To refute critics in the mainstream media who claim that the Occupy movement has no demands, Occupy! Scenes from Occupied America, edited by a team of activist editors including Astra Taylor and Keith Gessen, begins with a list of demands from organizers in an OWS planning meeting in New York. These range from the expected -- repealing Citizens United, debt forgiveness and a … [Read more...]
Top 5 ways to Occupy Big Oil
Wall Street is the best immediate target for a huge protest movement, since it was the freewheeling gambling of big banks that pushed the economy over the edge in 2008 and started the Great Recession. Now, as Occupy movements pop up around the US and across the globe to draw attention to economic inequity and the government corruption that abets rule by the top 1%, Occupiers … [Read more...]
The American people are smarter than the corporate media wants us to know
Update: More sensible super-majority views of Americans If you watched the corporate media and listened to the political leadership you would think Americans are Tea Party members who oppose taxes, even on the wealthy, would deny health care to someone in need who does not have insurance and favor war, rather than the United Nations. But, in fact, as the polls below show the … [Read more...]
Fighting corporate power since 1776
The Boston Tea Party, claims liberal talk radio host Thom Hartmann, wasn't really a protest against higher taxes and unrepresentative government. Instead, its target was the excessive power of a large corporation -- the British East India Company. In Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" -- and How You Can Fight Back Hartmann explains that, at the behest of … [Read more...]
Why corporate “free speech” means climate and peak oil doom
"The corporations won't get out of our democracy until we the people get back in," says Annie Leonard in her new video on big money in politics. So keep fighting for renewable energy, green jobs, healthcare, safe products, and top-notch public education. But save some energy for the battle of our lifetimes. A battle that can open the door to solving all of these things. It's … [Read more...]