via Sarah Jaffe:

To make a mess that another person will have to deal with—the dropped socks, the toothpaste sprayed on the bathroom mirror, the dirty dishes left from a late-night snack—is to exert domination in one of its more silent and intimate forms. -Barbara Ehrenreich, in “Made to Order,” an essay from the anthology Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, co-edited with Arlie Russell Hochschild

[This quote is] relevant to an argument I just had about “disruptive” protest at Walmart in supposed solidarity with the Black Friday strikes. Picket, protest, march and rally all you want, hold a sit-in, but please, before you do things like deliberately create a mess in the store or leave a full cart in the checkout line, consider who’s going to have to clean up the mess that you make. It’s not going to be Rob Walton or any of the other multibillionaires. It won’t even be the assistant manager. It’ll be the same low-wage worker who maybe wanted to go on strike but wasn’t quite convinced, or who was threatened by their boss, who’s working an extra-long shift on the worst shopping day of the year.

Solidarity doesn’t mean you decide for yourself what is best for the workers. It means showing up in the ways they need and want you to and letting them decide how to build worker power.

We ask you to reflect on the statement issued by workers and Making Change at Wal-Mart as you plan your Black Friday solidarity action:

Across the country, Wal-Mart employs 1.4 million people. We are not just the Associates that you see in stores, we are moms and dads, sons and daughters, husbands and wives working hard to support our families.

We have been speaking out for good jobs with decent pay, regular hours, affordable healthcare and respect, but instead of working with us to make changes, Wal-Mart has attempted to silence us and has retaliated against us for speaking out. Our jobs have been threatened, our hours cut, our schedules changed. Some of us have even been fired.

We will not be silenced. Throughout the holiday season, including Black Friday, we will be standing up for an end to the retaliation against workers who speak out for what’s right for our families, our communities and our country, and we hope that you will stand with us. It is not an easy decision, but without an end to the retaliation, Wal-Mart workers across the country will be walking off the job in protest, and we hope you will join us in creative, non-violent action in solidarity with our strike. We ask that supporters take action that spreads the word about our strikes and demonstrates to Wal-Mart a wave of support for workers who are speaking out.

Together, we are calling on Wal-Mart to end the retaliation against hard-working employees who are courageously speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and more hours, affordable health care and respect.

We will not be silenced until we see real change at Wal-Mart.

Sincerely, OUR Wal-Mart Workers

Editors note: Please consider supporting the Wal-Mart Strikers Food Fund

[Via]

During an appearance at a forum hosted by Univision, President Barack Obama was asked by the host what his biggest failure was during almost four years in office. Obama said he was disappointed that he was not able to change the tone in Washington.

“The most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside, you can only change it from the outside,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s how I got elected, and that’s how the big accomplishments like health care got done — was because we mobilized the American people to speak out. That’s how we were able to cut taxes for middle-class families.”

Then within an hour...

“The president today threw in the white flag of surrender,” Mr. Romney said at a large outdoor rally. “He went from the president of change to the president who can’t get change.” “I can change Washington, I will change Washington. We’ll get the job done from the inside. Republicans and Democrats will come together.”

Hoo boy, did the man running the most divisive political campaign, possibly ever, just say Republicans and Democrats will come together?!?

But I think the "strategery" is coming into focus, and it's called "Grasping at Straws." Anticipate a lot of these quick responses to anything Obama says that his staff thinks up a way to twist, between now and election day. This response is especially hilarious as it was one of the major themes of his 2008 campaign:

A spokeswoman for Obama’s campaign said “Once again, Mitt Romney is trying to take the heat off himself by taking the president’s words wildly out of context,” Liz Smith, the spokeswoman, said. “What the president said today is no different than what he has been saying for many years – that change comes from outside Washington, not inside.”

Ms. Smith added: “Mitt Romney apparently doesn’t believe that change comes from the American people. Maybe that’s because he has written off half the country in this election.”

Hat tip to Andrew Kaczynski for the videos.

President Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night with an appeal for another four years to continue with the platform of "change" he was elected on in 2008. "If you reject the notion that this nation’s promise is reserved for the few, your voice must be heard in this election," Obama said.

“On every issue, the choice you face won’t be just between two candidates or two parties."

“It will be a choice between two different paths for America."

“A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future."

“I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. And by the way – those of us who carry on his party’s legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington."

“But know this, America: Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future. I’m asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country – goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit; a real, achievable plan that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That’s what we can do in the next four years, and that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.”

Obama presented a clear set of achievable goals on manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit – an achievable plan that will create jobs, expand opportunity, and ensure an economy built to last.

Obama's speech may not have been the "best" speech of the convention this week, but I think there is a message there for every one of us, and the message is that he has heard our voices. If you think he hasn't heard the cries of Occupy Wall Street, listen to this speech. Goals centered around jobs, education, college tuition, and energy. The message of "Hope" and "Change" are still there, but they've been tempered by four years of the reality of money and politics in Washington, just as all of our dreams have been.

The President himself has acknowledged that there is much more to be done, and has accepted the nomination again, and stands ready to help us face our challenges.

Personally, I'd rather not hand it all over to Mitt Romney in mid-struggle and wait to see what's left of our nation when he's finished with it.

A full transcript of Obama's speech follows below the fold.

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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced today in a press release that it has recently moved its primary banking relationship to Amalgamated Bank, America's Labor Bank. The DNC will use Amalgamated Bank's cash management services to handle its day-to-day banking needs.

Amalgamated Bank was founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America so that workers, labor unions, and progressive organizations would be able to bank with an institution that represented their interests. Today, Amalgamated Bank's largest shareholder is Workers United, an SEIU affiliate.

In announcing the new alliance with Amalgamated, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, "We are proud to join forces with Amalgamated Bank, an organization with a 90-year legacy of reflecting the values of our nation's middle class. Amalgamated and the Democratic Party share a common heritage of advocating for positive changes in our economy and society to help working men and women achieve their fair share of the American dream. Furthermore, at the DNC, we have a fiduciary responsibility to those who invest in our party; it is critical that we honor their efforts to strengthen our infrastructure and build our organization by partnering with an institution that shares our commitment to standing with America's working families and small businesses, who we believe are the backbone of our country."

RT's Anastasia Churkina talks to Occupy activist and war veteran Scott Olsen on the state of affairs in the U.S. today, and the changes that have taken place since the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

"Most likely people are either going to vote for Democrats or Republicans and I think both those are wrong choices. They are both working for the same system, they are both taking money from the same people, from the same banks and you can see in their policy that they are rewarding their donors. Voting for the continuing of this policy is not going to change anything at all," explains Olsen.

On alternatives in the coming election, Olsen said "You can vote for the third party that may not win. You may count voting for the third party as a waste of vote, but I think voting for a Democrat or a Republican is a waste of vote. You are shooting yourself in the foot if you are voting for either of those."

A great conversation with Scott Olsen. He talks about war, being a veteran, homeless veterans and the tragedy of 18 military veterans daily committing suicide in the U.S.

You'll also hear Scott's thoughts on the Occupy movement, and what's ahead for Occupy Wall Street now that it's approaching its first anniversary.

A full transcript follows below the fold...

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It's more than 20 years since a recording of police violence sparked riots in Los Angeles. The beating of Rodney King was caught on video and the footage shocked the world.

But two decades later how much has changed?

To discuss this, Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, is joined by guests: Jumana Musa, a human rights lawyer who is deputy director of the Rights Working Group; Gustavo Arellano, the editor of the OC Weekly, a newspaper that has been covering the shootings; and Raymond Lewis, a retired Philadelphia police captain who was arrested by New York police while taking part in the Occupy Wall Street protests last year.

On Saturday, police in the Californian city of Anaheim shot and killed Manuel Diaz, an unarmed man who they said was running from them, hitting him in the leg and the back of the head.

Police said he and another young man shot dead the following day were both gang members. But local residents say the Latino men were victims of racial profiling and an overly aggressive police force.

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The Arctic ice we all depend on is disappearing. Fast. Soon it could be ice free for the first time since humans walked the Earth. This would be not only devastating for the people, polar bears, narwhals, walruses and other species that live there - but for the rest of us too.

Oil companies are using melting sea ice to drill for more of the oil that is causing global warming in the first place. In fact, Shell’s Arctic fleet will be arriving any day now to begin exploratory drilling off the coast of Alaska this summer. That's just madness. It's time for us to take back sanity from those who have lost the plot.

Our leaders won't listen to her, but they'll listen to you. What do you have to say to those who want to destroy the Arctic?

Greenpeace, Jude Law, Radiohead and hundreds of thousands of people around the world are coming together to demand we save the Arctic from oil drilling, industrial fishing and militarization. Join us at http://www.savethearctic.org

Spot 1 99% Get Money Out from sandrine on Vimeo.

The 99% Get Money Out campaign echoes two of the strongest messages emanating from the Occupy Movement: a vast majority of us know many things in this country need to change, and those changes can only happen once our elected leaders represent our needs. It’s time to get corporate money and interests out of politics.

The campaign features real people of all ages, professions and political ideologies who were asked to voice their concerns and discuss solutions to the nation’s most pressing issues: the economy, jobs, housing, education and preserving our constitutional rights. The campaign was developed by executive producer Mike Fleiss ("The Bachelor"), producer Anke Thommen (Outkast’s "Hey Ya") and director Sandrine Orabona (Michael Jackson’s "This Is It"). It was filmed by cinematographer Russell Carpenter ("Titanic," "Charlie's Angels") and had the support of the National Nurses Union and many other industry professionals.

I am the 99% and so are you!

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This video is part of a five-part "How to Film Protests" series, which incorporates the best practices Witness has developed with over 300 partners in 80 countries who are using video for human rights documentation and to create lasting change.

From raw documentation of human rights violations in Syria to the Occupy protests and the range of police abuse and misconduct therein, citizen video is an increasingly powerful tool for human rights documentation.

Now more than ever we need to ensure that the footage that we capture as activists incorporates essential information like the exact date, time and location so it may best be used by the media, as evidence, and for advocacy. Additionally, we need to pay special attention to the unique safety and security risks that we face as filmmakers and activists, as well as risks to those we capture in our footage.

For more info, go here.

A new video released by Occupy High has announced a May 1st "Walkout" as they stand in solidarity with the Occupy movement and workers everywhere.

Here is the text of a letter addressed to the city of New York that was read aloud in the video:

Dear New York City,

We, the students of public education, are here to inform you about the injustice that is taking place in our school system:

* The privatization of our school system
* The budget cuts
* Lack of appropriate leadership
* Malicious closings/phasing out of schools against the communities’ wishes.
* Cell phone policies
* Overcrowded classes & abuse of SAFE rooms
* Over policing of our schools and the criminalization of our youth

We feel that these issues are setting our students up for failure, and we DEMAND a change! We believe that trying to control our schools is just another symptom of the blatant racism in our country similar to the government’s response to the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin.

Because of this, our first action will be a mass student walkout on May 1st at 12pm to Fort Greene Park. We will be holding teach-ins, teen summits & other peaceful events.

Please add your name to our letter and support us in our struggle for our education.

Signed,

Student Leadership Paul Robeson HS

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/192822994163133/