We’re in the waning days of the Yes Men‘s Kickstarter campaign to finance their new film and an “Action Switchboard”, to connect activists around the world to new and existing projects and causes. Go check it out!
Get Empowered
27 JunShira Golding Evergreen, one half of our friends at Shirari Industries (who designed the Hard Working Movies website), has directed a documentary called “Empowered: Power from the People” about energy (in)dependence and the grassroots movement to be truly self-sustaining. Per the film’s site:
Tompkins County, NY is one of the cloudiest, least windy places in the country, and yet its residents are proving that we can meet our energy needs through totally renewable resources. From solar and wind to veggie oil and geothermal, Empowered: Power from the People tells the story of one community’s role in the energy independence revolution.
Check out a clip from the film below, and hit up its website to see the entire film.
Be angry, be beautiful
8 JunMary Dore and Nancy Kennedy are currently editing their new documentary “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry“, about the birth of the women’s liberation movement, from 1966 to 1972; and, consequently, a film on how popular movements can force the enactment of social change. A thrilling and funny film, it looks at the dignified ladies with hats and gloves who helped form NOW, the cool-headed intellectuals (Cynthia Ozick’s famous put-down of Norman Mailer’s writing technique with spherical objects comes fondly to mind), the street-taking radicals (hello, “WITCH/Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!”), and everyone in between. Read more about the film here, and if you’re interested in participating/supporting the project, click here. (cross-posted from www.hardworkingmovies.com)
Mitches United
4 MayMitch McConnell, eternal protector of the voiceless (oh, wait…), recently submitted an amicus curiae to the Supreme Court in regards to Citizens United and the more recent Montana ruling that questioned it. In brief, McConnell has looked at the two years that have passed since the C.U. ruling and has come to the conclusion that it has, if anything, only made our democracy richer. Per David Firestone at the Times:
Mr. McConnell has outdone himself with a legal brief submitted recently to the Supreme Court that’s blind to how unlimited contributions damage the political system. Not only is there no reason for the court to reconsider or overturn its 2010 Citizens United ruling, he wrote, but the events of the last two years actually support the correctness of the decision.
Outside spending in the presidential election (through early March) was $88 million, more than twice as much as in the same period in 2008, and more than six times as much as in 2004.
But this wash of money, most of it buying attack ads, actually pleases Mr. McConnell, who sees it all as an exercise of speech (by those who can afford to speak in this way, most of whom happen to be Republicans). In his brief, urging the court to strike down the Montana law, he says the money has allowed “far more political speech in 2012 than would otherwise have been the case,” making the campaign less predictable and more interesting. (In fact, predictably, the guy with the most money won the Republican nomination.)
Read the whole article! And if you have the time / seratonin levels necessary, read McConnell’s brief itself – it’s not that long, actually, and quite illuminating.
End Corporate Personhood and Demand Real Democracy!
9 AprJoin Move to Amend to Declare Our Independence from Corporate Rule in communities across the nation. Let’s educate our fellow citizens about the corporate threat to our democracy, and get them engaged in the movement to take back our country!
Move to Amend holds monthly Take Action Webinars from 4-5:30pm (Pacific Time) – and the next one is tomorrow, TUESDAY, APRIL 10th. To register and learn more about how you can participate in an online video conference, click on the link below.
http://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EB53D6848646
The meetings are designed to learn about organizing tools, campaign opportunities, and to get tips and ideas for events and creative ways to educate your community about Corporate Personhood. (For example, 4th of July is a great time to spread the word and expand the movement – dress as corporate judges and corporate “persons” and dance and sing about the takeover of our democracy in your local 4th of July parade!)
Find more tips and ideas at http://www.MoveToAmend.org. Americans of all political persuasions are fed up!
It’s beautiful.
5 AprTonight we’re off to Brooklyn’s Powerhouse Arena for the book release party for Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution. Assembled by Andrew Boyd, it has enough contributors to make your head spin. A must for any burgeoning creative change maker. While you’re buying it, check out the other great reads from OR Books.
The latest from the NYC Parks and Recreations Dept:
21 Mar
On Saturday night, scores of people were arrested and shut out of Zuccotti park as OWS protesters got an influx of manpower from participants of the Left Forum 2012 conference, which happened that same day. Now, having moved to Union Square, the NYPD shut down and closed that park as well early this morning. As far as we know, this tactic of mass-evictions and shutdowns of NYC parks, both private and public, doesn’t have much precedence, and it will be interesting to see what happens at tonight’s proposed Hoodie March to raise awareness of the Treyvon Martin case.
The party starts in Oklahoma
10 MarToday kicks off the Woody Guthrie Centennial, in his birthplace of Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a daytime conference and a nighttime all-star concert. Events keep going the rest of the year, posted here. Happy 100, Woody.
You too can be a Corporate Person
5 MarThese days, it sure can seem paltry just to be a regular old person, now that corporations can be persons too; which, it would seem, is a much bigger, shinier, and definitely richer option than boring old normal persons. Fortunately, our friend Jan Edwards sent us some nifty instructions for how to change that! Now you too, with the help of just some cardboard, glue, and other assorted household items, can achieve the new deluxe standard of personhood. Just follow Jan’s instructions and upgrade your wardrobe with the king of power suits.