We are living in strange times. This is an empirical fact. For confirmation go to Google images and turn safe search off. Type in anything. Note the results. One of the things that makes it all strange is the underlying value system of our current milieu. Late capitalism dictates that anyone can succeed. The missing second part to that dictum is that anyone can succeed, but not everyone. One person’s success is another’s failure, financially. Late capitalism’s sine qua non is that it necessarily produces inequality: poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental health crises. We know this. The people who have the power to change things clearly aren’t interested in changing it, and the people who might desire change are by and large too busy to be able to do much about it.

Once in a while though, in a synchronous tingle through the matrix, a movement happens; the miraculous. A group of people crystallize who are able to navigate each other and make an effort to help, to make up for where our system fails. They volunteer their time and energy and are willing to do what many are not, to navigate the world with less fear, to be open to anyone, to live with less, to make a difference. To make a fucking effort.

I am not one of those people. I walked away, I didn’t have it in me. I got rattled after the Zuccotti Park eviction. Ken Canning on the other hand has been living at Harbourside Park for seven fucking months. I complain about the drafts in my apartment.

Tonight's General Assembly reached total consensus on what to do about the looming eviction deadline of May 15th midnight. We all agreed to take down our last remaining symbolic tent and leave the park cleaner than when we arrived on October 15th, 2011, as part of the global Occupy revolution making its way to Canada.

Join us at 8 AM tomorrow morning, May 16th, at Harbourside Park for a peaceful sit-in on the space where our tents used to be. Our camp is now gone, but sit with us tomorrow in a show of solidarity, in recognition that the loss of our physical encampment does not signal the end of our movement. This is just the end of a beautiful and inspiring prelude. Join us for phase two and beyond.

Read more about the media coverage of OccupyNL's eviction here.

Prior to May 16th:

Adam Walsh interviewed three occupiers on May 14 down at Harbourside Park about the looming eviction on May 15th. Have a listen here.

Also, check out these articles:
CBC: Eviction day for Occupy NLers
Telegram: Occupy NL eviction looms
National Post: Occupy stalwart St. John’s, NL, to be kicked out by midnight
Globe and Mail (video): After Eight Months, St. John's Occupy Protestors Pack Up
Calgary Herald: After long winter, Newfoundland Occupy diehards told to pack it in
NTV: OccupyNL packs up its tents

May 16th:

Occupy NL's resolution to have a peaceful sit-in.

May Day saw huge protests around the world -- Occupy Wall Street and Occupy.com have great coverage of U.S protests. This Global May newsletter will get you up to speed on May Day and other upcoming May events worldwide.

Here's the CBC's coverage of the May Day protests across Canada. Occupy NL also participated in this Spring upsurge of people power, of momentum towards the global change we so desperately need.

May 1st is less than a week away and preparations for the day at Harbourside have begun.

Musicians and other performing artists would be only too welcome, from 12 noon until 12 midnight.
Any persons or groups who are interested in participating with this event can sign up by posting a comment below.  If you have special requirements or needs (power outlets) knowing about them ahead of time would be most helpful.  There will be food provided at the Park during the day.

Solidarity forever!

UPDATE: Click here for a RECAP of the day's events!

Occupy NL invites you to a day of events at Harbourside Park on May 1st as part of international May Day celebrations. From noon until midnight there will be music and entertainment from local artists and performers, a potluck picnic, discussion forums, and (potentially) a march in downtown St. John's. Wandering Brush will also be doing some face/body painting!

Food has been incorporated and turned into big business. Occupiers have come to see that we must reclaim our food by demonstrating ways that production and supply can be localized, emphasizing fair practices and sustainability. We all need to eat, but we don't need to eat corporate sh#t.

On February 27, the worldwide Occupy Movement has called for a day of action, Occupy our Food Supply (twitter tag #F27). Occupy NL's food and camp supply committee will take part by hosting a vegan dinner at Harbourside Park (complete with entertainment) at 5pm.

What can you do? Think about the ways corporate food functions based on profit motive, rather than based on the health and well-being of consumers. Consider the food you buy (and where you purchase it) as a political decision. Most of all, get informed and join us! Below are some links to Occupy our Food Supply related sites:

Occupy our Food Supply Blogger

Occupy our Food Supply Facebook

Food Freedom post on #F27

Check out this interview with Ken Canning by a CP reporter and article in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Listen to Thomas Jordan speaking on CBC's The Current.

OccupyNL in Adbusters!

Check out the coverage by the CBC. We are reported as the last occupy camp in Canada. If anyone knows of any other camps left in Canada, please post in comments.

Thanks to everyone involved with and supporting OccupyNL since its beginning on October 15th as part of the global occupy movement. Everyone is welcome to participate in our General Assemblies, which continue to happen three times a week:

Tuesdays at 8 PM (location to be announced, but likely at MUN for workshops);
Thursdays at 8 PM at Harbourside Park (for action reports); and
Sundays at 8 PM (at the Anglican Cathedral)

Click here to view the OccupyNL code of customs.
Also, to catch up on what we've been discussing, view the minutes of our meetings.

There's lots on the horizon!