The Punk Patriot

I answer Viewer Mail!

2012-01-28T12:53:00.002-05:00

This is all possible because of YOU.

To those of you who buy t-shirts- THANK YOU.
To those of you who donate a dollar a month to support the show - THANK YOU.
To those of you who donate 10, 20, 30 dollars a month to support the show - THANK YOU.

Occupy Atlanta - "The class war has been brought to us"

2012-01-27T10:55:00.002-05:00

"We no longer have a choice between resistance and complacency; the choice is now between resistance and annihilation."

"The nights are cold and hostile to those without homes, many of whom are swallowed by the city. These deaths should be seen as casualties of war.

"Every man woman and child who freezes to death on the streets that run through the shadows of the Marriot, Georgia Power, Coca-Cola Plaza, and Georgia Pacific, are being murdered..."

Meet Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign

2012-01-26T09:32:00.004-05:00

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Acronym TV: Top 10 Subtextual statements in Obama's SOTU

2012-01-25T19:07:00.001-05:00

The State of the Union- Occupy Wall Street Style

2012-01-25T19:00:00.001-05:00

Here we have a group of Occupy DC people from Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square protesting the Presidents speech. To summarize: Words from the President usually do not reach the average individual on the street. The neglect of this nation needs courage, leadership, and committment... Obama in his first 3 years displays none of these qualities.

[Infographic] The Student Loan Bubble

2012-01-25T14:21:00.002-05:00

Created By: Education News

Occupy The SEC

2012-01-25T12:46:00.010-05:00

This video is currently uploading on non-broadband internet. It will take 30 min. If you would like to help me upload content faster, please donate by clicking in the sidebar, and once I get enough monthly subscribers, I'll be able to purchase a faster internet connection.

Also, here's an online petition form to the SEC from Public Citizen you can use in the short term.

And while that's nice and all, you should really get your ass down to DC and complain in person.

So the SEC, if they had done their job, Wall Street would not have fucked up the entire world economy. Or at least not as badly as they did.

The Newsletter Version

The SEC, charged with regulating wall street, has largely not done their job, or worse, actively helped to cover up the crimes of wall street.

The SEC is a lynchpin intersection between Washington, DC and Wall Street.

On March 30th, there is a mass mobilization in DC that I'm sure you all know about. We should start planning now to occupy the SEC in March, and begin shining a light on how corrupt they are.

This is a critical target, and is a good target to utilize the "identity triangle" method of contrasting who our target is, and what they say they are, the conflict between what they say they do, and what they actually do. The conflict between what they say reality is, and what actual reality is.

If we can weaken the collusion at this juncture between Washington DC and Wall Street, we can start really making a massive dent in the power structure.

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Embody the Movement

2012-01-25T11:42:00.003-05:00

I just made this video for Public Citizen

2012-01-22T23:35:00.003-05:00

Like... Share it and stuff.

Some random footage of #j17 Occupy Congress

2012-01-19T18:21:00.000-05:00

I've got a ton of footage that I can't even begin to sort through, so I'm uploading stuff raw and uncut from my FlipCam to the FreeChangeCollective's channel:

Here's what's up so far. Updates to come.

Om meditation circle in front of the White House. Illegal.

Putting up hearts with our hopes and wishes on them, and tying them to the gate of the whitehouse. Also illegal.

Once again, thank you to everybody who has signed up for sustaining donations, and all of you who purchase t-shirts. You make this stuff possible.

UPDATE:

Occupation of Carl Levin's office:

Crowds gather:

The March Leaves:

The March Takes the Supreme Court Stairs (illegal):

March stops to read the 1st Ammnt on the NEWSEUM:

Headed to the Whitehouse:

Passing Freedom Plaza and DC City Hall:

Putting up paper hearts on the White House gates:

Somebody familiar doing something illegal:

AnnoyYour Congresspeople from Home

2012-01-19T09:58:00.003-05:00

You know how annoying it is to get robocalls from presidential, congressional, etc campaigns? Well, since your congresspeople like robocalls so much, why not use their own most annoying fundraising tool to call congress?

You can record a message ahead of time, and then send it to every member of congress. It's like being able to be here to lobby, without ever having to leave home, get time off from work, or find a sitter for the kids.

ReverseRoboCall.com

Lee Camp at Occupy Congress on #j17

2012-01-18T23:36:00.001-05:00

[INFOGRAPHIC] A World w/o Wikipedia

2012-01-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

Created by: Online University

WTF is SOPA and PROTECT IP?

2012-01-18T11:17:00.001-05:00

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Santorum's Staff and NH Police Assault Occupy NH and Vermin Supreme

2012-01-12T10:56:00.002-05:00

In Case You Missed It:

via Flux Rostrum

"After answering the same questions over and over here in New Hampshire, Sen. Santorum has become a pullstring homophobic speak'n'say." - Vermin Supreme

Vermin Supreme - Lesser Known Candidates Forum

2012-01-12T10:48:00.003-05:00

I love that Randal Terry had to share this panel with Vermin Supreme.

This is worth watching until the very very very last second.

Occupy NH floods primaries with "Get Money Out of Politics" placards

2012-01-12T10:30:00.001-05:00

Occupy NH drops banner outside GOP debate

2012-01-12T10:28:00.001-05:00

#OWS birddoggers ask Newt Gingrich about Corporate Money Polluting our Election System

2012-01-12T10:23:00.002-05:00

NH Primary - where you can talk BACK to the candidates and hold them accountable on their bullshit.

GET STUFF- FOR FREE!

2012-01-11T14:01:00.001-05:00

Send an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) to:

The Punk Patriot
PO Box 771
Standish, ME
04084

Our Government Sucks, Because You Suck (pt 2)

2012-01-10T23:18:00.004-05:00

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NYCLU weighs in on rules used against OWS

2012-01-10T19:13:00.003-05:00

New York Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
www.nyclu.org

CONTACT:
Jennifer Carnig, 212.607.3363 / jcarnig@nyclu.org
NLG Contact, Gideon Orion Oliver, 212.766.8050

Rights Groups Urge City to Halt Illegal Restrictions at Zuccotti Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2012 - Arbitrary and inconsistently applied rules and security
measures restricting the public's access to Zuccotti Park violate city
zoning laws, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Center for
Constitutional Rights, and the New York City chapter of the National
Lawyers Guild argued today in a letter to the New York City Department of
Buildings.

The groups urge Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri to promptly address
the violations and ensure that Zuccotti Park is open and accessible to all
members of the public on an equal basis.

"Right now, Zuccotti Park is a public space in name only," said NYCLU
Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "The metal barricades, security
checkpoints and selectively enforced rules not only raise serious
constitutional concerns, they violate city zoning laws. We expect the city
to ensure that the park is managed in a manner consistent with its own
laws."

Metal barricades have encircled Zuccotti Park since the NYPD cleared the
Occupy Wall Street encampment there on Nov. 16. The public can only enter
the park through two gaps where security personnel selectively subject
people to searches.

The groups maintain that these security measures and the constantly
changing, selectively enforced and unwritten park rules violate zoning
laws, longstanding city policies, and park-owner Brookfield Properties'
legal obligations under a 1968 special zoning permit that established the
park as a "permanently open park" for "the public benefit."

In its letter, the groups present a list of these violations. Among them:

* The metal barricades encircling the park violate a city voting law
requiring at least 50 percent of the plaza's frontage be unobstructed with
unrestricted access to all walkways through the park.

* The barricades and checkpoints interfere with the public's use and
enjoyment of the park, in violation of Brookfield's legal obligation to
maintain the space as a "permanent open park." People are reluctant to
enter an area encircled by metal police barricades.

* The barricades constitute a major design modification to the park.
Under zoning law, such modifications must go through a city approval
process, which has not occurred.

* Security personnel have prohibited individuals from bringing an
ever-changing list of items into the park, including food, cardboard signs,
musical instruments and yoga mats even though the park's written rules do
not prohibit any particular items from entering the park. The written rules
only apply to prohibited conduct.

"In a statement issued by Mayor Bloomberg explaining his decision to evict
peaceful protesters from Zuccotti Park, the mayor noted that 'we must never
be afraid to insist on compliance with our laws,'" said NYCLU Senior Staff
Attorney Taylor Pendergrass. "That is precisely what we are asking the City
to do now-comply with its own laws and restore the park to its role as a
functioning public space open to all New Yorkers."

"First Amendment freedoms are particularly vulnerable to selective
enforcement by the government," said Baher Azmy, legal director of the
Center for Constitutional Rights. "Like the constitution, City zoning law
also recognizes that in New York City's public plazas, members of the
public cannot be selectively targeted for the enforcement of patently
unreasonable restrictions."

"Brookfield and the City must remove these restrictions and restore Liberty
Park to the people immediately," said Gideon Orion Oliver, president of the
National Lawyers Guild - New York City Chapter. "Every day they refuse to
do so, they compound the irreparable harm they have done - and continue to
do - to our First Amendment freedoms."

In addition to the complaint filed today, others have made similar
complaints to the Department of Buildings. The Department of Buildings'
online complaint website shows an open complaint regarding the barricades
at Zuccotti Park, and the group "whOWNSspace" states that nearly 100
additional complaints have been filed by other individuals asking the
Department of Buildings to investigate the ongoing zoning law violations at
the park.

To read the full letter, visit
http://www.nyclu.org/files/releases/NYCLU_letter_to_LiMandri_1.9.12.pdf.

GET FREE STUFF- FOR FREE

2012-01-10T16:04:00.004-05:00

If you want something cool for free do the following:

1) take an envelope address it to yourself,
2) put some 1st class postage on it.
3) Then put that envelope in another envelope, and send THAT envelope to:

The Punk Patriot
PO Box 771
Standish, ME
04084

I'll put some cool stuff in the envelope you send me (the one with your address on it), and send it back to you.

This is how SASE's work. The last attempt to get this to work were not successful, because some people didn't seem to understand how mail works.

Lee Camp: The Secret to How Our Society's Owners Get Away w/ Everything

2012-01-10T14:16:00.003-05:00

The average American spends over 15 years of their life watching television. Has escapism swamped and destroyed rational thought?

It's VIRAL! --The Movement to Overturn Citizens United Swamps the Internet

2012-01-10T13:49:00.002-05:00

Comedian Lee Camp ("Moment of Clarity") helps democracy advocates take their message about the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision "viral." Starring Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, Jim Hightower, Laura Flanders, Cenk Uygar of The Young Turks, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's. Cute cats, babies, Mentos and More! Concept/Produced by Negin Farsad, Justin Krebs, Vaguely Qualified Productions, and Living Liberally. Exec produced by the We the People Campaign.

Directed by Negin Farsad
Produced by Justin Krebs/Living Liberally & Negin Farsad/Vaguely Qualified Productions in collaboration with the We the People Campaign
Edited by Mark Lechner
Written by Lee Camp with Negin Farsad
Concept by Negin Farsad, Justin Krebs, Lee Camp, Katie Halper
Cinematography by Adam Barton and Blair Johnson
Music by Gaby Alter & Paris, Ontario

ACRONYM: Mitt Romney Believes in CAPITALISM

2012-01-10T13:08:00.001-05:00

ACRONYM: because you stand for ... something.

OccupyCongress: Petition for Redress of Grievances

2012-01-09T14:00:00.005-05:00

As part of the schedule of events for Occupy Congress on January 17th, some members of the Occupy movement, perhaps including you, will have meetings with their congressional representatives and congressional staff.

This is an opportunity to take a message directly to members of Congress without having to deal with the corporate media distortion of what Occupy is about.

If you would like to meet with your member(s) of Congress it is best if you request to schedule the meeting. Folks who are doing logistics for Occupy Congress are available to help, but the most powerful tool to help get a meeting is the fact that you are the constituent and the member of Congress theoretically represents you.

It is best to schedule congressional meetings sometime between 9AM and noon on January 17th since that is the time period specifically set aside in the Occupy Congress schedule for direct congressional meetings. The House of Representatives begins its session on January 17th, but the Senate does not reconvene until the following week, so it may be wise to try to meet with your Representative rather than your Senators if you plan to meet with only one office

If you cannot get a meeting scheduled through the instructions below, as a last resort you can go prepared and walk directly into your congressional office in Washington, D.C.

Step 1: Please click here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ to look up your congressional representatives by entering your zipcode or street address. Click on your Representative and/or Senator. Their office address, phone number, and additional information will appear.

Step 2: To schedule a meeting with a staffer or member of Congress, it is best to first call the office and explain that you will visiting Washington, D.C. and want to schedule a meeting. Keep in mind that you may need to provide your postal address that verifies that you are a constituent. Call the DC office number you found at http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ and say,

“Hello, my name is [___________] and I am calling from [your city and state]. As a constituent and member of the Occupy movement, I would like to schedule a time in the morning of January 17th to come in and talk about issues that are important to [your city, county, neighborhood, local community etc]……. Thank you.

Explain that you would like to meet with the Congressperson, but that you would also like to schedule a meeting with a staffer just in case the member of Congress is unavailable. The receptionist will then transfer you to the appropriate staffer or the scheduler. You should ask for the email address(s), A short email is a surprisingly effective way to correspond with Congress. Sometimes, they will refer you to the congressional website to put in a scheduling request.

If you are transferred to a staffers voicemail, simply say the above text, and add:

You can contact me at 555-555-5555 or [emailaddress@gmail.com] Thank you.

Step 3: Get a confirmation of the meeting time and perhaps who you will meet with. You may get a confirmation of the meeting time while on the phone or the scheduler will call or email you back later. If you do not get confirmation within a few days, sent a followup email. Short emails are received by staffers immediately to their mobile phones. The email address is generally Firstname.Lastname@mail.house.gov. The email should say something very much like the above script. You can also include any links, such as any recent news articles, your local occupy website, or links to relevant information.

Getting a meeting with your Representative himself or herself is difficult, especially since you will not be giving much notice in advance. You may end up meeting with a someone on the Representative’s staff, but members of Congress rely heavily on their staff to inform them about their constituents’ views.

Step 4: If you get an email, please contact us at representativemeetings@occupyyourcongress.info and let us know. We can help connect you with other Occupiers in your congressional district and we are working on having a short “training” conference call for folks who will be having meetings.

We are working on creating congressional accountability handouts having information on each Representative’s voting records, corporate campaign contributions, and similar information. Check the website for this information soon but information of this sort can be found online at http://www.govtrack.us , http://www.opensecrets.org/ , and http://sunlightfoundation.com/
More Information Available Here:
Petitioning for a Redress of Grievances and Congressional Communication

Occupy Congress Plan of Action

2012-01-07T21:12:00.003-05:00

So I've written a plan of action combining the techniques of lobbying, theater activism, direct action, and electoral activism, and how we can use each stage to escalate to the next stage, leading ultimately to either successful demands for resignation, or successful electoral challenges. Or both. All with the goal of achieving a narrow policy goal of election reform.

Also Posted at the Occupy Congress Wiki

1) Create a series of demands that will work in the favor of the 99% that the bought congress cannot agree to without systemically and radically altering the way that politics works in the US.

2) To avoid the appearance of being unhinged or radical or fringe, do “what we're supposed to” and arrange for meetings with every member of congress over a period of two or so days, centered on getting binding agreements to those demands a la Grover Norquists pledge to never raise taxes.

Those demands must strike a root problems, and be both short term (commitment to introduce legislation within weeks, such as: mandatory clean elections modeled on Maine's original clean election system, a repeal of the NDAA sections that regard indefinite detention, a constitutional amendment stating clearly that corporations are not people) as well as longer term (pledging to run on clean elections funds in the next election).

Long term beyond the next election is unnecessary. This is where we will differ from groups like Friends of the Earth, who get pledges for things like dropping the keystone pipeline, and then are continually disappointed when their issue gets sold out on one election cycle later. We are interested in systemic change, right now, not next election cycle. If they do not comply by the time they adjourn for the next election season, we will nonviolently remove them from office either through electoral activism or demands for resignation (or both). But they don't know that. We will give them the opportunity to fail. Their arrogance will only make our case for their removal even stronger in the public's eye.

3) those who refuse to make a binding agreement to any part of our demands, or those who do not make good on their promises within the timeline we set, we follow up with them, confronting them directly and openly (and on tape).

4) we take direct action demanding they make good on their promises. This includes, but is not limited to, occupations of their office buildings.

5) when that fails, we shift from filling legislative demands to demanding immediate resignation. Special elections be held in their home districts if they do resign. This part is fun and sexy, and raises a ton of media attention around our issues.

6) from local Occupy Movements in those congressperson's districts, sevb>eral people are chosen to challenge our target congressperson in the primaries, in ALL parties, so that both major party must face challangers from within, as well as from outside (libertarian party, green party, reform party, etc, depending on what third party has ballot access-- OR running as independents.)

During this stage, there must be a real effort on the part of all Occupy candidates to demonstrate solidarity across transpartisan lines, and the focus MUST be exclusively on the narrow demands for electoral reform.

Both primary and general election challengers who abides by the narrowly focused Occupy demands for electoral reform.

The Occupy delegate to congress must also, (obviously) make a binding agreement to:
a) run using clean election money
b) make their first act in office creating legislation that meets whatever other demand there is (amendment to the constitution declaring that corporations are not people and that money is not speech, a law to make clean elections funds [based on Maine's original clean elections law] the ONLY way to run for office, etc)
c) as soon as their narrow policy goal is achieved, resign.

7) local occupations work their asses off electing their delegates in every party, and then in the general election as well.

This is the transpartisan electoral strategy by which our democracy has been slowly stolen from us by the 1%. We must employ a transpartisan stragey as well if we're going to create a real systemic change.

Cheri Honkala - The People's Sheriff

2012-01-07T20:58:00.001-05:00

Cheri Honkala to build the Philadelphia chapter of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. Cheri is working with several families fighting to stay in their homes. She continues to give educational talks and workshops on housing takeovers and organizing against poverty. In the spring PPEHRC will re-establish an urban farm in Kensington to provide food, initiate a time bank to help provide much needed tutoring and day care, and continue to build a multiracial intergenerational movement against poverty.

For over 25 years Cheri has been a leading figure nationwide in fighting poverty. Here's a video of her work from 2007

Cheri needs our help right now and on January 12th is her birthday and for a gift she is asking folks to make a financial contribution to the Philadelphia chapter of PPEHRC. The money will immediately go towards; rent at the new office, Cheri's cell phone bill (Cheri's phone is pretty much a hotline for hundreds if not thousands of struggling people in Philadelphia and across the country), Cheri's court fines (from her arrest last month), and other daily costs associated with running PPEHRC.

Let's honor Cheri and her tireless work against poverty by helping to sustain it.

To make a tax-deductable donation to PPEHRC make a check payable to "Liberty Resources" and in the subject line write PPEHRC donation. Send it to 174 W. Diamond St., Philadelphia, PA 19122

PPHERC's website is http://www.economichumanrights.org/ and is presently being redesigned.

Do some research on Cheri. You'll be blown away. There's a really great book called "The Myth of the Welfare Queen" that reveals what she's about.

And help spread the word if you feel so inclined.

#OWS protesters arrested at Grand Central Terminal for protesting #NDAA

2012-01-07T01:07:00.003-05:00

via gothamist

Two protesters mic check about the loss of freedom brought about by the passage of the NDAA and both are promptly arrested and whisked out of public sight.

Sounds more like Communist Poland than the USA, land of the free, home of the brave.

The two protesters who were arrested were Lauren Digioia from OWS's sanitation working group, and her boyfriend Zach Kamel, who I have never met (but I assume is also on Sanitation working group.)

Says Zach Kamel to Gothamist via phone:

I find it extremely disturbing the way that protesters are being treated in the United States, especially considering how this country was founded. You have the founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson, who is always quoted as saying that if you don't like what the government is doing in America, you can change it. And when we try to do that, look what happens: we're getting beaten. Lauren was beaten by several police officers at Zuccotti Park on New Year's Eve, and she still has bruises.
I don't blame the officers, even though there are a lot of bad ones out there who are clearly enjoying this. I saw the look in one of the officer's eyes while I was in custody at Grand Central, and I could tell he was shaken. And I took that as an opportunity to talk to him, and I could see he was ashamed. I told him that I understood he has his family to feed and he's following orders, and he said, "You know I can't talk to you." So I said, "Just listen, then." Because I know it's not his fault; it's the fault of the white shirts, the higher-ranking officers like Lieutenant Lakeram, who you can see shoving me in that video. It's the fault of Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg, who sees the police as his personal army.
Honestly, I'm scared for my unborn children and their unborn grandchildren, because the United States is no longer the bastion of freedom it's been purported to be. This American myth is all bullshit, and what's going to happen to our country as we start to turn into what we hate? I'm sure it's been happening for a long time, but now we're seeing it out there in the open, in places like Grand Central Station and Zuccotti Park. You can't turn away from things like this.

Turns out you CAN eat money.

2012-01-06T15:54:00.001-05:00

But it has no nutritional value.

RIP broken window

2012-01-06T15:45:00.004-05:00

Now, I don't advocate property destruction.
But it is not violence. It's vandalism.
It's still arguably wrong.

But it's not violence.

Shooting somebody in the face with a tear gas canister and sending them into a COMA, as the OPD did... that's violence.
Beating protesters over the head with batons for simply sitting down in a park. That's violence.
Spraying protesters with chemical weapons for sitting down on the sidewalk. That's violence.

Breaking a window? That's property destruction.

Tactically, it's stupid.

It turns people away from the movement. It marginalizes the movement, so that the 99% who don't know that they should be part of this movement, they become more reluctant to join.

We need the drones to wake up and join us, to go on strike, to unionize, to go on wildcat strikes, to stop allowing themselves to be used as mindless gears in a system that grinds the poor like hamburger meat.

Property destruction is not sexy to anybody but the "aesthetic anarchists" -- those who prefer the appearance of anarchy to the substance of it. It's not a good move, as it weakens us and turns people off.

The way forward is through overwhelming love and joy. We have no enemies. We have only two groups of people in our movement-- those are aware that they are part of the movement, and those who are not yet aware that they are part of the movement.

We're still in the nacent stages of movement building. Let's continue recruiting, through joy, exuberance, and taking the moral high ground through non-compliance and non-participation.

I get weird emails

2012-01-05T23:41:00.003-05:00

So, I don't know what to make of this. Bullshit? An honest warning? Conspiracy theory crap to scare people into fearful submission, so that they are afraid to take part in protests? Nothing?

I figured I'd post it just the same, and see what you think of it:

Your safety (and mine)
Hello, you and I are literally talking the same talk, I'm doing mine on twitter. I think we are probably generating lots of attention, I currently work in law enforcement (local cop, not fed) and I see the public service memos. You have NO idea (even though you seem too) how prepared they are. The 'plan' was made YEARS ago. To be quite specific, I am a 'reserve' officer, non-commissioned law enforcement officer, does that not sound odd to you? I have never attended an academy, just in-house training. I joined to help the community but now I perform actual law enforcement functions.

When the order is given to initiate domestic tyranny, law enforcement will go under FEMA / DHS authority with a regional commander in charge, probably military but who knows. The FEMA camps are real as well. One is being built about 20 miles south of me.

I have weapons, months and months of supplies that I have acquired over a long stretch of time, I'd rather not hurt anyone even my enemy but if need be I am obviously ready to do what I have to do.

I suggest that you make plans if you haven't, the term civil unrest is being thrown around A LOT! And this is within local police departments (I'm not even in a large city!) Rights haven't existed for quite some time. We are all slaves and the government "MUST CONTINUE" at ALL costs.

If you want ANY advice, tips or tricks, please by all means let me know.

I don't want to know your name, where you live or anything more about you other than your youtube username, it is for your safety and mine.

Be safe, be prepared to duck out at a moments notice. Listen to the police scanner and also listen to hiband transmissions typically encrypted but in the 4.9 MHz spectrum.

Don't get dead, the new america needs you...

-Me

"A John Brown Moment"

2012-01-05T22:26:00.012-05:00

This video leaves me... inspired? I'm actually not entirely sure how to feel.

Here's the scene: somebody with an iPhone video is taping police beating on a man of African descent. Nothing out of the ordinary. This happens all the time, especially in low-income communities. Police abuse their power all the time, especially against already marginalized groups. They can't afford lawyers.

While I have no idea what brought the situation to this point, I'm assuming it's the typical abuse of force, as somebody off camera asks, "did you get this shit from the beginning?"

To which the cameraman responds, "no, but they're going down because I got this on tape." Little does he know, that one of them is about to ACTUALLY go down.

Then enters this stranger from across the street. He approaches slowly, having seen what's going on, stands over the man on the ground, and then RAILS on the cop, and performs a citizen arrest on him, holding him to the ground.

The Man who was being brutalized by the cops, gets up and I assume, escapes.

The cop and the stranger lay on the ground together, the stranger on top. The cop flails trying to punch the stranger in the head, but fails, as the stranger appears to be using a police subduing technique for holding persons of interest to the ground.

A third cop enters and kicks the stranger in the teeth, and seems super pissed at the cameraman when he declares "I got that on tape!"

The stranger lays down, and willingly submits to arrest, knowing full well that he will be charged with assault on a police officer.

Is he a hero?

It's foolish to pretend that race isn't an issue here. This stranger, because he is white, is less likely to be arrested for low level crime, will- unlike his colored counterpart- probably never be stop & frisked, and when facing trial this white man will most likely be charged with crimes less severe than he would if he were black.

Is he aware of his white privilege and using it to make a potent point about inequality? Is he just somebody who saw something wrong happening and decided he didn't want to stand on the sidelines? Did he let somebody who was actually committing a crime get away? Was he wrong to use violence to intervene against those who were using violence?

I don't know.

But is he a hero?

I can only answer... "I think so?"

If you have any more information about where this happened, or what the outcome was, please email me at Punkpatriot411@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

UPDATE: It appears that this takes place in Baltimore. The rest of the details are still fuzzy.

SOLIDARITY patch

2012-01-05T19:42:00.002-05:00

Limited run of 5

It's exactly what it sounds like.

Limited run of 5. Each is slightly different.

Printed on reclaimed canvass.

You want one?
It's only $5!

[infographic] OWS over time

2012-01-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

via Visual Economics

ACRONYM: Low Testosterone, OWS, and Lloyd Dobler

2012-01-05T18:24:00.001-05:00

Occupy NH takes Mitt Romney to task on Corporate Personhood

2012-01-05T13:36:00.004-05:00

via DemocracyNow.org

90% of stocks ARE owned by the richest 10% of Americans. To say that profits go to pensions confuses the issue, as most pensions are underfunded - on purpose, to pad the exorbitant executive bonuses that the CEOs and their boards grant themselves.

I love the faux heartfelt tone in Mitt's voice, trying to evoke sympathy for the poor 1% who own everything.

January 20th - OCCUPY THE COURTS

2012-01-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

David Cobb was the Green Party candidate for President in 2004.

MIchael Moore - Debtor's Prison

2012-01-04T21:07:00.001-05:00

via

Instead of you going off into the real world, we send you immediately into a debtor’s prison…And at 22 you are in prison. Because now you have $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 worth of STUDENT LOAN DEBT that you are going to spend the next 20-30 years paying off! Why would we do this to our children?!? We didn’t have that! Those of you who are in here that are my age and older, what did it cost us to go to school here in Michigan? Let me tell you how we paid- if you didn’t get a scholarship, the way you paid for Michigan State was you worked at Dairy Queen for the summer!

Cindy Sheehan - The Anti-war movement was co-opted by the DNC

2012-01-04T19:52:00.002-05:00

The Government We Deserve

2012-01-04T06:33:00.002-05:00

This video will finish uploading in 560 minutes from now (12:34am EST). To help me get a faster internet connection to more rapidly upload video, please donate below

In the meantime, check out WhatINtheFUCKhasObamaDoneSoFar.com

So there’s this “chicken and the egg” argument that I’m constantly bouncing back and forth in my head:

Which is it? Is it that our government doesn’t represent us?
Or is it that our government represents us perfectly, and Americans, on the whole, are just terrible people?

I ask this because despite the slew of things you can find over at whatinthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com, such as:
* Sucessfully protecting Bush officials from prosecution for torture,
* pushed for a 5 year prison term for a medical marijana dispensary that was legally being run under California Law,
* argued that widespread use of Predator drone missiles is a justifiable form of self-defence,
* argued that the executive branch has the authority to assassinate US citizens,
* reversed his promise to close guantanomo,
* reaffirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage,
* announced $8 billion in loan guarantees to promote nuclear power,
* increased military aid to Israel to $30 billion over the next 10 years,
* prosecuted Omar Khadr using evidence obtained through torture,
* granted 27 waivers to oil companies drilling in the weeks prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster and then dragged his feet for months in doing anything to hold BP accountable,
* has done nothing to prosecute wall street criminals,
* actively blocked the prosecution of wall street crimes by forcing out-of-court settlements in sub-prime mortgage fraud class action suit,
* oversaw operation of a CIA black site at Bagram airbase where Red Cross observers reported abuse of detainees,
* fought for and won the right to deny people the writ of habeas corpus,
* blocked UN human rights investigations at Guantanamo,
* launched FBI raids against antiwar groups in Chicago and Minneapolis,
* dropped charges against the CIA for destroying evidence of torture, deported more immigrants than George W Bush,
* continued the Bush policy of kidnapping people and moving them to countries where torture is legal so that detainees can be tortured,
* blocked the release of photos documenting torture and abuse of detainees by the US military, ordered a media blackout on a flooding nuclear power plant in Iowa,
* continues the practice of indefinite detention, refused to sign a treaty banning the use of landmines, made government less transparant than ever,
* blocking more FOIA requests per year than George W Bush,
* cut a secret deal with the GOP to kill the public option despite campaigning publicly for it, defended the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell provisions from legal challenges,
* used the “State Secrets” defense to protect the Bush Administration from prosecution for war crimes,
* extended the USAPATRIOT act without making any changes to it,

and then had the nerve to complain to his staff that his activist base were a bunch of whiners...

YET DESPITE ALL OF THIS: progressives still cling to this fantasy that Obama is somehow ON THEIR SIDE. That is the TEXTBOOK DEFINITION of delusional fantasy. If this isn’t evidence of voters having a mental disorder, I don’t know what it.

And so now the people who advocate not voting are all standing up and cheering. But you’re equally part of the problem.

Instead of getting out there to gather the signatures required to get better candidates like Ralph Nader, or the Green Party on the ballot, you just sit at home and curse them all, because intellectually it’s easier to just be a cynic than actually doing any fucking work.

Most Americans don’t vote, and so they leave it up to the idiots who vote against their own interests to decide things. Of the eligible voting population, only 40% vote, and consistently, they vote 20% for the Dems, and 20% for the GOP. The eligible non-voting Americans make up the majority with 60% of the eligible voting population! But they don’t vote.

Armchair activists like Noam Chomsky keep advocating for this dichotomy that your choice is either voting for the Democrat, or sitting at home and not voting. Not Voting has been used in soviet bloc countries to protest elections as being illegitimate, but that’s only effective there because there were laws on the books stating that if voter turnout was below a certain amount, it would be taken as a vote of no-confidence in all the candidates, and a new slate of candidates would need to be picked and voted on. There are no such laws in the USA. If everybody but one person voted in the next election, that ONE PERSON would decide the election for everybody else. Not voting is the fucking dumbest thing you could possibly do in the USA.

If the cynics could band together around voting for somebody who “could never win” that person would win in a landslide!

So on the one hand, we have idiots who vote for terrible people in both parties, and on the other hand, we have people who don’t like the terrible people who are running, but are unwilling to do any work to get better people on the ballot.

So you know what? Whether you keep voting for fascist assholes and suffer from partisan stockholm syndrome, or if you’re an intellectually lazy cynic, either way, you have the government you deserve. Your government sucks, because YOU SUCK.

I’m the punk patriot. To life, liberty, and pursuit of a less fucked up government.

TYT on NDAA: Obama Defenders are wrong - here's why

2012-01-04T01:11:00.000-05:00

President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, a decision being defended by some partisan Democrats. The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks down specifics in the bill to refute the claims made by the defenders of Obama and the NDAA.

Acronym: Obama's 2012 Armageddon Economic Plan

2012-01-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

Obama signs NDAA, ACLU disgusted

2012-01-03T03:49:00.001-05:00

via The Young Turks

So am I.

My OWS New Year's Eve

2012-01-03T02:45:00.003-05:00

It becomes easier to like Ron Paul when the GOP hates him.

2011-12-21T08:38:00.001-05:00

via TYT

Ron Paul is hated by establishment Republicans. The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks down a politico article on the 2012 Republican Presidential candidate.

David House of Bradley Manning Support Network, has 4th amendment rights violated

2011-12-20T22:34:00.002-05:00

via The Young Turks

David House, co-founder of the Bradley Manning Support Network, was approached by ICE officials who took his electronic devices and did not return them for almost 2 months despite not having a warrant. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.

SPECIAL EDITION: Indefinite Detention Bill Passes Both Senate and House

2011-12-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving for work right now.

My internet connection is slow as death, so this video won't be uploaded until noon, despite my starting to load it at 8am today.

If you want to help me get a faster internet connection so I can load content faster, please donate:

Kevin Gozstola on The Young Turks talking about PFC Manning's trial, Day 4

2011-12-20T09:03:00.002-05:00

Kevin Gozstola of Fire Dog Lake on The Young Turks talking with Cenk Uyger about Day 4 of PFC Manning's trial.

President Obama, Civil Liberties, and the Cellophane Society

2011-12-20T08:46:00.004-05:00

December 19, 2011 C-SPAN
http://MOXNews.com

Business Reply Mail Art

2011-12-20T00:10:00.005-05:00

an anonymous fan did this using "Portland Paste."

Portland Paste is an anonymous art blog/ newsfeed / exhibition on facebook. Any graphic artist can take a photo of their political street art, and send that photo to PortlandPaste @ Gmail dot com, and it will load automatically and anonymously to the facebook feed.

note: the "Greenpeace" envelope is a credit card envelope with Greenpeace stickers on it.

2011-12-19T23:24:00.001-05:00

via LeeCamp.net

"Vulture Funds" is an actual term for private equity firms that buy up the debt of destitute countries and then suck money out of the desperate people. There are people right in the US of A amassing millions in this fashion. Make sure to shake their hand next time you see them and say "Love your work." (more www.leecamp.net)

To all the OWS peeps going home to families that don't "get it."

2011-12-19T23:06:00.002-05:00

via Goldenbear Productions

h/t Lauren Minis

Ron Paul is now the frontrunner in Iowa.

2011-12-19T10:22:00.003-05:00

via RawStory

According to a new poll release from Public Policy Poll, Paul has surged ahead at 23 percent, with Mitt Romney now in second place at 20 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has seen a dramatic drop in support, falling to third at 14 percent.

"If [Bachman] thinks we live in a dangerous world, she ought to think back to when I was drafted in 1962, when there were nuclear missiles in CUBA, and Kennedy calls Krushev and talks to him, and talks him out of this thing so we don't have a nuclear exchange. and you're trying to dramatize this and say that we need to treat Iran like we've treated Iraq, and kill one million Iraqis, and some 8,000 Americans have died since we've gone to war? You cannot solve these problems with war!"

Also, to hear the applause coming from a GOP audience at the line, "WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER WAR!" gives me goosebumps. It might really be possible that Ron Paul could be the nominee of the GOP. I would LOVE to see a debate between Ron Paul and Barack Obama.

Why?

Because this right-wing hardliner would be running to the LEFT of Obama on War, Civil Liberties, Drug Legalization, and Gay Marriage.

I want to make clear-- I disagree with 50% of what Ron Paul stands for. I disagree that personal liberty and economic liberty are the same issue-- in fact, those two things are often at odds with one another (see Singapore for example).

But the 50% I agree with, I agree with 100%.

Colbert Super PAC: Undaunted Non-Coordination

2011-12-19T09:34:00.002-05:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Ron Paul talks about Student Debt

2011-12-18T23:33:00.005-05:00

via Occupy Student Debt:

"‎This is not an endorsement for or against Ron Paul. He is just discussing some important issues about our plight, and it is well worth watching and considering. He is the only candidate from either party to really take this subject head-on in an open and honest way."

I would like to add that Ron Paul's idea of taking away access to loans and letting the free market sort things out is koo koo bananas.

The reason why people who work would want their taxes to pay for the college of somebody else, is because that somebody else might end up being the heart surgeon who saves their life later-- if they get to go to college.

A well educated society benefits everybody. College should be free for those who want to go. College students have become the new sub-prime mortgages. We absolutely should "bail out" student debt: That's the transition to a society in which education is free for those who want to pursue it.

Chinese Authorities Lose Control as Village Revolts

2011-12-18T20:16:00.001-05:00

via NDT

The over twenty-thousand residents of the village of Wukan in south China's Guangdong Province have expelled all local Communist Party authorities, including police, and blocked road access to the village.

The British newspaper The Telegraph was able to get a journalist on the ground in Wukan on Tuesday. Malcom Moore called the current incident the first time on record that the Party has "lost all control" in a situation of "open revolt." This marks the latest escalation in an ongoing confrontation between villagers and local Communist Party officials they've called corrupt and abusive.

For three months, Wukan residents have been staging occasional large-scale protests against a longstanding series of abuses committed by local Party officials. The villagers' biggest grievance was corrupt officials profiting from illegally selling the villagers' land.

The current intensified protest, including the expelling of all police and officials, came after the death in Party custody of Xue Jinbo. He was a Wukan resident who had served as a negotiator with authorities. Party officials claim Xue died of "cardiac failure." But Xue's family say there was evidence of torture on his body, including broken thumbs and bruises.

By Monday, locals had stopped an attempt by hundreds of police and security personnel to enter Wukan. Those forces retreated to a backup location three miles distant, and are now blocking all food and water from entering the town.

As of now, at the fifth day of what some are calling a rebellion, police remain blocked from entering, and some townspeople are making comments suggesting that the confrontation has become about more than just land seizures.

The Telegraph quoted one villager as saying "We are not sleeping. A hundred men are keeping watch. We do not know what the government's next move will be, but we know we cannot trust them ever again."

The situation in Wukan remains uncertain. Other media have managed to enter the village. But anything about Wukan is being quickly censored on the Chinese internet.

America For Kids! Episode 3 - the #NDAA of 2012

2011-12-18T01:24:00.004-05:00

via America For Kids

Holy shit. This video starts off TERRIBLE. Please, for the love of god, watch the whole thing.
You will be rewarded.

Rev Billy: The Shopocalypse Is Upon Us!

2011-12-18T00:13:00.002-05:00

via RT

The Guards of State must reconsider their position

2011-12-17T13:01:00.002-05:00

This is a message to the Police, to the military, to the TSA, to Homeland Security and to members of every other enforcement arm of the government.

via StormCloudsGathering
h/t to Kevin Zeese

24 hour Occuthon raising money for Occupations around the USA

2011-12-16T23:21:00.003-05:00

Starting at 7pm ET on December 16th, going to 7pm December 17th, you can share your thoughts live by calling in at:

1-866-745-2667

Find an occupation near you to support by clicking here:
We All Occupy

I'll be appearing at 2:30am on the 17th.

[infographic]7 Facts about our Veterans that will Shock You

2011-12-16T17:55:00.003-05:00

via MoveOn.org (yeah, I know)

I disagree with 50% of what Ron Paul stands for

2011-12-16T11:47:00.002-05:00

But the half I agree with, I agree with 100%.

D17 Anonops

2011-12-16T11:26:00.001-05:00

Website: http://www.anonyops.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/anonyops_
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anonyops/119328501493033?sk=wall

Is Obama Incompetent, Cowardly, or Malevolent?

2011-12-15T21:15:00.011-05:00

an great sample of logical thinking by Lucien Maverick

"I previously had written a post where I had asked the question of if Obama was malevolent, or merely incompetent. I posed the idea that there are three liberal narratives that currently go around about Obama. The first is that he wants to do things, but the Republicans block him at every turn. I immediately discarded this option, because there was too much evidence against it. The second is that he never wanted to do any of what he said, and that he wanted to continue the Bush Doctrine. The third is that he did want to make good on his promises to the American people, but was simply too cowardly to stand his ground. Recent events have proven that neither the first nor the third narrative are correct. The second is the correct one. Obama is a malevolent force working against the American people.

The first major indication that Obama was playing dumb and really working to continue the Bush Doctrine was the acceptance speech that he gave when he received his Nobel Peace Prize. He basically said that it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks, America can do whatever the hell it wants, without consequences. That was the first major hint.

The next was when he failed to live up to his mandate of closing Guantanamo, instead, he pretty much franchised it. That was the next big hint that something was very off about his character. Next up came the Bush Tax Cuts. Obama could very easily have stood his ground, and said that he would veto anything that they put on his desk. He could have told them that there would be no fly with this. Instead, he gave the Republicans more than even Bush II had given them. Bush hadn’t been so generous, so that gives kind of a statement of where Obama stands.

The next big clue was the Debt Ceiling debate. This was another instance where Obama could have stood his ground, because everybody who is politically aware knew that the Republicans were bluffing. There was no way that they were going to not raise the debt ceiling. With the AARP breathing down their necks and the old people saying “You damn well better get me my Social Security!”, we all knew that it was a bluff. Again, he gave them everything that they want and more. He barely even hid it."

[...]

"With the 2012 elections just around the corner, the big question becomes – what should we do? The liberals like me really have nobody to turn to. All of the Republican candidates are jokes. Newt Gingrich is an idiot. Michele Bachmann is insane. Rick Perry is a bigot. Rick Santorum is a dumbass and a bigot. Mitt Romney is the Republican version of Obama (except he’s open about his malevolence, whereas Obama is trying to mask his as 'change')."

There is more in over at the original post, but this excellent set of paragraphs above is what really struck a chord with me. Laying out the history of betrayal of the base, it really seems to me that the Democratic Loyal has a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome.

I'd also like to point out that Liberals and Progressives DO have a place to go, where they can vote for somebody who is neither evil, nor insane.

Dr. Jill Stien is running for President with the Green party.

She's working to get ballot access in all 50 states, and thanks to increasingly exclusive and arcane ballot access laws put in place by both the GOP and DNC to keep third party candidates from challenging their duopoly, we are going to need to work extra hard to make sure that she is an option that we can vote for in 2012.

So that means we need to start working on it NOW.

Anonymous issues statement regarding #NDAA and #OpBlackout

2011-12-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

TRANSCRIPT
____________

Citizens of the United States,
We are Anonymous.

This message is an urgent warning to the people of the United States. The government has been plotting treason against you.

An addition to the National Defense Authorization Act, Sections 1031 and 1032, will allow the United States government to imprison any person who commits any act they disagree with indefinitly and without trial. Section 1031 reads, "A covered person under this section" includes, "any person who has committed a belligerent act." All persons accused do not get a trial. The Feinstein Amendment, 1031 e, states that, "nothing in this section shall be construed." The Supreme Court are the only ones with the power to construe laws. If this law is passed exactly 24 hours after this video is published, there is no turning back.

They will call us liberals and fanatics. Those are words. Look at the proof. The United States government is decieving you. If you do not wake up now, it will be too late. Your last day of freedom is today. Will you ignore this message and continue your day without another thought? Or will you fight back against this corrupt and vile government? The choice is yours. The latter is best. Petitions will not work this time. Corporates and Billionaires have backed up this law and the government is certain that you will not take action. They are certain that their "bread and circuses" tactic will succeed. Let us prove them wrong.

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not Forgive.
We do not Forget.
To the United States government, you should've expected us.

BP Propaganda Remix

2011-12-14T21:14:00.002-05:00

Lee Camp: Life, Liberty, and Indefinite Detention Without A Trial

2011-12-14T16:34:00.001-05:00

It's seems that Obama and Congress have finally agreed on something! They support the indefinite detention of American citizens WITHOUT charges or a trial. Hurray! Cheers to cooperation!! [Also on today's Moment of Clarity podcast - NY Times bestseller GREG PALAST]

Subscribe to Lee Camp's YouTube channel here.

NYPD officer to civilian - Get out of my face, "I have a gun on me, okay?"

2011-12-14T13:14:00.003-05:00

via ThinkProgress

Arresting 18 members of the 99 Percent Movement, hundreds of New York City police displayed tense and angry behavior in response to a peaceful #D12 protest in the Winter Garden atrium, owned by Brookfield Properties, at the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan. “Don’t get in my face,” one officer told a citizen trying to observe the arrests. “I have a gun on me, okay? I don’t want any people coming that close to me.”

SFPD sergeant orders officers: "If [Occupy protesters] do not do what you tell them, strike them."

2011-12-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

via BoingBoing.net

In this video from the kettling of Occupy San Francisco protesters, SFPD sergeant Peter Thoshinsky (helmet #2197) is recorded walking the police line, ordering his officers, "If they do not do what you tell them, strike them."

The protesters who record this are understandably upset and try to engage the officers in a dialog about whether such an order is legal and should be followed. There's a certain amount of violating Godwin's Law here, which is understandable, even if it might not be the best way to win the day.

"If they do not do what you tell them, strike them." says SFPD while kettling OccupySF 2011-12-07

[infographic] Pepper Spray: How safe is it?

2011-12-13T21:48:00.001-05:00

Created by: Online Criminal Justice Degree

[inforgraphic] Cars are killing us

2011-12-12T17:50:00.003-05:00

Created by: Healthcare Management Degree

Retired Police Officer explains Police Brutality

2011-12-12T11:28:00.004-05:00

One cause of police brutality explained here by OWS protester and retired Philly Police Captain, Ray Lewis at Zuccotti Park. This interview took place 3 days after his arrest on November 17, 2011.

This video compiles multiple angles of citizen journalists.

Help Dennis Trainor Jr spend 99 days with the 99%

2011-12-12T01:18:00.003-05:00

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a vested interest in seeing that Dennis is able to get funding for this project, as I will likely be hired back, possibly as a camera operator, and quite likely as an editor doing post-production work.

DONATE TO HELP FUND THE PROJECT: https://www.wepay.com/x1jea4b/donate/185351

Pop music's popularity is dependent on sexual language

2011-12-11T21:21:00.009-05:00

A recent study found that pop music's popularity is dependant on language that talked about sexual reproduction.

So this track will probably become the most popular pop song in America:

Sex sex sex sex by PunkPatriot

Which of course answers the question: Why does pop music suck?
The answer is: Because the average American is intellectually comparable to a bonobo in heat.

LYRICS:

Enforcement
Positive
Reproductive
Messages

Your impulse to breed
says it's what you need
your top priority
is make new mouth to feed

sex sex sex sex (it feels good, do it now)

your body makes
you feel insane
you only use
your lizard brain

sex sex sex sex (it feels good, do it now)

just be a slave
to your biology
your nationality
your sociology
your geography
your economy
now dance for sex like you've had a lobotomy

sex sex sex sex

The NYPD are just bullies who break kids hearts

2011-12-11T21:15:00.002-05:00

The police are just bullies who break kids hearts. Literally and figuratively.

Is Capitalism Unpatriotic?

2011-12-11T20:38:00.003-05:00

I think it just might be...

My submission to OccupyStudentDebt.com

2011-12-11T02:46:00.013-05:00

I have well over $22,000 dollars in student debt.

I have to pay $200 dollars a month just to keep it from going up any higher.

I am currently unemployed in a market with almost no employment opportunity. I am self-employed as a musician, which is sort of the same thing as being unemployed.

I've completely given up on life, or the idea that I'm going to have any sort of normal life worth living.

I've tried working full time to pay back my student loans, but the wages are just too low, the cost of living is too high, and I can't keep up with payments, and my debt just keeps ballooning thanks to compounding interest.

In fact, I just received a letter from my last employer, LL Bean, telling me about the great program they have connecting their employees with welfare services. That's right. They brag in this letter about connecting over 9,000 ~~full time~~ employees with welfare services. They know full well that they do not pay wages that are high enough for people to live on, such that over 9,000 of their ~~full time~~ employees are on WELFARE.

You know things are fucked up in this country when employers take putting their employees on state assistance for granted.

I just can't see how there is any way to escape, aside from just not paying my loans, and living a slightly less shitty life.

I would actually gladly default on my loan, because I have no money, no income, and cannot get loans as it is. Really how much worse could it be?

I have also considered committing suicide in the offices of those who hold my student debt as protest.

But there's problems with both of these:

The first problem is that I owe money to three separate institutions, and can only kill myself once.

The second problem is that my parents are cosigners on most of my loans, and even if I'm dead, they still will continue to owe a mountain of debt that I cannot pay.

I can't even escape my student debt through death.

How fucked up is that?

Man Bulldozes his own home rather than face forclosure

2011-12-09T02:35:00.004-05:00

I like this guys attitude.

"When I see that I owe $160,000 on almost a $350,000 home and somebody decides they want to take it -- I wasn't gonna stand for that so I took it down." -- Terry Hoskins, Moscow, Ohio

To translate from midwestern politeness into a language that people from NYC might understand:

Fuck me? Oh no, my friend, fuck YOU.

Banks forclose on homes in the hopes of reselling them and regaining their losses. By leveling his home, the bank has essentially nothing but the dirt it stood on. I applaud you sir.

Bernie Sanders offers Constitutional Amendment to ban Corporate Personhood

2011-12-09T00:56:00.002-05:00

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that allowed unrestricted and secret campaign spending by corporations on U.S. elections. The first constitutional amendment ever proposed by Sanders during his two decades in Congress would reverse the narrow 5-to-4 ruling in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission.

Public Citizen's webpage: Citizen.org
People For the American Way: PFAW.org
Center For Media and Democracy: PRwatch.org

[Infographic] Corporations are People. Evil people.

2011-12-08T19:58:00.003-05:00

Created by: Online MBA Programs

Just a reminder

Click here to take part in this 3 step action, and push for the revocation of BP's corporate charter!

In case you missed this

2011-12-08T19:11:00.004-05:00

So Rick Perry Made an ad:

And Second City made a parody of it:

What's sad is the real thing is so insane, such a cartoonish inversion of reality, that it's the one that seems like a parody; whilst the "comedic parody" is just... a guy saying things that make sense.

Rick Parody for president, 2012

Occupy Broadway Highlights

2011-12-08T16:09:00.001-05:00

#OWS takes back forclosed homes from the banks #WINNING

2011-12-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

OWS is winning: Los Angeles calls on DC to end Corporate Personhood

2011-12-08T14:23:00.005-05:00

h/t to Lauren Minis

I just hope that as people start TALKING like populists, that they start ACTING like populists, and that the movement CONTINUES to hold them accountable and call them on their bullshit.

I feel like the idea that this movement is going to take 30 years to acheive our aims is both a good and bad one.

It's good, because it gives people permission to take a break and keep from getting burned out.
It's bad, because it also allows people to get lazy, and to accept half-loaves.

The revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Tunisia, et al,; they took decades. Or it only took a week. Depends on how you look at it.

Nobody knows the point of revolution. Nobody knows where we actually are right now. We won't know where the movement is on the timeline of revolution until now becomes the past. So keep fighting like the revolution is tomorrow.

Occupy Ninjas Take Manhattan

2011-12-08T13:43:00.002-05:00

Make the difference.

Everybody is important enough to do big things.

Occupy Lincoln Center

2011-12-03T13:09:00.001-05:00

Lori Anderson @ Occupy Lincoln Center

2011-12-03T11:21:00.001-05:00

Theodore Treehouse is doing a kickstarter

2011-11-30T23:53:00.003-05:00

theodore treehouse is a band that I'm in.

we're raising money for our next album.

if you click the link above, you'll get to see a list of all sorts of cool things that you can get for pledging.

The 1% believes their own bullshit

2011-11-30T11:23:00.001-05:00

Yeah yeah, you're totally essential for all of humanity to continue existing, rather than a parasite on society who exploits an imbalanced system that rewards your sociopathy and greed. Uh-huh. Sure...

Sometimes numbers alone don't quite do the job

2011-11-29T13:00:00.004-05:00

Occupy Sustainability

2011-11-29T11:51:00.001-05:00

This is a little old, but it features my friend Brennan from OWS sustainability working group:

60 minutes: Congress and Inside Trading

2011-11-27T23:06:00.006-05:00

This is not a GOP vs DNC problem. They BOTH do it. And it SHOULD be ILLEGAL.

THIS is why it makes equal sense to Occupy both DC and Wall Street.

h/t @NaomiWolf

Joey Quits

2011-11-27T14:52:00.004-05:00

This is a slow burn. Worth the wait.

Visit JoeyQuits.com if you're a hotel worker who wants to make public your story of an unjust workplace!

Write to joeyquits@gmail.com for info on submitting your story.

YOU COULD PROBABLY BUY THIS SHIRT AND WEAR IT AND STUFF:

Black Friday & Pepper Spray

2011-11-26T23:20:00.004-05:00

So Black Friday has become more hilariously stupid than ever before, thanks in large part to the occupy movement, and the ongoing double standards of the corporate-owned media.

Now the Occupy Movement, as far as I know, hasn’t actually done anything in regards to Black Friday. All they did was camp out in a public space for the last two months, and then get assaulted by police officers for exercising the most sacred right in our democracy- the first amendment.

I guess who I should actually be thanking then, are the assholes in the NYPD and other police departments around the united states who have reacted to the peaceful demonstrators in the Occupy movement with insanely stupid shows brutality and violence.

Now it’s long been a tradition that on Black Friday, people camped out, not on public property, but on PRIVATE PROPERTY. For DAYS! Using TENTS and SLEEPING BAGS, in the hopes of being first in line to tithe their meager and ever shrinking income to the golden calf of consumption. It’s long been the case here in the USA that you can camp out for capitalism, but not for democracy. Black Friday shoppers didn’t get pepper sprayed.

At least not right away. In a Los Angeles area Wal Mart there was a woman who found a crowd grabbing wildly for discounted XBox game consoles like so many zombies tearing at the flesh of a live victim in a scene from dawn of the dead (which appropriately enough, takes place in a shopping mall).

Now competitive shopping is nothing new here in America. It’s long been something beloved by the news media and retailers alike. Economic Analysts actually use the number of people trampled on black friday as an economic indicator, the more people trampled, injured, and killed, the better the outlook-- which of course carries with it a whole other set of moral implications for capitalism which I won’t even bother to get into here. And this woman proceeded to take Competitive Shopping to a whole new level of batshit insane.

She pulled out a spray canister of that same chemical weapon used against the youth in Oakland, NYC, UC Davis and countless other occupations around the united states, she pulled out a canister of pepper spray, and proceeded to spray 30 people with the product to break up the crowd, so that she could get her hands on an XBox before they were all gone.
Now apparently, in the court of public opinion, Police cannot be held responsible for their actions, but consumers can, because she is potentially facing 20 counts of assault and battery for the injuries caused by the use of this chemical agent.

Now, I want to repeat this, because it’s really interesting how the media covers the same substance being used in two different incidents.

When pepper spray is used against mindless consumer zombies who are engaged in the idiocy that is consumer capitalism, THAT is assault and battery, and the victims are described as having “injuries.” Yes, apparently if pepper spray is used on you while shopping, it can cause injuries.

However, when pepper spray is used on peaceful demonstrators, it’s merely a “chemical irritant.”

Well, I’m pretty irritated by this double standard.

A real life example of what I'm talking about:

Motherf**king Huey Long

2011-11-26T22:36:00.003-05:00

Just came across this and felt a need to share.

Anonymous and #OpPepperspray

2011-11-25T09:57:00.004-05:00

The call to action:

And how it has gone so far:

[Powerful] One Man's Thanksgiving Hope for #OWS

2011-11-25T09:16:00.002-05:00

From N9 Productions

Oakland Police start "The Thanksgiving Potty Police-Riot of 2011"

2011-11-24T23:46:00.003-05:00

Police attack Oakland residents at Thanksgiving dinner 2011. Porta-potties were delivered, police prevented them from being unloaded. People had to pee.

While attempting to get the potties unloaded, a police officer attacked one resident dragging him to ground and arresting him.

Later in the video, you can see a cop drawing his taser, and a resident preventing him from discharging his weapon.

Another example of cops creating civil unrest at peaceful gatherings by showing force for ridiculous reasons, such as guarding portapotties, camping, and exercising freedom of speech and assembly.

h/t to Lauren for bringing this to my attention