occupycali:

(Photo: Protesters at the UC regents meeting in Sacramento wore orange and called themselves prisoners sentenced to debt. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

“Student protesters angry about another possible tuition hike disrupted the meeting of the University of California regents Wednesday in Sacramento, with some demonstrators dressed in orange prisoner uniforms and singing about “working on the chain gang.”

The regents were about to discuss a recent report about the treatment of protesters on campuses and then analyze the impact of the governor’s May revision of the state budget on tuition.

Officials have said a 6% percent tuition hike may be in the works for July’s regent meeting if state funding does not increase.

After 15 or so protesters began chanting and marching around the meeting, they ignored orders to clear the hall. The regents then moved to another room to discuss other business in closed session.

The protest ended after about 15 minutes and the regents were expected to resume their public sessions after lunch, according to a UC spokesman.

Student activists have staged a string of protests in recent months, clashing with police. In March, three UCLA students were arrested after protesters disrupted a San Francisco regents meeting with a “spring break” demonstration in which some stripped down to bathing suits and tossed inflatable beach balls.

In a November incident that was recorded on video and widely viewed online, UC Davis protesters were squirted with pepper spray by campus police.

Undergraduate costs for California residents, including tuition, room, board and campus fees, has risen to $31,000 and university officials have warned of more increases if voters this fall reject Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax hike.”
-LATimes|L.A. NOW

occupycali:

One of the reasons Californians should still be Occupying, as if school tuition increases, locking up students and professors for protesting on campus, and police brutality weren’t enough on May 12th 93,000 (according to CBS News) lost extended unemployment benefits. According to the US Bureau of labor (Feb 2012) almost 11% (That’s about 4,147,000 people) of the entire state of California is unemployed. This number 11% is calculated by taking a sample of unemployed families every month across the nation and measuring the amount of change over time. To read more on how the US Gov. calculates unemployment and to try to make an educated decision on whether or not you think 11% is the actual number go here: Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Here is the article from CBS: 

(CBS News) MERCED, Calif. - “A lot of Americans are still suffering from the investment disasters of 2008. Back then, Congress extended unemployment benefits to 99 weeks in many states — but tomorrow, that extension ends and 236,000 Americans are about to get notices that the checks are over, as CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports.

At the Community Action Agency in Merced, Brenda Callahan-Johnson is bracing for a flood of long-term unemployed seeking emergency food, housing and financial aid.

“A lot of these people are not going to know that they are not getting unemployment until they get the letter in the mail, and they’re going to be scared,” Callahan-Johnson told CBS News.

Tomorrow 93,000 Californians are losing extended unemployment benefits.

Callahan-Johnson told CBS News correspondent John Blackstone that she had never seen anything like this.

“In 19 years, I have never had this many cuts in unemployment at the same time,” she explained.

In California’s agricultural heartland, Merced is being hit hard by federal law that cuts extended benefits in states where unemployment has fallen. In the last year, California’s rate has dropped from 11.9 percent to 11 percent. But, in Merced, it’s 20 percent.

“Merced County is experiencing dire unemployment,” Callahan-Johnson said.

While finding work in Merced is difficult, finding places where people used to work is easy. One plant, which made ladders, closed in October — taking with it 140 jobs.

The closed Pepsi bottling factory once employed 40. Sixty people used to make parts for Toyota at another closed location.”

Continue reading: Thousands to lose long-term unemployment benefits, even where it remains sky-high

occupycali:

Another reason to <3 SF/Oakland #Nyan

Yeah I tagged it street art.. you mad?

occupycali:

“SAN FRANCISCO—May Day protests may disrupt the morning commute in major U.S. cities Tuesday as labor, immigration and Occupy activists rally support on the international workers’ holiday.

Demonstrations, strikes and acts of civil disobedience are being planned around the country, including the most visible organizing effort by anti-Wall Street groups since Occupy encampments came down in the fall.

While protesters are backing away from a call to block San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, bridge district ferry workers said they’ll strike Tuesday morning to shut down ferry service, which brings commuters from Marin County to the city. Ferry workers have been in contract negotiations for a year and have been working without a contract since July 2011 in a dispute over health care coverage, the Inlandboatmen’s Union said.”~Read More: DenverPost

occupycali:

By NBC Bay Area

Police cleared an Occupy SF encampment in front of the Federal Reserve building in San Francisco overnight.

Riot police moved in on the encampment on the sidewalk at 101 Market St. at around 4 a.m. Sunday. Police said they gave campers several warnings that began Friday…

(Source: nbcbayarea.com)

cultureofresistance:

occupycali:

RT @OccupyOregon Post these #D12 #PortShutdown flyers around your city! http://pic.twitter.com/BIAFp3hG #OLA #OO #OPDX #Occupyseattle #occupyvancouver (via @postnaught)

I love the occupy movement, I think it’s a beautiful thing to see all that energy and all that love that’s out there and all those people making a commitment. I’m hoping that some of that energy can go towards occupying places where we can actually stop the 1%. Right? Because we don’t want to just tell the 1%, “you’re horrible and this is wrong”, we want to actually stop them and the way to stop them is to occupy the places where they make their money.

I’ve heard a lot of talk about this distinction between occupy going after Wall Street and the financial sector versus focusing on the environment. To me, it’s a false distinction because I know that the people who run the world and are living off of all of us make their money by exploiting the environment and by taking away land from indigenous peoples. These are not separate issues at all - they are all one issue.

If we want to stop the 1%, we have to go to their factories, we have to go to the pipelines, we have to go to the ports where trade happens, we have to go to the stock exchanges inside… and all those things have to be occupied.

Hopefully, we can begin a conversation about switching to more direct targets for occupying. We’re calling it “Occupy the Machine”.

- Premadasi Amada, Deep Green Resistance organizer

occupycali:

New Poster and info on #OccupythePort #d12 #OO #OSF #OLA #OSD

www.WestCoastPortShutdown. org
Video:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGqncu3wlEI

SUPPORT GROWS FOR OCCUPY MOVEMENT’S COORDINATED WEST COAST SHUT DOWN ON DECEMBER 12TH

As of November 27, 2011, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organizing a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12, 2011.

http://www.occupytheports.com/

occupycali:

The city of San Francisco leased an abandoned school for protesters to use as an alternative campsite [Reuters]

“The city had repeatedly warned the protesters to move from the public plaza at the foot of Market Street in recent weeks and tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a move to another location.

 

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said there were about 100 people in the camp when the police moved in shortly before 2:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, and about 100 officers took part in the action.

 

About 50 people were arrested, he said. Two were arrested for felony assault after hitting a policeman in the face with a chair, but the action was otherwise mostly free of violence.”~Continued: Reuters

Local reports say there were 70 arrested and truckloads of items were confiscated from the camp. (SFGate)

 

“Department of Public Works workers remove debris from Occupy San Francisco’s encampment at Justin Herman Plaza during a morning police raid in San Francisco, California December 7, 2011.” (REUTERS/Stephen Lam)

According to OccupySF official page not only was debris removed but also, occupier’s property: “Bicycles, books from the library, tents, and people’s belongings were thrown directly into trash crusher trucks. Many occupiers were trying to leave the area and were arrested anyway. Many more elected to get arrested as a form of peaceful protest.”

#OccupySF #occupyourhomes #occupy #d3

Photos: Steve Rhodes  Music: 99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger

occupycali:

#OccupySF Housing rights march #D3 #Occupyourhomes #Occupy

“On Saturday, December 3, Occupy San Francisco united with SF Housing Rights organizations to oppose evictions, foreclosures and other housing injustices across the city. The day began with actions in the Bayview, Mission, Castro and Tenderloin, and culminated with a mass march from the Occupy SF site through the financial district to confront banks that put up the bucks that fuel these abuses.

San Francisco, December 3-The theme of today’s Occupy San Francisco Saturday march was housing: No More Evictions & Foreclosures For Profit!

A statement from a flyer promoting today’s action declared: “From the subprime mortgage crisis that began our current recession, to bank bailouts, the rising rates of homelessness and policies like the Ellis Act that prioritize profit over people, housing has been central to the occupy movement in San Francisco, and around the country.”

The day’s actions began at 11 a.m. in the Bayview district, which has been hard hit by foreclosures and evictions of low income African American homeowners. Just this week a 75 year old greatgrandmother was locked out of her home while going to the store to get food for the children in her home day care center. The foreclosers refused to let her go back into her home to get diapers and baby formula for the young children.

At noon protesters met in the Castro district to highlight gentrification and anti-homeless tactics that are violating the spirit and legacy of Harvey Milk and the Gay Mecca.

The 1 o’clock hour brought people together in the Mission district to oppose housing abuses aimed at Latino families that have caused high rates of evictions.

An hour later a tour of the Tenderloin kicked off, which exposed collusion between notorious Citi Apartments and profiteering local banks, which has resulted in the displacement of some of the city’s poorest citizens.

A 3 o’clock mass march kicked off from the Occupy San Francisco site at the foot of Market, which once again successfully resisted a police attempt to shut it down earlier this week.

The colorful high spirited procession initially swarmed around the main branch Wells Fargo bank. Wells Fargo received a huge ballout, then carried out a rampant blood sucking campaign of foreclosures and evictions after taxpayer funds saved its sorry ass.

Riot police rushed in to defend Wells Fargo from the protesters non violent accusations, lining its feudal like walls. Motorcycle cops quickly joined in the escalating police presence.

After this standoff went on for some time, the march resumed, eventually seizing Sansome Street. After protesters occupied the block abutting California Street, the riot and motorcycle cops hurried in again, this time to protect Chase Bank, another of the Big 7 bailouts.

The occupiers sat down in the street and began rallying. Ted Gullicksen of the SF Tenants Union pointed out that above the adjacent Bank of the Orient was the headquarters of the Business Owners and Managers Association, or BOMA.

BOMA’s website says it owns or manages 9 billion square feet of properties in North America, and the local branch is the “voice for the local commercial real estate industry.” It”continually helps craft national public policy development by educating public officials about our industry.”

Recently, it has been “educating” SF mayor Ed Lee by “lobbying to evict Occupy SF,” according to Gullicksen. Gullicksen also reported that BOMA “led the campaign to repeal rent control statewide,” with Prop 98, which 62% of voters opposed in 2008.

Gullicksen said, “We are here to issue a 3 day notice to quit” to BOMA. “You are a community nuisance. You continue to make threats to sue the city for economic losses, leading to violent police actions.” A gigantic Eviction Notice was affixed to 233 Sansome, BOMA’s HQ.

The next speaker, an African American woman, said, “I’m a homeowner facing forclosure. Chase is trying to chase me out of my home. By the end of 2012 we expect 10 million foreclosures in the US, with 2 million in California. When they attack our homes, they attack our health, and we’re done with them attacking us. People across the country are saying, ‘We need our homes more than you need one more.’ ”

As the rally continued, police and sheriff’s vans inched closer to the seated crowd. Behind those vehicles a MUNI bus commandeered by the “security forces” awaited arrestees.

But the people kept their collective cool, until the rally was concluded, then got to their feet and marched off, taking a right onto California. We passed the Bank of California building, Union Bank, Citi Bank, West American Bank, Redwood Credit Union (cool), City National Bank, Charles Schwab, 101 California. And the anti-union Hyatt Regency, whose main entrance organized labor occupied for the better part of an hour yesterday in support of Hotel Workers Local 2.

Talk about a rogue’s gallery.

Then back onto Market, opposite the Federal Reserve Bank, which is being reoccupied more each day.

The march concluded back at the Occupy SF site, but the party went on, compliments of the Brass Liberation Orchestra, which provided funk and inspiration along the entire march route.”~indybay.org/Michael Steinberg/Photo credits:Steve Rhodes