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Showing posts with label anti-protest laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-protest laws. Show all posts
At
the end of the year, most bloggers/columnists compile a round-up of
worldwide events that stood out to them as making a significant impact
on human society. This year the detrimental events came at us all so
fast and furious, one right after another, that there’s almost no way to
rank them in order of horridness because they were all so… well, horrid. Where to start?
I
tried to find a common thread among the happenings which sums up what
the year 2025 was all about. An idea grabbed me as I read one astute
observer’s comment on the recent arrest of activist Greta Thunberg.
Greta was arrested in London for holding a sign pleading for the
release of the Palestine Action hunger strikers. This comment has become
the theme of this year's round-up: Truth has become hate speech.
In
the year 2025, this theme was present in most earth-shattering events.
It can be summed up in a formula reminiscent of Einstein’s Theory of
Relativity: Truth = Hate Speech. (Or possibly Hate Speech squared.) And
just as revolutionary as Einstein’s breakthrough in physics, this Truth =
Hate Speech axiom opens up a whole new way of understanding how our
lords and masters (a.k.a. the billionaires/oligarchy and their
henchpersons/political puppets) want to manipulate and use us from here
on out—that is, if we let them.
Let’s start with Greta’s and thousands of other British protesters’ example...
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If
western governments need to keep ramping up censorship, propaganda
and the persecution of journalists in order to defend western freedom
and democracy, is it really freedom and democracy? And, is it worth
defending? —Caitlin Johnstone
Canceling
Free Speech
by C.A. Matthews
The
best thing about being American, in my opinion, is The Bill
of Rights. The
best amendment in
particular is
the
First Amendment and the part where it says that We
the People have
the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. But Americans
can’t even depend on that bit anymore, and
it sucks.
Thanks
a lot, fascists!
If
you don’t equate free speech with our right to assemble and
protest, then perhaps this recent incident involving arresting the
bail fundraisers for the Cop City (Weelaunee Forest) protesters in Atlanta won’t
upset you like it does me:
Rights
advocates warned Wednesday that the arrests of three board members of
an Atlanta-based bail fund could mark the beginning of a new era in
the United States’ treatment of peaceful protesters—one in which
both demonstrators and those who support them are targeted by law
enforcement.
...The
Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Atlanta Police Department
carried out the
arrests of Marlon Scott Kautz, Savannah Patterson, and Adele
Maclean of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF).
Atlantans
can’t exercise their right of free speech to protest the building
of a “Murder Academy” on the one remaining piece of virgin forest
in their region. They’ll risk arrest if they do, and then their
compatriots will be arrested when they raise funds to bail the
original protesters out of jail. Our government says murder by cops is okay, but the bailing out of peaceful
protesters isn’t to be allowed and those who do bail them out risk being locked up as
well.
So
much for the
First Amendment!
The
fact of the matter is that free speech has been weaponized. (Read
Weaponizing Free Speech for a sample or two of
what I mean.) Anyone expressing an opinion that isn’t sanctioned by
the status quo can expect to be censored, arrested, charged and/or
thrown into jail without even the possibility of being bailed out.
To
this black mark on the First Amendment and The Bill of Rights I say: God
bless America! Let “freedom” ring! (Yeah, right. *cough, cough*)
We’re
living in an era of “Cancel Culture.” Free speech isn’t seen so
much as a right as a suggestion. If
what you say doesn’t upset the powers-that-be and their sycophants and paid trolls, you’re okay, but
don’t you dare express an opinion they don’t like. Oh no. They can't have critical thinkers who can read between the lines, can they?
This
fascistic outlawing of protesters is not
just happening in the US—it’s a worldwide phenomenon. A recent
video from The Juice Media out of Australia demonstrates just how
inventive a “Five-Eyesdemocracy”
can
be when it comes to squashing voices of dissent.
This short video says it well. You
don’t like something your government is doing (or allowing a big
corporation to do) and you and
your friends get out in the streets to protest
it—you’ll
wind up in jail and totally bankrupt. “Cool and normal” as the
Aussies say. That phrase
translates
to roughly, “Bend over and take it,” in American English.
Freedom
of speech and freedom of assembly have
been effectively
canceled. God bless… the fascists, or so it seems.
Persons
of conscience are being
forced into making one of two difficult choices: Go along with whatever those
in charge of our “democracy” tell you is “correct thinking”
nowadays and shut up, or if you can’t “love it” you're told to “leave
it.”
But
where can we go? More importantly, why
should we
be forced from our homes because fascists desire endless wars for oil
and want us to cooperate with the immoral death machine, a.k.a. the
Military-Industrial Complex? Don’t we lovers of peace and harmony
deserve to live here as much as the warmongers?
God bless... those who don't believe the lies.
The
West sure loves to brag about its love
of “freedom
and democracy” and its “free press,” but it sure
doesn’t
act like it gives a flying Flag Day about them. Without independent
journalists and media outlets, we wouldn’t have
known
about the jailing of the
Atlanta protesters
and their bail bond funders. Without the indies' reportage, we wouldn’t know
about
the US national security apparatus funding and endorsing coups
d’etat
around the globe, would we?
Journalists
of integrity are fast becoming a rare and endangered species. They
find themselves harassed and threatened with prison. Journalist Matt Taibbi did after his Congressional committee
testimony concerning the Twitter Files. (Read Digital McCarthyismabout
how Taibbi was called a “so-called journalist” by members of
Congress.)
Reporters Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss in North Carolina were actually arrested and charged with trespassing while covering the eviction of homeless people in Asheville’s Aston Park. During their trial,
Judge James Calvin Hill refused to acknowledge their press status or
that this was a First Amendment case. He found the duo guilty. In his
decision, Judge Hill stated, “They may be journalists, but there
was no evidence provided to the court that they are journalists.”
American reporter Gonzalo Lira is now sitting in a Ukrainian jail because of
his in-depth coverage of the war in Ukraine. When
asked if
the US
government
would help free Lira,
a government spokesperson wouldn’t say if US officials would
even consider
asking
their Ukrainian counterparts for his release. Our
so-called “representatives” are
okay with letting a journalist rot in jail.
No
precedence there, is there?
Meanwhile
in the UK, journalists can find themselves treated like terrorists,
grilled for hours, and their computer devices taken. This is what
happened to The
Grayzone’s
Kit Klarenburg.
As
soon as journalist Kit Klarenberg landed in his home country of
Britain on May 17, 2023, six anonymous plainclothes counter-terror
officers detained him. They quickly escorted him to a back room,
where they grilled him for over five hours about his reporting for
this outlet. They also inquired about his personal opinion on
everything from the current British political leadership to Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine. From British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone
Aw...the
smell of “freedom and democracy” wafting in on the early summer’s
air! It covers over the stench of those pesky truth-telling
reporters like Kit, Gonzalo, Veronica, Matilda, and Matt. Kit might even find himself locked up at Belmarsh Prison with fellow
truth-seeker Julian Assange if a judge decides he's “not a journalist.”I
sincerely hope not.
God bless... independent voices who keep reporting what's really happening in the world in spite of threats from the fascist state.
This summer isn’t particularly
a good time of
the year for
me.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy sunshine and picnics, because I do.
It’s
just that I’m
not that into American “patriotic holidays” like
Memorial Day, Flag Day, or
the
Fourth of July. There’s not much to celebrate when your mind
connects theseholidays
with endless wars for American hegemony, senseless killing for
profits, and locking up persons who protest violence and report on war. Others simply
associate
these holidays with hot dog eating contests, fireworks,
parades,
and apple pie, but I just can't anymore.
There’s
little joy to be found in any patriotic holiday pretending to be
supportive of our First Amendment rights like free speech and freedom of assembly while our so-called “elected representatives" are
ripping those very rights out of the people's hands. The fascists in power have ruined things for me. I honestly can’t
see myself wearing red, white, and blue and waving a little
flag while watching an Independence Day parade ever again.
I just
can’t, knowing what I know. I can’t approve of the evil status
quo hiding behind those once sacred symbols of the
flag
and The Bill of Rights. I’ll have to find myself another holiday to
celebrate this time of year.
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If you think billionaires and massive corporations aren't the problem, think again...
Protecting Our Right To Protest
by C. A. Matthews
Just when you think you can't fall down the rabbit hole into
Alice's Wonderland any farther, your
elected officials will come up with legislation to abridge your rights to protest
and free speech.
I'm not kidding.
Who could joke about something so offensive and so entirely undemocratic?
Who could come up with a law that would make even chalking a protest message on
a sidewalk a felony? Who could come up with a way to make it legal for the cops
to shoot unarmed protesters if they feel the least bit "threatened"?
Our elected officials can--and they have!
Ohio isn't the only state to introduce anti-protesting
legislation, but it's the one I'm most familiar with. There are several bills currently in the Ohio legislature that focus on
curtailing or restricting protesting and free speech. They are Senate Bills 33,
16
and 41
as well as House Bills 22
and 109.
I recently encountered some protesters in Toledo who were speaking out (while
we still can) about protecting our rights to protest. Here's my impression of
where they were coming from and how it differs from my take.
Most of my fellow anti-protesting protesters (you go crazy just
saying that!) weren't happy about their elected representatives supporting these
measures, but they felt sure one thing could turn all of these bills
around. And what one thing is that? Why, voting these naughty politicians out of office.
The only reason these politcos created these anti-protesting bills in the first place, according to one of my
fellow protesters, is because they belong to the Republican Party. It's that simple. To be a Republican is to be anti-free speech and against embarrassing protests, in his opinion. As soon
as "good Democrats" can be put into office and take over these wayward politicians' seats, all
threats to our rights to protest and free speech will simply evaporate like a
light rain on a hot summer's day.
I wish I could be so optimistic.
Alas, I doubt that turning around the overwhelmingly Republican Ohio
House and Senate will automatically kill these anti-protest bills. I wish it could
be that simple. But it isn't.
Why isn't it? You only have to look at who or what is behind these pieces
of legislation to see why they won't simply "go away" when all the bad,
evil, wicked GOPers are voted out of office and replaced with the only other "recognized
establishment party" (the Democrats) in the Buckeye State. (That's a whole
other blog piece in the making. Ohio's current political establishment hates alternative parties so much that it makes it almost impossible for third parties to keep their "recognized" status from election to election.)
The real money and impetus behind Ohio's anti-protesting measures isn't because Republicans hate free speech. It's because the
fossil fuel industry hates free speech and bad publicity more. Big Oil is terrified of protesters shouting,
"People over pipelines!" over each and every mile of pipe they bury into our soil. The fracking industry doesn't care much for
the bad press they get whenever one of their wells or collection ponds leak. Somehow, Ohioans are
supposed to drink petroleum-laden well or river or lake water and
like it and live happily ever after.
Uh-huh. Yeah, like who's really fallen down the rabbit hole here?
Big Agriculture plays a part in all this shutting down of
free speech, too. But I suspect you already know something about that if you've
followed this blog's coverage of the first Rights of Nature Law passed in the
United States, The Lake Erie Bill of Rights.
Since both establishment parties--the Republicans and the
Democrats--have been well-awarded by Big Oil, Big Ag, and their lobbyist friends over the years, the
chances that a flip in the Ohio House and Senate to a majority Democratic Party
leadership would make any difference to how these new laws would be passed and enforced
is slim to none. Money talks--and
politicians whose hungry campaign coffers love a big helping of Big Oil dollars
aren't going to tell the fossil fuel industry to shut up and go away.
So we will have to do it.
Calling all activists! This spring and summer our voices must
be heard and our signs and bodies must be seen before it is too late. And start
raising your bail money now. Anti-protest laws mean more arrests. That's the purpose of them. But we have something Big Oil doesn't have--sheer numbers. They can't lock all of us away, all at the same time, can they?
Our elected representatives in Washington DC are also trying to abridge our right to free speech. Watch this interview with a person who was intimidated by the police for a response to a tweet he posted--not his actual tweet (which wasn't threatening) but another person's response to it that was. He was questioned and scared essentially because the tweet wasn't exactly flattering to a certain Congressmember's recent performance. If your elected officials can't be held accountable and take responsibility for their actions, then are you really living in a democracy?
Plastic is accumulating on our beaches and in our oceans. There could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Take action now.
Corporations
love plastic. Thanks to the fracking boom, it’s cheap for the fossil
fuel industry to create. So oil and gas companies are pushing plastic
consumption -- including the widespread use of one-use plastics -- to line their pockets.
But
the plastic waste problem has become massive: in the United States 91%
of plastic ends up being thrown away, never recycled. Some of it
ultimately ends up in our oceans, where it harms or kills marine
wildlife.
Call on Congress to protect our planet by supporting the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.
Demand Congress address the plastic crisis before it overruns our planet.
Plastic
pollution kills over a million marine creatures annually, including
turtles, dolphins, whales, and sea birds. And plastics don’t
disappear. They just break down into smaller and smaller pieces until
they become microplastics.
But plastic also impacts humans. On average, people ingest the equivalent of a credit card each week. That’s right -- if
you’re an average person, you are likely consuming an average of 5
grams of plastic per week. Microplastics can be found in everyday foods
and drinks -- like beer, salt, shellfish and even drinking water!
Tell Congress you do not want to be exposed to more plastic in your food and water. Stop plastic polluters.
Plastic production also worsens the climate crisis. More than 99% of plastic is created from fossil fuels. The emissions from creating plastic could soon reach the equivalent of 300 coal-fired power plants.
Finally,
our country is one of the worst plastic offenders, which is why
Congress needs to take action. The United States produces the most
plastic waste per capita of any country -- then ships a large portion abroad to countries that are already struggling to maintain their own waste effectively.
Plastic
is polluting our entire planet, from the beaches to the deepest depths
of our oceans. Congress must address this crisis and stop Big Polluters
from destroying our health, land, air, and sea.
Demand the United States break free from plastic and stop the pollution at its source!
Michelle Chan,
VP of programs,
Friends of the Earth
***
We're rapidly approaching the May 1
deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and President Biden still
has not proposed a plan to fulfill his campaign promise.
War hawks in the foreign policy establishment are trying to dominate media coverage and claim nobody cares about ending the Forever War in an attempt to force President Biden to continue it.
But we have news for them — we
care. There is an overwhelming consensus among veterans and civilian
supporters that we must end the Forever War.
That's why Common Defense is calling on
supporters across the country to write Letters to the Editor to hold
President Biden accountable and show the media there is a grassroots
movement calling for an end to the Forever War.
The
war in Afghanistan has dragged on for nearly 20 years, and it is time
to do the right thing and end what veterans call the "Forever War." An
entire generation has never known a country at peace, and this conflict
has cost a trillion dollars and countless lives.
Pres. Biden has
the chance to right this wrong. This conflict must end now, as he
promised many times during his campaign. Our continued presence in
Afghanistan is not making America safer. In fact, prolonging these
conflicts is making us a target and putting our troops in harm's way
unnecessarily. It's well past time, please, Mr. President, bring our
troops home now.
Military withdrawal from Afghanistan will give
our diplomats a chance to do the hard work of building a peace
agreement, rather than continuing with a failed military strategy that
cannot accomplish anything further, and which the "Afghanistan Papers"
published by the Washington Post reveal top generals themselves do not
even believe in.
America's veterans and military members deserve
to have a government which advocates for them. We're counting on you to
do the right thing.
Writing a Letter to the
Editor can have a real impact, especially if you include any applicable
information about your military service or name your Representatives in
Congress. Believe me, elected officials read these!
If we can get dozens of veterans to sign on, we can take a crucial step to defending our democracy. But we need your help.
This
week, we learned what happens after a multi-billion dollar company like
Amazon spends a year intimidating, punishing, and suppressing workers
in Bessemer, Alabama who were working to form a union to push back on
unfair working conditions.
While this was not the result that we were hoping for, we are proud of the bravery and tremendous success the workers had in standing up to one the biggest corporations in the world, telling their story on the global stage, and demanding that they be treated with dignity and respect.
Congress needs to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to make sure worker voices cannot be silenced.Unions are one of best ways to ensure fair working conditions and equity.
And we need to break up these corporations through stronger antitrust
laws that give the tools that regulators need to ensure that no
corporation can make billions of dollars by profiting from the suffering
of workers and the destruction of small businesses.
This
is only the beginning. Workers and communities have been standing up to
Amazon's greed and abuses for years and we will soon see a time where
those efforts will result in the power that workers need to break up
Amazon's grip on our economy.
We need to remember that what’s happening in Bessemer is a result of Amazon’s unchecked corporate power and what corporations have done for decades to diminish the power of labor law so that they can get the most profit out of us as possible.
