DNC protesters not allowed into "Free Speech Zone"

What is the crazy bullshit?

Also friendly fascist Vermin Supreme talks about his PONYTOPIA, in which everything is so beautiful, he can't wait to bring his vision about through force.

Cop Riot at RNC in Tampa Florida

Kazoos are a threat. Riot Gear is warranted.

FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NDAA!

FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YEAH!

If you don't know why this is awesome, watch this video:



Both Obama and Romney supported the NDAA. Fascist assholes.

Indiana Appellate Court: Commenter on Newspaper Website May Have First Amendment Right to Anonymity

Case Was Closely Watched by Media Companies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - People who post comments on newspapers' websites may have the First Amendment right to remain anonymous, an Indiana appellate court ruled today.

As a result, the plaintiff who sued for defamation must produce evidence that a particular anonymous commenter's post on The Indianapolis Star's website was false, and the lower court must weigh whether the commenter's identity should be revealed, the appellate court said.

Public Citizen argued in December 2011 in support of The Indianapolis Star, contending that to unmask the commenter, the court must notify the commenter, prove that the comment was false and balance the commenter's First Amendment right of anonymous free speech against the merits of a defamation claim. Public Citizen acted as amicus in the case.

"With this decision, Indiana joins the growing consensus in state and federal courts around the country that the Dendrite balancing test is the best way to reconcile the free speech rights of anonymous Internet speakers against the interest of plaintiffs who really have been wronged by online speech in pursuing genuine legal claims," said Paul Alan Levy, the Public Citizen attorney who argued the case. "Requiring proof and a showing of genuine need for the speaker's identity can help prevent powerful interests from discouraging criticism by the threat of baseless litigation."

The case began after a March 2010 story was published in The Indianapolis Star about whether Junior Achievement, a local charity organization, misappropriated grant money. An anonymous person - using the pseudonym "DownWithTheColts" - posted a comment on the newspaper website alleging that the organization's missing money could be found in the former president's bank account.

One of the organization's former presidents, Jeffrey Miller, filed a suit for defamation, among other claims, against Junior Achievement, the foundation whose grant was in question and their respective presidents, and the anonymous commenter. A lower court ordered the newspaper to reveal the identity of the commenter.

In December 2011, Public Citizen, along with two separate groups of media organizations and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, submitted amicus briefs urging the appellate court to consider the First Amendment right to speak anonymously before unmasking the commenter.

To read the amicus brief and the appellate court ruling, visit http://www.citizen.org/litigation/forms/cases/getlinkforcase.cfm?cID=675.


Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

#OWS protesters arrested at Grand Central Terminal for protesting #NDAA

via gothamist




Two protesters mic check about the loss of freedom brought about by the passage of the NDAA and both are promptly arrested and whisked out of public sight.

Sounds more like Communist Poland than the USA, land of the free, home of the brave.

The two protesters who were arrested were Lauren Digioia from OWS's sanitation working group, and her boyfriend Zach Kamel, who I have never met (but I assume is also on Sanitation working group.)

Says Zach Kamel to Gothamist via phone:

I find it extremely disturbing the way that protesters are being treated in the United States, especially considering how this country was founded. You have the founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson, who is always quoted as saying that if you don't like what the government is doing in America, you can change it. And when we try to do that, look what happens: we're getting beaten. Lauren was beaten by several police officers at Zuccotti Park on New Year's Eve, and she still has bruises.
I don't blame the officers, even though there are a lot of bad ones out there who are clearly enjoying this. I saw the look in one of the officer's eyes while I was in custody at Grand Central, and I could tell he was shaken. And I took that as an opportunity to talk to him, and I could see he was ashamed. I told him that I understood he has his family to feed and he's following orders, and he said, "You know I can't talk to you." So I said, "Just listen, then." Because I know it's not his fault; it's the fault of the white shirts, the higher-ranking officers like Lieutenant Lakeram, who you can see shoving me in that video. It's the fault of Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg, who sees the police as his personal army.
Honestly, I'm scared for my unborn children and their unborn grandchildren, because the United States is no longer the bastion of freedom it's been purported to be. This American myth is all bullshit, and what's going to happen to our country as we start to turn into what we hate? I'm sure it's been happening for a long time, but now we're seeing it out there in the open, in places like Grand Central Station and Zuccotti Park. You can't turn away from things like this.

Occupy Boston- Mass arrests and property destruction by Boston Police

Well, This is certainly going to blow up in the police's face

As you can see from the video a group of Veterans For Peace were standing at attention using their bodies to block the police, using vets for peace, and American flags to help take up more space. Apparently, during the arrests, veterans were thrown to the ground, and the American flag was literally trampled underfoot by police.

What I'm hearing from Lance Matos, who I understand has been at Occupy Boston, the police, about 200 of them, made mass arrests this morning at 2am:

" People's property is being put into dump trucks and destroyed. Tarps, tents, chairs, and who knows what other equipment. Cameras and phone as well no doubt."

The AP reports:

"The protesters, part of the national Occupy Wall Street movement, had tried to expand from their original site in Dewey Square to a second site across the street, along the Rose Kennedy Greenway. A local conservancy group recently planted $150,000 worth of shrubs along the greenway and officials said they were concerned about damage."

Apparently shrubbery is more important than 1st amendment rights.