Grantham wonders if Marx was right after all – Al Lewis – MarketWatch

www.marketwatch.com/story/grantham-wonders-if-marx-was-right-after-all-2012-02-29

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• It’s about profit, not people: “Capitalism in general has no sense of ethics or conscience. Whatever the Supreme Court may think, it is not a person.”

• The more people borrow, the more they just gamble: “Leverage … increases your returns over and over until, suddenly, it ruins you. … There are no Investors Anonymous meetings to attend.”

• This time, it’s not so different: “Ignore the … inevitable cheerleaders who will assure you that this time it’s a new high plateau … even if that view comes from the Federal Reserve itself. No. Make that, especially if it comes from there.”

• Washington is becoming a corporate subsidiary: “What capitalism has always had is money with which to try to buy influence. … The issues they influence are precisely … the ones that are most important to society’s … very existence.”

• Big companies can’t help it: “Ethical CEOs can drag a company along for a while, but this is an undependable and temporary fix.”

G A Minutes from 2/21/2012

Link

Occupy Nashua GA minutes 2/21/2012

Attendees:

Marianne

Sylvia

Ellen

Marty

David

Agenda discussions:

#F29

Jerry has been in on the phone calls and has been getting information. There is no real planned event in NH. Ben suggested doing a Walmart easter egg information action. Occupy CT is doing an organized event at Pfizer Corp. Some people have interest in attending. Marianne will help get more information out on the organized effort in New England at CT. CT did attend Occupy Primary. Here is the link if you want information: www.facebook.com/events/156112434501340/

#M18

This is the Peace and Justice St. Patrick’s Day Parade event in Boston. Sponsors are Veterans for peace and others. Is there an organized event page or sign up for this? David is interested in pursuing this as an action. It was not discussed at the Nashua state wide GA. David holds peace vigils and has received some positive feedback on a recent review on Nashua Patch.

Here is a link to the March 18th St Patricks Parade for peacxewww.facebook.com/events/242916262450591/

Mass. Peace Action: info@MassPeaceAction.org

Veterans for Peace:  info@massvfp.org

David  also discussed a riveting documentary he saw. He would like to share this link on LT. Col. Davis in a Rolling Stone interview:

www1.rollingstone.com/extras/RS_REPORT.pdf

May Day, May 1st day of action:  It was discussed only minimally, but this action will be discussed at a later date and was tabled for the time being.

Review of Nashua state wide GA:

A number of issues came up during the GA. One issue that leads to discussion is a  Constitutional Convention, and whether or not to hold this in NH. There is conflicting and confusing information. There was a suggestion to have an expert (Lawrence Lessig) come in to a NH state wide GA to discuss this. Occupy Nashua believes at this time that more information is needed before agreeing to a recommendation on a Con-Con. Lessig ‘s in-demand resources would be well intended to discuss  this issue, but would be valued more in other areas such as in a public -speaking venue. (which we are pursuing.)

Sylvia will review Blue Book on the history and the procedures for this. Questions remain on who gets to go if a con-con is slated. State Secretary Bill Gardner would have info on the NH state Gov web page should have information. This will be reviewed.

The subject appears controversial. There seemed to be some members of ONH wanting to pursue this and other members oppose to it. There is some misinformation and it appears an information gathering mission needs to happen before decisions are made. What we know: A Constitutional Convention is called every 10 years, and the year 2012 is up for this review. There needs to be clarification on who attends or who is invited to attend these meetings. Also, is opening up a constitutional convention by the voting public (first) the way to go about this? Sylvia will look into the blue book and try to answer these clarifying questions. The other option is to look into the NH Government web page under State Secretary Bill Gardner. www.sos.nh.gov/

 

NH Pride March ll

There has been interest in doing a second Pride march in NH for the summer. There’s a tentative meeting scheduled for March 15th at Element Lounge in Manchester. For more info ask Marianne at

Occonorm17@comcast.net

Next meeting: Tuesday Feb 28th at Thousand crane II Nashua 6:30 pm.

Update on Lawrence Lessig in NH

Alex Fried of Occupy UNH and Marianne had been communicating about getting Lawrence to speak in NH. This came up at an earlier Nashua GA. Lessig in a Nationally recognized speaker and practicing law professor at Harvard. He has published several books, the most recent “Republic Lost”. We have established communication with Lessig’s personal assistant and secretary and are working out dates. Theresa Earle has also copied Lessig on an email and the details are being worked out to have Lessig speak at UNH this spring.

Occupy movement meets in Nashua to map out future – NashuaTelegraph.com

www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/950622-196/occupy-movement-meets-in-nashua-to-map.html

An Excerpt from the Nashua Telegraph:

” Adhering to Occupy protocol, members proposed initiatives, allowed lengthy discussion and used hand gestures to represent whether they agreed, disagreed, were unsure or blocked the vote.

The members came to consensus on many measures, despite or perhaps because there was no imposing hierarchal structure. They agreed on ideas, big and small, that they hope will push the movement forward.

For instance, they have plans to take action in Manchester on May 1, a date long recognized as a day to recognize workers’ rights. They almost agreed on participating in a state Constitutional Convention, but tabled the proposal to instead first hear ideas from an expert.

But no decision was too small for a group vote. Members agreed to install a drop-down tab on the Occupy New Hampshire website.”

The Komen Effect – ACLU Blog of Rights

Quote

“New Hampshire and other states passed laws that punished organizations that provide or refer for abortions by stripping them of money to provide basic health care services. And states around the country are getting in line to do the same this year.

So for those of us who were rightly outraged about the Komen Foundation, and took action and made them pay attention — let’s celebrate that victory. But we can’t stop there. For the sake of women’s health, we must be equally vocal in our opposition to these threats coming at us from all across the nation. We must stay engaged and defeat all of the efforts to put women’s lives and health at risk by punishing organizations that provide abortion related care.” ACLU Blog of Rights

www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/komen-foundation-just-tip-iceberg

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Nashua Hosts State Wide NH GA February 18th

Nashua will be host to the NH Occupy State -wide occupy movement. The date is set for Saturday February 18th at 12:00. Members from Occupy Manchester, Concord and Dover have already expressed interest in coming. Meeting will be held at Unitarian Church on 48 Lowell St., Nashua. Event is free and public is welcome. We will be offering food.Anyone who is willing to make or bring food please contact Marianne at Marianne@occupynashua.org