Starting at Bryant Park, OWS Summer Disobedience School presents the issue of student debt in front the Bank of America Tower, in front of the I.R.S under the National Debt Clock, and in the fountain on 6th Avenue opposite Radio City Music Hall. The school day concludes with "The People's Alarm" in Times Square.

via 15-M Brussels

WE WILL NOT PAY PRIVATE DEBTS WITH PUBLIC MONEY!!

Pl. Schuman at 18h - Brussels

Once more, the EU has decided to use public funds to cover the losses of private institutions. This time, Spain is asking for a bail out in order to recapitalize it's banking system. We know for certain that the banks are not going to pay back this capital injection and in the end it will be the taxpayers (it doesn't matter whether European or Spanish) that pay for the financial system's greed. Politicians are playing with the future of fellow European citizens in order to increase their popularity at home, entering in a loss-loss game. Under the false allegation that governments are defending their national interests they are pointing fingers at other countries. In reality, Merkel&Co are not defending the German people, Merkel is defending the interest of German investors even if German taxpayers are forced to pay the bill.

Spain's public debt is lower than the average public debt of European countries. However, the private banks owe 300% of the Spanish GDP to private foreign investors. It's important to recall that this private debt is held by financial institutions an not by citizens. Most of the creditor financial institutions were banks that used financial engineering (like subprime and dodgy derivates products) to increase their lending capacity. The real state bubble was possible thanks to abundant credit and the passivity of regulators (such as the BCE, the Bank of Spain, etc), regulators that are not democraticly accountable. If Spain was organizing a house party, foreign investors would be paying the alcohol tab. Now, imagine that you get a mortage 3 times the value of your house, who carries the risk of nonpayment? A question that should have been answered before the mortgage was sold.

Due to the irresponsability of the Spanish banks, the European banks, their accomplices the European Central Bank as well as European and national supervisors and regulators this crisis has unfolded. Meanwhile European governments aren't attending to the real needs of their people and are dictating a shift in the social model without the citizens have not been able to express about. When governments defend the interests of private institutions against the wellbeing of it's people, it is time for us, the citizens, to rise up and defend ourselves!

Four years after the beginning of the crisis, it is clear that this is not an economic crisis, this is a political crisis. And this is not a Spanish crisis, its a European crisis. We need to say Basta! and demand that our governments do their job and defend our interests. There are alternatives. Iceland used public money only to warranty deposit and let all irresponsible banks fall. The government, the central bank and the national regulator are being tried by the justice. Icelandic people decided not to pay private debt with public money and created a new constitution to prevent this happening again. Currently their economy is growing at three times the rate the EU is.

Join us on Monday at 18h and call for a demonstration in your city. We will be protesting in Brussels in front of the European Commission. Bring your pots, pans, and spoons, we are going to be loud!!!

The Occupy National Gathering will be held at Independence Mall in Philadelphia, June 30 - July 4, 2012. Come be part of history.

I feel like I probably saw and was in the middle of only a fraction of all the tides of popular protests against the Grand Prix tonight. But to likely understate it, the police (SPVM to SQ) totally lost control and the people totally held the streets. And as one person said to us on the streets as riot cops swarmed by us for the umpteenth time–after about the umpteenth time that nearly everyone (and by nearly everyone, I mean an eclectic mix of thousands and thousands of people, many dressed in fancy Saturday night party clothes, far from “the usual suspects” and not a black bloc in sight) pushed the police back or for all intents and purposes kettled the cops, and after the many umpteenth times that nearly everyone booed at and many threw plastic bottles (or a beach ball) at the police–there’s a universal language on the streets this evening, and it’s “fuck the police.” Read More...