Issue 3 of the Occupied Providence Journal is out!

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  • To help cover printing costs of future issues of our publication, donate here.
  • Pick up your copy of the OPJ at any of the following locations: White Electric Coffee Shop, Fertile Underground, Cellar Stories, Small Point, Symposium Books, Cafe Zog, Coffee Exchange, Blue State Coffee, Brown University, DARE, AS220, Ada Books, Olga’s Cup and Saucer, and the downtown Providence library.We are still working on distributing the papers.

Wondering what else Occupy Providence has been up to? See our list of recent direct actions to find out what the GA has been doing. To be a part of Occupy Providence, simply come to our General Assembly, which meets on Saturdays at 1:00pm.

Everyone is welcome! Just check out the Occupy Providence facebook page to see where we’re meeting (you don’t need an account to see our updates!)

48-Hour Occupation Begins in Providence

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Join Occupy Providence in a 48-hour open occupation near
the Verizon building on Empire Street, Saturday through Monday
of Labor Day weekend, leading into Jobs with Justice’s Labor
Day march at 12noon Monday.

An occupation open to all people of good will. We won’t stop advancing the rights of the 99%, and Labor Day is a great time.

We will protest the Verizon CEO’s efforts to cut jobs and squeeze more money from the 99%. We’ll stand against politicians’ efforts to commit more taxpayer money to pay the bankrupt 38 Studios’ Wall Street debt. And our occupation will end just in time to join Jobs with Justice’s Labor Day march, 12noon Monday Sept. 3, from Brown University to the financial district.

Some of our issues:

1) Workers are facing freezing or ending pensions, while pensions for the 1% have soared higher than ever. CEOs like Verizon’s threaten to end job security for their employees, eliminate the two-day weekend, and set new policies with no limits on outsourcing jobs overseas. At the same time, Verizon overcharges its cellphone customers. Many workers are ready to strike over these issues. They need community support to help them realize the strength they have.

2) While cuts are being made to social programs across the city, Brown University is paying a disproportionately small amount in taxes, especially considering the vast amount of property that it owns. A highly lucrative university is being favored over many other areas of the community, including people who work hard to make our city and state economy work.

3) The state of RI has favored supporting millionaire Curt Schilling’s business disaster over creating stable jobs for individuals within RI. We will fight state leaders who’ve offered to use taxpayer money to pay 38 Studios’ leftover Wall Street debt. The money should go to services for the 99% like transportation and education, not for another Wall Street bailout. 38 Studios was the 1%’s fault, and its bankruptcy doesn’t leave taxpayers with any obligation to step in.

4) Occupy Providence is also taking a stand against the mistreatment and discrimination of immigrants in the city and nationally. No human is illegal!

Saturday 9/1

2pm- Move in march! Rally in Burnside park and march through the city to the Verizon building. March, banner drop, and  pickets along the way!
4pm – General Assembly outside Verizon with people’s soap box.
6pm – community time
8pm -Teach-in’s

Sunday 9/2

11am – Working Group meetings
1pm – March to Brown to protest tax inequality BROWN UNIVERSITY PAY YOUR SHARE! Outreach to Brown, promotion of Labor Day march, chalk action throughout city.
3pm – Teach in
4pm – General Assembly
8pm – Art, music and culture time

Monday 9/3

11am- March up to Brown to get to Labor Day rally early.
12pm – Join Jobs with Justice’s Labor Day march from Brown’s Main Green to the Financial District
Meet after the march, time TBA

Other events and teach-in speakers TBA
RI politicians have favored the rich over the needy, and CEOs have favored profits over people. We have no future unless the 99% stand up. We need your help. On Saturday September 1, join the occupation outside Verizon!

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  • Facebook event page for OP’s 48-hour occupation, Sep 1-3: http://www.facebook.com/events/335190899904892/
  • Facebook event page for Jobs with Justice’s Labor Day march, Mon Sep 3: https://www.facebook.com/events/274434885996633/

Providence sidewalk occupation begins tomorrow!

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OPVD SIDEWALK OCCUPATION: A FOUR DAY/THREE NIGHT PROTEST OF ECONOMIC INJUSTICE AND THE 1% ON WALL STREET AND IN RI!

(We’re looking at YOU 38 Studios and JP Morgan!!)

DAYS: Thursday, June 7th-Sunday, June 10
RALLY & MARCH: Saturday, June 9th

DEMANDS: No taxpayer bailout for 38 Studios. Tax the wealthiest in RI and nationally. Solidarity, not austerity, locally, nationally and internationally.

WHAT WILL BE HAPPENING AT OPVD SIDEWALK OCCUPATION: Rallies, marches, sign and banner making, workshops, teach-ins, poetry, music, general assembly, working groups, chanting, dancing, art-o-lution, radical games, and more!

OFFICIAL EVENT SCHEDULE:
Thursday, June 7:
11:30a: Direct Action Working Group in City Hall Park (aka People’s Park II across from Biltmore Hotel, next to Skating Rink)
1:00p: MOVE IN! Meet up in City Hall Park & March to Net Roots
3:00p: RAGING ECONOMIC INEQUALITY TEACH IN: “Who did what to make this happen? What can we do to undo it?”
5:30p: General Assembly, followed by evening march to State House for Annual Budget Session: “Solidarity, Not Austerity!! (locally, nationally, and internationally!!”
8:30p: TELL YOUR STORY Open Mic: How has economic crisis affected you and your family? What is an occupier? What does is mean to occupy?
11:00p: Open Community Space: OPVD Sidewalk Occupation 24hr Protest continues!
Friday, June 8:
10:00a: Community Coffee & Tea
10:30p: Working Groups: Direct Action, Media & Communication
12:00p: Lunch Time March Against RI Tax Payers Bailing Out 38 Studios Loss!
2:00p: Student Debt Teach In present by URI Professor Rick McIntyre and Scott Malloy of Occupy URI
3:30p “Sustainable Environment & the Global 99%” by Brown University Professor, Timmons Roberts
5:30p: General Assembly
8:00p: TELL YOUR STORY Open Mic & Concert featuring Providence activist / singer-songwriter, Jan Luby, and more!
11:00p: Open Community Space feat. late night movie & projection
Saturday, June 9
10a: Community Coffee & Tea
11a: Sign Making For Rally & March
12:30p: Direct Action, Media Working Groups
2:00p: MAJOR RALLY & MARCH: No 38 Studios Bailout! Cut Tax Loopholes for Corporations & the Wealthiest Rhode Islanders! Solidarity with Fire Fighters, Teachers, Students, Retirees and all of the 99% (locally, nationally, & internationally), NOT AUSTERITY
5:30p: General Assembly
8:00p: TELL YOUR STORY! People’s Open Mic feat. presentation on OPVD Tax Campaign
11:00p: Open Community Space feat. late night movie & projection
Sunday, June 10
10a: Community Coffee & Tea
1p: 99% Picket Against Economic Injustice at the Prov Place Mall intersection!
2:30p: Community Discussion
5:30: General Assembly: Debrief & ideas for next OPVD action!
8p: Community Clean up

Please scroll down or click here to read our official statement about why we’re occupying; and more importantly, come join us at the occupation!!

Op-ed: The collapse of 38 Studios

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By Occupy Providence

Once again, the people of Rhode Island have suffered from an insider deal marketed as “economic development”. Rhode Island’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) awarded $50 million to a video-game company that has now collapsed.

It’s not enough to dump the blame on 38 Studios and Curt Schilling, the company’s well-connected but inexperienced founder.  Most Rhode Islanders are aware that the problem goes wider than that.

To finance the Curt Schilling deal, the EDC helped secure a $75 million loan from Wall Street.  It was not listed as a taxpayer bond, but RI state leaders have now promised a taxpayer-funded bailout if the financial firms can’t get their money any other way.  We at Occupy Providence believe that job-creation projects shouldn’t end with a bailout, and we realize that the bailout was probably a result of Wall Street pressure on politicians.

This deal never made economic sense.  Curt Schilling’s company promised to create 450 jobs in Rhode Island. It never had more than 300.  But even if Schilling’s company had kept its promise, the cost would still have been over $100,000 per job created.  That’s more than double what most Rhode Islanders make in a year.  A deal which pays that much per job isn’t about job creation.  Instead, it’s at the level that’s normally considered corporate welfare.  For that much money, you could have given jobs to more people than Schilling promised to employ, and they could have been jobs that left a lasting benefit for the whole state in fixing roads or helping the schools.  So even if this deal had worked out and didn’t leave taxpayers on the hook for repaying Wall Street with interest, spending $100,000+ per job still amounts to a bogus form of economic development.

Occupy Providence sees this latest scandal as only one example of a much wider problem: the power of insiders in Rhode Island.  When Curt Schilling got his great deal, he was an insider. He was a prominent supporter of then-Governor Carcieri’s Republican Party, and Carcieri chaired the EDC that arranged the $75-million loan for him. It’s not just the Republicans, of course. Both parties have given plenty of examples of how they’re ready to abuse whatever amount of power they have.  And the power of insiders goes beyond political parties.  Dan Doyle’s Institute for International Sport seems to have used his insider position to evade financial controls at URI.  Wall Street firms are able to use their insider status to increase their wealth and make us cover their losses with money from the real economy.  In the Schilling deal, Wall Street firms didn’t only lend the money – some of them took a share of the proceeds to facilitate the deal.

Occupy Providence promotes the voice of the 99% because Rhode Islanders continue to suffer from insider deals.  If the 99% had been consulted about the Schilling deal, it wouldn’t have happened – only 28% of Rhode Islanders favored it at the time.  The 99% would have done many other things differently, too. It was insiders who made a deal with Achievement First to run schools in RI, even though Achievement First’s questionable record led many residents to oppose it.

The EDC, a board of business, government and nonprofit leaders who are appointed by the governor, is great at promoting their deals. One year it’s Curt Schilling, other years it’s been a biotech firm like Alpha Beta (another flop) or the troubled Wyatt jail that was supposed to help save Central Falls.  Meanwhile the EDC engages in what economists call a “race to the bottom”, competing with other states to give tax breaks to big business, and borrowing money from Wall Street to fund whatever deals the insiders like. They call it economic development, because it’s true that economic development requires spending money. But when we leave it up to the 1% to spend that money, we don’t get any more real prosperity than a mediocre video game.

We in Occupy Providence believe that economic progress comes from cutting out the insiders.  We keep hearing that there’s no more money for the concerns of the 99%, like education and transit, but these are the things that bring real economic development.  Once we work together to put the 99%’s concerns into practice, Rhode Island will have a brighter future.

(A somewhat edited version of this statement was published by the Providence Journal as an op-ed on June 4, 2012.)

Occupy Providence’s round-the-clock protests are back

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SIDEWALK OCCUPATION DURING NETROOTS NATION

Occupy Providence’s  round-the-clock protests are back. OP is planning a four-day, three-night sidewalk occupation outside of the Netroots Nation conference June 7th to June 10th in Providence. The Netroots Nation conference is a convention for American progressive bloggers, scholars and other activists.  Netroots bloggers have often played a major role in fighting the Democratic Party’s battles, and the conference attracts major politicians from the local and national level to participate. Although Occupy Providence is not protesting against Netroots as such, OP’s free sidewalk occupation will ensure that the people’s voice, the voice of the 99%, is present and active at this high-level political convention. OP plans on having teach-ins, workshops, concerts, protests, daily General Assemblies, and a people’s “open mic” during the conference.

The same economic injustice that caused thousands of people to march in the streets of Providence in the fall and winter has not gone away, and neither has the Occupy movement. At a national level, after the election of 2008 where fundraising and other efforts from Netroots played a significant role in the Democratic victory, the Obama administration and national Democrats have supported the interests of the top 1% in a way similar to what politicians have done in the past.

May 1st in Providence

Meanwhile, here in Rhode Island, the Netroots Nation conference coincides with the fallout of the 38 Studios scandal. At a time of mass layoffs and school closings, when thousands of Rhode Islanders were losing their homes and pensions and even firefighters were working without a contract, an insider deal allowed the RI Economic Development Corporation to funnel $75 million dollars of taxpayer-supported money to Curt Schilling’s video game company, 38 Studios. The company was supposedly going to create new technology jobs and put 450 Rhode Islanders to work.  But 38 Studios never brought more than 290 jobs. That’s 75 million dollars to create 290 jobs, and a significant percentage of those 290 were out-of-state hires, which didn’t help Rhode Island’s shocking number of unemployed people. Now, less than two years later, the company is folding, and RI General Treasurer Gina Raimondo and other state officials are promising Wall Street that RI taxpayers will bail out the loan if need be.

As local politicians, present and former Obama adminstration members, and other movers and shakers descend upon the Netroots Nation conference, Occupy Providence will continue to be part of the fight against these abuses at a local, national and international level.  OP will protest day and night from June 7-10, for transparency in government, economic equality, and solidarity instead of austerity. Any Rhode Islanders wishing to make their voices heard are encouraged to attend. Occupy Providence will be using sleeping bags, but no structures such as tents. The protest will be conducted, as always, in accordance with the values of Occupy Providence: No drugs or alcohol. No violence or discrimination of any kind against any group. Language and actions that are homophobic, trans-phobic, sexist or offensive toward people of different religions, levels of ability or legal status are not welcome.

The sidewalk occupation will include a daily General Assembly along with working group meetings. There will be an opportunity for both Netroots bloggers and elected officials to observe and participate in the Occupy movement’s direct democracy, which has given a voice to ordinary citizens who are largely unheard in the corporate-dominated electoral system.

The 1% will be sure to represent their interests at Netroots, and OP will be there, in solidarity with others, to help represent the interests of the rest of us.

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/360876557305416/

Five days ’til May Day!

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For more info// Para más información:

Watch this video about May Day 2012 in Providence!

DONATE TO MAY DAY!
Do you have a grill, cooler, or other equipment we can borrow for the day? Can you donate food, water, or ice?  Please go to the link below to sign up to help make May Day 2012 a success!

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Other May Day events in Providence:

It’s Time for RI’s Millionaires to Pay Their Fair Share

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One of the Occupy Movement’s fundamental concerns is that the wealthy have entirely too much power in this country. It is impossible to have a real democracy when the economic resources of the country are so imbalanced in favor of the rich. One way to start dealing with this issue is to demand that our government officials stop giving tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations. This practice has resulted in an alarming increase in the government’s deficit, it has robbed social programs of the funding they need to provide all Americans with affordable housing, health care, and education, and it has taken money from the very job training programs that would enable unemployed workers to find work.

OCCUPY PROVIDENCE IS TAKING A FIRST STEP TOWARD MORE EQUITABLE TAXATION IN OUR STATE. We are holding an action on Tuesday, April 24, at the State House, in support of bills to raise the percentage paid in state taxes by wealthy Rhode Islanders.

Please join us for an important–and fun–action next Tuesday. We will be meeting on the sidewalk in front of the Statehouse (on the train station side) at 4:45 p.m.

Invite your friends!  Get there early on Tuesday, and YOU can wear a Robin Hood costume!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/337985052922401/

Upcoming Spring Events!

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Hello dear friends of Occupy Providence!

As the weather has gotten gradually warmer, we have begun to re-locate our General Assemblies back to their original location at Burnside Park, AKA The People’s Park! Unfortunately, the park has been fenced off for maintenance, but we continue to meet just outside the park’s fence facing Kennedy Plaza, with the rain location being the tunnel with painted tiles in Waterplace park.

Photo by Mel St. Laurent

Our family-friendly general assembly, an open democratic meeting of the 99% where OP’s main decisions are made, meets twice a week– Please join us!

As always, check the OP Calendar for updated announcements and details.

UPCOMING SPRING EVENTS AND EXCITEMENT!

There are many exciting things going on in our community, many of which can be found on the Occupy Providence website calendar, which is updated several times a day. We encourage folks who would like to get involved with OP to check the calendar regularly for working group meetings, actions, workshops, and local or allied events. Any person who wants to become involved in a working group, action, event or workshop is welcome and encouraged to do so! We are looking forward to several upcoming events:

OCCUPY SEXISM: APRIL 22

It’s time to STAND UP! FIGHT BACK! On April 22nd, Occupy Sexism*, sponsored by the Rhode Island Anti-Sexism League, will be a day of action in effort to continue the dialogue around rape culture**, inspired the Slutwalk*** Toronto event of 2011, as well as carry the conversation one step further to address the many forms of sexism women, men, and persons of every gender face today.

Please join us for a day of speakers, rallying, and workshops that aim to bring awareness to and discuss way to fight back against; attacks on women and the GLBT community, reproductive rights, rape culture, sexual assault in the military, sexism in the Occupy movement, sex workers, and more.

Visit Occupy Sexism’s facebook event page.

MAY DAY 2012 IN PROVIDENCE: MAY 1

May Day Providence 2012 will be a great event organized by the May Day Coalition! For the past month, representatives from community organizations and unions have been gathering to plan the May 1st march in solidarity with workers and immigrants, as well as festivities to celebrate our rich and diverse histories. We are planning for a big day of marching, celebrating, speakers, activities, and food, so be sure to mark your calendar!

For more details visit the May Day Providence 2012 website.

If you can, please help fund this event by donating here.

SAVE THE HOUSE OF COMPASSION WEEKEND: (Update: Postponed)

As part of the efforts to save the community residence from eviction, The house of Compassion is initiating a fun weekend of painting, as well as a cookout and fun and games! In order to pass a building inspection, HOC needs supporters to help paint inside and touch up the outside of the house where paint is peeling. Please come help out, and afterwards we will eat food and be merry at this beautiful home! The more hands, the better! Visit the facebook event page here.

The House of Compassion is a community residence in Cumberland, RI for those living with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities. Read more about the HOC here. If you can, please donate to help save the home from eviction at their website.

(Update by JS)

Please Donate to the Occupied Providence Journal and May Day!

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The first issue of the Occupied Providence Journal was a success! OP members and contributors raised funds to cover printing costs for issue #1, and 3,000 copies were distributed throughout Providence and Rhode Island! The journal is also available online here. Our 2nd issue is currently in the works, and we hope to raise enough funds through public support to cover printing costs. Please consider donating whatever you can to help support our free publication. Click here to visit our WePay site, which works very similarly to PayPal– you can donate there using a credit card or debit card.

Also consider donating to Occupy Providence’s WePay here.

OCCUPY MAY 1ST

Occupy Providence members are proud to join various organizers, activists, and everyday people in Providence RI who are working in solidarity with the call to Occupy May 1st!

If you can, donate/lend supplies for the event here, or if you’d like to donate cash to help pay for other event costs, donate here. Please help spread the word— Any contribution is much appreciated, and we look forward to making May Day a big success! Please visit the Providence May Day 2012 website here.

SAVE THE HOUSE OF COMPASSION

OP members are still working to save the House of Compassion, a community residence in Cumberland RI for those living with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities, that is facing foreclosure. In addition to donations, which can be given here, volunteers are needed to help clean and prepare for upcoming inspections. Please visit the Save the House of Compassion facebook page to contact Artemis, the main organizer of this important initiative.

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Thanks for your support on these exciting projects! Look out for updates soon, and as always please be sure to check the Occupy Providence calendar regularly for upcoming events, workshops, meetings and actions.

Upcoming Actions, Events, and the first issue of the OP Journal!

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Occupy Providence has a busy Thursday coming up!

Vice President Joe Biden is coming to the Biltmore hotel in Providence

The House of Compassion is a community residence in Cumberland, RI for those living with HIV/AIDS or with other diseases or disabilities. It opened in 1994 and has cared for over 900 residents. Occupy Providence members have formed Occupy the House of Compassion, whose mission is to save the house, which is at the risk of being auctioned off for an overdue water/sewer bill. OP is attempting to raise $16,000.00 in order to save the house and to replace the oil burner destroyed in a fire on December 15, 2011. Donations accepted at: www.houseofcompassionri.org

His administration has gone out of their way to prevent the passage of a tiny tax that could bring billions of dollars in revenue to fight AIDS, create jobs, and stop climate change. Join us and demand that Biden and Obama support a financial speculation tax now and restore funding for AIDS housing and to fight AIDS around the world! Demand:

  • A Comprehensive jobs program
  • full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and health programs
  • Funding to stop catastrophic climate change
  • Restore the cuts to Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
  • Restore the whopping $54 million cut to the President’s Plan for AIDS relief
Thursday, February 23rd
Meet at Burnside Park at 4:00pm; march to Biltmore Hotel, rally at 4:30pm. See you there!
Sponsored by: ACT UP Rhode Island; Health GAP; Student Global AIDS Campaign (list in formation).
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The Occupied Providence Journal: We need your help! Our first issue is hot off the press! We need volunteers to help distribute them to coffee shops, stores, and other public spaces that will take them. The papers are free and we want to make them as widely available as possible; if you’re able to help with distribution, please email occupiedprovidencejournal@gmail.com. Look out for the papers throughout Providence and RI, and email occupiedprovidencejournal@gmail.com for assistance in finding copies of the OPJ. Also see the online component of the Journal, which includes a downloadable PDF of the paper. Please help us print future issues by donating to the OPJ— Visit this page for the journal’s donation page to help cover the cost of printing future issues!

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Occupy Education Event: On Thursday, February 23rd, as part of the national solidarity teach-in on college campuses around the country, allies from Occupy RI Campuses, Providence students, OP members, and other members of our community will attend two teach-ins prior to the march on Feb 23.

Occupy Rhode Island College invites all members of the RIC community, including students, professors, and faculty to take part in the National Solidarity Teach-in and open panel discussion being held this Wednesday during free period. The discussion will be led by a panel comprised of several professors from RIC as well as community leader Simon Moore, executive director at College Visions.

The panel will address issues regarding the broken education system in Rhode Island and in the US. The last few decades have seen skyrocketing tuition rates with no end in sight, active corporatization of our learning institutions, and student debt at its highest. These issues have affected the lives of all students by challenging their chance at upward mobility and jeopardizes the quality of our education.

This Wednesday’s teach-in is in preparation for the Occupy Education day of action on March 1st, in which students from all over the country are mobilizing to demand their right to an affordable quality education. Join us in solidarity this Wednesday at 12:30 in Fogarty RM 050 and engage in a necessary discussion regarding the state of our education. Visit OccupyRICampus.com for more information on the March 1st Occupy Education day of action.

Occupy URI’s teach-in will be in Kingston on Thursday, February 23 at 3:30pm in White Hall 205. Professor Helen Mederer will give a presentation entitled “Externalities, Corporate Profits, and Student Loan Debt.” Professor Scott Molloy will present “Fighting for Justice: Then and Now.”

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After today’s Occupy RI kick-off in Bristol and the formation of Occupy East Bay group, OP is ready and excited for more upcoming Occupy events and expansion throughout RI. Now is a great time to come to a General Assembly or check our calendar for events that are of interest to you. Visit http://howtooccupy.org/ for a handy, comprehensive resource about joining in!

A lively discussion with concerned residents and perhaps the future Occupiers of the East Bay area. Where should our next outreach meeting be?

OP Occupies the Attorney General’s office

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Update by Ally: Woo hoo! We had a great action at 9:00 this morning at the General Attorney’s office- we made a public statement about why Kilmartin should refuse to sign the mortgage settlement and delivered a petition with hundreds of signatures demanding that he not sign the settlement. If you haven’t already, please sign our petition!

Occupying the Attorney General's Office in the name of defrauded homeowners

For more information about this issue please visit:

Tonight’s Inter-occupy General Call will also have a special focus on this issue!

“Wall Street strikes another blow to Main Street: this week the Department of Justice and most of the 50 State Attorneys General will give the Wall Street banks a “Get Out of Jail Free” Card. Ellen Brown and Michael Sauvante will be participants in the call and can discuss this issue. “This call is for anyone who wants to end the continued economic injustices perpetuated by Wall Street and enabled by the Federal Government, which is now enrolling State Attorneys General to settle. We will discuss what this specific new injustice is and what can be done.”