Banner Image: Jesse Winter

Yikes.

Flamboyant Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his resignation yesterday as Italy struggles to contain a mounting debt crisis. Berlusconi’s announcement comes just days after European leaders unveiled a plan to deal with the insolvent Greece, but neither event has stymied the panic of global investors who have pushed interest rates on Italian government 10-year bonds over 7% - a key financial and psychological milestone marking unsustainable borrowing costs and near-certain doom.

What happens if Italy, one of the largest economies in the Eurozone, defaults? Nobody knows… But MotherJones has declared “Italy is Now the Biggest Story in the World“.

So I guess that makes Occupy Vancouver the second biggest story in the world, with the City of Vancouver seeking a court injunction yesterday to dismantle the camp. Proceedings were delayed until Wednesday morning in a bid to give protesters more time to find a lawyer.

Meanwhile, both the city and police have stepped up rhetoric suggesting that the camp has been taken over by hostile and violent elements. Tempers flared Monday evening when fire crews extinguished a “sacred fire” at the camp with police chief Jim Chu reporting that police officers assisting firefighters were punched, bitten and kicked, and one had a clip of ammunition stolen.

Down south, an aging hippie makes some frank suggestions on how to deal with #Occupy’s “asshole problem”.

BORED AT WORK BONUS: The Black Bloc at work at #OccupyOakland