Today, Monday May 13th, New Yorkers from Occupy the Pipeline, Occupy Sandy, and over twenty partner groups will march and rally to greet President Obama when he attends a fundraiser with members of the 1% at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue.

Carbon dioxide levels have now surpassed 400 parts per million, a long-feared milestone. We must act now.

Join us if you stand against fossil fuel pipelines, against fracking, against tar sands, and FOR a country powered by wind, water and solar.

Gather in Bryant Park starting at 5 (meet near the fountain off 6th avenue at 41st Street). Reverend Billy and his choir will lead us off with a rousing blessing and song. We'll begin to march at 5:30, then rally in front of the Waldorf Astoria at 6:30. Please wear yellow and orange to demonstrate your support for a clean energy future.

RSVP and Share on Facebook!

Event Partners: 350 NYC, 350 NJ, 350.org, 99Rise, Brooklyn For Peace, Coalition Against the Rockaway Pipeline (CARP), CREDO, CUNY Divest, Food & Water Watch, Global Kids Inc., Green Party of NY, Human Impacts Institute, NYC Friends of Clearwater, NYU Divest, Occupy the Pipeline, Occupy Sandy, Restore the Rock, Sane Energy Project, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Sierra Club National, United for Action, World Can't Wait, WESPAC, YANA (You Are Never Alone).

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

To give you just a taste of what transpired, many Occupiers helped organize and took part in a Free University in Cooper Square Park, outside of Cooper Union, the art school besieged by their greedy and inept Trustees who have decided to charge tuition for the first time since its founding, against the express conditions under which Peter Cooper set up the school. Courses included “Organizing a NYC Student Movement,” “Understanding Basic Economics and Finance,” “Imagining a Student-Worker Run University,” “Climate Debt/Climate Justice,” and “Building a Commons in NYC.”

The OWS Screenprinters Coop were busy at work in Union Square during the May Day rally, screenprinting t-shirts and upcycled materials brought by the public. The design, from the 1968 French student riots - “Beauty is in the Street.”

Want more May Day coverage?

Check out this piece on the Guitarmy with video and songs to play in your community, and read on below!

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Watch these ‘Vines’ for Visuals of OWS at #MayDayNYC

A taste of OWS May Day activities in Union Square

https://vine.co/v/bQmQLMwFewV

Sandy Survivors and Occupy Sandy leading a chant

https://vine.co/v/bQm0wDV79O9

The People’s Puppets march down Broadway

https://vine.co/v/bQKptAOKiig

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Via Occupy Wall Street:

Schedule of Events

10:00 AM: Anti-Capitalist Demo @ City Front Plaza

12:45pm - 2:00pm: Occupy Chicago May Day Solidarity Speak Out @ Union Park, Randolph and Ashland

2:00pm - 4:30pm: International Workers Day March for Immigration Reform @ Union Park, march to Federal Plaza begins 3:00pm

4:30: Rally at Federal Plaza

Additional Info:

http://occupychi.org/

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyChicago

A day after the funeral of 16-year-old Kimani Gray, about a hundred people turned out to once again protest his shooting by the NYPD.

Gray was shot by two officers in East Flatbush on March 9 after police said he pulled a gun on them. But Gray's family and supporters have argued that no witnesses saw Gray with a gun.

Marchers at Sunday's rally began at the location where Gray was killed and walked to the 67th precinct, where the two plainclothes officers who shot Gray are stationed. The protesters are demanding that those officers be charged with a crime.

The rally and march was organized by members from a number of community activist groups, including Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Parents Against Police Brutality. Participants from pro-worker organizations and Occupy Wall Street were also in attendance.

ABC News:

The teen's funeral, at a Roman Catholic church not far from where he was killed, drew relatives, friends, and many mourners who had no connection to the teen or his family except a shared sadness over his death. Many mourners wore clothing or carried laminated cards bearing Gray's picture.

"He was funny. And he always knew how to put a smile on my face," said Sidonie Smith, a childhood friend. "Anytime somebody was in a bad mood, he always knew how to make them happy."

The emotion of the service was too much for Gray's father, who fled the church as the choir sang "Amazing Grace." Gray's mother sobbed during the memorial.

The NYPD deployed a large security force to the area around the church during the service, but there was no repeat of the disturbances that came in the days after the shooting.

The Gothamist reported that the NYPD used an "LRAD X" device during the march:

Groups protesting police brutality staged a rally at the vigil site for Kimani Gray on Sunday afternoon, followed by a march that wound through East Flatbush and eventually to the 67th Precinct. Throughout the march, the 200 or so demonstrators were accompanied by an astounding number of police, one of whom brandished a megaphone designed as a non-lethal deterrent. At times police appeared to outnumber protesters by three or four to one. One protester was detained after stepping off of the sidewalk, but an NYPD spokesman could not confirm that any arrests were made.

An officer from the NYPD's Disorder Control Unit carried the suitcase-sized "LRAD X," a super megaphone of sorts that the company's website describes as capable of issuing a "warning tone [that] provides a non-lethal deterrent, [and] shapes behavior." The LRAD X was not used in any kind of weaponized way. “Just knowing it's here makes me nervous,” protester Libor Von Schonau said. The company is primarily known for its larger LRAD product, a powerful sound cannon that can cause severe injuries not only to those targeted for its use, but also to bystanders.

This reporter has covered countless marches and demonstrations accompanied by a heavy police presence and has never seen that device. The officer carrying the "LRAD X" refused to respond to questions.

Kimani Gray was buried Saturday at the St. Catherine of Genoa Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn.

Via OccupyWallStreet.net:

On March 10th, 40 Occupiers gathered at Judson Church for the Unorganized Workers Assembly to share experiences and tactics about a wide range of workplace organizing campaigns and projects around the city. The assembly was sponsored by Occupy Your Workplace (OYWP), a working group coming out of OWS. From Hot N Crusty to Golden Farm and Tom Cat Bakery, restaurant workers to carwasheros, Student-Worker solidarity at Columbia University and organizing in the Arts industry, New York is buzzing with initiatives.

Breakout groups discussed both the theory and practice of workplace organizing as well as ways to build solidarity across campaigns. There was also a discussion of an ongoing project of OYWP: a workplace Operations Manual inspired by the Debt Resistors manual, which issued an open call for submissions about workplace experiences of the 99%. The manual aims to locate the strategies and tactics of resistance used by the 99% to gain power and visibility in the workplace. There is also an editorial group open to people willing to work on shaping the manual.

Join the Occupy Your Workplace/Organize the Unorganized Facebook group and learn more about the OYWP mailing list, find details about any of their projects, or to get information about upcoming Unorganized Workers Assemblies.

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy in The News

Tidal #4: Block by Block is ready for download. Articles include meditations on Debt and the Commons, reflections on Occupy Sandy and the connections between Occupy and the Civil Rights Movement.

Occupywallstreet.net reports on the third day of demonstrations spurred on by the death of sixteen-year-old Kimani Gray, with on-the-scene coverage from Occupy activist Austin Guest.

On the blog, Waging Nonviolence, Yotam Marom compares his feelings about Kimani Gray to those he had in 2011 when Georgia executed Troy Davis, “I remember the rally held at Union Square, and the feeling that it was one of the most real political moments I’ve ever experienced — with the deepest hurt and the rawest anger mingling together in a beautiful and tragic human knot.”

Alexis Goldstein, former VP at Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch and now OWS activist, reports back on a recent visit to the Rachel Maddow Show where she talked about the Senate hearing on JPMorganChase’s so-called ‘whale’ trades--the risky derivative trades that ended up costing the company six billion dollars in losses. After a nine month investigation, the bank was found to have “ignor[ed] risks, deceiv[ed] investors, [and fought] with regulators.” According to Goldstein, “the great abuse of the London Whale trade is that it was done with “excess deposits,” which is depositor money (your checking account, my savings account) that is not loaned out. JPMorgan gambled customer money, and then lied about it.”

Strike Debt’s coming action--abolishing over one million dollars in medical debt for randomly chosen people in Indiana and Kentucky--can’t help but garner attention. CNN Money and The Daily News reported on Strike Debt’s work and helped to spread the word about the national week of action taking place right now.

Featured Occu-Project

http://osproject.tumblr.com/

In the spirit of mutual-aid, the Occupy Sandy Grants/Projects Group brings you this web-based resource of projects coming out of OS and OWS, and tips on structuring and funding them.

Submissions welcome, contact Kristian at knammack AT gmail.com.

#LifeOrDebt Week of Action

Thursday, March 21st, 4:00pm

Strike Private Health Insurance

Bryant Park

Kick off the Strike Debt week of action with a rally and creative actions against the private insurance companies!

Saturday, March 23rd, 9:30am-7:00pm

Life or Debt: A Day of Free Healthcare and Education

Judson Church, 55 Washington Square South and Washington Square Park

Join us on March 23 for a day of free healthcare, radical education and a march to highlight community hospital closings. @Washington Square Park 9:30am – all day: Free education, legal advice, performances and music 2pm – March to highlight community hospital closings

@Judson Church 9:30am – 1:30pm: A health fair with FREE HEALTHCARE! 5:30pm – 7pm: Continuation of health fair. We also plan to have practitioners on call to answer medical questions live on the internet all day!

Saturday, March 23rd, 9:30am-7:00pm

Occupy Town Square: Life or Debt

Washington Square Park

Occupy Town Square has joined Strike Debt in a day of free healthcare, radical education and a march to highlight community hospital closings. If you are interested in tabling, doing a teach-in, or have other ideas for how you would like to participate, drop us a line!

We also plan to have practitioners on call to answer medical questions live on the internet all day! It wouldn't be an Occupy Town Square without the OWS Screen Printers! Bring your blank T-shirts, totes and other clothing for the brilliant screeners to customize.

Sunday, March 24th, 1:00pm

Hospital Closings Protest

Former Site of St. John’s Hospital Queens, 90-02 Queens Blvd.

St. John’s Hospital Queens has been closed for about 4 years now. At the time of its closing, St. John’s and its sister hospital had debts and losses in excess of $110 million. Our debt-ridden healthcare system drives hospitals into closure. Join us to demand that healthcare, hospital, and medical debt be absolved, so that healthcare stops driving community hospitals — and people — into bankruptcy.

Occupy these Actions & Events

March 22nd - March 24th

Organizing New York

United Federation of Teachers building, 52 Broadway

A “Force Multiplier” is an approach or tool that dramatically increases effectiveness or impact.

For the new generation of political changemakers, mastering the tools of organizing is that force multiplier. That’s the thinking behind Sunday’s Rootscamp, a day long unconference that is part of a three day Organizing New York training event.

Master advanced social media techniques, grassroots fundraising, tips on messaging for the media, or learn about new tools and strategies you haven’t even heard of yet. Have questions? Please email ONY@organizing20.org. (Your Inbox: Occupied has endorsed this event).

Saturday, March 23rd, noon-2pm

Divest from TD Bank Day of Action and Rally

Union Square, 14th Street

Join Occupy the Pipeline, 350.org and Sane Energy Project as we call out TD Bank for Greenwashing their Image! We are Calling for All Concerned Citizens to Stop Providing Tar Dollars for Total Destruction! If you have money in TD Bank we think it’s time to MOVE YOUR MONEY. You don’t have to live in NYC to join in this Action! Learn more

Sunday, March 24rd, noon-3pm

National Day of Action to Save the People’s Post Office

James A. Farley Post Office, 421 8th Ave

Congress has manufactured a crisis in the Post Office by requiring it to pre-fund its employee benefits for 75 years. Their ‘solution’ is to cut Saturday Delivery service, following the standard prescription of cutting public services before privatizing them. Tell Congress to stop dismantling the Postal Service so it can keep Delivering for America at this rally.

Monday, March 25th, 7:30pm

Everybody now! Direct Action Singing Group

Judson Memorial Church

To be a part of Everybody Now!, all you have to do is start to sing (or whistle, or hum). We amplify the voice of direct action, not just in loudness, but in beauty and in power. New to Everybody Now? Our mission statement lives here: http://everybodynow.net/about/

7:30-8: Skill Share, 8-9:30: Singing Together, 9:30-10: Discussion + Snacks

Do you have ideas for songs that you would like to share? Or an event/rally/action/march that you think we should collaborate with? Let us know!

Wednesday March 27 - 7pm

Building an Alternative to the Two Parties of Wall St.

CUNY Graduate Center Room 5414 (365 5th Ave, Manhattan, btw 34th & 35th)

Join Occupier Kshema Sawant, Lucas Sanchez from NY Communities for Change and Eljeer Hawkins for a discussion how we can continue to build a left alternative to the two parties of Wall Street. Last Fall, Kshama Sawant ran against the Washington state’s Democratic Speaker of the House to demonstrate that it is, in fact, possible to challenge the two parties of big business. She won a historic 29% of the vote as a Socialist Alternative candidate even though her campaign refused corporate donations and was largely ignored by the corporate media!

Friday, March 29th, 6:30-9:00pm

Women’s History Month Assembly

60 Wall Street

In this special assembly to honor and commemorate Women’s History Month, we will discuss the issues surrounding women and the importance of organizing around Feminism and Womanism and their connection and effectiveness in combating the issues that People of Color, the Working Class, Women, Poor People and all of the 99% face today.

Saturday, March 30th, 10am-8:00pm

Building the Commons - Making Worlds

The Brooklyn Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue
“Making Worlds: a Commons Coalition” was formed during the occupation of Zuccotti Park in order to bring projects working to reclaim the commons to the fore of the Occupy movement. Last year’s Forum on the Commons sought to conceptualize and explore different areas for commoning – natural resources, arts and education, care and reproduction, alternative economies. This year, we would like to open up space for a horizontal conversation with a strong focus on the concrete processes of commoning that are taking place or could take place in New York City now. To register and for a detailed schedule please visit makingworlds.org

Despised dog abandoner Governor Rick Scott of Florida, plagued by low approval ratings in the polls, finally has a new group of supporters -- the Satanists.

The Satanic Temple is planning its first major rally, which will be held in support of Gov. Rick Scott later this month for signing a bill that allows for the possibility of prayer in public schools.

Via:

The Florida bill that has delighted the Satanists is Senate Bill 98 and gives students "sole discretion in determining whether an inspirational message is to be delivered" at a student assembly. The bill prohibits school officials from participating in or influencing whether an inspirational message will be delivered.

Satanists feel that the policy "does a lot to support religious diversity," according to Greaves.

"The Satanic Temple embraces the free expression of religion, and Satanists are happy to show their support of Rick Scott who -- particularly with SB 98 -- has reaffirmed our American freedom to practice our faith openly, allowing our Satanic children the freedom to pray in school," the Temple said in a release announcing the rally.

'This is a great country. Everyone has a voice,' Gov. Scott's press secretary wrote in an email to ABCNews.com when asked about the rally."

A spokesman for The Satanic Temple estimates that "thousands" will attend the rally, based on online interest.

President Obama's final campaign rally was held Monday night in Des Moines, Iowa, wrapping up the 2012 campaign with an emotional speech marked by references to his 2008 campaign and the Iowa caucus victory that helped catapult his political career.

"I came back to ask you to help us finish what we started because this is where our movement for change began," Obama declared. "To all of you who’ve lived and breathed the hard work of change: I want to thank you. You took this campaign and made it your own ... starting a movement that spread across the country.

"When the cynics said we couldn't, you said yes we can. You said yes we can and we did. Against all odds, we did," he said.

The President wiped an occasional tear from his eye, and while looking over a crowd of 20,000 concluded the night by telling the story of Edith Childs, who inspired the "fired up, ready to go" chant of his first presidential campaign.

There's nothing really new in Obama's remarks in Iowa, but he does outline his vision for a second term in much clearer terms than he is given credit for doing.

On the morning after the first presidential debate, President Obama mocked the Mitt Romney he encountered last night as decidedly different from "the real Mitt Romney" on the campaign trail. During the chilly morning at Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver on Thursday, Obama touted his plan for restoring the middle class.G

Now, the reason I was in Denver obviously is to see all of you, and it’s always pretty, but we also had our first debate last night. And when I got on to the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney. But it couldn’t have been Mitt Romney because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that. The real Mitt Romney said we don’t need any more teachers in our classrooms, but -don't boo, vote – but the fellow on stage last night, he loves teachers, can’t get enough of them. The Mitt Romney we all know invested in companies that were called pioneers of outsourcing jobs to other countries, but the guy on stage last night, he said that he doesn’t even know that there are such laws that encourage outsourcing. He’s never heard of them. Never heard of them. Never heard of tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas. He said that if it’s true, he must need a new accountant.

Now, we know for sure it was not the real Mitt Romney because he seems to be doing just fine with his current accountant. So you see, the man on stage last night, he does not want to be held accountable for their real Mitt Romney’s decisions and what he’s been saying for the last year and that’s because he knows full well that we don’t want what he’s been selling for the last year. So Governor Romney may dance around his positions, but if you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth. So here’s the truth – Governor Romney cannot pay for his $5 trillion tax plan without blowing up the deficit or sticking it to the middle class. That’s the math. We can’t afford to go down that road again. We can’t afford another round of budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy. We can’t afford to gut out investments in education or clean energy or research and technology. We can’t afford to roll back regulations on Wall Street or on big oil companies or insurance companies. We cannot afford to double down on the same top-down economic policies that got us into this mess. That is not a plan to create jobs, that is not a plan to grow the economy, that is not change, that is a relapse. We don’t want to go back there. We’ve tried it, it didn’t work and we are not going back, we are going forward.

Now, I’ve got a different view about how we create jobs and prosperity. This country doesn’t succeed when we only see the rich getting richer. We succeed when the middle class gets bigger. We grow our economy not from the top down, but from the middle out. We don’t believe that anybody’s entitled to success in this country, but we do believe in something called opportunity. We believe in a country where hard work pays off and where responsibility is rewarded and everybody’s getting a fair shot and everybody’s doing their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules. That’s the country we believe in. That’s what I’m fighting for, that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States, and that’s why I want your vote.

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This from a new Obama campaign ad: Miners were told that attendance at a Mitt Romney campaign rally was mandatory. Not only that, the miners were not paid for the time they were forced to spend at the rally, and then Mitt Romney used the miners in an ad for his campaign.

Who does stuff like this?

As supporters of Mitt Romney lined up outside Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, the site of a Monday night rally, ProgressNow Action wanted to hear what those Romney supporters had to say as they strolled past the group’s cardboard cut-out of President Barack Obama. A Video camera caught every word:

“Go back to Kenya!” one person says.

“Strangle him!” says another.

Some of the comments were directed at the ProgressNow staffers holding up the cut-out and the video camera.

“Is that your Muslim communist buddy?” one person asks.

“Why are you supporting an Islamist, Marxist idiot?” asks another.

“He looks real good standing on a street corner,” one passerby says. “In about three months, he’ll be doing that all the time.”

The Obama cut-out was also wearing a button that said, “Thanks, Obamacare.”

When asked what they want people who watch the video to see, Joanne Schwartz, executive director of Progress Now had this to say:

“It’s clear that not all, but many within Romney’s base of support dislike the President for irrational and often hateful reasons. Comments like ‘go back to Kenya,’ and asserting Obama is ‘black and used up’ reflect a much uglier prejudice than most Americans would identify with.

“Others continue to repeat discredited race-baiting falsehoods about the President’s religion and nationality,” Schwartz continued.

“Everyone we videotaped yesterday has a right to free expression, but others have the right to publicly reject intolerance. In a free society, we have an obligation to call this out.”

I was a bit surprised that the hate speak was coming from all age groups, and virtually all of the Romney supporters. And they were all fully aware that they were being filmed! This video really confirmed for me what I've already suspected; that Mitt Romney has run the nastiest and most hate-filled political campaign that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime.