Occupy

Here's a quick video to give you guys a look at what you missed today if you did not show at the NCGA for the AFL-CIO sponsored Pots & Spoons Rally. Turn your speakers up to 11 for the full effect. Americans For Prosperity tried to respond by handing out ear plugs, which only perfectly symbolized the failure of their elected leaders to listen to anyone but their own base and helped publicize our cause, so that kind of backfired on them.... I suspect a better video will be forthcoming soon from Jeremy at AFL-CIO NC.

About the cacerolazo

A form of popular protest that originated in Latin America which consists of a group of people creating noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils to call for attention. In cacerolazos from Chile and Argentina to Iceland, Ireland, Greece, and even Syria, people have come together to challenge power and affect change.

It is time to bring the spirit of the cacerolazo to North Carolina, where our out-of-control state legislature has busied itself since the 2010 election with catering to corporate interests and right-wing ideologues, gutting funding for public education, endangering women’s health care, putting the rights of unmarried couples up for popular vote, and attempting to lock some groups of voters out of the political process.

Let's welcome them back to an unforgettable protest!

When lawmakers return to town on Wednesday, May 16, North Carolinians outraged and disappointed at actions taken by our General Assembly to enrich the few at the expense of the rest will converge on Bicentennial Mall at 10 A.M. for a cacerolazo – a Pots & Spoons Protest – the first-of-its-kind protest of our out-of-control state legislature.

Cancelled due to lack of interest

This video, courtesy of Public Citizen's occupy democracy website, highlights the juxtaposition between the ease with which money speaks, and the difficulty everyday citizens face just trying to make their voices heard. But there is something you can do about it at the local level, and in your own community. Learn more, below the fold.

The N&O is demanding an apology? They should be filing a lawsuit.

When police approached the building, they ordered everyone to get on the ground, but they allowed Ferral (an N&O reporter) to continue to shoot photographs. After a few more minutes they told Ferral to get on the ground as well. Ferral told them she was a member of the media. She was wearing her press photo badge around her neck.

She remained face-down on the ground for about 15 minutes before she was cuffed with plastic zip ties and told to sit in a line with about 12 other people who had been detained.

I can understand this happening in China. But Chapel Hill? There will be hell to pay.

Perhaps the single most common media criticism of Occupy Wall Street—and mainstream media have found plenty to criticize—is that the movement's grievances and demands are unclear.

OWS is in its infancy. It is intentionally leaderless—despite the usual right-wing nonsense that George Soros is bankrolling it—and as a movement is focused on systemic problems, not a single issue. So it's not surprising that one would hear varied motives and ideas from movement participants about why they've become involved.

follow the link to IndyWeekly to read more...
Occupy the gatekeepers

Well I’m finally back here at work after another recent series of personal adventures; in the middle of all the fun I’ve been finding time to get down to my local “Occupy” event, and for those of you who have not been keeping up I thought we’d take a moment today to compare a bit of Fox-driven perception to the reality I’ve been seeing.

What I’ve been told to expect, at least in certain quarters of the public space, are dirty filthy hippies with no jobs or ambitions hoping to destroy America while having deviant public couplings fueled by the free distribution of dangerous psychotropic drugs.

Sadly, I’ve found that there’s not really much truth in that description, even as tiny bits of it do ring true; but with a manifesto in hand and a few conversations under my belt we’ll see what we can do to create a picture that will surprise a lot of the 99% who already support Occupy Wall Street, even if they don’t know it yet.

Last week, concerned citizens gathered outside an EPA hearing in Denver to demand a change in the EPA's 'Haliburton' loophole.

Testifying with them, was
former EPA official Wes Wilson who filed a Whistleblower lawsuit against the EPA.
Mr. Wilson was there specifically to testify about the EPA allowing Oil and Gas companies to inject toxic chemicals into the ground for the purpose of Hydraulic Fracturing, without disclosing those chemicals for public review as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is known as the 'Haliburton loophole' passed in 2005.

Wes Wilson, who was featured in Josh Fox's 'Gasland', had a lot of community groups with him including What the Frack and Food and Watch as well as families - many of whom have suffered directly from fracking fluid contamination on their land.