occupyallstreets:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Poland Signs ACTA

Poland’s ambassador to Japan, Jadwiga Rodowicz-Czechowska, signed the controversial ACTA in Tokyo earlier today despite huge demonstrations in Warsaw Street and the hacking of governmental websites since the weekend.

Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk insisted that his government would not “succumb to blackmail”. But over 10,000 have taken the streets Wednesday across the nation to protest against censorship.

Later today, hundreds of people took to the streets of the eastern city of Lublin to express their anger over the treaty.

Young people held banners with slogans such as “no to censorship” and “a free internet”.

Demonstrators fear that Acta, which is to be ratified by the European Union, will be as pernicious as Sopa, the Stop Online Privacy Act which was withdrawn by the White House and the US Senate after a mass protest by hundreds of major user-generated content websites.

Credit

WBZ Radio report.

There was some nice coverage of the UML Adjunct Union protest today.

LOWELL (CBS) – Adjunct Professors at UMass Lowell are spreading their message with a protest today: They feel the UMass Board of Trustees are operating with a Wall Street frame of mind.

The adjunct professors are now in contract negotiations, and are seizing on frustrations felt by many about recent reports of the salary for outgoing UMass President Jack Wilson’s sabbatical. The Trustees approved a $425,000 sabbatical salary for this year, and then afterward at $261,000 salary for his work teaching and working as a top academic administrator at UMass Lowell.

The average full time professor salary at UMass Lowell is $130,000.

Tess George, an adjunct professor in business communication, says, “We’d like taxpayers students and parents to take a look at where the university’s financial priorities are.” She says, “I question the priorities. That’s an exorbitant salary being paid to an ex-president while we have an acting president and adjunct faculty are paid $3,500 per course with no benefits, no security.”

 promises to provide an artistic spin on the grassroots protest movement.  Theater performers and artists in New York are planning to descend on the Times Square area on Friday for a 24-hour occupation that they are describing as ‘a form of creative resistance.” The occupation is expected to feature continuous free performances from some noted downtown New York artists.’”

(Source: inothernews)

Mekana speaks truth to power, and Marco Werman speaks to Mekana.

Hawaiian singer Makana is gathering a lot of attention after slipping in a protest song while performing for President Obama and other world leaders gathered in Hawaii for the Asia-Pacific economic summit. Host Marco Werman speaks with Makana.

see videos of Mekana via PRI’s The World

saveplanetearth:

A Trends map of trending twitter hashtags shows #OccupyWallStreet tweets surging in nations around the entire world, except in the United States, while Google Trends shows a corporate media blackout.

TrendsMap Proves Scary Twitter Censorship Of #OccupyWallStreet From Trending Topics @ Alexander Higgins Blog

The NYPD is notorious for repression of peaceable assembly (2004 RNC anyone?). Still, that doesn’t make it constitutional. And why is the Tea Party news, exactly?

Posted by Philosopher Artists Saturday, September 24, 2011 Occupy Wall Street march September 24th 2011.
The peaceful Occupy Wall Street protest march turned violent as the NYPD corralled and pepper sprayed the participants. Mass arrests were made and loaded onto a NYC bus further locking traffic. The protest march took a route from Zuccotti Park to Union Square on East 14th Street. The protesters were marching back to Zuccotti Park when the NYPD turned violent. Hitting, arresting and forcing protesters into a small area. At that point a NYPD supervisor yelled shut up to one of the protesters and shot pepper spray into her eyes point blank range and hitting a half dozen protesters (including 3 police officers) when they had nowhere to go. The same supervising officer was seen (photographed) laughing after the arrests while looking at his text messages. The peaceful protest march started as 300 participants but rose to over 1,000 as the event stopped traffic in lower Manhattan. People spontaneously joined the march over a 2 hour period.

see photos

(Source: dumbecca)

via Salon.com

LGBT activists, including the Gingrich glitterer, protest at Marcus Bachmann’s Christian therapy practice

BY NATASHA LENNARDvia Nick EspinosaThe “barbarians” outside Bachmann’s clinic

Michele Bachmann’s husband Marcus — the Christian therapist who once reportedly referred to gay people as “barbarians” — was Thursday the focus of a self-described barbarian horde attack.

A group of LGBT activists in Minnesota — among them Nick Espinosa, who gained notoriety for glitter-bombing Newt Gingrich — staged a protest at Bachmann’s clinic, which is co-owned by his presidential hopeful wife and has been reported to practice “reparative” therapy to try to turn homosexuals straight.