Occupy Sydney Headline Animator

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Occupy Sydney Newsletter out soon

A weekly Occupy Sydney newsletter is being published Sundays via email, mondays at http://occupysydneynews.blogspot.com (a Weekly Newspaper) Out Sundays.

A daily email will also be built incorporating a daily roundup from all the Occupy Sydney Projects & Working Groups, and notifying all pending proposals.
  • The aim of the email newsletter is for it to become the the vehicle for all working groups and the GA to keep Occupy Sydney people updated on activities actions and anticipated acts of change. One email a week suits a lot of people more than a multiplicity.
  • The newsletter may publish daily, or Tuesdays Thursdays & Sundays (post GA) if consensus can be raeached on this model
  • Submissions should be in the following format 

  1. Name of Working/Google Group (i.e. Outreach)
  2. PP (please publish) or NFP (email circulation only)
  3. GA (GA approved) or WG (working group action) or AA Autonomous Action
  4. Submissions should preferably link to a (non Facebook) page.Facebook pages only promoted if linked via a non FB warning page, for activists personal security purposes.
  5. Submissions should come from a recognised email of group if claiming to come from a working/google group. Tag these NEWS
  6. You may submit Occupy related news, news from other Occupys or affinity group issue messages. Tag these AG



Here is the basic layout :



IN THIS ISSUE 
» Camping Showdown
» Sydney Festival
» Editorial by: NAME
» Media Update by: 
   Name
» More News...
Upcoming Events. 
Mon Jan 9th 2012:
5.30pm
General Assembly WG
6.30pm
General Assembly
Tues Jan 10th 2012:
7.00pm
Free School Organising Meeting
Wed Jan 11th 2012:
5.30pm
General Assembly WG
6.30pm
General Assembly
Sat Jan 14th 2012:
1.00pm
Free School
5.30pm
General Assembly WG
6.30pm
General Assembly
Mon Jan 16th 2012:
5.30pm
General Assembly WG
6.30pm
General Assembly
Occupy Sydney - Camping Showdown
Along with many others, Lance Priestley faces multiple charges of "camping" as a result of protesting with Occupy Sydney. Show your Support on Tuesday, Jan 10th, 9am at the Downing Centre Local Court. See Flyer Below.
Occupy Sydney welcomes Sydney Festival to Martin Place - Saturday 7th January, 2012
Someone can write an editorial about what happend on Sat Night at the Festival and it can go here with some media and photographs.
we can also get this emailed out to General Public asking for them to email us there pictures to include in a special Occupy Sydney Welcomes Sydney festival blah speil. here

More editorials, links, video's, news etc can go under here and i can make it as big and small as you like. its currently a free version but pro is like 10$ a month and im happy to do it when it needs to be upgraded to send more out.
T

Cheers

Occupy Sydney  Martin Place, Sydney www.occupysydney.org.au

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Help Occupy Sydney put Economics Front and Centre

Brief for Occupy Sydney Research Working Group Projects
The Occupy Sydney Research Working Group is calling for individuals or self-organised teams to produce fact reports on various issues of interest to Occupy Sydney. These reports will be used to produce educational materials that will be kept and distributed at the occupy site and published online. 
Issues of interest at this stage include, but will not be limited to (‘*’ indicates priorities):
  • Personal debt*
  • Mortgage debt*
  • Housing foreclosures*
  • Housing affordability*
  • Conditions for studying while on welfare*
  • Homelessness
  • Business debt
  • Sovereign debt
  • Food affordability
  • Wealth and poverty distribution in Sydney
  • Fractional banking
  • Superannuation
For the fact report we will need you to provide a .doc (word document) containing:
  • 1 A4 page of writing that reports on the issue
  • A series of bullet pointed facts relevant to the issue
  • Any relevant graphs, charts or images referenced to the original source
  • Any additional information is welcome but should be submitted in an appendix
All facts will need to be clearly referenced to the most reliable, primary sources possible, i.e. not newspaper articles but the sources that an article might use, not media surveys but  government, institutional, or academic reports etc.
If you are interested in producing a fact report please contact Lance occupysydney@gmail.com or on 0410722000. You will need to provide details on what issue you would like to research and when you will be able to submit the fact report. You are also welcome to ask for advice on how to conduct research or suggest other issues to be added to the list.

Saturday 14 January 2012

From Tim in Occupy Frankfurt

: Occupy Frankfurt - The Kitchen

Walking up to Occupy Frankfurt the first thing that somebody realises is the village-like formations and clear boundaries between the occupiers’ guilds. This camp has been given official license by the local government and has existed for 89 days without eviction. In this time and without the external threat by police, the occupiers have increasingly defined and distinguished themselves through their working groups. This has led to some sectarian bickering over preferencial organisation of dwindling resources. However the battle for preferences is always an unusual battle for second place. All groups agree on one point, the kitchen always comes first.

The camp is based in front of the European Central Bank building and the tents surround a ground-lit statue to the ECB. The canteen of the kitchen tent is situated on top of two of the ground lights which have now been switched off, but would have been darkened anyway from the mud and dirt that follows hungry occupiers rushing boots. Being underneath the giant sign, the people’s kitchen has an ironic official icon that advertises the autonomous free food for miles around. (Think following one of the glowing “golden arches” to locate an anarchist bomb-making meeting!)

The kitchen has been manned by two permanent chefs, Luke from Canada and Jay from the US/Germany, since day one. It is immediately clear that this consistency has allowed for a productivity rarely found in the working groups with more fluid membership. The floors of the kitchen and canteen area have been constructed by nailing smooth planks of timber on top of wooden crates and it is as flat, dry and stable as a local restaurant. The storage areas are always clean and ordered like a supermarket with older food at the front so that it is used and not wasted. Apart from the constant threat of a Daphne du Maurier inspired pigeon assault, the tent is a space of calm professional egalitarian construction that unites all it serves.

The kitchen is supported by donations of fresh food collected from supermarkets by a local charity organisation, and a constant supply of bread brought in on the backs of individuals and organised groups. Bread seems to be the staple diet of this occupation. In George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia the Spanish workers’ militias threw away excess bread while the people in the towns suffered crippling shortages. In a funny twist of the times, the excess bread supplies of Frankfurt guarantee none of the resisters in Occupy ever go hungry. The amount of food available that would otherwise have been thrown out forces someone to question why anyone should ever be allowed to go hungry. It also flies in the face of the demand and supply justification of current increases in the price of food world wide.

The gas stoves in the middle of the kitchen burn constantly warming litres of freshly made vegan soups. Every meal seems to be inspired by the pyramid on the back of cereal boxes which dictate 6-8 serves of fruit and vegetables a day. For a meat eater the daily egg salads provide some brief relief. There is a threat that the diminishing level of monetary donations will bring an end to the supply of coffee, margarine, cheese and milk, however the current supply of green stuffs alone will last for a month at least.

Anyone who asks what can the Occupy movement possibly achieve should see the kitchen at Occupy Frankfurt. Rather than a patronising charity hand-out van, the people working and the people eating are from the same community. The homeless and the students and the workers and the actors stand around eating together. Luke and Jay work 24 hours a day for the love and collective celebration of creative cooking. No one complains and all plates are finished. Within our current social dilemmas and the constant outcry about the conspiracy of governments failing to limit the increases in the price of living, this sort of community organising is a bubble of progressive productivity. If kitchens such as this could be established in all local communities and neighbourhoods the need for charities and frustrating middle-class guilt would be dramatically weakened.

In light of the many divisions between groups within this occupied village, one thing is certain: Everyone loves the kitchen tent!

Tim Frank Davis is a well known Occupy Sydney participant travelling around the European Occupies

Friday 6 January 2012

Occupy Sydney Respond to Illegal Police Actions

 The Occupiers at Martin Place believe that NSW Police attempts to destabilise Occupy Sydney & supporters over the last two days has a twofold purpose. Police want to minimise Occupy Sydney 's ability to articulate our anti-Corporate Greed message to the patrons of The Sydney Festival .NSW Police also would like to shut Occupy Sydney down fearing that a Court case in 4 days time could clearly define legal issues,as sought by Occupy Sydney participants, and prevent Police abuse of law .

What Police have done:

  • Seized Personal items without issuing receipts. 
  • Seized A custom built kitchen trolley.We understand its been destroyed.
  • Arbitrarily deemed seized property to be rubbish & destroyed it, despite being given owners details.
  • Seized computers , banners, pamphlets & posters-most probably destroyed.
  • Seized all supplies for making banners placards & protest information.
  • Harassed and Threatened Occupy Sydney participants & supporters.
  • Attempted to and enforced orders while refusing to identify which laws are being breached.
  • Wilfully misinterpreted a clear Regulation to include actions clearly outside that legal framework. (Court case 10/1/12 seeks definitions.
  • Refused to expedite return of property and in fact manufactured a series of convoluted series of obstructions to securing return.
  • Threatened a new fellow Occupier Group ,Occupy Sydney International, compelling occupiers to close occupation due to fear of police violence.
  • Sought to dictate how Occupy Sydney should protest .No legal framework specified.If we consent and the only means they leave are demonstrably ineffective then we should not consent.
  • Taken essential Free School Protest equipment
  • Taken essential library books.
  • Seized all Occupy Sydney tarps used for protecting protest equipment from inclement weather.
  All Occupiers should know that there is a very real and clear danger of violence from Police & violation of personal or protest rights at any time at Occupy Sydney. NSW Police may steal your property. They may give orders which have no basis in law. Where the aims of police are not supported by law or the people ,the people should NOT support police.

 WHAT CAN YOU DO?
  • Call Rocks Police. Order them to cease & desist from attacking the #OccupySydney peaceful protest.
  • Bring all unwanted furniture to Occupy Sydney.
  • Bring all books,fiction and non fiction to #Occupysydney
  • Bring Big Tarps to #OccupySydney
  • Make updated pamphlets about Occupy Sydney & NSW Police harassment.
  • Bring unwanted doors to #OccupySydney for use as tables.
  • Bring FOOD for the occupiers & supporters.
Thank you for your continued support without which we would not be

   
 T