CopBlock has announced the 2nd Annual Chalk the Police National Day of Action & Chalking Contest!

October 1 also happens to be the Birthday of Marijuana Prohibition.


#ExpectUs #ChalkThePolice

From CopBlock:

Attention all chalkers, organizers, and lovers of artful dissent! It’s that time of year again to open up the buckets of chalk and find the nearest location of state repression (aka police stations, courthouses, jails) or other public property such as sidewalks, parks or public plazas at the 2nd Annual Chalk the Police Day.

During the 1st Annual Chalk the Police Day (link: http://www.copblock.org/8710/chalk-the-police-day-a-huge-success/), we had videos and photos from small groups and large groups of chalkers in cities such as Phoenix (link: http://youtu.be/pFIP5mpcwqU ) and Keene, NH (link: http://youtu.be/TD0DjUmcHoo).

Over the past year, many chalkers have been arrested, detained, harassed and jailed by authorities across this country (link: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/war-chalk-arrests). From the Chalking 8 (link: http://www.copblock.org/7411/chalk/) to the Chalk Walk Police Riots in LA (link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/5th-spring-downtown-la-chalk-protest_n_1670194.html), chalking continues to be seen as a threat to status quo and despite the temporary nature of chalk, police and local authorities continue to crack down on our right to free expression.

We must not remain silent! We have the right to chalk and the right to hold our local police accountable for their actions. If you agree, please organize a chalking event in your area on Monday, October 1st. Please feel free to make this event your own and bring signs, fliers, maybe some music and snacks - and of course, lots of chalk to share with your local chalking group. We encourage organizers to host their event on the date of action, Monday October 1st but recognize that some individuals or groups may want to host an event the weekend before due to time or weather constraints.

If you use facebook, please create an event and invite your friends! Also, please RSVP to this Facebook event for the National Chalk the Police Day. We will also try to list all the events here.

Do you need extra motivation to chalk? This year there is a fun contest with prizes in each of the categories!

Categories:

Best Mural/Chalk Art Design - For the chalk artists who love to draw and can create great murals.

Best Chalk Saying/Slogan – Can’t draw but have a way with words? This category is for you!

Best Location – Chalk the jails? Chalk the steps of city hall? Is there any interesting public property to chalk in your area? We’ll be giving a prize for best location.

The best entry in each category will get $66 worth of items from Cop Block's store (link: http://copblock.org/store). Also, the winner of the Best Mural/Chalk Art Design will receive a Box of Eternity Art High Quality Sidewalk Chalk (you pick up to 35 of your favorite colors!) (link: http://www.eternityarts.com/street-painting-chalk-art/street-painting-supplies/basic-street-chalk/)

Judges: There will be a three “judge” panel with one person each from the East (Kate Ager), Midwest (Melissa Hill), and West Coast (Allan Eaton) that will review the photographs of the chalk and rank them.

How to Enter: Please send all photographs of chalking (or short videos) to copblock@gmail.com or post them as a comment to this Facebook Event.

All entries will need to be submitted before 11:59pm CST Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 for this contest to allow the judges time to view the pictures and video. To be fair, please only submit chalkings that were created between Friday, Sept. 28th – October 2nd for the October 1st Chalk the Police event. The winners will be announced on Friday, October 5th.

You can arrest the chalker but you can’t stop the chalk!

It's been a helluva year. For specifics about the march and rally, email info@occupyneworleans.us

Legalize Louisiana is organizing a rally in New Orleans on OCT 25 at 3:00 PM 

Legalize Louisiana New Orleans will be meeting at Lafayette square just off Poydras Street between St. Charles Avenue and Camp Street for the Oct 25th rally!

This march is designed to unify people who believe we deserve the same rights as other states concerning cannabis laws. Please do not bring any illegal substances. For more info visit the Legalize Louisiana New Orleans Facebook event.

The average student loan debt in Louisiana is $ 24,548 per student.

Join us Tuesday, October 9,  to discuss cuts to the University of New Orleans budget, tuition costs, student debt, and payment difficulties.

Everybody is invited - current, former and future students, parents, professors!

Tell your story about how decisions surrounding your education and career were influenced by your finances.  Share your vision for expanding access to and the quality of education.

Tuesday October 9  4-6pm

University of New Orleans Room 129 Kirschman Hall

What would you like higher education to look like in Louisiana?

RSVP on Facebook!

Occupy Student Debt Campaign Launch
http://youtu.be/sCxLQMDBy-0 

"Colleges and universities are increasingly and ruinously dependent on the debt bondage of the people they are supposed to serve. Despite the public concern about the erosion of public funding and the surge in tuition costs, we are only just beginning to recognize the human costs of funding higher education through debt loading. This kind of dependency is corrupt and unsustainable."

http://www.occupystudentdebtcampaign.org/faq/ 

"We must rethink the draconian collection policies that leave vulnerable students with nowhere to turn."

Read "The Student Loan Default Trap: Why Borrowers Default and What Can Be Done" here: http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/blogs/wp-content/www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/uploads/File/student-loan-default-trap-report.pdf

Louisiana State Average Student Loan Debt: $ 24,548
University of New Orleans Average debt of graduates 2010 $16,427

http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-view2011.php?area=LA 

When I first went to Duncan Plaza in mid-November of 2011, it was as a citizen journalist and supporter. I'd spent October and early November staying in a hotel in Baton Rouge where my boyfriend at the time was working on location as an electrician for the movies. I'd been watching dogs there, walking them in the parking lot of the hotel, working online, and watching friends of mine upload photographs from October 6 - the first day of Occupy NOLA - on Facebook.

As October bled into November, I started watching livestream from Occupy LA and Occupy San Fransisco but couldn't find much about Occupy NOLA online. So my introduction to the national Occupy movement was through livestream, but I had to go to Duncan Plaza in real life to find Occupy NOLA, which I did when I returned to New Orleans in November (I first went to Duncan Plaza on November 18).

Sometimes I'm sad that I missed the beginning (almost all) of the encampment. Today I've been finding videos of Occupy NOLA on YouTube and sharing them here.

On October 6, 2012 it will have been one year since the beginning of Occupy NOLA.  Here is what it was like the first day:

Yesterday, two writers interviewed me and Robert about Occupy NOLA, and as I tried to show them the encampment on Google maps, Robert noticed that the satellite of Duncan shows the encampment.

In my quest to learn more about Occupy NOLA and to create some type of archive of its history, I've even found YouTube footage of the square dancing that occurred in Duncan.

I'll try to post a more cohesive history after I interview some people who were there before I was.

With love and solidarity,

~ small affair

The People's Convention Organizing Committee will meet 4:30pm Saturday at Café Flora in the Marigny section of New Orleans.  All who believe that there’s got to be a better way to organize a society than by putting the pursuit of profit ahead of human and environmental need are invited to attend. Additional information concerning the Peoples Convention project is presented below.


This is what democracy looks like in 2012:  THE PEOPLE'S CONVENTION

The People's Convention will be held on October 27, 2012 from 1-5pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans 5212 South Claiborne Avenue. New Orleans

The People's Convention is where the  99%, not the 1%, sets the political agenda.  We the people, as opposed to we the rich, have needs and interests that are in fundamental conflict with the 1%.  We need, for example, low and moderate income housing, the right to organize ourselves into unions, living wage jobs,  public education, an end to imperialist war, and an end to the rampant discrimination against and brutalization of African Americans.  Given the 1%’s domination of  the leaders of  the Republicans and the Democrats the conventions of  America’s two ruling parties cannot help but sacrifice the interests of  the many to satisfy the seemingly boundless greed of the privileged few.   To allow the Republicans and Democrats, in this time of economic crisis, to continue to monopolize the setting of  the nation’s political agenda is a recipe for disaster for the 99 percent.

       So why hold a People's Convention before the November 4 Presidential Election? Because the Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by the standing U.S. Congress and signed into law by the current President, guarantees that draconian cuts in federal funding for public services that we need and regressive tax increases that we don’t need will be the focus of Congressional activity during the weeks and months following the November 4.  The People's Convention and the organizing for it will put the people in strong position to give a 99 percent to an attempt to shove a 1 percent budget down our throats.

What should  the People's Agenda include?

• A public works program open to all that pays a living wage?
• Democracy not  oligarchy?
• Respecting the right of everyone to safe and decent housing?
• And end to brutalization of and discrimination against African Americans?
• Immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan?
• Selection rather than election?
• Environmental justice rather than pillage of the environment?
• And….?

Help Decide the People's Agenda: Come meet with us Saturday Sept 15 or RSVP to THE PEOPLE’S CONVENTION Facebook Event!



 

Message to those wanting to help the Isaac Relief Effort:

Volunteers and supplies are needed for Kid Village Mobile Community Kitchen. Now located at St. John Baptist Church, 136 St. John Lane Phoenix LA 70040.

Please contact Richard @ 608-301-6580. You may have to text him since reception is bad in the heavier hit areas.

You can also contact Christine from First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans  at 504-259-0025. Please do what you can for the relief effort.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Occupy New Orleans General Assembly Officially Separates from the Occupy Isaac Relief Distribution Network

The Occupy New Orleans General Assembly convened at 3:00 pm on September 8, 2012.

The General Assembly reached unanimous consensus to officially separate itself from the Occupy Isaac Disaster Relief Distribution Network.

Occupy NOLA feels it is important for The Occupy Movement to maintain its own politically-focused identity and allow experienced disaster relief organizations to assist those affected by Hurricane Isaac. The General Assembly therefore welcomes participation from disaster relief groups that allow Occupy NOLA to maintain its autonomy. If members of Occupy NOLA or its working groups choose to network/volunteer with any disaster relief organizations, that should not be interpreted as an endorsement by the Occupy New Orleans General Assembly.

Occupy NOLA stands in solidarity with The Occupy Wall Street Movement and The 99% Declaration and will continue to relentlessly pursue transforming government through peaceful protest. Occupy New Orleans is currently organizing its Other Campaign, working with A People’s Convention to form an alternative to the corrupt, two party system campaigns. Its members will continue demands including banking reform, student loan debt refinancing, creation of jobs, affordable healthcare and housing for all, and the end of private funding of political campaigns.

The Occupy New Orleans General Assembly requests that its name, as well as the name and address of the Occupy The Stage warehouse, be removed from all existing InterOccupy – Occupy Isaac Hub pages (http://interoccupy.net/occupyisaac/) email distribution lists, social networking sites, and future press releases.

Moreover, The Occupy NOLA General Assembly requests that “occupy-nola-donation-fund” be removed from the following WePay donation link url (https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy-nola-donation-fund-for-hurricane-isaac) to avoid confusing those who wish to donate to “Occupy Isaac Relief Distribution Network Donation Fund for Hurricane Isaac.” Until “occupy-nola-donation-fund” can removed from this donations link, Occupy NOLA requests that anyone promoting it clarify Occupy NOLA’s disassociation with Occupy Isaac Relief Distribution Network. Neither The Occupy NOLA General Assembly nor any of its members were consulted or allowed to reach consensus when this donation site was created.

Our intention is not to create a rift with InterOccupy or the Occupy groups who have so generously volunteered their resources, but to maintain our political stance in solidarity with the current direction of the greater Occupy Movement.

In Solidarity,

The Occupy New Orleans General Assembly

This originally appeared on the Occupy New Orleans website and has been reposted here with permission from the author.

So a bunch of non-New Orleanians are wondering why all us NOLA peeps are pissed at Entergy. I mean there was a hurricane and they are working to restore power so why so mad?

Let me show you something:

This is my Entergy bill. See where I’ve highlighted the Emergency Storm Reserve Fund? Yeah. Well that fund is to help Entergy pay to fix the electric grid in the event of a hurricane. From one of their press releases:
Entergy New Orleans’ request to speed up storm reserve funding will allow it to meet the target established by the City Council of a $75 million balance by 2017. The storm reserve fund is used to help the company respond quickly to restore power after major storms and to reduce the volatility in rates that might otherwise result from storm restoration costs. Funds were withdrawn from the reserve account to help restore storm damage after hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and tropical storm Lee in 2011.

No biggie even though they are a monopoly and I don’t really care for their customer service I’m ok with paying under $4 a month to make sure they can get my power back on quickly after a storm. So that’s not the problem.

The problem is that Entergy despite having this fund was cheaping out on us. See normally after a storm they have two 12-14 hour shifts working around the clock to get the power back on. This time? One 16 hour shift. They also did not call the crews in (they come from out of state) until AFTER the storm had starting knocking out power. So some of those drivers were driving 16 hours and then had to sleep  before they could get to work. (I don’t blame them for that – we all need sleep.) Previously they’d be stationed right outside of the hurricane area waiting for the winds to die down so they could drive in and help us out. So then after driving all this way and getting rest the linemen were stuck waiting in parking lots (I talked to men in the one near I-10 and Morrison) with all their trucks ready to go but Entergy hadn’t finished their contracts yet. Seriously.

So yeah if the rest of the city was like me, they were spending their nights sleeping on their porches in the heat and dark with the mosquitoes swarming while Entergy was busy dropping the ball and their CEO was on the radio joking around about eating microwaved spare ribs and giving lipservice about us being “frustrated”.

Nooo, I’m not frustrated. I’m straight up pissed and I don’t think Entergy needs to be a monopoly here anymore.

-Wampi

EDITED TO ADD: We’ve now had our first heat related death (that we know of). A 90 year old man died in his powerless home in marrero from heat stroke. How very sad.

Hey Folks,


On September 15-17th in New York City, we are organizing three days of education, celebration and resistance to economic injustice with a full slate of permitted convergences, family friendly assemblies, a big concert, and mass civil disobedience on that Monday in the heart of the financial district. The evolving schedule as well as detailed information can be found at s17nyc.org . 

Below is everything you need to know, whether you are planning to join us in NYC or planning a solidarity action locally.  

Register: If you are planning to come to NYC, please fill out our registration form here: http://s17nyc.org/support/registration/  and please spread the word to others in your local occupy or affinity group and tell them to fill out the reg form too. By registering, we can keep you up to date on housing, food, convergence and action plans.
Transport:  We are encouraging folks to find their own transportation. We have resources up on the s17 site here: http://s17nyc.org/support/join-us-in-nyc/  about rideshares, amtrak discount and buses.  PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON OWS TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION.

Housing: We secured a big factory in Brooklyn where out of towners can crash on the floor.  If you register and indicate that you need housing, you will be sent all of the address and all the info you need.  If you plan to stay at the factory, please bring a sleeping pad and sleeping bag and pack light. 
Monday NYC Action: BRING BUSINESS ATTIRE to wear on the 17th. There are a bunch of actions happening Monday morning, one of which is 99 Revolutions. We will disrupt business as usual in the financial district by blockading the Stock Exchange and surrounding intersections.  Action Framework can be found here:s17nyc.org/peoples-wall/.  

Affinity Groups: Some of the organizing is happening in affinity groups.  If you have an affinity group and you want to find out how to plug into the action, you can join  the S17 Affinity Group Spokescouncil every friday night from now until S17 Fridays at 6pm in Foley Square. If you're coming from out of town you can plug by registering for the S17 Affinity Group Spokescouncil Remote Participation call here: http://interoccupy.net/blog/ai1ec_event/s17-affinity-group-spokescouncil-remote-participation-2/?instance_id=3370142) 

Solidarity Actions:   A lot of cities are planning solidarity actions either on the 17th or around their own anniversary.  You can find ideas about possible solidarity actions and planning tools here http://s17nyc.org/organize/organize-your-own-action/) .  Do you know if anyone from your city is planning a solidarity action? If so, please submit the action info here http://s17nyc.org/organize/submit-solidarity-action/  so we can help spread the word.  If you are organizing other actions in and around NYC for the weekend, please submit them here: http://s17nyc.org/organize/add-your-action/ 

Join our organizing calls, e-mail lists and text loops: The last S17 InterOccupy call is this Tuesday at 7PM EST where you can find out more info and ask questions/discussions. You can visit the S17 interoccupy hub at interoccupy.net/s17nyc/  to register for the calls and sign up for any and all of the S17 e-mail lists.  We also have a text loop, where you will get up to the minute S17 info via text messages, and you can sign up for that by texting "@S17NYC" TO 23559. All of this info is up on the s17nyc.org  site too. 

Help us make outreach calls: We need help making outreach calls!  If you want to do outreach to other occupiers from around the country, fill out this form here: http://interoccupy.net/ios17/  and you'll get info on how and who to call.

Submitting a workshop or teach-in: If you would like to lead a teach-in, workshop or any other event during the occupy town square portion of the weekend on the 15th and 16th, please fill out this form here: s17nyc.org/join-the-convergence/

Organizational outreach: To find a list of organizations who are participating or have endorsed s17, please go here: http://wiki.occupy.net/wiki/S17_Endorsement .  If you are connected to an organization or an occupy that would like to endorse s17, please go here: http://s17nyc.org/support/pledge/ 

Legal: The OWS legal group will be giving know your rights trainings on the 15th and 16th.  If you are traveling with an affinity group or on a bus, please designate one person to get in touch with legal at mutantlegal@riseup.net.   If possible, please do know your rights trainings specific to NYC laws in your cities before arriving.
Thanks so much for your time. Don't forget to register if you are planning to attend!:  http://s17nyc.org/support/registration/ 

I look forward to seeing you on the streets in NYC!

In solidarity,

OWSInteroccupy.net