177
***And Call Bill supporters Rep. Joel Kleefisch & state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills).
Tell them to “KILL THIS BILL”: This Assembly Bill 286 was introduced by state Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) and co-sponsored by state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills)
* Kleefisch: (608) 266-8551
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/contact/legislatorpages.aspx?house=assembly&district=38
* Darling: (262) 250-9440
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/darling/Pages/default.aspx
More Info on the Bill:
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/proposals/sb207 (link to bill)
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=296463610366840 (press release)
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/132384868.html (press conference)
October 29, 2011
Milwaukee: Hundreds of ‘Occupy’ protesters march on north side
Gary Porter
Marchers representing Occupy Milwaukee and Occupy the Hood march on W. Capitol Drive from Lincoln Park to the closed A.O. Smith factory complex, in protest of urban unemployment and the growing gap in income and political power.
By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel Oct. 29, 2011
Chanting, “We are the 99%,” and “Jobs now,” hundreds gathered in Lincoln Park on Saturday afternoon for an Occupy the Hood Milwaukee rally and then marched to the shuttered Tower Automotive plant on Milwaukee’s north side.
Rally organizers said they planned to make this the first of several rallies that aim to steer the Occupy Wall Street movement into city neighborhoods where high unemployment is rampant.
“When we can get people from all walks of life and all ages here, we’re doing something powerful,” said Khalil Coleman of Occupy Milwaukee and Occupy the Hood, as the march got under way, heading down Green Bay Ave. toward Capitol Drive.
“We’re going to do what it takes to get our elected officials to hear us.”
The choice of the former A.O. Smith plant, which got it start making frames for the Model T, once employed nearly 10,000 people and shut its doors in 2006, underscores the attention that needs to be given to the need for jobs, particularly for city residents, speakers at the rally said.
“Once they left there, the community began to suffer,” said Torrie Moffett of 9to5, National Association of Working Women. “There’s no jobs that are sustainable.”
Jennifer Epps-Addison, a public defender and community organizer with Citizen Action Wisconsin, said the crisis of black unemployment needs to be addressed.
“My grandmother said, ‘We used to joke that you couldn’t throw a penny in the city of Milwaukee without hitting an A.O. Smith family,’ ” she said, urging rally participants to support a local jobs initiative to be offered by Ald. Ashanti Hamilton.
“As we go through these neighborhoods, we’re going to draw the attention of folks who are really affected by this crisis,” Epps-Addison said.
“The pundits want to tell us this movement is not sustainable,” said Becky Cooper of Peace Action Wisconsin. “We are here to tell you that you, the 1%, are not sustainable.”
Among the targets of the some 400 Occupy Milwaukee protesters was a bill pending in Madison that would allow employers to terminate or refuse to hire someone with a felony conviction. That bill would disproportionately affect blacks and Latinos and would contribute to unemployment, speakers said.
“It really is a disgrace for anyone to try and fire someone for something they did a long time ago,” said retiree Henrietta Smith.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
October 27, 2011
Wisconsin Iraq Veteran Injured in Oakland, California at “Occupy Wall Street” Demo
In case anyone wants to send flowers or a card to Scott Olsen (Marine injured in Oakland)
USMC Scott Olsen
Highland Hospital
1411 East 31st Street
Oakland, CA 94602
Article By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel
Marine from Onalaska injured in protest in California
Oct. 26, 2011 |(193) Comments
A Marine from Onalaska, Wis., suffered a fractured skull during an Occupy Wall Street protest in California and was in critical condition Wednesday.
Scott Olsen, 24, who served two tours of Iraq, was struck by an unidentified object as Oakland police and Occupy Wall Street demonstrators clashed. Some witnesses said Olsen was hit by a tear-gas canister; others said it was a rubber bullet fired by police.
Olsen was conscious when he was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland on Tuesday night but was unconscious Wednesday, suffering from brain swelling, said his roommate Keith Shannon, who served in the same Marine unit as Olsen.
Aaron Hinde, who knows Olsen from Iraq Veterans Against the War, said Olsen suffered a seizure at the hospital. A hospital spokesman confirmed that Olsen was in critical condition Wednesday.
Olsen, whose uncle served in the Marines, signed up for the military when he was 17 and still in high school. As a member of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, he was deployed to Iraq from August 2006 to May 2007 and again in 2008-’09. Olsen was not injured in his deployments, but his unit was hit by numerous IEDs, said Shannon, who served with Olsen on Olsen’s first deployment and helped him get a job in information technology in the San Francisco Bay area.
Olsen left the military in 2010.
“It wasn’t what he wanted to do for a career; he didn’t agree with the war and the way it was going. He thought he could best serve people from outside the military,” Shannon said.
As members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Olsen and Shannon participated in Occupy San Francisco demonstrations. When Oakland Occupy Wall Street organizers put out a call for people to participate in a rally Tuesday night, Olsen, wearing his Marine uniform shirt, decided to attend.
The demonstrators had been making an attempt to re-establish a presence in the area of a disbanded protesters’ camp when they were met by police officers in riot gear. The clash Tuesday came as officials complained about what they described as deteriorating safety, sanitation and health issues at the dismantled camp.
Photos posted on the Internet show Olsen on the ground, bleeding and being helped by other protesters who took him to the hospital.
Olsen’s mother was traveling from Wisconsin to California on Wednesday to be with her son, Hinde said.
Shannon said Olsen is a quiet guy who loves to play hockey, listen to Bay-area bands, has a hamster named Agent Carmichael and moved to California when he got a job as a systems network administrator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
October 25, 2011
Thoughtful Reflection on ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Movement
By Mike Davis / 24 October 2011 Los Angeles Review of Books
Who could have envisioned Occupy Wall Street and its sudden wildflower-like profusion in cities large and small?
John Carpenter could have, and did. Almost a quarter of a century ago (1988), the master of date-night terror (Halloween, The Thing), wrote and directed They Live, depicting the Age of Reagan as a catastrophic alien invasion. In one of the film’s brilliant early scenes, a huge third-world shantytown is reflected across the Hollywood Freeway in the sinister mirror-glass of Bunker Hill’s corporate skyscrapers.
They Live remains Carpenter’s subversive tour de force. Few who’ve seen it could forget his portrayal of billionaire bankers and evil mediacrats and their zombie-distant rule over a pulverized American working class living in tents on a rubble-strewn hillside and begging for jobs. From this negative equality of homelessness and despair, and thanks to the magic dark glasses found by the enigmatic Nada (played by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper), the proletariat finally achieves interracial unity, sees through the subliminal deceptions of capitalism, and gets angry.
Very angry.
Yes, I know, I’m reading ahead. The Occupy the World movement is still looking for its magic glasses (program, demands, strategy, and so on) and its anger remains on Gandhian low heat. But, as Carpenter foresaw, force enough Americans out of their homes and/or careers (or at least torment tens of millions with the possibility) and something new and huge will begin to slouch towards Goldman Sachs. And unlike the “Tea Party,” so far it has no puppet strings.
October 12, 2011
Occupy Milwaukee: Saturday 11am Zeidler Park
Occupy Milwaukee joins with Occupy Wall St. and other occupations across the United States in peaceful resistance to the Wall Street-funded attack on students, workers, unemployed, people of color and others. In just one month, our movement has grown exponentially, earning the support of more than 35 organizations including labor unions, national advocacy, and social justice groups.
Your support is critical to this movement to restore and protect the rights of tens of thousands of Americans. Join us on Saturday, October 15th for an International Day of Action. At 11am, Occupy Milwaukee will hold a rally at the historic Ziedler Union Square, followed by a non-violent march to JP Morgan Chase Bank, at the corner of Water & Wisconsin at 12:30pm.
Zeidler Union Square is located at 301 West Michigan Street, in downtown Milwaukee. Participants will march to JP Morgan Chase Bank Downtown Center, 111 East Wisconsin Avenue. After the protest, we will return to Ziedler Park, which we will use as a staging base for future actions, outreach, and ongoing occupation.
Attached is a flyer for you to print and distribute as you see fit. More information is available atwww.occupytogether.org, on our Facebook page, and on Twitter @occupymilwaukee. Join us as we raise our voices in unity saying, “MAKE WALL STREET PAY!”
Yours in Solidarity,
Occupy Milwaukee
