Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Oakland (& Beyond): The Week in the US Protests

Wednesday's General Strike in Oakland, and in the other cities that decide to join  --- Portland is not, for the moment, citing the difficulties of organising an effective protest in such a short space of time ---  could make the headlines for this week. But, as a cursory look at the Occupy protests last week throughout the US shows, it could be a different story, a different theme, in any of the hundred cities involved in this challenge to supposed corporate greed.

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From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy London: The Disastrous Week for St Paul's and the Church of England

On Friday, St. Paul's Cathedral re-opened after a week's closure, blamed on health and safety issues related to the OccupyLSX (Occupy London Stock Exchange) tent village outside the iconic London tourist spot. While it was a significant seven days for Occupy London, with a second camp established at Finsbury Square and the printing of their own newspaper The Occupied Times,  but the week was dominated by the public relations battle that has erupted around the proper role of the Church of England in social justice movements.

Let's not sugarcoat the outcome. This has been a disastrous week for not only the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral but for the Church of England as a whole, as an institution that claims to have any relevance in the modern world. There are two main charges against the Church, but both revolve around that eternal question "What Would Jesus Do?"

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Occupy London Special: Live Video Stream of This Weekend's Protests

Watch live streaming video from occupylsx at livestream.com

See also Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond) Feature: Linking Up with the Unions (Wallsten)

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UPDATE 1956 GMT: Occupy London has released a letter to the people who run St. Paul's Cathedral, addressing the concerns that the church has been closed and attempting to get clarification on "health and safety concerns" that the church may have about the protest encampment. Read the entire letter here.

UPDATE 1948 GMT: Our EA Correspondent gives his analysis of how established the Findscury protest is:

"FS is looking established. Nearly 50 tents, 2 marquees, and a gazebo. And St. Pauls is now following a daily routine schedule."

He also describes the strange kind of democracy that the two camps have established:

Separate assemblies, at the usual times, meet in both camps.

But there is constant feedback between the two groups. When one Assembly votes on an issue, the other then votes on it as well... until a consensus is reached by the two groups.

Sounds complicated and time consuming, but who would have thought they could get the participatory General Assembly idea working without significant dissension as they have.

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