LIVE: #F29 Shut Down The Corporations: Leap Into Action! Reclaim Our Future!

Live Updates, 2/29

• 1:10PM EST: Banner drop at Grand Central overpass (photo)

• 1:04PM EST: Protesters put bed in middle of intersection (photo) at 43rd st. and Madison Ave. Who are you in bed with? (Twitter) (Facebook)

• 1:00PM EST: Riot police have surrounded anti-Wal Mart demo in SoCal, where protesters have been celebrating and listening to music in the intersection after shutting down all targeted warehouses.

• 12:30PM EST: Actions starting in dozens more US cities, including Huntsville, AL; Dayton, OH; New Brunswick, NJ; Nashville, TN; Buffalo, NY; Albany, NY; Richmond, VA; Eugene, OR; Pensacola, FL; Albuquerque, NM; Peekskill, NY. Reports of arrests at BoA HQ in NYC.

• 12:00PM EST: Large crowd in Pittsburgh protesting drastic cuts in public transit system, including potential shut-down of 35% of services, half of all routes, and 500 jobs. Pittsburgh livestream. Orlando begins march on BoA. Orlando livestream.

• 11:30AM EST: In Spain, massive protests still underway in Valencia and other cities. Barcelona livestream. Teach-in underway in Bryant Park in front of Citibank discussing toxic loans, foreclosure, & bank crimes as Wells Fargo gets eviction notices in NYC. Anti-Wal Mart protesters continue to hold intersections in SoCal.

• 11:20AM EST: Rally in Portland will begin 11:30am PST at SW Naito Pkwy & Ankeny. Currently PDX bike swarm is preparing for actions. Portland livestream.

• 11:00AM EST: DC will regroup at Wal-Mart construction site (Georgia & Missouri NW) at 3pm, and at Friendship Heights metro at 7pm. Pfizer HQ in NYC completely surrounded by police barricades, area around shut down by massive police presence and protesters. March now headed back to Bryant Park to prepare for BoA shutdown. SoCal has shutdown a third Wal-Mart distro center, reports "all targeted warehouses closed for the day." Austin begins "evict Monsanto" rally.

• 10:20AM EST: Reports that 2nd warehouse in SoCal is closed! Atlanta begins protest in front of AT&T. March in NYC arrives at Pfizer (43rd & 3rd), police have set up a kettle. Protesters, joined by doctors for universal health care, are taking the street instead.

• 10:10AM EST: 10 arrests and Monsanto on lock-down in DC. Police seen barricading Bank of America tower in preparation for demo in NYC.

• 9:50AM EST: In NYC, march leaves Bryant Park to shut down Pfizer. NYC Livestream. In So. Cal, Occupiers report one Wal-Mart warehouse closed for the day, now marching to 2nd warehouse.

• 9:45AM EST: 400 people from multiple Southern California Occupations including LA, Long Beach, Orange County, and Riverside begin march to shut down Wal-Mart distribution centers in support of non-union warehouse workers. SoCal Livestream

• 9:30AM EST: Student protests have erupted across Spain. The University of Valencia is being occupied by students engaged in a weeks-long campaign to stop cuts and austerity. Students in Valencia were violently attacked by police during peaceful protests in recent weeks. Solidarity demonstrations have also spread in Barcelona, Madrid, and many other cities. In the U.S., arrests already reported in Washington, DC as Occupiers block entrances at Monsanto HQ.

This Wednesday, Occupiers in New York, Oakland, Mexico City, and over 80 other cities will take part in a coordinated National Day of Action to Shut Down the Corporations. Occupations have been preparing a variety of decentralized actions in response to Occupy Portland's call to target the American Legislative Exchange Council:

We specifically call on people to target corporations that are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The biggest corporations in America, like ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart use ALEC to buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves only the interests of corporations and not people. They then duplicate and spread this corporate legislation in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures across the country. The anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona are two recent and destructive examples of what corporations use ALEC to do. 

ALEC seeks to erode our democracy, undermine workers rights and attack unions, destroy our environment, obstruct efforts to address climate change, undermine public education, pursue destructive agricultural practices and fuel the prison industrial complex.

Simultaneously, European trade unions have declared Feb. 29th a European Day of Action against austerity, following massive demonstrations against budget cuts in Greece, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere. Decentralized actions in all 27 European Union nations and beyond will be "sending a clear message to the EU leaders: this imposed austerity is going to plunge Europe into a recession!"

The effects of the financial, economic and social crisis have reached unbearable levels in several countries. Faced with the extreme seriousness of the situation, European leaders are making the race for austerity their priority response. The crisis serves as a ready-made pretext to attack the European social model, justify cuts in wages and public services, weaken social protection, make the labour market hyperflexible, and attack trade union rights.

Thus, at a time when the European summit has to adopt a treaty plunging Europe into recession and job insecurity for the long haul, the European trade unions are saying “enough is enough” and putting employment, recovery, social justice and solidarity at the forefront of the discussions.

Shut Down The Corporations: Leap Into Action! Reclaim Our Future!

This Wednesday, Occupiers in New York, Oakland, Mexico City, and over 80 other cities will take part in a coordinated National Day of Action to Shut Down the Corporations. Occupations have been preparing a variety of decentralized actions in response to Occupy Portland's call to target the American Legislative Exchange Council:

We specifically call on people to target corporations that are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The biggest corporations in America, like ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart use ALEC to buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves only the interests of corporations and not people. They then duplicate and spread this corporate legislation in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures across the country. The anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona are two recent and destructive examples of what corporations use ALEC to do.

ALEC seeks to erode our democracy, undermine workers rights and attack unions, destroy our environment, obstruct efforts to address climate change, undermine public education, pursue destructive agricultural practices and fuel the prison industrial complex. This is why we protest corporate power.

Simultaneously, European trade unions have declared Feb. 29th a European Day of Action against austerity, following massive demonstrations against budget cuts in Greece, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere. Decentralized actions in all 27 European Union nations and beyond will be "sending a clear message to the EU leaders: this imposed austerity is going to plunge Europe into a recession!"

The effects of the financial, economic and social crisis have reached unbearable levels in several countries. Faced with the extreme seriousness of the situation, European leaders are making the race for austerity their priority response. The crisis serves as a ready-made pretext to attack the European social model, justify cuts in wages and public services, weaken social protection, make the labour market hyperflexible, and attack trade union rights.

Thus, at a time when the European summit has to adopt a treaty plunging Europe into recession and job insecurity for the long haul, the European trade unions are saying “enough is enough” and putting employment, recovery, social justice and solidarity at the forefront of the discussions.

Contamination

The last thing society needs is to be contaminated by bands that spread their arrogant toxicity about saving the world, all they care about is profit not peace. The only place your money is going is in their pockets!


Be careful which bands you support, do your research!!!

Occupy Our Food Supply Global Day Action

Occupy Our Food Supply on February 27, 2012 will be a major decentralized global day of food action and solidarity. Actions are planned in dozens of cities across North America, Europe, and the world. Occupy Our Food Supply is bringing together the Occupy, sustainable farming, food justice, buy local, slow food, and environmental movements for a global day of action on February 27, 2012. Inspired by the theme of CREATE/RESIST, thousands will come together to creatively confront corporate control of our food supply and take action to build healthy, accessible food systems for all.

As part of the F27 global day of action called for by our friends at Occupy Oakland, members and friends of the Occupy Wall Street in community will be participating in creative actions to challenge the corporate food regime that has prioritized profit over health and sustainability, and to promote alternative local food systems that practice fair and ecological principles and offer affordable fresh, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for all.

Salvador Dali's last words

When you are a genious, you haven´t got the right to die because they are neccesary to the developement of humanity. Long live the king, long live Spain and long live Cataluña." -Salvador Dali

The Choice Is Yours

Society does have a big part in our lives but we do have a choice to listen to society, or think for ourselves. We have the choice to go along with the crowd, or stand for what we believe in. We can continue to let ourselves be brainwashed, or expand our minds way of thinking. Stop blaming others for the way we think and act, we are at hands for the way we think and act. Don’t let society control you, you need to control you. Don’t let society be an excuse for your actions, be an example to society. Don’t let society tell you right from wrong, don’t let society tell you you’re not good enough, don’t let society hold you back. You know right from wrong, you are more than good enough, and you are capable of greatness!!!

New Ways of Censoring the Internet

Internet is the voice of the voiceless. Internet is an open forum for discussion, exchange of ideas, collaboration and community building. Internet is the community of true democracy and freedom loving people to share democratic values and principles all over the world.

Internet is a direct threat to the United States of Nation-less Corporations and the European Union of Nation-less Corporations current parliamentary dictatorships, masquerading as democracy.

The Nation-less corporations who own all government's officials are hard at work to turn the Internet into a censored and tightly controlled network for imposing their criminal and greedy means through their constant barrage of dumbing down agenda and mindless consumerism all over the world.

               
We must stop these criminal bastards now!

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PARIS -- European activists who participated in American Internet protests last month learned that there was political power to be harnessed on the Web. Now they are putting that knowledge to use in an effort to defeat new global rules for intellectual property.

In the U.S. protests , Web sites including Wikipedia went dark Jan. 18, and more than seven million people signed Google’s online petition opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Ultimately, even the bills’ sponsors in the U.S. Congress backed down under the onslaught of public criticism.

The European activists are hoping to use similar pressure to stop the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, which is meant to clamp down on illegal commerce in copyrighted and trademarked goods. Opponents say that it will erode Internet freedom and stifle innovation. About 1.5 million people have signed a Web petition calling for the European Parliament to reject ACTA, which some say is merely SOPA and PIPA on an international level. Thousands of people have turned out for demonstrations across Europe, with more scheduled for next Saturday.

After more than three years of talks, which critics say were conducted without sufficient public input , the United States signed on to ACTA last October in Tokyo, along with Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand and South Korea. (The agreement is to come into force when six of those countries have ratified it.)

But the issue moved into the mainstream in Europe after the European Union and representatives of 22 of 27 E.U. members — all except Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia — signed Jan. 26.

On the same day, Kader Arif, a French Socialist member of the European Parliament, quit as the body’s special rapporteur for ACTA. He said the European Parliament and civil society organizations had been excluded from the negotiations, and he denounced the entire process as a “masquerade.” The issue, which had gotten little traction in the news media previously, began to move into the headlines, with calls for national legislatures and the European Parliament to reject the treaty.

The pressure on politicians has been unrelenting. Helena Drnovsek-Zorko, the Slovenian diplomat who signed the treaty on behalf of her country, has publicly disowned it and called for her fellow citizens to demonstrate against it. Ms. Drnovsek-Zorko said that she had signed “out of civic carelessness” and that it was her conviction that ACTA “limits and withholds the freedom of engagement on the largest and most significant network in human history.”

Poland, the home of some of the most vocal protests to date, “suspended” ratification, said the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, after politicians wearing the Guy Fawkes masks favored by the online vigilante group Anonymous protested in the Polish Parliament.

ACTA seeks to provide a common framework of civil and criminal procedures to stop illegal trade in goods and properties — like Louis Vuitton bags, Hollywood films and recorded music — providing holders of intellectual property rights with the means to work through the courts outside their national borders to shut down counterfeiters and pirates. And though two piracy heavyweights, Russia and China, have not signed, ACTA’s drafters say they hope those countries will come to see the benefits of joining.

Mr. Arif, the opponent to the measure in the European Parliament, said that ACTA was “wrong in both form and substance.”

He said European officials, who began negotiating the agreement in 2007, kept legislators in the dark for years and ignored their concerns, finally presenting them with a finished deal for ratification with no option of modifying it.

“Voilà, that’s the masquerade that I denounce,” he said. Mr. Arif said a number of issues in the agreement troubled him, particularly a provision that could make Internet service providers liable for copyright infringement by users, something that would be in conflict with existing E.U. law.
Another provision, he said, appeared to roll back protections for generic drugs by lumping them in with counterfeit drugs.

Further, he said, the law leaves to the discretion of each country the definition of what constitutes a “commercial” level of piracy, so some countries might choose to search travelers’ laptop computers and digital music players in search of illegal downloads. ACTA supporters reject the criticism and say action is essential when legitimate owners of intellectual property are losing tens of billions of dollars annually to counterfeiting and illegal sharing. They accuse some opponents of deliberately exaggerating ACTA’s provisions to fan fears.

“ACTA is about enforcing existing intellectual property rights and about acting against large-scale infringements often pursued by criminal organizations, and not about pursuing individual citizens,” said John Clancy, the E.U. trade spokesman.

The goal of the treaty, he said, was to raise standards around the world to European standards, not to crack down in Europe. “It’s simply misleading to suggest that ACTA would limit the freedom of the Internet,” Mr. Clancy added. “ACTA is not about checking private laptops or smartphones at borders. It will not cut access to the Internet or censor any Web sites.”

Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative, said in October that protecting intellectual property was “essential to American jobs in innovative and creative industries” and that the treaty “provides a platform for the Obama administration to work cooperatively with other governments to advance the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.”

The United States and the European Union dismiss the charge that the talks were not transparent, with U.S. trade officials arguing that the negotiating partners released the ACTA draft agreement in April 2010 and that the final version has been public for more than a year.

In the United States, too, ACTA has attracted criticism, but probably because its provisions are aimed at piracy overseas, there has been less controversy than for SOPA and PIPA. The NetCoalition, the alliance of technology companies including Google and eBay that fought SOPA and PIPA, has been critical of ACTA, as well.

And about 75 law professors signed an open letter to President Barack Obama, in which they criticized what they said was the “intense but needless secrecy” under which the negotiations were carried out, as well as the White House’s argument that Mr. Obama had the authority to endorse ACTA not as a treaty, which would require the advice and consent of the Senate, but rather as “a sole executive agreement.”

That has not gone over well in the U.S. Congress. “There are questions of constitutional authority surrounding whether the administration can enter into this agreement without Congress’s approval,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon.

“Either way, when international accords, like ACTA, are conceived and constructed under a cloak of secrecy,” Mr. Wyden said, “it is hard to argue that they represent the broad interests of the general public. The controversy over ACTA should surprise no one.”

Conformity; this is exactly the type of society we live in

Top Five Reasons Not to Wear Dead Skin!

Wearing someone's dead skin is just plain gross—am I right? If that's not enough to make you swear off leather, check out top five reasons to buy cruelty-free:



5) One billion animals are killed every year for leather products.Leather is not a "byproduct" of the meat industry. It is a coproduct. The meat industry makes a lot of money selling the skins of dead animals.

4) Leather is dead skin.
Literally. Ripping someone's skin off and wearing it are the kinds of things that horror movies are made of. Don't be a creep.  

3) It's bad for the environment.
The carcinogenic chemicals used to tan leather pollute the environment—endangering animals and humans.

2) You could be wearing a dog.Undercover investigators have provided  horrifying photographs of dogs in Thailand as they were being slaughtered so that their skins could be tanned for leather.

1) Animals don't want to be skinned alive.Duh. Just like you wouldn't want to be beaten, have chili peppers or tobacco rubbed into your eyes in order to force you to walk to your death, and have your throat slit before being skinned, just to be made into a product that no one needs—right?

VIP Tickets to NYC Vegetarian Food Festival on Sale Now!

 

 

 

VIP tickets to last year's New York City Vegetarian Food Festival sold out days--maybe weeks?--before the one-day fest. This year the fest is two days, Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and VIP tickets are on sale now for individual days ($20) and the full weekend ($30).

On my way to last year's festival I waltzed right past the line that wrapped around 18th Street and up Seventh Avenue, flashed my VIP ticket at the door, and floated on in to this vegan food sampling mecca. I felt like a freaking queen.

Yes, you can buy $5 tickets at the door. But if, like me, you want to get a solid brunch down before strutting in at the crack of noon, and be admitted before the place shuts down at 5, shell out for the $20 VIP ticket. In addition to the privilege of skipping the line, you get priority entrance for the speakers series and five raffle tickets, whatever those are good for. Also, the Beyond Sushi people! So many delicious memories.

NYC Vegetarian Food Festival
March 3 and 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W. 18th St., NYC

How to Save Animals with Social Media

Do you sometimes get down in the dumps about cruelty to animals? Me too. But to change that, we need to be gung-ho go-getters, not teary-eyed tissue-wetters. And it has never been easier to initiate changes for animals without even leaving home.

Getting active online takes just a few clicks of the mouse, and since we already use social media almost every day, getting animal rights messages out to hundreds—even thousands—of people is even easier.

See It? Share It!

A one-click way to spread animal-friendly content on any social-networking site is simply to "like" it, give it a "thumbs up," click "rate 5 stars," etc.

'Like' Animal Abuse?! Yes!

People sometimes hesitate to "like" content that describes or illustrates cruelty, such as an undercover investigative video showing circus trainers who beat elephants.  But by "liking" it, we aren't condoning the abuse—we're suggesting that others learn about it so that they will, hopefully, be prompted to act. It seems natural to "dislike" such horrific images, but that can actually discourage people from viewing important content.

Where to Share

Another easy way to help spread the anti-cruelty message is just to post it on your social-networking pages. Post PETA content on the following sites:

Facebook	Twitter	Google+	YouTube	Tumblr

Are you gung-ho yet? Go get 'em!

Compassionate V-Day Gift Ideas

All right, lovebirds, I've got some delectable, cruelty-free gift ideas for you and your sugar booger. If you're single and on the prowl, I recommend that you pamper yourself with some of these fab treats too:

A romantic home-cooked dinner: May I kindly suggest red-themed dishes such as tomato-basil bisque; pasta with marinara sauce, veggies, and vegan meatballs; and chocolate-covered strawberries?

• A deluxe back massage: The best part of this is that it's FREE (and your fingers get a workout too)!
• DIY bath salts with rose petals: It's easy to make and hella relaxing.
• A classic box of vegan chocolates
• A homemade Valentine's Day card: If you're single, make one for yourself and write down all the reasons why you love you—it's a fun and rewarding exercise.

What kind of compassionate, lovey-dovey tricks do you have up your sleeve?

Leather:A Global Killer

The leather industry is a global killer. Purchasing the skins of cows raised in the U.S. likely paid for the horrors of factory farming, including castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers. Leather sourced from developing countries such as India and China may have caused untold suffering—such as the dismemberment of cows while they were still conscious—since animal welfare laws there are either non-existent or not enforced. Tanning, the process of turning skin into leather, requires massive amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde and coal-tar derivatives, which can end up in nearby water supplies and soil. These toxic chemicals pose a deadly risk for those who work at the tanneries and for humans and animals who live nearby. Learn more about the leather industry's victims around the world:

Eight Simple Steps towards Revolution

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Over the winter, the social momentum that picked up with the occupation of Zuccotti Park has predictably cooled. We can be sure that conflict will intensify again soon, whether with the coming of spring or later; if overseas examples are any indication, we should anticipate new waves of unrest, each sweeping in new sectors of the population. In hopes of helping to prepare for the next phase, we present an eight-point program distilled from the experiences of the last several months.

Once again, please forward this and print out copies to distribute in your community!

• Eight Simple Steps [online viewing version, 195 KB]
• Eight Simple Steps [print version, 496 KB]

A two-sided flier to be folded down the middle, longways.


Cast a spell. People in North America are already under a spell: the spell of private property, of the legitimacy of government, of hopelessness. None of these are inherently real; they derive their reality from our collective belief and activity. You have to be hypnotized indeed to believe that property is more sacred than the needs of human beings—that the decisions of the government are more legitimate than your own judgment.

To break this spell, cast another. When a few people invest themselves entirely in another vision of reality, they open up space for others to invest in it as well. It doesn’t have to be realistic at first—it just has to spread until it creates the conditions of its possibility. The original call to occupy Wall Street on September 17 was an example of such a spell. What could take us further?

Find each other. Facebook and Twitter notwithstanding, we’re more isolated today than ever. There is a fundamental difference between merely circulating information and making connections that enable people to act together. In an era when social networks are effectively mapped and contained, it’s subversive to make these connections beyond your usual social milieu; some of your friends may not have much fight in them after all, while others with goals complementary to yours might be very different from you. You can’t expect other people to leave their comfort zones unless you’re prepared to leave your own.

Together we can do anything. Preparing a revolution isn’t a matter of a radical minority building up the skills and resources to change the world; when enough of us get together, we have access to the knowledge and resources of our whole society. It’s not our job to orchestrate every aspect of the struggle, nor could we; we just have to create conduits through which subversive practices and momentum can flow. Preparation could go on endlessly, as the world goes on changing—circulation is what counts.

The secret is to really begin. Until there’s something new happening, something that interrupts the status quo, there’s no reason for anyone to pay attention. It’s not enough to try to start a dialogue in a vacuum; for people to take the dialogue seriously, there has to be something to talk about. Don’t just chant that another world is possible; manifest it, so everyone who might believe in it can. Don’t just talk about abolishing capitalism; pick a pressure point, have a go at it, and see who joins in.

Build the will. Nowadays most of us don’t know our own strength. We’re not used to relying on our own capabilities; we assume we can always be defeated. Most of the strength of those who hold power is founded on this defeatism. But a little courage can be infectious, and once people get used to wielding power together they won’t quickly give it up.

The first compromise is the last one. Over and over, our occupations and movements are undermined one compromise at a time. Whenever we concede anything, we set a precedent that will be repeated again and again, emboldening those for whom it is more convenient for us to remain passive. If police don’t arrest us when we stand up for ourselves, it isn’t because they support us, or because we’re within our legal rights—it’s because we’ve mobilized enough social power to make them back down. Timidity, placation, and obedience only detract from this leverage.

Address the 99%, not the 1%. Demands oriented towards those in power direct the focus away from what we can do ourselves; joint action, on the other hand, empowers us and creates a space where we can weave our differences into collective strength. To put this in the language of the Occupy movement, why address demands to the 1% at the top of the capitalist pyramid, who will never share our priorities? Why not instead address proposals to the rest of the 99%, whose combined power could render the authority of the 1% meaningless?

We’ve been taught by a thousand classes, newspapers, and job interviews to present everything in the language and logic of our superiors. We must finally learn to speak each other’s languages, to make proposals that are relevant to our own needs rather than “realistic” in the framework of our rulers. This means dispensing with every conception of legitimacy we inherited from the prevailing order—not just the authority of the politicians and the courts, but also academic prestige and middle-class “common sense” and activist credentials—in favor of value systems that legitimize our voices and our resistance on our own terms.

Aim beyond the target. Often, to accomplish small concrete objectives, we have to set our sights much higher. Conversely, it sometimes happens that we accomplish what we set out to easily enough, but have no idea what to do with the new opportunities that open up next. Every time we act, let’s act in a way that points towards the world we want and equips us to go on moving towards it. The most important thing is not whether we achieve our immediate goals, but how each engagement positions us for the next round.

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Think big and you just might get your wish

This Weekend: #OccupyCPAC in DC, Occupy Town Squares in NYC, Resist Repression in SF

Today (Feb. 10th, 2012) in Washington, DC: Occupy CPAC!

12noon and 5pm at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
2600 Woodley Rd. at Connecticut Ave. N.W - metro: Woodley Park

All this weekend, the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is happening in Washington, DC. The event - deemed the "summit of the 1%" - features a range of powerful conservative groups and politicians like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Scott Walker, and more. The one thing they share in common: Their pockets are lined with corporate money and all of their agendas disproportionately benefit the 1% at the direct expense of the rest of us.

Labor groups like the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Labor Council and local progressive organizations like the Washington Peace Center are organizing a variety of actions today. The AFL-CIO has promised "giant puppets, inflatables, chants, songs and of course tents to Occupy CPAC." Occupy DC and supporters plan to be out in full force, as well - demonstrating their commitment to the struggle for economic justice following their recent removal from their homes at McPherson Square. Follow #OccupyCPAC on Twitter.
Also today, Occupy San Francisco plans to march against police repression:

Occupy demonstrators nationwide have faced brutal police crackdowns, near lethal force, indiscriminate use of chemical weapons such as CS Gas, constant police violence & harassment and the illegitimate repression of our natural rights to assembly and free speech. Poor people, people of color and the homeless have been facing cruel and unjust police oppression and brutality on an everyday basis for decades. As an institution, the police stand between the 99% and the 1%, protecting the interests of the governments, banks and corporations that foreclose on our lives and homes, destroy our Mother Earth, and send us off to illegal wars for profit. If we are to liberate our commons, reclaim vacant buildings and unused homes, and occupy public spaces for social change, we must, one way or another, overcome the violent state repression that manifests itself as the Police. Join us this Friday, Feb. 10 at 6pm at 101 Market St, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, near Embarcadero BART station. RESIST.

Later this weekend, Occupy Town Squares returns to New York City:

Saturday, Feb. 11th 2012
1pm - 7pm at West Park Presbyterian
165 West 86th St

On February 11th, come visit the second Occupy Town Square, at West Park Presbyterian. For one afternoon, Occupy Wall Street will fill the beautiful old church on 86th & Amsterdam Ave with teach-ins and trainings, speeches and discussion, pamphlets and performances. Come help us revive the great democratic tradition of public discourse and civic engagement. Whether you consider yourself a supporter of the movement or not, we want to meet you. Share our food and warmth; bring your stories and ideas; learn, argue, debate, coordinate, collaborate!

Aminal cruelty at its finest, Live turtle keychains being sold.

Keyring ornaments are perhaps the most useless item you'll ever carry in your pocket or stuff in your purse -- but now, thanks to an increasingly popular item being sold in China, it can easily be the cruelest, too. For the price you might expect to pay for some kitschy trinket, Chinese street vendors are selling live animals, permanently sealed in a small plastic pouch where they can survive for a short while as someone's conversation piece. Apparently, these unimaginably inhumane keyrings are actually quite popular -- and worst of all, it's totally legal.

Despite the fact that the selling of animals as keyring ornaments is a clear-cut case of animal cruelty, it is actually entirely within the law. Chinese law prohibits the sale of wild animals -- a designation which evidently does not apply to the Brazil turtles and kingfish being sold.

For the time being, in lieu of legislation which may or may not come to pass outlawing the sale of living creatures as objects of amusement, Xiaona suggests people use their better sense to squelch the trade. "If nobody buys it, the market will die," she says.

Sadly, it is likely that so too will the animals which have already been sealed in their colorful, transparent tombs -- gasping for the final breath of air they've been packaged with, as they peer out to a world in which their lives are considered essentially worthless. And in such a dark hour, it's hard not to believe our very humanity awaits a similar fate

Hope you all can make it to this today!!!!

Today in NYC: Occupy the Bronx Says "Stop Police Brutality!" Plus, Day of Action to Support Iranian Democracy

Today! 3:30pm until 6:00pm

3rd Ave between 161st and 163rd, Bronx, NY
The beating of Jatiek Reed and the murder of Rahmarley Graham are just two more examples of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly’s failed policy of harassing, incarcerating and murdering our Black and Latino youth and we, the community must stop them. Enough Police Brutality in our communities! We demand justuce for Jatiek, Rahmarley, and all victims of police violence! It is time to fight back! This march will be after the press conference from the two families and Assemblymen Erick Stevenson.

Directions: 3rd ave between 161st and 163rd Street, Bronx NY
2 or 5 Train to Prospect Ave
BX 15, BX 13, BX 21, BX 55, TO 161ST OR BX 6 TO 3rd ave

Also today, marchers in New York will be joining with others in many cities across the U.S. and world to say "No Sanctions, No War on Iran!" Via Facebook:

Today, 1:00pm until 4:00pm
46th St. and 7th Ave, Manhattan, NY

A coalition of individuals, groups and organizations including World Can’t Wait, ANSWER, Iranian-Friendship Committee and many more have called for a nation-wide “Day of Mass Action to Stop War on Iran” on Saturday, February 4th. Unfortunately, this call to action makes no reference to the democratic movement in Iran, otherwise known as the Green Movement, which mobilized millions in 2009 followed by a brutal government crackdown. We know the Iranian government manipulates such gatherings as the forthcoming "Day of Mass Action" into evidence of support for the regime. We also know that some individuals and organizations in the anti-war movement have historically aligned themselves with the regime, regardless of its violent suppression of Iranian people working towards political and social change.

We, a group of Iranians/non-Iranians in New York City, not affiliated with the coalition mentioned above, will participate in the Day of Mass Action to voice our ardent objection to sanctions and to reject calls for war against Iran. But we also find it imperative to stand clearly with the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy. The Iranian people are the only legitimate power to bring about the changes they want. Any foreign intervention only stifles prospects for a more genuine democracy by strengthening the ruling elites in Iran who would pose as “defenders of national self-determination.”

The Iranian Green movement, Arab Spring, and occupy movements have inspired us all that another world is possible! A world in which we are no longer victims of corruption, war, and exploitation. We stand in defense of the Iranian people’s right to economic and social justice. We refuse to be the pawns of a broader struggle between the world’s elites who only seek to profit from our suffering.

We, therefore invite you on February 4th with your Green slogans and signs. Our participation would be more meaningful and our message clearer if we show up together.