Vermont Socialists

Occupy Nuclear Power

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Found this flyer on the SAGE Alliance website, a great resource for activists organizing to shut VT Yankee.

NUCLEAR POWER: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME IS OVER

Occupy is protesting the inequities that come from socializing risk onto the 99% and privatizing profits for the 1%. The collapse of housing and financial markets is a good example.

Nuclear power is another case of how the public pays for energy choices that favor corporate profits and control. Public dollars concentrate profits to nuclear corporations, warping energy choices to support centralized, capital intensive electric generation. Decentralized renewables and energy efficiency lose out.

THE 50-YEAR NUCLEAR POWER BAILOUT

Astonishingly, it would have been cheaper to buy electricity on the open market and give it away, than to have built and operated the 104 privately owned U.S. nuclear power reactors! Since 1960, public subsidies to nuclear power companies are worth more than all the electric power their reactors generate.

The public props up the nuclear power industry through a complex mesh of:
-Federal loan guarantees, now at $18.5 billion; Pres. Obama wants to raise them to $54 billion,
-Accelerated depreciation for fuel and construction,
-Ratepayers footing the bills for construction work before electricity is generated,
-Tax abatements,
-Long term operating costs for high level waste storage and reactor decommissioning,
-Hidden costs of nuclear proliferation and necessarily heavy reactor security,
-Limitations on disaster liability.

PUBLIC RISK, PRIVATE PROFIT.

The Price Anderson Act of 1957 (extended to 2025) was enacted to protect the fledgling privately owned nuclear industry "against potentially enormous liability claims in the event of a nuclear accident."
-First, members of the public---homeowners, businesses--- cannot get nuclear disaster insurance.
-Insurance is limited to $300,000 per reactor issued by CT-based American Nuclear Insurers (ANI).
-More extensive damages at any reactor are to be covered from a common pot every owner funds
-The pot is about $11.6 billion, much too small considering:
-US government studies show potential losses could rise as high as $560 billion;
-The catastrophe at Chernobyl (different from US reactor models), cost about $350 billion;
-The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi (same models and ages as the VT Yankee, Indian Point, and Pilgrim reactors) could cost as much as $130 billion by Japanese government estimates.

In 2001, ANI's senior vice president told Congress that without Price Anderson, the nuclear industry cannot be insured, so the industry itself is not viable without this massive liability cap.

JOBS FROM CONSERVATION AND SAFE RENEWABLES.

No other energy source enjoys this colossal and market-distorting support of public dollars. Millions of jobs can be created by opting for decentralized renewables and energy efficiency, choices that can provide safe, reliable energy.
-For every $1 million invested, solar, wind, and a smart electric grid create 14.25 jobs; nuclear: 4.2.
-An all-out WPA-type energy efficiency program can provide massive employment. Rather than perpetuating the wartime economy, give soldiers and veterans nail guns and training to use them.
-Replacing energy from a nuclear reactor (cost $41 billion; 2,400 jobs) by spending the same amount on retrofitting 3.2 million homes would create 440,000 jobs.
-Conserving energy in every building in the US would pull the US out of this economic depression. We would save half the energy we use, and put ourselves firmly on the road to true energy security.

SOURCES:
Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org); Nuclear Information and Resource Service (www.nirs.org); Beyond Nuclear (www.beyondnuclear.org); the Cato Institute (www.cato.org); Political Economy Research Institute (www.peri.umass.edu), Office for Sustainability, Southern NH University (http://www.snhu.edu/9474.asp ); Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School (environmentallaw.vermontlaw.edu).

Demand observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:50:00 +0000

Fight Racism!
Protest TD Bank!

Meet monday at 1:00 at Contois Auditorium in City Hall.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and commemorating the civil rights movement. The federal government and all 50 states recognize this day as a paid holiday for all employees. Many private employers, such as banks and universities, also observe the holiday. TDBank, however, refuses to recognize MLK day, and is denying its employees the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the civil rights movement.

We demand that TD Bank recognize this important national holiday, provide paid time off for all its employees, and commit itself to opposing racism and celebrating equality.

Join the Martin Luther King Day celebration at Cantois Auditorium in City Hall on Monday January 16 at noon. At 1:00 we will march to TD Bank.

Endorsed by:
The Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center
Occupy Burlington
Burlington International Socialist Organization
Fed Up Vermont and the rest of the blog entry here.

Hundreds Denounce Postal Cuts in Vermont

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +0000

January 7, 2011

Steve Ramey and Paul Fleckenstein

Five hundred postal workers and supporters packed a Vermont U.S. Postal Service hearing to criticize plans to slash the Postal Service workforce and services. Nationally, based on a manufactured crisis, the USPS plans to slash 120,000 jobs, shut down many rural offices, eliminate standard overnight local mail delivery, and end Saturday mail delivery. The plans also include immediately closing over 250 mail processing centers. Closure of the local White River Junction (WRJ) mail center would eliminate over 200 union jobs.

Upper Connecticut Valley Occupy picketed outside with placards reading “The 99% Support Postal Workers” and handed out hundreds of informational fliers. Inside Vermont's Congressional delegation, Governor, and other politicians joined a defiant crowd.

The Post Office officials started the meeting by showing a slickly produced propaganda video explaining why changing first class priority mail delivery from one-day to two- to three-day, stopping Saturday delivery and closing 300 processing centers across the country was necessary to overcome a purported $5.5 billion budget gap. As the video droned on annoyed shouts for "mic check," “move on,” "times up," and "we ain't got all night here" grew louder. The video clearly had the opposite of its intended effect. When a slide came up of the "Potential Final Network" showing a map of the U.S. with sparse dots indicating USPS mail processing centers annoyance boiled over to anger with booing and hissing interrupting the rest of the presentation.

Governor Peter Shumlin was the first to speak after the USPS officials calling the plan "sheer idiocy" and telling the Postal Service to "Go somewhere else to find your pretend savings." Senator Bernie Sanders called the proposed cuts in service and jobs the beginning of a death spiral for the Postal Service saying, "in the midst of the worst recession in American history it is patently insane to cut 100,000 jobs."

None of the assembled workers and supporters had any illusions about the proposed downsizing. Many of the fifty speakers cited privatizing the Postal Service as the real reason behind the cuts. “Why would the Postal Service, which is losing business to such faster communication methods as email, make changes that would slow down its delivery service? Who put together this business plan, the Postmaster General, or the CEO of FedEx?” asked David Kreindler of the Vermont Workers' Center.

Many other speakers detailed the negative effects of post office closures on rural communities, the impacts on seniors and others relying on mail delivery of prescription drugs, and the hardships posed by slowed delivery for low-income workers receiving payroll and benefit checks, or paying bills. Several small business owners, and even the Vermont Secretary of Commerce, condemned the changes as potentially crippling to small businesses.

In response to widespread opposition to the use of the manufactured $5.5 billion budget gap to attack the Postal Service and its unions, Sen. Sanders helped win a 5-month delay to the planned cuts, and has proposed the excellent Postal Service Protection Act.

This measure would eliminate the requirement to pre-fund future retiree health benefits; return to the Postal Service federal pension overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement and Federal Employees Retirement System; mandate six-day delivery; allow the USPS to provide non-postal services; prevent the closure of rural post offices; protect first-class mail time standard; and prevent the closure of processing centers.

The chances of the Postal Service Reform Act in a Congress over-run by a lobbyists for the for-profit delivery companies and advertising mailers, and dominated by a bi-partisan commitment to budget cutting and advancing privatization depends very much on our continued success in expanding this struggle.

As Bill Creamer, a WRJ postal worker, put it after the hearing,”We still have a fight on our hands, we still need to get those letters rolling in opposition to the WRJ Plant Closing, we need more op-eds, we need to protest, and we still need to pursue new ideas to keep the pressure on those that would choose to destroy our Postal Service and its workers. “

Beginning with a small core of union activists, WRJ workers have been organizing against the processing center closure for many months. Efforts included outreach to other unions through lists provided by the AFL-CIO; contacting every radio and TV station; buying newspaper ads; mobilizing postal workers and their families to flier and post to community bulletin boards in their home communities; utilizing social media and free event calendars; producing a stream of press releases, interviews, and mailings; contacting advertisers, and local businesses and trucking companies that depend on postal services; and networking with clergy and churches

“This is organizing at its very core,” says Creamer. “We tried to make this a community effort. We educated the local community...told how it will impact them.”

The proposed near term postal cuts will grease the skids toward eventual privatization of the postal service with the loss of a half-million unionized public sector jobs where women, minorities, and veterans will be disproportionately impacted. The service cuts will most harshly effect the 50% of the U.S. population recent census figures show live in or on the verge of poverty. Those living on fixed incomes, in rural areas, without access to high speed internet, and not able to shell out $20 dollars to FedEx or UPS for timely mail delivery will feel the impact the most. Most people will be negatively effected by the cuts, and that is a basis for broadening our coalitions to a range of community organizations, service agencies, and public sector unions.

More successful large public hearings and protests around the country rejecting the cuts are needed. We can follow the lead of the rural Oregon movement to occupy the Postal Service. This may shape up to be the next big fight against the assaults of the 1% on our living standards and unions. It is key to have postal workers, other public sector workers, and occupy activists at the front lines combating the propaganda that postal cuts are unavoidable and working out strategies that can push back these attacks.

Why We Occupy: How Wall Street Picks the Bones of America

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Greg Palast will talk about “Why We Occupy: How Wall Street Picks the Bones of America,” on December 12 at 7 p.m. in Burlington’s Main Street Landing Film House. A screening of Sam Mayfield’s new film, Gentle Uprising, precedes Palast’s presentation. Donations. Info, 540-2516.

Seven Days interview with Greg Palast

Muckraking Journalist Greg Palast on "Occupy," Big Oil and the U.S. Media

By Kevin J. Kelley [12.07.11]

Greg Palast was floating in a kayak off the Alaska coast in 1997 when he had an epiphany. He was working at the time as an investigator for the Chugach native people, whose lands had been slimed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. In the course of his study, Palast uncovered information about Exxon’s culpability for the disaster, but he had no way of publicizing it. So he decided to become a journalist.

It’s proven a successful second career for Palast, 59, who studied business at the University of Chicago under right-wing economist Milton Friedman. He’s won six Project Censored awards for reporting important stories ignored by the mainstream press. He’s also the author of two international best sellers, Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.

A native Californian, Palast reports regularly for Britain’s Guardian newspaper and for the BBC. Nation magazine writer Jim Hightower calls Palast “a cross between Sam Spade and Sherlock Holmes.” Corporate executives he’s outed as wrongdoers call Palast other things.

Palast spoke with Seven Days in advance of his scheduled talk next week at Burlington’s Main Street Landing Film House.

Seven Days: You must be sympathetic to Occupy Wall Street. Do you think it will have a lasting impact on U.S. politics?

Greg Palast: It’s not a setback for Occupy to no longer be occupying. No one gives a shit about Wall Street. It’s just a piece of tarmac. It was never the point of the movement.

The point has been to expose the 1 percent, the movers and shakers who are moving and shaking us, all those rich motherfuckers. Now we know their names, where they live, how they made their billions.

So yeah, the impact has been huge. And it’s just starting. I’m deeply involved with Occupy.

SD: You’ve got a new book out: Vultures’ Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates, and High- Finance Carnivores. Can you summarize what it’s about?
GP: Vultures are financial speculators who seize the assets of the poorest nations by claiming these countries owe money that the speculators try to collect through intimidation, bribery and theft. One guy associated with this is Paul Singer; he’s Mitt Romney’s top economic adviser. I’ve been investigating how Romney’s “job creator” makes his money, and that’s a story Singer doesn’t want you to hear.

By the way, I’m totally nonpartisan. Even though Singer owns the Republican Party, I point out that he rents the Democratic Party.

Most of the book is a five-continent investigation of British Petroleum. I’m bringing you the stuff you don’t get from CNN or the Petroleum Broadcasting System.

BP’s blowout in the Gulf in 2010 was actually the second big disaster it had. There was also a blowout in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan in 2008, but BP covered it up with a combination of bribery, beatings and blow jobs. [Azerbaijani officials] kept their lips closed and their zippers open.

SD: So your talk in Burlington is part of a book tour?
GP: I’m on a troublemaking tour. My talks are platforms for Occupy activists in their transition away from their fixation with real estate.

SD: You obviously come at stories from a left-wing perspective. Do you ever worry that your ideology might blind you to facts?
GP: I don’t have an ideology. There’s really only the truth and the not-truth. I’m just an old-fashioned gumshoe reporter.

The worst fucking thing about American journalism, by the way, is its “on-the-one-hand-this, on-the-other-that” approach. It really distorts or omits truth.

I exposed [Florida Secretary of State] Katherine Harris for purging thousands of black voters from the electoral rolls. That cost [Al] Gore the 2000 election. It was stolen from him. I documented it.

I could not get that story into the U.S. media. There was a total news blackout of what had happened. It finally got picked up by the L.A. Times, and they played the story as “Democrats accuse Republicans of removing black voters from the rolls; the Republicans deny that.”

Jesus Christ! We don’t have balanced news in the United States; it doesn’t fucking exist. News here isn’t reporting; it’s repeating.

SD: Hang on. You write mostly for British outlets. Are you saying the British press is less influenced by corporate interests than the American press? The same financial dynamics are at work, right?
GP: Wrong. The Guardian is owned by a not-for-profit charitable trust. That’s allowed it to become the most influential English-language paper in the world.

SD: More influential than the New York Times?
GP: The New York Times is influential in New York. People elsewhere see that it’s — what shall we say? — incomplete.

The BBC is the gold standard of journalism. It’s important to know it’s neither corporate owned nor government owned. It’s owned by subscribers, the people who pay £100 a year for a TV license.

SD: Yeah, but Britain doesn’t have a First Amendment or a Freedom of Information Act.
GP: That’s true, but the Brits could borrow our First Amendment, because we’re not using it. And have you tried using FOIA lately? Good luck.

It’s also true that I don’t have any legal protection for stories in the British press. The resulting degree of self-censorship by some reporters is just astonishing.

But it’s still not as bad as it is here. The entire front page of the Guardian last week had my coverage of Singer, Romney’s biggest funder. There wasn’t one mention of his role is the U.S. press.

SD: Staying with journalism for a minute, do you have a journalist hero? George Orwell, maybe?
GP: Only Christopher Hitchens is pompous enough to compare himself with Orwell. My model is Jack Anderson [a Pulitzer Prize-winning modern muckraker who broke scandals involving both Democrats and Republicans].

I also always admired Ron Ridenhour, the soldier who revealed the My Lai massacre [in which 500 Vietnamese villagers were killed by U.S. troops on March 16, 1968]. Ridenhour was the greatest investigative reporter of the last century. He died way too young [of a heart attack in 1998 at age 52].

The TV show “Columbo” had a big influence on me, too. I learned a lot from it about how to do investigations. Lt. Columbo was just totally dogged.

SD: How about Hunter Thompson? You’ve got an image like his.
GP: People make that connection all the time because we have Rolling Stone in common. Another link is Transmetropolitan [a cyberpunk comic book] that did a series that everyone thought was based on Hunter Thompson. It was actually based on Greg Palast, a reporter who goes out and punches bad guys in the face.

But Thompson was a brilliant social analyst, and I’m just a gumshoe guy.

SD: You do look like an old-school reporter with that Humphrey Bogart hat of yours.
GP: I wear the hat because I’m bald and I’ll get painfully sunburned otherwise.

SD: Matt Drudge wears the same kind of hat.
GP: Yeah, some people say I’m a left-wing Matt Drudge, but there’s a big difference: Drudge is full of shit, and I’m full of information.

SD: You must be embarrassed that one of the first things on Google for “Greg Palast” is a 2009 piece you wrote saying what a great job Obama is doing.
GP: It was right after he took office. And it was nice to see him acting for one week like a real president.

SD: So what happened?
GP: Obama was reminded of who elected him. He brought into power guys like Tim Geithner and Larry Summers — Wall Street operatives and protégés of Robert Rubin, who was Clinton’s Treasury secretary [and a Goldman Sachs and Citigroup executive]. Remember, it wasn’t Bush who destroyed the economy; it was a guy named Bill Clinton.

They put the arm on Obama. They reminded him he’s just a tenant.

SD: Do you worry about your safety?
GP: I very much fear for the safety of my sources. Some of them do end up in jail and/or beaten up. It’s insanely dangerous for some of them to talk to me. One of my great sources was just charged with sedition. These guys are insanely courageous. But please don’t give the impression that your life will be threatened if you become my source. That wouldn’t be helpful.

SD: You’re talking about incidents in other countries, right? You haven’t had sources jailed or beaten up in the U.S., have you?
GP: Look at Bradley Manning, America’s most heroic political prisoner [the U.S. Army soldier accused of supplying a cache of secret diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks]. Lots of Americans are facing the ruin of their careers for whistle-blowing.

SD: Have you spent any time in Vermont?
GP: Yeah, skiing at Killington. Also, Ben Cohen is a big supporter of mine. He fills me up with ice cream. And I get along very well with Sen. Sanders. He’s been very helpful to me. In D.C., you know, Bernie’s sort of an honorary member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Greg Palast will talk about “Why We Occupy: How Wall Street Picks the Bones of America,” on December 12 at 7 p.m. in Burlington’s Main Street Landing Film House. A screening of Sam Mayfield’s new film, Gentle Uprising, precedes Palast’s presentation. Donations. Info, 540-2516.

THE RED HOLIDAY PARTY

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:00:00 +0000

You are invited to the annual RED HOLIDAY PARTY with the Burlington branches of the International Socialist Organization!

Friday, December 9th
7:30 pm
602 North Ave. #3
(across the street from Burlington High School)

Carpool available. Park in the BHS parking lot.
For more info, call (802) 373-0329.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Join us for a fun and festive evening with food, drinks, political discussion, and a raffle to support the Center for Economic Research and Social Change*.
This is a great opportunity for occupiers, leftists, radicals,and socialists alike to celebrate our movement and the growing international resistance to the 1%'s austerity and repression. Cheers to our common struggle for a better world!

We hope to see you there!

*CERSC is dedicated to building a better understanding of today's world, and putting forward a vision of a better future. By highlighting alternative voices, especially those that have been pushed to the margins, we hope to promote greater insight and awareness of the injustices that exist in society, and the many efforts at the grassroots to right these wrongs. The Center's projects include the book publisher Haymarket Books, the bimonthly magazine International Socialist Review, and the annual Socialism educational conferences. Recently, CERSC organized a speaking tour of various occupations by John Carlos, a life-long and widely respected activist ever since he and Tommy Smith's raised their gloved fists in the black power salute on the olympic medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

From Arab Spring to American Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:00:00 +0000

How Revolutions Are Made

Monday, December 5
7:00pm
UVM Campus, Lafayette 210

From Cairo to Greece, Madrid and New York, the world is radicalizing and people are fighting back. This is a meeting to address the big questions radicalizing activists have about the Occupy movement, and to take up socialist ideas about how to make a revolution.

Occupy the Environment

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:11:00 +0000

Teach-in
Occupy the Environment:
Is a social movement necessary to create a livable planet?
Part of the 1000 Durbans for Climate Justice Day of Action

Saturday, December 3rd
11am-2pm
Fletcher Free Library, Fletcher Room
235 College Street, Burlington

The UN's COP17 talks on climate change are underway in Durban, South Africa. Rich nations are resisting the calls for climate justice by impacted communities and the Global South. Activists are raising their voices, but elite interests are now pushing to delay a new climate deal until 2020.

At the same time, the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement have redrawn what is politically possible in the US and beyond. We are no longer bound by "political realism" and limitations of the two-party system. We need to solve core problems, like climate change, on the terms of the 99%. Now is the time for a broadened environmental movement with new tactics and strategies. Now is the time for radical change that can save the planet.

Speakers:
Brian Tokar is the director of the Institute for Social Ecology, a UVM professor and the author of Toward Climate Justice (2010) and co-editor with Fred Magdoff of Agriculture and Food in Crisis (2010). Brian will address the state of the climate, as well as social ecology and environmental radicalism.

Fred Magdoff is a UVM emeritus professor, a director of the Monthly Review Foundation, and has written on soils, agriculture, the environment, and political economy for many years. Fred will address themes from his most recent book (with John Bellamy Foster) What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism (2011).

The panel discussion will be followed by an activist-oriented strategy break out for small group discussion.

Sponsored by the Occupy Burlington Environmental Working Group

International Day of Action for Climate Justice called by La Via Campesina and Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.

Endorsement by 350Vermont, International Socialist Organization, Monthly Review, the Vermont Workers' Center, the Peace and Justice Center (list in formation).

For more info or to endorse, email michaelware1205@gmail.com or call 802-490-3875.

#OWS National Day of Action Nov. 17th

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Stand with the 99% on November 17!
Resist austerity. Rebuild the economy. Reclaim our democracy.

Labor unions, community groups, and the Occupy Movement together are holding marches, rallies and protests in cities across the U.S. to highlight the nation's crumbling infrastructure and to demand good jobs now. The national call to action comes from the AFL-CIO, MoveOn.org, and the SEIU. In New York City, where several major unions, including UAW, CWA and AFT, are all backing the daylong action, will hold a mass rally in partnership with Occupy Wall Street.

5:15 Unity Rally to Save the Post Office and thousands of union jobs (Post Office on Elmwood Ave) Followed by march to Edmunds Middle School (Main and Union)

6:00 Teach In/Speak Out: Makin' Trouble For the 1%: Labor Activism Today (Edmunds Middle School Cafeteria)

7:30 Vermont Workers Center "Put People First" Community Meeting (Edmunds Middle School Cafeteria)

Organized by Occupy Burlington Labor Solidarity Working Group.

Endorsed by UVM United Academics; Champlain Valley Labor Council; AAUP/AFT; National Association of Letter Carriers 521; VT Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals; VT AFL-CIO; UE Local 267; UE Local 203; Vermont Workers Center; Burlington International Socialist Organization; Vermont Peace and Justice Center and more.

RSVP on Facebook

Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:26:00 +0000

Tristin Adie speaking at the New England Marxism Conference, November 12, 2011.

Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 from Steve Ramey on Vimeo.

No Power Greater: Marxism and the Centrality of Class

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:23:00 +0000

Shaun Harkin at the New England Marxism Conference, November 12, 2011.

No Power Greater: Marxism and the Centrality of Class from Steve Ramey on Vimeo.

Statement on Loss of Josh - Occupy Burlington, VT

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:52:00 +0000

Written by dozens at Occupy Burlington for release to the media.

Today, November 10th at 2pm, Josh, a valued member of Occupy Burlington and the houseless community, took his own life at the encampment. We want to take this moment to offer our thoughts and condolences to Josh's family, and to the members of the Occupy community who got to know Josh over the last two weeks.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone in the encampment are with his friends and family. We appreciate the support we have received from the Burlington community, the country, and the world. We ask for everyone’s continued support and solidarity as we deal with this tragedy.

From the first day of the encampment, we have welcomed all members of the community by providing anyone in need with food, shelter, and social support. Despite our best efforts to provide care and support to all members of the community, occupations are not equipped with the infrastructure and resources needed to care for the most vulnerable members of our community. The lack of resources to care for those in need was brought to the attention of Burlington city leaders. Unfortunately, our plea for assistance was not heeded in time to help Josh.

This tragedy draws attention to the gross inequalities within our system. We mourn the loss of a great friend tonight, while discovering an ever-deeper resolve to stand with our most vulnerable citizens. The failure to provide citizens with adequate and accessible physical and mental healthcare is one of the many issues this movement is fighting for.

Again, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone reeling from this loss and we deeply appreciate everyone who has offered support, compassion, and solidarity. It is our hope that this tragedy will serve as a rallying cry for occupations around the country to continue the fight for system change.

In Solidarity,
Occupy Burlington

Police and Mayor Use Suicide to Evict Occupy Burlington Campers

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:46:00 +0000

by Dave B.

Shortly after 2:00pm this afternoon Josh, a 35-year-old veteran and Occupy
Burlington activist, shot himself. He was taken to Fletcher Allen Hospital
where, a few hours later, he passed away. This tragedy is a grave loss to our
community and to our movement. Josh was a veteran, a worker, and an un-housed
member of our community. We don't yet know the details surrounding his death; we
don't know why he decided to take his own life. We do know that his death is an
indictment not on our movement, but on everything that our movement is fighting
against. It is an indictment on the system of the one percent, a system that
tolerates homelessness while foreclosed homes lie vacant, that fails to proved
our communities with the resources and the mental-health-care services we need.

As the mainstream media descended upon occupy Burlington it became clear that
they were more interested in sensationalizing our tragedy and blaming our
movement than in mourning Josh's death or discussing the real causes of mental
health crises. As one of Occupy Burlington's delegated media spokespeople
explained:

"The media didn't want to listen to what I had to say and they kept asking me
how I felt about gun laws. This is a systematic problem: we have a veteran
who's homeless and doesn't have access to mental health care who killed himself.
We're standing behind Josh, that is where this movement is. Tonight is about
Josh."

The one percent and its representatives are cynically using this tragedy as an
excuse to crack down on the Occupy movement. Immediately following the shooting,
police cordoned off the south end of the park where the encampment is located.
They left available the unoccupied north end of the park and the central
fountain, where general assembly meetings take place. At 5:00pm Occupy
Burlington came together for a general assembly to mourn Josh's death and to
collectively share our loss. Burlington's "Vermont Progressive Party" mayor Bob
Kiss and his chief of police briefly addressed the assembly to invite the Occupy
movement to a meeting inside city hall (adjacent to the park) at 6:00pm to
discuss how to deal with our tragedy. In good faith, the majority of the
occupiers went into city hall following the general assembly to meet with the
mayor and the police. There they explained to us that the park would need to be
shut down for 24 hours to allow a thorough investigation, that the park would be
re-opened but only between 6:00am and midnight each day, and that tents would be
banned from the park. As we tried to negotiate and ask questions, an occupier
entered from outside and announced that while were were meeting inside, the
police had closed off the the rest of the park and were evicting the remaining
occupiers. Our "progressive" mayor had deceived us by luring us inside so that
his cops could take over the rest of our park.

The occupiers immediately stormed out of city hall and into the park
where we saw that the police had cordoned off the entire park and that about 15 police
officers were deployed in force, armed with guns, paintball guns, tasers, and
gas grenade launchers. Defiantly, the crowd of about 100 activists marched
toward the fountain to reclaim our democratic right to assemble, chanting "Whose
Park? Our Park!". Three large, male, police officers then violently grabbed
Occupy activist Hayley Mason and began pulling her away. "They grabbed me and
said I was under arrest", Mason recounted. "'Don't make me tase you', one of
them repeatedly threatened, as he jabbed his taser at me".

The crowd of activists followed Mason and the police, chanting "Let her go!, Let
her go!". When they got to the police car the activists surrounded Mason,
several cops, and the mayor, and continued chanting: "Give us Hayley!, Give us
Hayley!". When one of the cops asked for her full name, Mason yelled out: "My
name is Troy Davis!". After a 20 minute standoff, with nonstop chanting by
activists, the police finally gave in to our demand and "let her go". Mason
later recalled that she "could hear the mayor and the police chief debating what
to do":

"Eventually the police chief said that he was afraid that 'this is escalating,
we need to let her go'. I heard that the media are saying that the mayor
intervened to have me released. They're lying. It was all of the activist there
who surrounded us and kept chanting and supporting me. We need to say that the
people forced the police let me go."

Today witnessed a huge setback for our movement. Josh's death is a tragic loss
that we have only begun to cope with. We lost our occupation, a major defeat
for the Occupy movement. And while we were fighting to free Hayley Mason,
the police arrested another activist and charged him with illegal trespass.

Yet we did win one, small but important victory today. We learned that the media
and the police and the mayor are not on our side, but we also learned that we
don't need them on our side. When we stand together and unite our voices we have
the power to defend our ranks. We need to demand that tragedy not be used as an
excuse for repression. We need to honor Josh by continuing to raise our voices,
to strengthen our movement, and to unite the 99% against the 1%.

As a formal statement release by Occupy Burlington explains:
"This tragedy draws attention to the gross inequalities within our system. We
mourn the loss of a great friend tonight, while discovering an ever-deeper
resolve to stand with our most vulnerable citizens. . . It is our hope that this
tragedy will serve as a rallying cry for occupations around the country to
continue the fight for system change."

Occupy Movement That's Here to Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:42:00 +0000

With November 17 set as its next national day of action, the Occupy movement faces many challenges--but it has already defined a new era of resistance.The list of what we can do next keeps growing and growing every time activists meet. A number of local Occupies have begun organizing against the foreclosure epidemic, including taking action to stop people from being thrown out of their homes. The support of Occupy activists for ongoing and upcoming union struggles is proving invaluable. Occupy protests are challenging politicians for suppressing our right to free speech and to peaceably assemble. And above all, Occupy is continuing to expose the greed and power of the 1 percent.

Those all represent pieces of the movement's future. But the first steps down the road should be toward November 17.

The November 17 day of action can provide an immediate focus for activism. Workers can rally their coworkers to participate in whatever is planned--members of unions backing the call should use labor's involvement to build even bigger. Students can start planning for action now, with a series of events leading to the 17th. Every organization and movement that has linked up with Occupy can mobilize.

The Occupy movement is making history--but its greatest possibilities still lie ahead.

Read the full version of this important article

Burlington Nov. 2 protest

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:59:00 +0000

In Burlington, Vt., workers and students converged on the campus of the University of Vermont (UVM) to show solidarity with members of United Academics Local 3203 who are fighting against austerity measures at UVM. Mary Lou Kete, an English professor from the University said she was dismayed at the "profit mentality" of the school, and described the administration as "bloated and ineffective."

The crowd of 300 then marched to join Burlington's five-day-old occupation of City Hall Park. Many speakers at the park spoke in support of Occupy Oakland and against police violence. "I beg you," said Marni Faye Salerno, a Burlington resident, "when you see something unjust, or someone acting unjust, fight back!" The day was a fantastic demonstration of unity and passion about the many issues facing the 99 percent.

Full Oakland and other national reports

Plans For Nov. 2 Occupy Day of Action

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:16:00 +0000

On Friday the General Assembly of Occupy Burlington unanimously supported making November 2nd a day of action in solidarity with Oakland's and OWS's call for a general strike and day of action.

See http://socialistworker.org/2011/10/28/general-strike-call-in-oakland

November 2nd will see major mobilizations everywhere there is an Occupy presence. The General Assembly also specifically called for working with the Champlain Valley Central Labor Council to involve area unions. The Labor group was tasked with taking the lead on coordinating this.

We will be meeting at 11:30 on Sunday at the fountain in city hall park. Please join us, the 2nd isn't far away and it is a week day so it will take a bit of work. Solidarity!

National Call From OWS

November 2nd: National Day of Action in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland and in Defense of the Occupy Movement Nationally

On October 25th, Occupy Oakland was brutally attacked by riot police. One protester, Iraq veteran Scott Olsen, remains in critical condition. But on Wednesday, thousands of protesters re-occupied Oscar Grant Plaza in courageous defiance of this attempt at repression. The Oakland General Assembly has called for a general strike on Wednesday, November 2nd. Given this call, and given the national attempt by mayors and police to repress and silence our movement, the Labor Outreach Committee of Occupy Wall Street is calling for a national day of action on November 2nd in solidarity with Occupy Oakland and in defense of the Occupy movement nationally. We urge students, labor, the unemployed and all members of the 99% to take action on that day to send a message that our movement will not be silenced.

Demands from Occupy Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:30:00 +0000

1. Pass a bill to reinstate Glass-Steagall, a safeguard separating banks' commercial lending and investment operations. "Its repeal in 1999 is considered the major cause of the global financial meltdown of 2008-09," the group states.

2. Repeal Bush-era tax cuts.

3. Prosecute the Wall Street criminals who clearly broke the law and helped cause the 2008 financial crisis.

4. Overturn a 2010 Supreme Court decision that allows corporations "to contribute unlimited amounts of money to campaigns."

5. Pass the Warren Buffett rule on fair taxation, close corporat tax loopholes, prohibit hiding funds offshore.

6. Give the Securities and Exchange Commission stricter regulatory power, strengthen the Consumer Protection Bureau and help victims of predatory lending whose home loans have been foreclosed.

7. Take steps to limit the influence of lobbyists and eliminate the practice of lobbyists writing legislation.

8. Eliminate (the) right of former government regulators to work for corporations or industries they once regulated.

9. Eliminate corporate personhood.

10. Insist the Federal Elections Commission "ensure that political candidates are given equal time for free at reasonable intervals during campaign season."

11. Pass the Fair Elections Now Act.

12. Forgive student debt.

Source: http://occupychi.org/

Occupy Wall Street Burlington

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:18:00 +0000

Join us and hundreds of others Sunday for the weekly rally of Occupy Wall Street Burlington. City Hall Park, 12:30-2:00

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251658048203937

After three weeks, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has inspired many, and given voice to deep grievances against the wealthy and corrupt 1% and against the basic injustice and destructiveness of the system. We are the 99% who should have healthcare, jobs, a world without endless war, a world that isn't environmentally imploding.

This week major labor unions rallied with OWS, fundamentally extending its reach and engaging working class forces that have real power to win change.

Solidarity with our sisters and brothers rejecting continued austerity and the class war being waged against us!
Solidarity with the faculty and staff at UVM resisting concessionary contracts!
Solidarity with the postal unions defending the Post Office against Washington's attacks!
Tax the rich, end the wars, no more budget cuts!

See you on Sunday!

Coverage from Socialist Worker
Making Common Cause Against Wall Street
Union support for Occupy Wall Street can give the movement new social power.

From OWS:

"Brothers and sisters, I want to thank the folks from the Occupy Wall Street movement for sparking the labor movement and showing us—-showing us the way to do it. The way to do it is not to have conversations with politicians in the corridors of Albany and the corridors of Washington, D.C., it’s to take it to the streets. And thank you for showing us how to do it."
--John Samuelson(President, Transit Workers Union, Local 100) on October 5th

Rally In Support Of Postal Workers!

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:49:00 +0000

Tuesday (tomorrow), September 27th
4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
City Hall Park in Burlington

Tomorrow, members of the four employee unions of the United States Postal Service—

• American Postal Workers Union
• National Association of Letter Carriers
• National Postal Mail Handlers Union
• National Rural Letter Carriers' Association

—will join forces with members of our communities to send a message to the nation and its Congress.

We are proud to announce the participation of the National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) in the effort to Save America's Postal Service. NAPS members must take decisive action to let their member of Congress know that the Postal Service, an agency who serves every constituent in their respective districts needs relief that can only be assured through the passage of HR 1351. This is the time to join with all other employee groups to get this message to our members of Congress.

During these informational rallies, we will visit the home office of each member of the House of Representatives.

We will thank those members who have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351, a bill that addresses the financial crisis facing the Postal Service.

And we will encourage those who have not signed as co-sponsors of H.R. 1351 to do so.

Join us at City Hall Park Tomorrow!

Why You Should Support Our Postal Workers

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Postal Workers Need Your Support

ISO Organizing Meeting
Thursday, September 29th
7pm, Edmunds Middle School

Agenda:
-Socialist Worker article discussion: 'Why Postal Workers Need Your Support' (Find the article here)
-Assessment of Slutwalk, Fed Up, and what the working group should do--carry on, disband, or something in between?
-Shifting our work towards labor, class and fighting racism: what does that mean for building the ISO, branch work, and our division of labor? Who will be in the labor working group and what would it do?

noreply@blogger.com (Helen) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:41:00 +0000

September 22nd 7pm

branch meeting: discussion of the murder of Troy Davis, its significance, and how we can continue his struggle for justice.

Rally and vigil for Troy Davis, 6 pm tonight Burlington City Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:14:00 +0000

The murder of Troy Davis is scheduled at 7 pm tonight.

Troy Davis, an innocent man in Georgia on death-row, has been denied clemency and will be executed on Wednesday. We will rally tonight to show our outrage at this travesty of justice and our dedication to ending the racist death penalty. We are Troy Davis!

Read more http://socialistworker.org/2011/09/21/dont-let-them-murder-troy

***Until then, Judge Penny Freesemann can withdraw Troy Davis' death warrant. Call now! 912-652-7252***

RALLY TO SUPPORT VERMONT'S RIGHT TO REPLACE VERMONT YANKEE

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:13:00 +0000

RALLY TO SUPPORT VERMONT'S RIGHT TO REPLACE VERMONT YANKEE

Saturday, Sept 10th
1:00-2:30 p.m.
Wells Fountain, Main Street (upper end), Brattleboro, VT

Support Vermont in its decision to shutter Vermont Yankee and replace it with
sustainable energy solutions.

When Entergy failed in its effort to get the Vermont Senate to redo its
historic vote in 2010, it sued the state to steal our vote away. On Monday,
September 12th, Entergy's lawsuit against the state will be heard in federal
court in Brattleboro.

It’s important that we publicly stand behind the Vermont Legislature’s
courageous act in support of the will of the people. We must make clear
that just because this issue is now in the courts, we, the people, haven’t
gone to sleep or gone away.

PLEASE JOIN US…and hear good music and speeches!

Please contact vermontiso@gmail.com or call 802-490-3875 if you are interested in carpooling from Burlington.

(Co sponsored by Citizens Awareness Network, Safe and Green Campaign, and
Nuclear Free Vermont by 2012)

Everything you wanted to know about SOCIALISM but were afraid to ask

noreply@blogger.com (Michael W) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:17:00 +0000

Are you sick of corporate greed, budget cuts,
endless war, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, sexism,
and environmental destruction?

THEN YOU MAY BE A SOCIALIST.

Join this discussion of the real socialist tradition and
the needed steps for forging a better world.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th @ 7pm
Edmunds Middle School library
275 Main Street (enter from Main St.)
Burlington

Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization
Burlington City Branch

for more info:
vermontiso@gmail.com
802-490-3875
facebook.com/vtiso

Friday Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:18:00 +0000

Slavery and the Origins of the Civil War and a debate on Spontaneity and Revolution

As dictators fall before the uprisings of the Arab Spring, Europe’s fight against austerity builds, and faith in Washington falls so low, a major poll termed U.S. sentiment “pre-revolutionary,” revolutionary politics are making a coming back. What lessons can activists take from social revolutions past? What questions do they present? Join us for this discussion of articles from the latest ISR on two important and contentious revolutions—the U.S. Civil War and Russia’s February 1917 revolution—to consider today.

Friday, Sept. 9
Discussion 7-8:30 pm
Party: 8:30—
326 S. Union St., #3
Burlington
802-922-2373
BYOB. Light snacks will be provided.
Articles available at http://isreview.org

Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization

UE Local 267/UVM Rally for a Fair Contract!

noreply@blogger.com (Vermont ISO) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Members of UE Local 267 representing service and maintenance staff at
UVM are rallying to resist UVM's proposed massive givebacks!

UVM continues to propose a wage freeze the first year and only 1/2%
increase for the second and third years.

UVM wants to make retirement health benefits unaffordable for present
and future employees and eliminate the benefit entirely for new hires.

They want to phase out retiree health benefits so that most incumbent
employees will be forced to work until age 65 or 67 before they can
retire and receive Medicare benefits.

UVM wants to raise insurance contributions for most active employees
DESPITE the fact they promised the university community they would not
raise rates and DESPITE the fact they actually got a REDUCTION in
their insurance rates this past year.

The union is proposing no change to active and retiree health benefits
and a fair wage increase.

Wednesday, August 31 · 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Waterman Building, UVM
Facebook Event

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ISO Community Branch - Organizing Meeting

Thursday Sept. 1 @ 7pm
Edmunds Middle School, room 111,
275 Main Street (enter from Union St.), Burlington

Agenda
-Discussion on article Who really won in Libya?
Another dictator is being toppled in North Africa--but the regime that will replace his will be beholden to imperialist powers that don't care at all about democracy.
-The new movement for women's liberation, and organizing for slutwalk and abortion rights in Burlington
-Building Fall kickoff meeting: Everything you wanted to know about socialism
-working groups breakouts: Women's rights and shutting down VT Yankee