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William Hague and Angelina Jolie Fight War Zone Rape

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has teamed up with Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague for a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to highlight the use of rape as a weapon of war and to raise awareness of the issue on an international level.

The two will visit a rescue camp for women north-west of Goma to raise awareness about warzone rape.

“This visit is about hearing first hand from people who have endured rape and sexual violence during the conflict in the eastern DRC. We want justice for the victims and we want to know how the world can protect thousands of women, men and children at risk of rape in many other conflict zones. We want to persuade governments around the world to give this issue the attention it deserves,” said Jolie.

“Unless the world acts, we will always be reacting to atrocities, treating survivors rather than preventing rape in the first place,” added Jolie.

Hague hopes to present his findings to the forthcoming Group of Eight summit in London.

He is calling on the G8 leaders to agree that rape and sexual violence constitute breaches of the Geneva Conventions governing warfare.

“More often than not the international community looks away, the perpetrators of these brutal crimes walk free and the cycle of injustice and conflict is repeated,” he said.

“It is time for real, meaningful action by the governments of the world to say that the use of rape as a weapon of war is unacceptable, to bring perpetrators to justice and to lift the stigma from survivors. This is my personal priority for the meeting of G8 foreign ministers,” he added.

As a UNHCR Special Envoy, Jolie has fought for the rights of refugees worldwide for over a decade.

A 2011 film by the 37-year-old actress, “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” depicts the experiences of victims in the infamous rape camps set up during the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina.



Nuns on the Bus Visit the Overpass Light Brigade

Nuns on the Bus Visit the Overpass Light Brigade from Occupy Riverwest on Vimeo.

The Nuns on the Bus (Catholic Sisters on a national tour, traveling the country to raise awareness of the devastating effects austerity legislation has on the working poor) came out to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit the Overpass Light Brigade, who celebrated the occasion with a new message in honor of nuns' efforts.



Occupy News Round-Up

From Press TV: This episode of the show reports on the Anaheim solidarity marches across the U.S., Frack attack rallies in D.C., Stand Up Chicago and raise the minimum wage rallies, the Obama fundraiser in Portland as well as the AIDS awareness rallies.

This episode also interviews many Occupy Wall Street protesters including the “Stand Up Chicago” policy analyst Elizabeth Parisian.



zombieoccupy

Action meant to raise awareness of out-of-control student debt and prompt nationwide protest

NEW YORK - Relentless tuition hikes, even at public institutions, have contributed to an astonishing student debt burden of more than $1 trillion. Inspired by student movements over the last month in Canada, Mexico, Chile, and across the world, education activists in cities around the U.S. have been organizing rallies and marches to raise awareness about the education crisis in this country. All in the Red, a New York-based activist collective, is declaring this Friday, June 22 to be the “Night of the Living Debt.” At 7 p.m. in Washington Square Park, performance artists/activists Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping will exorcise the demons of student debt, after which costumed zombies will march with pots and pans in hand through the streets of Manhattan, kicking off a summer of nationwide actions.

All in the Red emerged as a series of marches expressing our solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of students striking in Quebec against tuition hikes. Lack of affordable education and suffocating debt are even more glaring in the United States, and similar displays of protest and outrage are becoming increasingly common. All in the Red calls for a nationwide network to spread awareness and organize around the issue of student debt through direct action, political theatre, and spreading the visual imagery of the red square, which has come to symbolize this struggle worldwide.

Along with our colleagues in Occupy Wall Street, student activist organizations, and other public interest groups, we are concerned in particular with the pernicious relationship between education and debt. The predicament is compounded, both by seeming disregard from the government for the welfare of student debtors, despite overwhelming public support for student debt relief -- a petition to forgive student loans recently reached one million signatures -- and also by the predatory practices of financial services firms. We can no longer allow the shackles of debt bondage to be a source of shame. The student debt crisis must be placed at the center of our conversation about the public good.

On the “Night of the Living Debt,” Friday evening, June 22, we will rise from the grave of debt and join the struggle to end the ties that bind our education to a decadent financial system. We will call for a nationwide conversation about how we can transcend an obsolete system that enriches a few by mortgaging the futures of the many.

For additional information, contact allinthered@gmail.com

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Occupy LA Occupies Skid Row

Occupy LA:

Bring your tents, bring your blankets, bring some extra tarps if you can! Hot drinks and food are always welcome as well, tonight hot drinks would be awesome with the terrible weather! Every Friday night, OLA, Occupy the Hood LA, Occupy Skid Row, and visitors from other southern california occupations Occupy Main Street between 5th and 6th. (Near LACAN) We do this to raise awareness of the over 13,000 people who live on Skid Row, and are being pushed out of the only place that has services for them by gentrification.

Please join us, every friday night, we march from Pershing Square to Main Street after our General Assembly!