The African Spring: Senegal by Dominic Nahr

37thstate:

Photography by Dominic Nahr, a TIME Magazine contract photographer.

Occupy APD, a set on Flickr.

Finally, here are my photos from the Occupy APD (Austin Police Department) protest on Jan. 28th. I think they came out pretty well!

Also, it was pretty windy and cold (for Austin), which is why everyone doesn’t look all too happy. That, and we’re protesting police brutality and the withholding of evidence incriminating it.

(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67961884@N08/6834058165/in/set-72157629211143055/)

This is your state-mandated security system. Do you feel safe yet?

Killing the Bill of Rights on Its Anniversary

laliberty:

via CFL:

Today marks the 220th anniversary of the day the Bill of Rights were officially added to the Constitution.

Ironically [or, rather, tragically], the U.S. Senate is set to kill the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments of that Bill of Rights later today.

Last night, the U.S. House approved the Conference Report version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes provisions that would allow the President to throw American citizens in jail [without due process] and keep them there indefinitely.

The Senate is set to vote on this bill around 4 pm eastern today, so I need your immediate help if we are to stop this dangerous legislation.

You can find your senators’ contact information here. 

Give ‘em hell. 

This would be one of the most egregiously liberty-crushing laws to ever pass. If we don’t stop them now, solutions may turn ugly.

_

Click below for what I sent the Senators who represent the State of California this morning. Feel free to use it as a template to send to your “representatives.” Of course, since the vote is imminent, I recommend bombarding them with phone calls.

Read More

So yeah, this is our country now.

At first I just thought, “Oh well, at least this might draw attention to the evils the government already commits,” but then I realized that there’s something eerily ‘conspiracy theorist’ about the simple formality of passing this into law. It takes a lot to shock me, even more to really disturb me, but this legitimately made me briefly consider the immigration requirements for Switzerland (Deutsche sprechen? ja. Secured job? doable). But then I remembered that I am far too headstrong to live on my knees. 

So if they want to try to save face when the image of police dragging a kicking and screaming 5’2”, 100 lb. girl emerges, I challenge them to try. I mean, let’s be serious: I live in Texas and I would feel liberated to exercise my relatively expansive Second Amendment right to kick ass if the state ever steps foot on my property (because you know I wouldn’t consent to that—they’ve got all kinds of diseases).

irisblasi:

In the wake of the NYPD’s destruction of the 5,000+ volumes comprising the OWS Library last night, it’s important to remember: Even burning books can’t stop ideas from catching fire.

NYPD doesn’t realize that books are mass printed now, understandable given this level of pedantic fascism really isn’t, nor has it ever been, in vogue. Normally I’m not one to encourage conformity, but… this is the political equivalent of Crocs.

Sidenote: I read this and immediately thought ‘Occupy Wall Street has its own library?’

(Source: http://bit.ly/rXHT9z)

irisblasi:

In the wake of the NYPD’s destruction of the 5,000+ volumes comprising the OWS Library last night, it’s important to remember: Even burning books can’t stop ideas from catching fire.

NYPD doesn’t realize that books are mass printed now, understandable given this level of pedantic fascism really isn’t, nor has it ever been, in vogue. Normally I’m not one to encourage conformity, but… this is the political equivalent of Crocs.

Sidenote: I read this and immediately thought ‘Occupy Wall Street has its own library?’

(Source: http://bit.ly/rXHT9z)

ladysatan:

The dog was named Parrot. This was taken moments before Parrot was murdered by the cop. The cop drove his knee into the middle of Parrot’s back while stretching Parrot’s forelegs behind him, as one would do with an armed criminal. Without waiting to determine whether this technique would calm Parrot, the cop grabbed Parrot, lifted him off the ground, and brought him to the top of the concrete staircase. He threw Parrot over the banister, down twelve steps, and onto the concrete floor. Then, the cop stood at the top of the stairs, drew his weapon, and executed Parrot. Aaron, the animal’s owner, cannot recall the number of shots fired. Witnesses state that Parrot was not harming anybody and was simply frightened by the cop.

It was all I could do just to keep from crying, reading this.

The state of animal rights and police accountability in this country are abominable. Even if the dog had been vicious, the sheer absurdity of shooting one who we can assume suffered multiple broken bones—in addition to almost certain internal bleeding and loss of consciousness—is just too much to bear. In America, the law treats pets like property.  

You want to know why I’m so concerned with property rights? Among many other reasons, like dignity, peace of mind, and the right to keep what one has earned, I care about property rights because without them, the state cannot be held accountable for the destruction inherent to its existence. And when pets are considered property, respect for property rights prevents egregious rights violations, most importantly negative rights, such as the right not to be killed.

I write this as my puppy naps beside me and it is physically painful to imagine if she were the one who was brutally murdered. In all honesty, I would have probably assaulted the officer and attempted to shield my puppy from him, because this situation does nothing if not demand vigilantism.

What I ask is that each time you hear someone bring up the topic of animal rights, consider that for so many people, myself included, their pet is their child. Now consider whether the state would be justified in killing your child, especially if your child stated a willingness to become violent, if the police attacked you. In Parrot’s case, there was no threat of violence, but I am of the position that murdering an animal, especially without allowing their owner to diffuse the situation, is wrong and should be prosecuted in all cases, unless it is a case of documentable self-defense, as with humans.

This case of abuse is disgusting and I cannot fathom the emotional turmoil from which the owner suffers. Sociopaths like this should not be stationed anywhere with potential warm-blooded assault; basic respect for living things is paramount in any kind of position whose responsibility it is to ‘preserve the peace’. If we fail to demand this, we tacitly consent to institutionalized violence. 

Okay, so while I can appreciate the general message that you will be hard pressed to find abject poverty in the United States, my general repulsion for the tactless means of its communication almost completely negates the message itself.

This is what has been appropriately termed ‘poverty porn’—the objectification of the impoverished, utilized first and foremost for shock value. Insofar as the bottom image does nothing but to impose guilt and objectify starving children (transforming them into the abstract concept of ‘all that is wrong with the world’, which is wrong for pretty obvious reasons), I am disgusted. I am also extremely saddened that the West’s distorted perception of the entire continent of Africa is primarily a result of its belligerent abuse of images like this for its own gain (moral superiority, funding for medical/social/financial/wildlife nonprofits (this desensitizing tactic is one of my many problems with non-profit, as opposed to for-profit, charities), justification for damaging voluntourism, and the general imposition of the West onto these communities). The very irony that these children were photographed with a product of a Western company, by someone that is likely a citizen of a Western country, for a Western publication for consumption by the West and is now bopping around the Internet as a vehicle for criticism between people of the West, ultimately without any regard for the voices of those who endure such suffering and the humanity of those who are exploited by the very people who wish to help them.

Again, this is coming from the perspective of a developmental economist (focused on Africa), so I am not trying to chastise anyone for posting this, nor do I assume that most people consider this media in the same way (though I do hold that most people process information in the same way, as to generalize themes, etc). However, I will ask that anyone reading this now please consider the implications of Western consumerism which propagates messages like this one and whether it is truly to the benefit of those depicted as well as those implicated that it be perpetuated. 

wearethe99percent:

I live in a part of my country where:

• Children graduate high school with a third grade reading level
• The school gets only $5000 per student for the year
• People were getting laid off from the two main employers in town. (the school and the hotel)
• People live in tents or houses built out of scrap materials
• We have one of the highest costs of living in the NATION

I LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

we are the 99%

occupywallst.org

Only $5,000 per year. My public high school got less than $4,000 and it’s ranked #21 in the country. Many private schools get similar results; if education were completely privatized, I imagine competition would drive prices down quite a bit lower, across the board.

I imagine that the bullet more indicative of her concern about this lack of funding is the one that indicates that the school is one of the main employers in town. I understand that things are tough. I really do. I don’t have a job, am a full-time student, am pretty much completely financially independent because my family’s yearly income is around $12,000 (yup, I pay for my own insurance, (pretty expensive) medication, housing, vet bills for my crippled puppy, college, food, you name it). And I want less government, not more (so I can afford my puppy’s and my own healthcare, at the very least). And I understand that if one is unemployed, and has the time to construct houses out of scrap material (um, hello, become a mason? That’s impressive), they have the option to start a business. Given that this woman lives in an area that spends towards the lower end on public education, this woman probably lives in a southern state, which would indicate less business regulation. So starting a business is a very viable option. If anything, the monopoly that the school seems to have on employment could indicate a crowding out effect, which is a much more significant point this woman could be making about business corruption/corporatism.

Also, this woman is in a house. With reading level probably exceeding most Americans’, at least based on her grammar and spelling. She also never comments on her personal situation. Just a couple observations.

I do not want to trivialize the fact that so many people are speaking out against corporatism, but the government, being the facilitator, cannot be the solution. If Occupy Wall Street wants people to take them more seriously, they should a. research their proposed solutions more thoroughly and stop asking for more of the same as a solution, b. stop claiming to represent others (I consider this infringement of free speech, which is a huge problem I have with unions, as well), and c. make an effort in constructing your self-portrait; your disheveled appearance doesn’t speak to my empathy, but rather, makes me feel that you could not be bothered to compose yourself, as if this was of little consequence to you (as I assume it is, provided the underlying assumption of the movement is that these people are starved for liberation and justice).

And this is from someone sympathetic to the movement. Obviously, if these things are off-putting to me, one can imagine how alienating they could be to someone less willing to give the movement the benefit of the doubt.

Nope, still not buying the ‘Obama, the savior’ propaganda. If only the occupation was at the White House…

Since the official end of the recession, virtually all of the new income—92 percent as of the first quarter of 2011—has gone to corporate profits, according to a May report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. NONE of the increased GDP has gone to boost wages and salaries.