November 9, 2011
OCCUPY APEC RALLY – WAIKIKI
GLOBALIZATION IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD (sic)
Go to Media Release
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Occupy APEC Honolulu, Hawai’i Nov. 8-12, 2011 Contact Michael Daly media@occupyapec.org 30 October 2011 -- For immediate release –- Australian-born artist launches APEC protest website, www.occupyAPEC.org OccupyAPEC.org unites the 99 percent in non-violent opposition to the corporate agenda of APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. On Nov. 8-12, corporate CEOs and the leaders of 21 Pacific Rim economies will convene in Honolulu to talk about economic development, trade, and barriers to both. The public will not be invited to join the conversation. A narrow sliver of media has been granted the privilege of covering the event. Some of the discussions will occur behind closed doors. Because agreements reached at APEC are non-binding, some may also be impossible to regulate by interested and affected parties. APEC is the antithesis of democracy. The meeting's location in Hawai’i symbolizes inequities. Corporations and national officials are meeting on an island that relatively recently became the 50th of the United States – against the will or understanding of most of its indigenous residents. In preparation for the meeting, state officials have attempted to sweep the homeless from the streets. Homelessness has reached epidemic levels in Hawai’i. The lack of affordable housing has contributed to the disappearing middle class and the dismal divide between the uber-wealthy and the ultra-poor on the island of O’ahu. The OccupyAPEC site is being launched by long-time advocate for Hawaiian independence Michael "Aloha" Daly, Australian-born artist and founder of The Lovelink Project. It will link to the many other groups uniting to call attention to the APEC agenda, offer calendars of events, and report on art, theater, social justice and protest activities from Moana Nui to the AlterAPEC. Website features like "Meet the 1 Percent" will highlight corporate CEOs coming to Hawai'i and link to various news stories that reveal the truth about companies like tax-evading General Electric and Boeing, an environmental villain fined for its illegal toxic releases -- which then received a lucrative government contract to clean up its own damage. The 1 percent: Increases its wealth while we the 99 percent struggle Scorns the democratic process Seeks the end of environmental and labor protections, aka trade “barriers” Convenes in Honolulu Nov. 8-10 to meet with world leaders _______________ It’s Honolulu -- a weekend of capitalism and fun in the sun. Hundreds of corporate execs from companies including Chevron, Wal-Mart, Boeing, Cargill, Google, Caterpillar, Microsoft, FedEx, Visa, General Electric, Dow Chemical and J.P. Morgan get to bend the ears of world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama China’s president Hu Jintao, Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, Mexico’s president Felipe Calderón, Chile’s president Sebastián Piñera, along with leaders from Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Phillippines and Vietnam. What’s on the table? Trade barriers. What are some trade barriers? The environment. Labor regulations. National borders. And, of course, you -- the 99 percent. An APEC summit is not a democratic event. CEOs and world leaders do not have to allow the public to participate or the free press to cover its events. The decisions made at APEC are non-binding – which seems to mean that the profit-maximizing deals cooked up between governments and corporations will not be regulated by any democratic government. Activists plan, in the spirit of aloha, to Occupy APEC. We want the corporate executive and leaders of global economies to know that the whole world is watching. web www.occupyAPEC.org email media@occupyapec.org
Hawaii Artist Snags OccupyAPEC.com website
By Chad Blair on 10/17/2011, Honolulu Civil Beat
Excerpt:
The domain name OccupyAPEC.com has only existed since Thursday, so there isn’t much yet on the website.
But owner Michael Daly, a Waikiki portrait artist and free speech activist, plans to have content up later this week that will reflect his concerns about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that is coming to Honolulu next month. It doesn’t hurt that the Occupy Wall Street protest is gaining steam worldwide. [...]
Read the full article at CivilBeat.com →
Occupy APEC?
By Steve Craven on 10/31/2011, Kekepana International Services “Business Beyond the Reef” Blog
Excerpt:
There is a nascent Occupy APEC movement online. The website only went up on Thursday and is still a single-page site. So far, Occupy APEC is a one-man band created by Michael Daly, a portrait artist in Waikiki with a history of free-speech activism. Honolulu Civil Beat profiled Daly a couple weeks back when he registered his Occupy APEC domain name.
