The Occupy protests are part of a global movement that is questioning the basic structures of the political and economic system to an extent not seen since 1968. Whether it will succeed in changing these structures is unclear. But, Roger Burbach says, it has already created something far more powerful: a global shift in consciousness.
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鈥淪hut It Down鈥, 鈥淣o More Shipping for the 1%鈥 and 鈥淒eath to Capitalism鈥 proclaimed some of the banners near me as I joined thousands of demonstrators who converged on the Port of Oakland on a sunny afternoon in November.
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The article below is reprinted from a December 1 post at OccupyOakland.org. For more information on the December 12 shutdown, visit .
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As of November 27, the Occupy movement in every major West Coast port city: Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle have joined Occupy Oakland in calling for and organising a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade and Shutdown on December 12.
The Occupy movement in the United States continues to gain strength, despite wide-scale repression. The article below is abridged from a US editorial.
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The raids, arrests and police violence against the Occupy movement that has been occurring across the United States are about trying to silence a movement giving voice to the accumulated discontent of the working-class majority.
They're also about showing who's the boss 鈥 the political and business establishment.
A year has gone by since the results of the climate change negotiations in Cancun were imposed, with the objection of only Bolivia. It鈥檚 time to take stock and see where we are now.
In Cancun, the developed countries listed their greenhouse gas emission reduction pledges for the 2012-2020 period. The US and Canada said they would reduce emissions by 3% based on 1990 levels, the European Union between 20% and 30%, Japan 25%, and Russia from 15% to 25%.
Cuadrilla Resources, which is exploring for natural shale gas in north-west England, has admitted its use of the notorious process of 鈥渇racking鈥 was responsible for earthquakes in the region this year, BusinessInsider.com said on November 7.
Fracking is a dangerous process involving fracturing rock with pressurised liquid. Some of the health and environmental dangers of the process were revealed by the film Gasland, about the impact of the practice in the United States.
鈥淭here is money.鈥 That was the major election campaign slogan of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in October 2009.
The World Bank Out of Climate Finance coalition issued the statement below on December 1 from Durban, South Africa.
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Today, 163 civil society organisations from 39 countries released a letter exposing an attempt led by the US, Britain and Japan to turn the Green Climate Fund into a 鈥淕reedy Corporate Fund鈥 at UN climate talks in South Africa.
The Green Climate Fund was created to support people in developing countries 鈥 people who are the most affected by the climate crisis but are the least responsible for it.
Despite the crushing victory of incumbent Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in the October 23 Argentine presidential elections, the campaign and results also demonstrated that an important social and political left alternative continues to exist.
The unpredictable consequences of the global economic crisis and the reaction by Cristina鈥檚 mixed social base to future policy decisions may prove important challenges to her new government.
Israeli officials suspect that France-based megabank BNP Parisbas has pulled out of Israel due to pressure from Palestine solidarity groups, even though the bank itself has denied this.
Israeli paper Haaretz reported on 24 November: 鈥淭he powers that be are furious at BNP Paribas for shuttering its operations in Israel, and suspect it is acting due to Arab and anti-Israeli pressure in France, the bank鈥檚 home base.
The phrase 鈥渙rganise, don鈥檛 agonise鈥 has become a bumper sticker, a popular slogan in the feminist movement, the title of many speeches, conferences and newsletters. African-American civil rights activist Florence Rae Kennedy coined the term. Gloria Steinem quoted her in Ms magazine in 1973.
Since then, this powerful slogan has circumnavigated the world many times 鈥 used by many activists and movements.
It has lasted because the slogan reasonates strongly with the condition of the oppressed, exploited and persecuted.
In the face of a broad and growing campaign, rhetoric from the NSW government is beginning to match some of the risks when it comes to coal seam gas (CSG) mining. This begs the question: what is being done when it comes to CSG?
In an about CSG mining on December 1, NSW Premier Barry O鈥橣arrell told 2GB鈥檚 Alan Jones: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 intend to allow 鈥 particularly after the drought we went through over a decade 鈥 mining or any other activity to threaten water resources.
Victorian nurses have decided to take their claims directly to the community, after negotiations with the Baillieu Victorian government over their enterprise bargaining agreement broke down yet again.
Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick told a mass meeting on December 2: 鈥淭he government negotiators staged a 鈥榖reakdown鈥 in negotiations last night to bait nurses and midwives into taking further industrial action that would pull the last forced arbitration trigger.
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