By KEN KNABB - Counterpunch

One thing that struck me yesterday was that even under these brutal conditions, the mood was not entirely grim. There was of course lots of outrage and anger, but also lots of joy. Somewhat like in the early civil rights movement, there is a feeling that the old order is now on the defensive and that its ignorant and brutal reactions are a reflection of its inability to grasp the new community in the making, the new liberated community that we and countless others around the world are trying to create, and that we are already feeling in our hearts.

"This is Sgt. Whatever with the Oakland police department. I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly. You must leave the area...immediately...If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to arrest, regardless of your purpose. If you do not disperse immediately, chemical agents will be used. If you do not disperse immediately, you will be subject to forcible removal, which may result in serious injury."

- Oakland cop ordering Occupy Oakland protesters to leave their encampment

"In clearing the Oakland encampment early Tuesday morning, police used tear gas to drive away media covering the event. This was followed by flash grenades and rubber bullets, fired into the tents on the plaza. They then tore the camp apart and arrested about 75 protesters. Police beat people, slashed tents with box-cutters and destroyed personal property."

- Description of aftermath of Oakland police action against Occupy Oakland

By Zig Zag - October 25, 2011

Occupy Wall Street and its copy-cat solidarity actions are the manifestation of a growing consciousness among the population. That many Occupy Vancouver participants are naïve and maintain strong illusions about the nature of the capitalist system is natural, considering their socio-economic status and lack of experience. Nevertheless, more and more people are becoming politicized through the increasing levels of social conflict and crises now gripping the world. That (mostly) middle-class youth in Vancouver are mobilizing is a good thing, and part of a global phenomenon of unrest.

Monday, October 24, 2011 - Green Left Weekly

Occupy Melbourne will today write to the Victorian Ombudsman calling for an investigation into at least 43 documented instances of police violence against peaceful demonstrators, including children, during the morning raid of October 21...Occupy Melbourne’s lawyers have 43 statements detailing shocking injuries inflicted by police on peaceful protesters. These include eye-gouging, punches to the face and back of the head and the deployment of pepper spray, including on children.

October 21, 2011 - Truthdig

On Tuesday night, The Huffington Post hosted a black-tie event that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was expected to attend. Occupy Wall Street protesters caught wind of Cuomo’s expected presence and decided to protest outside the venue in an effort to win an audience with him. Author and feminist Naomi Wolf...saw the protesters standing on the fringe of the event as she arrived and decided she wanted to help them understand and exercise their rights. She was arrested for her efforts.

By Mark Engler - October 21, 2011

Within the call of “We Are the 99 Percent” is the idea that, while no one can take over the movement — no single individual or group can declare it over or announce that its ambitions have been satisfied — the coalition of those invited to take part is vast. The movement draws power from its reach. And that is no small part of its brilliance.

By Rania Khalek - October 20, 2011

Police repression in America is hardly new. Low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and political activists have always had to deal with unnecessary shows of force by some police officers. Thanks to a populist uprising threatening a status quo that benefits the top tier of American society to the detriment of the bottom 99 percent, many Americans for the first time are witnessing the U.S. police state in action.

By Heather Digby Parton - Al Jazeera

Support for capitalism - and antipathy toward government interference in it - is the very essence of Tea Party populism...It was never about corporate greed, but was about the usual right wing resentment at the government spending their tax money on people they don't think have earned it. These are not billionaire bankers - they are the people on the lower rungs of the ladder.

This year marks the 45th year since the Black Panther Party was co-founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland. It's About Time BPP is organizing events throughout the month in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the biggest events Oct. 21-23 (read the full schedule below). Featured here is a new video-interview with Billy X Jennings by Angola 3 News, entitled "We Called Ourselves the Children of Malcolm," featuring archival photos and more graphics including the photo exhibit "Women of the Black Panther Party and Beyond."

By Tom Engelhardt - October 17, 2011

In their present state, New York’s finest represent a local version of the way this country has been militarized to its bones in these last years and, since 9/11, transformed into a full-scale surveillance-intelligence-homeland-security state...This massive semi-militarized force we continue to call “the police” will, in the coming years, only grow...After all, they know but one way to operate.

By MJ Rosenberg - 16 October 2011

Because utilizing anti-Semitism directly would not succeed in [the US] today, the reactionary defenders of the economic status quo are using the flip side of the coin: The fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. They are accusing Occupy Wall Street of anti-Semitism, relying on the old myth that Wall Street is Jewish and hence that opposition to Wall Street's agenda is just opposition to Jews.

By Rania Khalek - October 14, 2011

As Occupy Wall Street protests spring up in cities across the country, authorities are thinking up creative ways to contain this peaceful and inspiring uprising...[T]here is no shortage of justifications and rationales behind the constantly evolving schemes being implemented to destroy the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. Here are 12 desperate and unsuccessful measures the authorities are using to discourage, deter and crack down on peaceful protests.

By RAMZY BAROUD - October 13, 2011

“Ten years ago the U.S. and NATO invaded my country under the fake banners of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy. But after a decade, Afghanistan still remains the most uncivil, most corrupt, and most war-torn country in the world. The consequences of the so-called war on terror has only been more bloodshed, crimes, barbarism, human rights and women’s rights violations, which has doubled the miseries and sorrows of our people.”

- Former Afghan MP and human rights activist Malalai Joya

The OCCUPY protesters are expressing an emotional response, an appropriate emotional response. Their detractors who would paint them as bongo playing, naked hippies don't have much political memory.

Canada’s sovereignty is being insulted at breakneck speed. The corporate oligarchy is what is inevitably responsible for forced inoculation legislation in our countries, and maybe our complacency is also to blame. These insane laws, by the way, never come as a shock to those who are aware of the efforts that have been made to combine Canada, USA, and Mexico into one country and that agenda’s underlying motivation to further consolidate power into one global government.