Blog entries

Both Sides Wrong Now

Alexander Dale — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:17:30 +0100

Friday night, a set of students gathered on Schenley Plaza. They were brought there around 10pm by word of mouth and posters around campus (more on those later). The exact events should be written by someone other than myself - I admit that I was not an eyewitness and in fact got out of Oakland around 9pm. It would appear that the starting events included Duck Duck Goose and other playful games. I would hazard a guess that there was some shouting eventually. Regardless, the group of both PitRead More...

Red Zone Day2 - Uniformity & Unity

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:22:53 +0100

"Welcome, where are you from?" ... "Indonesia" ..."So that was Indochina you were from?" Pittsburgh - meet the world.

This is the second (and last) installmenRead More...

Peoples' March to the G-20 (Now! Nonviolent and permitted!)

Maria Lupinacci — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:07:39 +0100

I trust the good people from the Thomas Merton Center -- who are old hands at this sort of thing -- to get it right:

Peoples' March to the G-20
Friday, Sept. 25 - Pittsburgh, PA
5th & Craft Avenues, Oakland
Nonviolent and permitted

•12:00 pm – 5th & Craft Avenues in Oakland: Opening Rally, then a march down Fifth Avenue to the City-County Building Read More...

Unlawful Gatherings

Alexander Dale — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:33:40 +0100

So yesterday, some people walked from Oakland to Pittsburgh to raise awareness about freeing Tibet.

So yesterday, some people tried to walk from Lawrenceville to Pittsburgh to fight the essence of global capitalism which they see the G20 summit representing. Some windows were broken, the group was broken up about 20 blocks from their goal by tear gas and noise weapons.

So yesterday, some people stood by a set of barricades, curious to see what 300 riot police who had arrived in OakRead More...

Last Day -- what will end up getting done?

Daniel H. Simpson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:53:16 +0100

We are now down to the last day of what we have been preparing for for months. The question now is what will the parties attending emerge with as results of this expensive, taxing show?
I smell a rat. For me, the most important question has been what will these people agree upon at this summit that will act to see to it that neither America nor the rest of the world goes into another economic recession? I don't think this one is over yet either in that the high unemployRead More...

G20 as global economy caretakers

Cindy Skrzycki — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:04:47 +0100

PITTSBURGH — The Group of 20 will take on a more pronounced role in the global economy as leaders work together to keep the steady but slow economic recovery on track and prevent a similiar meltdown from occurring again.

The group, which accounts for 90 percent of the world's economic output, will leave emergency economic support in place until a recovery is secured and said it would establish tougher rules on bank capital by 2012, according to a draft communique oRead More...

So Many Thoughts, So Little Time

Michael Goldfarb — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:12:57 +0100

London -- Like a wedding, the G-20 summit has taken months to prepare and it will all be over too quickly. There's a hardly enough time to talk to every one, to say all the things you want to say. But blogging means I can try!!

1. Anti-capitalist Protesters grabbed a few overnight headlines in the British papers. I have been puzzled for years as to why protesters turn up at these events. I spRead More...

Only in Pittsburgh: A Penguins Rally Breaks Out in the Middle of a G20 Riot

Maria Lupinacci — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:48:21 +0100

Only in Pittsburgh!

In the middle of this:

You have this:

On my teevee I could also see a guy waving a replica Stanley Cup.

(h/t to Spork for finding Pens banner photo)

MSNBC showing Pittsburgh G-20 protesters being gassed

Maria Lupinacci — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:27:17 +0100

Happening now.

The Return of Fort Pitt

Maria Lupinacci — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:11:43 +0100

(Since we can't embed video on this site, here's the soundtrack for this post.)

Practically every other piece at the Post-Gazette's "The Big Story" blog paints Fort Pitt downtown Pittsburgh as a ghost town -- with the exception of a massive police presence. I know if I were visiting downtown Pittsburgh for the G-20 today from out of town (or out of country), I wouldn't exactly be getting the warm & fuzzies from scenes like these:

We could fund everything -- and move on.

Samuel Margolies — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:20:46 +0100

If we did debt realignment as shown at: www.debtrealignment.com we could fund everything and move the world "in a new direction" as many keep saying they want. This new direction will not come from doing things the old way, unless we really go back in history and find a diamond of an idea, an old idea that is applicable today. See the site and see what I mean.

Why should the world's people suffer for years when there is a better way?

Let's have debtRead More...

Heretics or Purveyors of Common Sense?

Michael Goldfarb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:07:21 +0100

London -- Two Lords a leaping have the Banker/Speculator/Financier community hopping mad here in the financial services capitol of the world.

Lord Turner, head of the Financial Services Agency, Britain's statutory watchdog over the financial industry, stirred the pot a few weeks ago when he called for tighter regulations - and taxation - of banking activities that were "socially useless."

He meant those games played on Wall Street and in LoRead More...

Wake Up Call To A Better Way - A Better World

Samuel Margolies — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:53:38 +0100

This writer, proud to be born in Pittsburgh -- GO STEELERS! - and now living in Las Vegas, has been active in atttempts at getting world leaders to "realign" the debt globally and nationally since 1992 -- and with the mortgage meltdown that began last year, with mortgages also.

Yes -- its not a typo - 1992. Do I have staying power, or what? And guess what? I have a web site that explains it all, including quotes from people you know and do not know! &nbsRead More...

Living in the "Red Zone"

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I walked out of my apartment building today which is usually one of the busiest corners in Pittsburgh (Grant and Liberty) and the customs officer at the end of the drive smiled, looked at me and asked, "How does it feel to live on theRead More...

GlobalPost: At the G20, will the rich eat the poor?

Thomas Mucha — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:42:23 +0100

With all the political jockeying expected this week in Pittsburgh, spare one thought (or two) for an under-reported but increasingly important aspect of the global economy: the poor.

Here's why it matters.

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco

Maria Lupinacci — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:15:44 +0100

...this ain't no fooling around

From the P-G:

Witold Walczak, the legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said, "It's hard to imagine a situation where a peaceful group that makes food . . . could attract this much firepower and police attention and not be harassment," he said.

What Walczak is referring to is a pattern of harassment by law enforcement against not only G-20 demonstrators, but those who would support them. And, the summit hasn't even startRead More...

Photos and press coverage from the AIDS activists' funeral procession

Max Ray — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:48:57 +0100

Wanted to share some press coverage and photos from the funeral procession... More later, I hope!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09265/999896-100.stm

http://cbs3.com/wireapnewspa/AIDS.protesters.carry.2.1200621.html

AIDS Action at Pittsburgh G20 Summit
This is not, of course, the first time that Beijing has pointed to the protection of its citizenry when crafting policy.

Its recent and Read More...

The Day Before The Day Before

Daniel H. Simpson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:23:03 +0100

We're now on Tuesday, with the captains and the kings due to arrive day after tomorrow. The scene for international diplomacy has shifted for the moment to New York. President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, make the American president's annual speech to the U.N. General Assembly, meet the other leaders on the subject of climate change, and chair the U.N. Security Council on the subject of nuclRead More...

Why I'm joining the funeral procession 9/22 and 2pm, Grant and Liberty (downtown)

Max Ray — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:47:06 +0100

I'm in Pittsburgh this week to tell the G20 what I think needs to be done for people with AIDS and all of us affected by the recession. I'll be telling them tomorrow (Tuesday, 9/22) at 2pm by joining a funeral procession from the corner of Liberty and Grant right to their meeting place, to show what will happen if they ignore AIDS or continue to make bad choices about fighting the disease.

The recession has hit people hard all over the world. The G20 is meeting this week in the only stRead More...