politics | Progressive Action New Hampshire

Jul 16 2012

Occupy

The Occupy Movement – In Purpose and Conflict

Posted on the Occupy New Hampshire General Assembly Facebook today, so well said we couldn’t resist to re-post it here.

by Michael Joseph

I am writing this note for Heather Feather and Theresa Earle who were both disappointed in my stand on Sunday, July 15, 2012. They have expected more words of unity from me than those of division. I am attempting here to lay out what outreach I can do and also outreach that I see as less meaningful to the Occupy process in general.

When the Occupy Wall Street movement started, it had a clear purpose. This mission continues in the present time. Its mission is to draw attention to and to educate the masses in the great imbalance and hording of wealth by the megabanks and therefore the wealthiest 1% of Americans. The movement took off rapidly due to that great frustration with this infringement all over the world.

There has never been attention paid to limited government, but in a strong federal government that is fair and works for everyone. Professor James Pope’s testimony at the Occupy NH trial laid out the clear causes and effects of this power grab by the 1% at the expence of the 99%. His research showed that there is a direct correlation between the strength of organized labor and the ability of the 1% to control national dialogue. When organized labor has been strong, the ability of the 1% to control the agenda was significantly reduced. Additionally, those periods when the government had less power were correlated with those same periods of runaway wealth by the 1%. This note includes a link to his research. I believe that our acquittal on curfew violations and arrest hinges in large part on his testimony. He referred to the moments of change as “republican” with a small “c”, moments when the angry and disenfranchised populous rises up and exerts its full control.

I read “The Lord of the Flies” years ago for an example of how dangerous limited (or free) government really is. I also read Hobbs and Locke in my study of political science as an undergrad music student. I believe that Hobbs’s reasoning, for why society puts self-government in place to be the best argument for the cause of the Occupy Movement. Most of the Occupy participants have been progressives such as me. While the 1% are largely small government, fiscal conservatives and a call back to the old “Golden Age” when the average American could only dream with little hope of obtaining the luxurious pinnings of that elite. Whenever this structure prevails, delights of the wealthiest increase by leaps and bounds while those who struggle to make a living suffer more. The direct change in that old system was the rise of organized labor working for new legislation on work rules and benefits. So the clear remedy to our present situation, is a progressive movement to give the 99% a fair shake.

While the Free State Project aspires to a some of the ideals for opportunity enshrined in the Occupy Mission, its desire to eliminate central government services for the needy, the disenfranchised, the handicapped, the elderly, healthcare and the directed education of the young makes adoption of its principals almost completely incompatible with that of the Occupy Movement. In that there are minute areas of agreement, the free state project members might be consulted with the consensus of the General Assembly of the Occupy Movement. This is however, my singular opinion only and would need to be brought to the table for approval by members of the Occupy Movement embrasing the principals of Occupy Wall Street.

Tagged economic justice, human rights, new hamsphire, Occupy, politics, social justice

Jul 16 2012

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NH Politics

Danny Keating Runs for 2nd Congressional District

In keeping with our mission at Progressive Action NH of disseminating information that comes from or involves, alternatives to the existing choices, we present to our blog readers a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District, Danny Keating. Danny as an independent, is running a bare-bones campaign under the Socialist Alternative banner. We commend Danny for his courage in putting forward an agenda that offers an alternative for working people everywhere, to the present bicameral, corporate political choices.

Why I’m Running for Congress in New Hampshire

Danny Keating

I am running for U.S. Congress in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. I am a construction worker and U.S. Army veteran who has lived in Nashua, NH since I was a child. I am running as an Independent and a member of Socialist Alternative to give a voice to the 99% during these corporate-dominated elections.

The two parties of big business, Democrats and Republicans, have carried out budget cuts, attacks on civil liberties, and an assault on women’s rights, all while strengthening corporate control in this country. They cut programs while scapegoating immigrants, union workers and others. Every cut and attack is another attempt to force working people to pay for the economic crisis, a crisis created by the bankers, speculators and their system.

I am running because the two parties refuse to deal with the burning issues facing working people in any meaningful way. We need a massive jobs program to hire workers with union wages, benefits and rights to rebuild infrastructure, stop environmental destruction and provide the social services we need. We could pay for this by closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on corporations and the top 1%, as well as slashing spending on the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan while improving veteran services.

We can only win a jobs program through mobilizing unions and community groups in a movement that protests and educates, while building democratically run organizations. A mass movement for jobs and services against racism, sexism, layoffs, home foreclosures and budget cuts needs to be linked to political struggle in breaking from the two corporate parties.

We need a party of working people, run democratically, with elected representatives who are accountable and only take the wage of the average worker. Real change will never come from the puppets of big business. To get change in the past, we needed a big protest movement. My campaign will build a voice for the struggles against the capitalist system, and for a better future – a democratic socialist future.

For more information on Danny’s campaign, he can be contacted via Facebook.

Tagged 2nd congressional district, congress, congressional campaign, danny keating, new hamsphire, politics, socialist alternative

Jul 10 2012

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NH Politics, Opinion

O’brien the Butcher — Hack That Is

Bill O’Brien, the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Hampshire has had quite a ride through New Hampshire politics the last two years. Seemingly a man of extremes; extreme wealth and extreme views, swept in on a wave of libertarian Free Stater support combined with love and support from the far-right Tea Party, O’Brien came in with a mission and a plan. But looking back at his near two year tenure, one has to wonder, did he achieve his plan? We will leave that for the reader to decide while we detail some of the more interesting aspects of O’Brien’s service to the people of New Hampshire.

In order to provide an orderly and logical progression of events, we’ll start with the most recent and then move back in time. First off, the brouhaha he created at the state house this past Friday. On that day O’Brien had planned a press conference to snag a great photo-op and possibly some national attention with a potentially huge issue; the problems with the federal welfare program’s EBT card, detailed here. But O’Brien misfired by creating a distracting side-show event by excluding the Concord Monitor press crew from the press conference.

The Monitor press crew never gained entrance, but did due their duty with other reporters and writers, returned fire to O’Brien in spades. Apparently O’Brien had been seething since the cartoon’s publication in May, prompted by the transgression on the house floor, detailed here., but failed to understand, sometimes its best to let bygones be bygones.

The story made the rounds all over the internet. But as reported in Raw Story, not all in the House found House Rep. Steve Vallaincourt’s [(R) Manchester] actions off the mark, Rep. Dick Drisko told the Nashua Telegraph, “Vaillancourt was definitely out of line when he walked out and said, ‘Sieg Heil’ but it was good commentary on the dictatorial style of Bill O’Brien.” This of course prompted the cartoon by Mike Marland.

The out-cry over the cartoon reached such fever pitch from the Tea Party side of the state that the Concord Monitor editorial board had no choice but to explain how newspapers work; that unlike O’Brien, they don’t run an authoritarian establishment. In fact they allow their writers freedom of their own speech. The editorial board even went so far as to put on the hair-shirt in deference to O’Brien’s tender sensibilities and express due shame about their unruly writers.

Apparently that capitulation didn’t cure the offense to O’Brien’s position and stature. So he couldn’t resist the chance to show the Monitor who’s boss around those parts. Shortly after the no entrada incident House staffer Shannon Bettencourt (the one closing the door on the Monitor crew) issued a churlish statement to the press wherein she chides, “When the Concord Monitor proves they have chosen to become a responsible media outlet, we’ll be happy to invite them to future media events.”

So much for the EBT story. O’Brien misplayed again, losing an opportunity literally handed to him to get front and center on a favorite GOP campaign tactic — using welfare to pit the proletariat against each other in jealous fuming over pennies while the GOP rapes the government for millions. Oh well, the GOP will now have to wait for another opportunity. Even the Union Leader’s gallant efforts to give the story CPR with a lead-off on the Sunday front page failed to catch a spark. Like the old adage goes, in the world of journalism, old news is no news. It was reported, it was eclipsed, it was killed.

Now let’s go back in time a little more, where we get to D. J. Bettoncourt, former House Majority leader, a Republican from Salem and O’Brien’s young protege and law school student attending UNH. Just before Bettoncourt’s graduation from law school, O’Brien learned of some serious problems with Bettencourt’s inner ethical compass.

As detailed in links provided here, O’Brien had plenty of opportunity to wipe his hands clean of this mess quickly and with the dignity his position requires. He had known about the issue before it hit the public and could of dealt with it then. But instead in a decision only he really understands, decided to allow Bettencourt to not reveal his wrongdoing, remain in the house and resign with no mention of the real cause as shown in this first announcement detailed here on May 25th.

Represenative Guida (R), owner of the firm that Bettencourt had lied about interning for, outraged that Bettencourt failed to disclose the whole reason for his resignation, did the right thing and disclosed the entire story to the press. Suddenly speculation mounted everywhere about what O’Brien might have known about the shady ethical and moral judgment of his personal under-study.

Once the issue went public, O’Brien clumsily and evasively said he was “shocked” at the whole story, denied knowing anything more and pressed to sweep it over with talk about the house agenda. Sadly it seems O’Brien either isn’t bothered by dishonesty or struggles to understand the association of the scandal with his failure in judgment. O’Brien’s failure to act quickly to put out this fire caused plenty of wonder about O’Brien’s character. Did he fail to exercise due diligence by simply relying on Bettencourt’s version of events or did he already know the full story, but chose arrogantly instead to continue the charade to the public?

As noted by Steve Vallaincourt in NH Insider, “Bettencourt’s swift public disgrace is all the more astonishing when you consider that this young leader had spent much of his brief tenure schooling others on matters of legal rectitude, civility and purportedly high-minded ethics. (Earlier this month, Bettencourt questioned attorney Jim Bassett’s qualifications for the state Supreme Court.”[emphasis ours] Did O’Brien fail to see the seriousness of this matter that seemed so obvious to everyone else?

But it doesn’t end there. When Bettencourt announced his resignation, he also announced he would take a position as spokesperson for O’Brien’s newly formed NH Legal Rights Foundation. Many in the press and the public noted it rather odd that such an ethically challenged individual would be welcome in an organization that claimed to deal in matters of law. A few days later, the NHLRF made the decision to rid themselves of Bettencourt. Again one wonders why O’Brien allowed Bettencourt to continue this public deception of character and even potentially tarnish another organization in the process.

While NHLRF did in fact push Bettencourt out, again it wasn’t until the public got wind of the whole story. Its interesting to note that O’Brien has no problem bullying and moving around his opponents with little forethought or explanation, but seems to have a hard time moving the chess pieces on his personal game board.

If we look just a little further back we find another mini-scandal again. In early May O’Brien suffered his first ethical embarrassment with his Chief of Staff, Robert Mead resigning after the discovery of his falsely claiming mileage reimbursements for restricted political campaign work. As pointed out in the Union Leader article here, Mead made roughly $65,000 in his position, certainly Mead couldn’t have claimed economic desperation for feeling justified at stealing $456 from his employer. Apparently in the mind of Bill and his friends, its ok for his friends to steal from government, but when it comes to funding government, that’s stealing from them [note the intro music playing the Kinks, “He’s a well respected man about town, doing the best things so conservatively.” apparently the Kink’s sarcasm was lost on them?]

While these sites here , here and here put forward a good list of O’Brien’s history, here are some highlights:

– turning away citizens who attempt to enter the house gallery during public session,

– nationally embarrassing incident in which birthers demonstrate their inability to distinguish a legislative session from a bar room and O’Brien backs them up

– demonstrating his partisan motivations for the voter ID law which became another national embarrassment for New Hampshire

– an incident wherein House Rep Emerson (R) Rindge, claimed that she was bullied by Bettencourt and O’Brien over some amendments she’d put to the house budget. O’Brien strongly denied the incident, but another Rep came forward and said he’d heard most of the “one sided” shouting match. This again became national news as Emerson soon after sponsored a bill to eliminate bullying among house members.

– the ill-advised and tobacco industry pressured removal of the tobacco tax which caused a serious budget shortfall this year, proving despite the Tea Party and Free Stater beliefs, taxes have a purpose. Especially telling is how this action undercuts the favorite theory of the Tea Party/Free Staters that commerce will naturally come running to make up funding short-falls.

The industry pressured the legislature to drop the ten cent tax with the enticement that it would increase sales and over the border travel to the state. Then cynically, once the state dropped the ten cent tax, the cigarette companies raised their prices by ten cents. This effectively transferred that ten cents from the state and tax-payer to the pockets of big business, making them millions at the expense of the state. O’Brien proved himself a dupe for loopy policy ideas that most policy-makers, even if they spout the rhetoric for their cheer-leaders, know better than to actually implement them.

– serving as such an obedient slave to the extreme right, O’Brien put up the Right to Work (for less rightly says the AFL-CIO) bill up and when it was shot down, resurrected that poor dead horse again and again to the point where legislators were begging O’Brien to just let the thing go and die already.

– the embattled $456 dollar transportation forger Chief of Staff Mead wasn’t completely banished; O’Brien gives him a new job working for the NH House GOP office, making one wonder if falsifying records really isn’t a big thing at all to O’Brien or the GOP.

– O’Brien works to pull back the state requirement that insurance companies cover birth control on women’s plans

– a habit of perfunctorily removing people from posts or committees who don’t tow his far-right agenda

– orders all house reps to follow the same email communication standards as hired employees, threatens removal of those who don’t obey. Many see the move as violating the constitutional right to free speech of elected officials, who work for their constituents, not O’Brien.

– O’Brien, with apparent little ability to judge a thinking public, tried to pass himself as some kind of economic wizard by building a thin thread of association between his pushing through extremist budget policies and the low unemployment rate in New Hampshire. Nope! That was shot down prettily easily and his claims faded into the ether.

– oversaw redistricting which was challenged in court by two major communities, Manchester and Concord, representing their concerns about losing funding and also that of smaller communities that will lose representation. While the court challenge was lost and the redistricting stays, Democrats already vow they will be redrawn in the future, at more expense to the state.

In looking at his history, O’Brien no longer looks so much like the charging bear he portends with his huff and bluff but more like a fumbling, bumbling political hack in way over his head.

Tagged DJ Bettencourt, Mike Marland, new hamsphire, NH House of Representatives, politics, Speaker O'Brien

Jul 08 2012

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Law, legal, Occupy

Dismissed!

Originally published on Occupy New Hampshire’s website.

Back in May I wrote about my experiences after being arrested at the #noNATO rally in Chicago on May 20th. Yesterday was my court date. My case was dismissed.

In the weeks leading up to the hearing, I spent the time gathering pictures of my wrist, getting the injury treated at the Concord Community Acupuncture, finding myself a place to stay, booking plane tickets, contacting the lawyer, and attending a fundraiser by OccupyNH to help pay for the NLG lawyer. To say I was busy is an understatement.

As much as I was working on gathering what I needed to be prepared, I was trying hard not to think about the actual hearing. I knew if I allowed myself to think on it too much I’d start getting really apprehensive so I focused on the details and some other work I have as a way to ease the apprehension.

I was so grateful to OccupyNH for hosting a fundraising dinner for me. The NLG wanted $100 in payment (though they didn’t require it) so I wanted to make sure I gave them some compensation. That ONH was able to come together and gather that amount, plus a bit more for, as Ryan put it, “a burger at Ruby Tuesdays”, moved me almost to tears. I announced at the end of the night that it was in the top 3 of “the best nights of my life, ever.”

Will Hopkins, Executive Director of New Hampshire Peace Action put me in touch with Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She provided me with a warm, dry bed, a shower, and some food. I was so grateful I got to meet someone I’ve been admiring from afar for a really long time.

Kathy is so kind, warm, and generous and really really busy. I could see how hard she works and did my best to stay out of her way while I was there. I also got to meet Brian Terrel and Joshua Brollier. Brian was especially influential on me because he gave me a perspective of Catholicism I had never seen before. Though my paternal side of the family is Catholic and my inlaws are also Catholic, I had never heard of the Catholic Worker. The flavor of Catholicism preferred by those I’m related to by blood and marriage is of wealth at any expense. To meet a male Catholic who was not partriarchal, demeaning, disrespectful of women and their choices, and chose to live a life of poverty in keeping with the tenets of “voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and foresaken.” (source) had a profound affect on me. So much did Brian affect me, when the announcement for Catholic Mass came over the loudspeaker at the airport while I was waiting to go home, I attended Mass.

It was the first time in years I’d been to church. I’m Pagan so going to Mass is something I only do at weddings and funerals and only because I have to. Catholicism, and Christianity do not call to me. While I believe in “God” I believe him to be a minor god in the pantheon and one I only pray to when I need money since he has always been a god of greed to me. That’s my own personal opinion. It is not my wish to start a faith debate here.

The airport chapel was pretty devoid of character, I assume to accommodate every Abrahamic faith. There was me and one white man, about 40ish. Late in the service a young Latina joined us. The priest, an elderly white male of the Passionist sect talked of how a beautiful flower may grow on a garbage heap. I took the metaphor to mean the Occupy movement is the flower on the garbage heap of environmental and economic devastation imposed on us and Mother Earth by the Industrial Revolution which has continued to this day leaving nothing but destruction and the wealth of a few in its wake.

Father MacDonald also spoke of bringing together those who don’t always agree. He spoke of Matthew and how, as a tax collector, he wasn’t well liked by the Jews. Jesus brought Matthew to an event and everyone was pretty pissed at Jesus for doing so. But Jesus just wanted to show the tax collector was human (I’m totally paraphrasing here). I took the sermon to mean the Occupiers, police, and city leaders (any city or town) can come together to solve problems even if we don’t like and trust one another.

But I digress.

I left from Manchester-Boston Airport on July 4th. My flight left at 6a so I got to the airport around 4a which meant I got up around 2a. As horrid as this sounds, I hadn’t been sleeping through the night for the last couple weeks. Each time I went to bed I’d be up by 3a at the latest. This is totally out of my norm. But the hearing and my other work has really been weighing on my mind so sleep just wasn’t staying.

I got to the airport and immediately after checking in, the TSA bullied me. I had to dump out a bottle of water and throw away two oranges, and I wasn’t allowed to eat what I brought with me. The TSA agent followed me to the bathroom, pretending to wash her hands. When she asked what was wrong I said “we’re in the middle of a drought and you’re asking me to dump out water.” She then said she didn’t make the rules she just enforced them. Then she called me by my first name. I responded with “how presumptuous of you to call me by my first name. You can call me Mrs. Hill.” Then I told her the Nazi’s were just following orders and that she was acting like a predatory bully. I’m sure I’m on the TSA watch list now.

Getting to Chicago wasn’t an issue once I got past the police state. My time in Chicago was spent just trying to stay cool. The temps were in the high 90s the whole time I was there. Brian and I walked to the lake for a small BBQ Joshua was having. The lake is so very beautiful but the trash that littered the beach and park, and in the water at times, was really disconcerting. It was July 4th yet I only saw four trash barrels that were totally overflowing. And while I believe in the “leave no trace” philosophy of outdoor events, I do believe the City of Chicago should’ve provided more trash and recycle barrels for residents to use. Also, I noticed there were only two bathrooms with long lines. Being a very hot July 4th, it would seem someone in City Hall would’ve thought to add porta potties to the park as a way to accommodate the thousands of people that were there. The trash barrels and porta potties may have been lacking but the police were highly visible. About every five minutes a large CPD SUV drove the strip. As a tourist, the litter, lack of bathrooms, and high police visibility didn’t make me feel safe or welcome and certainly didn’t inspire me to return.

Thursday I spent at the house trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Kathy and Brian had a lot of work to do so I didn’t want to be a bother. I read quietly and engaged them when they would come out of the office for a break. I tided up the kitchen a couple times. As the day wore on, it got mildly cooler due to some brief showers. I decided to take a walk around 4p. As I was walking I found a used bookstore and picked up two classics I never read: On the Road and The Idiot; I also got Brave New World, something I haven’t read since high school. Then I got myself something to eat and went back to the house.

I had finally connected with the lawyer on Thursday. Jeff Frank who works for, or with, the NLG called me before I went for the walk. We talked about my case. He felt the City would be offering me community service though he did prepare me for a mini-trial if it came down to that. Mr. Frank said we wouldn’t know who the arresting officer was until he saw the paperwork which is something he wouldn’t see until we arrived at the courthouse in the morning. I told him my story about how I tried to move off the street but wasn’t able to, how a male officer took me by the right hand and put me in a control hold then handed me over to a female officer who was very polite, courteous, and gentle with me. I also asked him what I should do with my backpack. “I doubt the bailiffs are going to let me in with it” I said to him “it’s got all my clothes. As soon as I get out of court I have to head to the airport so I don’t know what to do.” He said he would bring his car and I could put it in the back. We then described ourselves physically so we’d be able to recognize each other come morning.

Morning came and I made my way through the Chicago’s subway system to get to the courthouse on W. Fournoy Street. I got there before the building opened so I milled around outside with about 20 other people. I wore a long black dress, with teal jewelry. I stood out like a sore thumb for a three reasons: 1. I was dressed up. 2. I am white. 3. I had a big yellow backpack with me. My fellow defendants — not occupiers, rather victims of a broken system — where mostly young black or Latino men. They looked at me with confused curiosity for a minute or two then totally ignored me. Their loved ones, closer to my age, also looked at me with confusion and curiosity though no one spoke to me. I was curious about them too. I wanted to engage in conversation but none would make eye contact with me so I didn’t press the issue.

The bailiff, an African-American male about 45ish, came out and made this 5 minute long speech about how to get through security, what to do, where to go once you’re in the building, and about being polite and courteous. He then looked at me and said “ma’am you cannot bring that bag in there.” I responded with “The lawyah said he’d put it in the trunk of his ca’ah but he’s not he-ah yet.” The bailiff then smiled this broad, beautiful smile full of white teeth and said “HELLO BOSTON!” Everyone laughed, myself included, so I responded with “Hello Chicago!” The problem of my bag was solved as soon as Mr. Frank showed up.

Mr. Frank is a very handsome man of 60. He’s well dressed and well groomed. He worked as a corporate lawyer for 20 years which he described as “intensely depressing.” He said he lived with the depression until he made the money he needed so he could do the work he wanted, that is to work for the NLG. He said the cop who is on the paperwork as being my arresting officer always shows up to court, that she is really dedicated. I was surprised the woman was my arresting officer. I’ll remind you she was the one who treated me with dignity and respect and who said to the Paddy Wagon officers “you don’t need to worry about her, she’s been cooperative the whole time.” I said to Mr. Frank “she’s not the one who assaulted me. That was a man.” He then went into some legalese about how that actually works to our advantage.

My name was called and I went up. The City prosecutor said “Can I have a few minutes Judge? The officer isn’t here yet.” Mr. Frank got all excited. I sat back down as the judge gave the minutes requested. Then, about 15 minutes later, I was called back up. The prosecutor said “The officer was here on June 6th.” The judge then asked “what was she told to do?” The prosecutor then said “She was told to come back on July 6th. I have one piece of paper that says June 6th.” The judge then said “the bail slip clearly states July 6th. The officer was informed to come back. She’s not here. Dismissed!” I was jubilant.

Despite being jubilant, I was a little disappointed. Part of me wanted to go to trial so I could employ the advice from Kathy: “speak a little louder than you normally do, be sassy, and remind the court you have a right to free speech and the right to assembly both of which you were doing in an orderly fashion.” I live by the theory that everyone is entitled to my opinion and I was willing to give everyone in that courtroom my opinion loudly and sassisly. Alas, that was not my fate.

I have the opportunity to have my arrest expunged now that the case has been dismissed but I don’t think I will. This is my first arrest and something I’m proud off. I’m thinking of making a badge for my old Girl Scout sash, one with #noNATO on it and some handcuffs.

The day just didn’t end there though. My good fortune continued as Mr. Frank chose to drive me to the airport so I didn’t have to take the subway (though I love taking the subway). It gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other a bit. I invited him to NH. He gave me a hug as I was leaving and thanked me for being an occupier and for agitating for change.

At Midway Airport, I got myself an earlier flight home. The wicked nice security guard at the airport received my CTA pass because it still had money on it and I didn’t want to waste it. I sailed though the TSA this time, who didn’t make me pour out the water in my water bottle and let me keep an orange I had in my bag.

I got on the plane, got home, and had an impromptu celebration at Margarita’s in Manchester. A bunch of my fellow ONHers came when I called and texted and we hung out for a while. It was another fantastic day and night.

I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me: my husband, mother, brother, the NLG, Jeff Frank, Kathy Kelly, Brian Terrell, Joshua Broiller, Will Hopkins, and, of course, OccupyNH. To all those I don’t know who tweeted and Facebooked* support to me let me say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could not, nor would not, have done this without you. Your support is valuable and I really, really appreciate it.

xo,

Michelle

*When did “facebook” become a verb?

Here is a copy of the note I wrote to my arresting officer.

Dear Officer ____,

The tension was heavy in the air, our emotions all ran high on May 20, 2012 at the #noNATO rally in Chicago. Protesters tried to remain calm, officers tried to control their fear. It was that day you arrested me.

It was the first time I’ve been arrested despite being on the front lines of progressive activism for 25 years. I was very nervous to say the least. Over the years I’d heard and read in the paper stories of how badly protesters are treated by police and feared I would be treated the same. And I was. A male officer put me in a control hold bending my right wrist to control me through pain despite my compliance with him. He handed me over to you. You leaned in and quietly asked me “why didn’t you disperse when you were told to”? I wanted to respond but I know anything I say can and will be used against me so I remained silent. What I wanted to say was “I was trying but there was no where for me to go. I was kettled by the police.”

While I was in your custody you treated me with dignity and respect. You were gentle and kind to me. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You restored some of the faith I’ve lost in the police with your warmth.

I was hoping to thank you in person at my hearing on July 6th – I came back from NH despite the financial quagmire I am in due to chronic unemployment and overbearing student loans – but you were not there. I wanted to hug you for your kindness. Since I cannot do that, I write this note to you in thanks.

We are the 99% (even police!),

Peace, Love, and Happiness,

Michelle

Tagged economic justice, human rights, Occupy, politics, social justice

Jul 08 2012

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Labor and Worker Justice, Law, Occupy, Opinion, Protecting our Environment, Undoing Racism, War on Women

Yes, Direct Action Works

Detailed here, and all over Facebook, on some local radio shows and throughout the country, a student of Texas A & M learned that the lunatic group Westboro Baptist Church planned to heckle a funeral of a fallen soldier nearby.

As the story on Huffington Post details, the student decided to take action and using Facebook and Twitter, managed to coral as many as 600 students and alumni of the university to form a human wall against the Westboro harassers.

Apparently feeling outgunned by the opposition, the Westboro loons never showed up.

The power of the show of solidarity underscores the power of the American people to come together for a cause they feel passionate about. With all that’s happening around the country, the calls for actions, the hopeful flurry of protests and events, many nod their heads in hopeless despair, feeling that the people will never have the ability to arise against their oppressor.

But as evidenced by this display of force, the people can indeed come together and when they do, people take notice, most especially the opposition. This underscores also the fact that lies, propaganda and misinformation by the corporate machinery of this country persist only because we allow it to. Like the Westboro fringe group, once people come together in a silent, strong show of force, the propagandists wither away like the wicked witch, crushed by the power of truth.

The capacity of people in this country to act against wrong can and should never be underestimated. Direct action, whether banging a drum and chanting or just standing in silent solidarity does work; it does send a message and it can make change.

Tagged Direct Action, human rights, Occupy, politics, Protest, social justice, Westboro Baptist

Jun 25 2012

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Labor and Worker Justice, Occupy

Reflections on the Occupy Hearing – Making History

Arnie doing his thing…

Arnie Alpert, of the American Friends Service Committee of NH, put together an excellent summary of the Occupy hearings that occurred last Friday.

For those who live under a rock or thought this didn’t matter to them — it does and it was a fascinating hearing. Barbara Keshen of the NH-ACLU, assembled a relevant, cogent defense, based on the “right to revolution” clause Article 10 of the New Hampshire state constitution.

Barbara served the prosecution their lunch, complete with appetizers of Occupier testimony on their motivations for joining Occupy, a tasty soup to nuts from a local legislator on the inaccessibility of the political system and the Grand Entree from a Rutger’s professor on the state of our economic/political climate and how that effects the agency of the average citizen and Arnie’s finishing with a description of his work in teaching Occupiers peaceful not violent direct action.

A must-read for anyone who cares about the current state of things, civil liberties, democracy, constitutional law and the power of government.

Without further ado: http://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/

This just in: interview of Barbara Keshen, the ACLU-NH attorney who took on the Occupy defense with Arnie Arnesan

Arnie podcast 6-25-12 – News, Views and Blues

BTW…

I intend to order audio of the hearing to post up on this site so people can hear the whole hearing themselves. We at Progressive will fund the fee for this. We can expect the CD in a few days and it will be uploaded here by someone with more tech savvy than me (probably Martin Pfahler, thanks in advance Martin).

But, we would like to be able to post the entire .pdf transcript of this and related motions, arguing memos and final decision.

This costs; costs bundles. An outside contractor does the work and one has to pay ahead and it could take weeks. If you are interested in helping to make them available, please let us know, we will post the exact dollar amount required for the .pdf files and how long they will take. Our treasurer, Matt Lawrence can provide a tracking of donations for this. Any small amount will help to make this important case available to all.

please email me directly with any inquiries at: ibuildfuru at yahoo dot com

Thanks,

Katie T.

Tagged constitution, economic justice, legal, New Hampshire law, Occupy, politics, social justice

Jun 12 2012

7 Comments

Protecting our Environment

Northern Pass – Not the Option for New Hampshire

We at Progressive Action NH believe the way of life for New Hampshire, the economic lifeblood of the North Country region, and the health and welfare of the public and the White Mountain area and beyond are threatened by Northern Pass.. Even small power companies oppose the project.

Public Service of New Hampshire, it’s parent Northeast Utilities, and Hydro-Quebec, the companies involved in this project attempt to sell the public on the lie New Hampshire will share in the power transmitted along the lines. However, the entire state is no more than a conduit route for feeding power to the high demand regions of Boston, MA and Hartford, CT, and potentially New York City. This article from a southern New Hampshire news paper sums up the points very well.

We also believe Northern Pass represents the latest in a long line of intrusions on and to the destruction of our natural landscape and resources, life that depends on it, not only by Hydro-Quebec in Canada, but also by all corporations that rely on the extraction or use of natural resources as a means for profit.

We believe through direct action and education residents of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York will become aware of the threat to their livelihoods and the environment that sustains us all. We know we the people can stop the pillaging our natural resources for the profit of a few if we come together. In this instance and in many others (such as Trailbreaker Tarsands Pipeline) we believe the motives of these giant utility conglomerates has nothing to do with sustainable energy generation and everything to do with building more infrastructure to reap more profit at the detriment of human health and environmental devastation.

The infrastructure is proposed not to met present energy demands, as nearly all states in the country produce a surplus of energy. In fact according to eRedux.com, a site that offers information on renewable and green energy,

“New Hampshire is not an energy intensive state, both total energy consumption and per capita energy consumption are among the lowest in the country.”

The larger metropolitan areas of Hartford and Boston are seen as potential future importers, with the possibility to continue southwest to New York City. The proposal represents an effort to lay the groundwork for future expectation of rising electricity use during the summer months when cooling demand is expected to increase due to global warming. Studies show the effectiveness of education which leads to changes in use, as usage rates countrywide continue to decline.

In fact, Hydro-Quebec and the associated utility companies on this project demonstrate complete indifference, if not opposition, to any development or discussion of conservation, renewable energy production, or more importantly, developing awareness of global warming. Corporate utility conglomerates, using Green Washing techniques, wish to lull people into the belief that energy companies have their best interests at heart. Clear evidence exists to prove otherwise.

Utility companies have a vast store of capital at their disposal due to the combined dependency of the public on their services and their for-profit structure. Like all corporations, they exist to realize a return for investors and stock holders and therefore have decided to spend their capital waging a war against common sense.

As a result in New Hampshire, the effort to acquire land and approval for the project has threatened land values and divided neighbors and families. In a cynical bid to garner support among workers, they have made huge, unfounded promises of future jobs. These jobs will not provide New Hampshire workers with sustainable careers paying living salaries and giving the employee an opportunity to save for retirement. The jobs created will be temporary and many believe populated by out of state and out of nation workers. New Hampshire needs jobs that will last a generations, not jobs that will disappear each season to transient workers.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, of which many of PSNH’s workers are members, has put their support behind Northern Pass based on a promise of job creation. Study after study shows the projections to be optimistic, temporary and narrowly focused at best. The IBEW’s support of this project is short-sighted over the long term interests of the rest of the state. We condemn the use of workers by corporations as a wedge to advance their agenda. That said, we do support unions. We do not want the IBEW to feel attacked. We feel they made the wrong decision and invite them to reevaluate Northern Pass and the jobs issues. We will be happy to engage in respectful dialogue with members of the any union to show how detrimental Northern Pass will be to our economy, livelihoods, health, and environment.

Hands Across NH is a direct action against Northern Pass and Trailbreaker. We encourage people from around the world to get further involved in the planning and strategizing this event, which is planned for Labor Day weekend. Details are on the following pages:

Facebook page
Facebook Event Page
Hands Across New Hampshire

We will be having a strategy session at the home of of one of our organizers on Sunday, June 17th at 2pm. If you are interested in joining us, please let us know on the pages above or by contacting us on our Progressive Action NH facebook page.

Hands Across New Hampshire is a peaceful, nonviolent, family friendly event to visibly oppose Northern Pass and Trailbreaker. Please become involved by organizing your community to hold hands for 30 minutes on Saturday, September 1, 2012 from 3-3:30.

Other organization’s statements against Northern Pass: (these organizations are also included in our blogroll, if we missed something here, please notify us).

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests ( position statement)

Trees Not Towers

Even Newt Gingrich opposed Northern Pass

Alliance Against the Northern Pass

Protect the White Mountain National Forests

Conservation Law Foundation

Sierra Club

Bury the Northern Pass

No Northern Pass

No Northern Pass Coalition

Facebook : Stop the Northern Pass

Live Free or Fry