Daily Show co-creator mocks #Komen charity’s Karen Handel cot.ag/ybEcNj

— The Raw Story (@RawStory) February 2, 2012

I say you have to fight fire with fire. That’s why you have guys like David Brock of Media Matters going around trying to form these SuperPacs too. I give CREDO Mobile credit here for creating their own SuperPac that will be able to receive unlimited financial contributions.

This progressive SuperPAC is being backed by money the company aims to raise with volunteer-driven rallies, petition drives, and door knocking, Bond noted. The SuperPAC will be able to receive unlimited donations.

What the Citizen’s United v. FEC ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court did to our campaign finance system is extremely damaging. But, you can’t unilaterally disarm, because to do so would most certainly hand the opposition victory.

This actually reminds me of 2004 when you had all these groups running around forming 527′s. You had America Coming Together on the left and the Swift Boat people on the right. It’s a shame we can’t have the campaign finance system the American people deserve. Until then you have to play the game I suppose.

I know they can….I know they can.

Sure they don’t have the media market of NYC or even Oakland for that matter, heck, even the tundra went viral. Nonetheless, Harrisburg has a cause  that is worth occupying for. They are organizing to protest the pending eviction of the owner of 100 acres in Lewisberry, PA called Satori Farm.

The owner of Satori Farm, Stephen Conklin Sr. foresaw the use of this land to be in accord with the practice of sustainability. He used the land in conjunction with the Fresh Air Fund which afforded children an experience outside of their urban dwellings.

As Occupy Harrisburg says –

He offered the use of his land to other organizations for a variety of purposes free of charge. He also offered the shelter of his home and food in his pantry to anyone in need. He was happy to share what he had.

Now all of this is apparently in jeopardy due to a fraudulent foreclosure that now lingers overhead like a swarm of locusts waiting to descend on its target.  Since 1998, Mr. Conklin Sr. has tried to rectify this situation but has faced many obstacles. If nothing is done come January 5th an effort to evict the current occupants will in all likelihood take place.

Update -

The Occupy Harrisburg folks have also set up a fax action. See below.

We’ve been talking about the eviction of the Conklin Family but there’s STILL TIME for a federal Judge to step in. View the proof of fraud here. Please call and fax Judge Robert D. Mariani here:

Judge Robert D. Mariani
Phone (570) 207-5750
Fax: (570) 207-5759

You can use free fax services such as FaxZero. Be sure to have everyone you know send a fax and make a call!

Here’s a sample fax to send. Feel free to personalize it with your own story:

Dear Judge Robert D. Mariani:

I’m writing you in support of Stephen Conklin Sr., his 84 year old father, and his family. I am requesting a Temporary Restraining Order and give Mr. Conklin a fair trial.

You were generous enough to grant a 2 week Temporary Restraining Order on December 7th but if you fail to act by 2PM Thursday the family will be evicted. The case number is 1:10-CV-2501.

It’s a shame that this veteran, who fought in WWII to defend the American Dream, is having it stolen from him with fraudulent documents from several banks. Lynn Szymoniak verified the fraud. Judge Arthur Schack of NY has thrown out cases with just a fraction of the fraud Mr. Conklin has discovered.

Thank You,

Not that I’m against drone use in a military theater. If it saves a soldier’s life then by all means. I am concerned about the errors the drones can make which can result in disastrous casualties. With that said I am intrigued by the use of drones to fight Japanese whalers.

Every morning for the past week, a battery-powered drone with a range of 300km (190 miles) has been launched from the MV Steve Irwin, which is attempting to disrupt the annual Japanese whale hunts in the waters off Antarctica.

"We first found the Japanese fleet when they were 28 nautical miles away," said Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international marine wildlife protection group based in the United States.

Sea Shepherd is using an Osprey drone like the one below.

This is what it’s all about! Occupy Wall Street is making a smart transition. They are inspirational.

Rob Sheridan /Foter

The New York Times just posted a piece to their website about the founder of Adbusters Kalle Lasn. There’s one paragraph in the article where Lasn outlines his goals that he’d like to see OWS achieve.

Mr. Lasn has long believed that Wall Street and vast corporate wealth have sent the United States into what he calls “terminal decline.” But unlike many people involved in the protests, he also has specific goals he would like to see reached. He wants to see, among other things, “a Robin Hood tax” on all financial transactions, a restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act that erected barriers between banking and investing, a ban on certain types of high-frequency trading and the overturning of the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case.

And who said the movement didn’t have any goals? I’m quite sure there are many who would agree with Mr. Lasn.

I got this email from Yetta Kurland a lawyer, activist and former NYC council candidate on a ruling that would impact LGBT and homeless rights in New York CIty.

The case revolves around Alan Bounville a NYU student and activist who had been charged with violating the law while protesting in front of an elected official’s office.

On October 15, 2010, Mr. Bounville was arrested and charged with obstructing the sidewalk under a section of the New York City Administrative Code, AC 16-122(b).  This law is meant to prevent the storage of vehicles and other immovable personal property and garbage on public sidewalks. Bounville had been sleeping in sleeping bags placed atop cardboard boxes in the Chelsea neighborhood as part of a demonstration advocating for LGBT rights.

They say this law is often used to jail homeless people. The odd thing is the law refers to trash removal from sidewalks which when you think about it shouldn’t even be applicable to Mr. Bounville.

Here’s a good quote from one of the attorneys on this:

Mr. Quackenbush explained his reasons for taking the case. “There is no reason Mr. Bounville or any homeless person should be charged under a law aimed at keeping trash off the sidewalk. People sleeping on sidewalks are not breaking the law, are not trash, and should not be treated like it.”

Here in DC with homeless shelters being closed over the past few years, homeless people are most likely sleeping on the streets more. In New York City I’m sure similar conditions like cuts to services is triggering the same effect. Not that it’s a good thing that homeless people are living on the streets but arresting them for doing so is not the answer.

In the end this ruling is also good news for far more than just LGBT rights it’s also good news for anyone wanting to protest and exercise their First Amendment rights.

The Center offered some minimal services like a small meeting room and a coming computer center, but mostly this was a beehive for campaign-based advocacy in and around the core of the African-American community.  More recently they had spent the last year helping found Florida New Majority in 2009 to increase civic engagement dramatically.    Using targeted canvass programs in several urban areas around the state more than 15,000 had joined through that program and participated in civic activities leading to the mid-terms, thereby filling a vacuum in Florida, as Hashim mentioned, created by the dissolution of ACORN in the state.

via Visiting with the Miami Workers’ Center « Wade Rathke: Chief Organizer Blog.

People are going to organize no matter what. You can take down one organization but another one will take its place. It is the same thing with organized labor. Corporations and right wingers can attack unions all they want…but guess what? They will not go anywhere. People will organize. They organized unions before the NLRA and they will continue to do so no matter what you try and do.

Yes, since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers the weakening of unions has been effective–we know this. Yet if workers were given an opportunity to join a union they would–we know this too. Because this is known I am glad to see alternatives to unions being tried out along side traditional unionism practices–alternatives like worker centers and the AFL-CIO’s Working America.

It is that drive to organize that cannot be denied you’d have to take away the right of assembly for it not to be effective anymore! Whether it is for a building, neighborhood or workplace people are going to organize because strength lies in numbers.

“After that whole process, the Marbury Plaza was never sold, and is still owned by the Lightstone Group out of New York. After we took the action to try and buy our own building from the owners, they stopped caring about the facilities and let them fall apart. It got to the point where almost every apartment had been flooded, most people had been witness to a crime in the building, the disabled had trouble getting into one of the buildings because it was not ADA accessible, and we would go for periods without heat and air conditioning. The conditions were terrible.

via April on Bringing Change to the Marbury Plaza « Peoples District.

You know people knocked ACORN around for the voter registration thing which was actually silly anyway–but the other thing that ACORN did was overlooked and that is its community organizing strength which was often put to use in situations like the one highlighted here.

Whether it’s some entity called Lightstone Group or the Pinnacle Group LLC (ironically both NY based Lightstone owns this DC property cited however) landlords seem to have it out for their tenants all the time.

This is the result of organizing and fighting:

“Now, after a number of years of fighting it out, with much of that time in the courts and dealing with appeal after appeal, we are in the final stages of a settlement with the building. Those of us who withheld our rent will get an abatement and the building has promised to make the necessary repairs and adjustments to bring the building up to code. While nothing is ever perfect, and there are people who feel like the settlement is not enough, I view it as a success. The 1,000 to 1,500 residents here will finally be able to live with regular heat and air conditioning and free of animal infestation, security problems, and constant concerns by the disabled about getting into and out of their buildings. We couldn’t get everything, but I think that these changes will make all of our lives here better.

“When I tell people about all of this, they are always pretty shocked when they find out that I am not a D.C. native and still, I organized and led a movement to make our living conditions better. To be honest, I don’t think it really matters where you are from. If something is wrong, it is wrong, no matter where you are. I saw something that needed to be addressed, and I did it. The experience has made me rethink what I want to do with my life, and I want to go to law school, if I can find the money, and do this kind of work full-time. Now, I spend my days now working on regulations and grants, but to be able to actually make a real impact in someone’s life is really powerful. I want to help other people do what I did and help make them feel powerful, too.