Common Ground Collective: Solidarity Not Charity

21 minutes but worth it.   During the week of Thanksgiving hundreds of people from all walks of life came to New Orleans and volunteered with the Common Ground Collective to help those in need in what ever way they could. I worked on this video overview of the work of the Common Ground Collective along with several other volunteers. WHO IS COMMON GROUND: Common Ground Collective is a local, community-run organization offering assistance, mutual aid and support to New Orleans communities that have been historically neglected and underserved.

Happy Veterans Day to Jacob George

I'm a little slow on the intake on this one.  I just learned that brother Jacob killed himself in September.   I know he'd seen a lot of uglyness and that can play extra hard on a kind and gentle soul.  I'm sorry you had to go.  See ya when I see ya .

Here's a link to the IVAW article regarding his death.

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Who Owns Social Media; Follow the Shares

Tsu pays out 90% of d revenue to its users.  Facebook 0%

People are now beginning the next great social media migration.  Tsū is a brand new social network with $7 million in backing that pays users to be social -  it's recieved a shit ton of media coverage lately from Re/code, Billboard, VentureBeat, Examiner, the New York Business Journal, ZDnet, Social Times and has plans to not only dislodge Facebook but it also offers a PayPal alternative built into the platform.  Tsū launched Oct. 14th so ithis is a great chance to "be first" on a social network.

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Shake the Devil Off - Documentary

Activists, some say Anarchists, occupied this church when the parishioners were locked out by the church and held the space long enough to draw major media attention to the situation.  The church reamains opperational.   I'm very proud to have played my part in this drama.

There is another film currently being produced about this "occupation"
but Shake the Devil Off seems to have done a really good job of putting all into historical context.

History of St. Augustine Church

St. Augustine Church, built by free black people with slave labour in 1841, was the first place of worship where slaves, free people of color and whites sat side by side in prayer. It is a highly significant symbol for the African-American community in America.

Saint Augustine 1870

Saint Augustine church - New Orleans, Louisiana, 1870

Top 10 Reasons to go to Ferguson to Riot

The video below is from a 40k strong protest against some NYC cops who unloaded 50 bullets into a guy during his bachlor party.  At the end of the peaceful "Shopping For Justice" March lead by Al Sharpton a group of New Black Panthers raised their Fists in front of Macy's and burned a flag for justice.
It changed nothing, didn't it. 

Mike Brown and Vonderritt Myers are just more in a long string of mostly black folks and other pigmented individuals that have been murdered by cops in the United States under very suspicious circumstances.  More in a long string of cops who get the benefit of the doubt from a system that judges everyone else on a "if you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about" mentality.  The system requires that you trust it or they will insinuate you must be a criminal.  The system takes for itself the right to be innocent until proven guilty In A Court Of Law; while it doles out judgement at the end of the barrel of a gun by using "officer discretion".  Take a look at the number of cops killed in the line of duty compared to the number of unarmed people they've kiled and tell me how "fearful" for their lives the cops have a right to be.  Since the Cops, the FBI and every co-opting lefty org in the country are .99" target="_blank" title=""you will see carnage" if the do not indict Darren Wilson">gearing up for riots in Ferguson when they eventually let Darren Wilson return from his "get away with murder" paid vacation... there's a few things I think you should remember.

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WV Water & Wellness Conference LIVE

the 3rd Annual Wellness & Water Conference

The 3rd Annual Wellness & Water Conference focused on the threats to our water from chemical manufacturing & storage, mountaintop removal coal mining, and Marcellus Shale drilling, and explored measures we can take to safeguard our wellness and water with panels featuring scientists and affected residents, informational tables, open-space discussions and our featured speakers — Dr. Rahul Gupta and two Goldman Environmental Prize winners, Helen Slottje and Maria Gunnoe.

Greg Palast Speaks on Improving Alternative Media

This video features Greg Palast speaking on a panel of alternative media dignataries about what we can do to reach a wider audience and be more effective as journalists working outside of the mainstream distribution outlets.   The short answer: "don't be so fucking dull".  This was filmed at The Boston Social Forum, a counter convention of sorts that took place in the days leading up to the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

The video was meant as a prequel to my convention coverage and was filmed and upload the day before the convention started.   I met a great journalist this day and together we scouted the 1st ever instance of a designated caged area called a Protest Pen, a Freedom Cage, etc etc.  No, it wasn't Greg Palast. 

Charter Busing Workers to Fuel Political Discourse

Soon thousands of folks will be hoping on buses heading to New York for the "Biggest Most Important Climate Change Protest in History".   Every year or 2 someone makes this claim in the lead up to a protest and it rarely lives up to the hype.  I wish they were always accurate and every protest could make this claim with an avalanche of ever increasing dissent that actually changes things, but alas, it just ain't so.  Unfortunatly even if it is "the largest" what will be accomplished?  Will the hard workin' nose to the grind stone regular folks who can't afford to pay attention to such things ever know what happened?  How can you sway popular opinion when the masses don't know anything occured?  It's partially the fault of mainstream media, partially the falt of alternative media and partialy the fault of a system that indoctrinates wage slaves from very early in life to believe the best they can do to make change in the world is to pick a team, red or blue; stick by their team their whole lives regardless of the teams post game antics.  Regardless of whether the team gives a shit about the fans it blinds with false patriotism.

Pro War Sentiment Outside the Oscars 2003

I hung out with the pro war camp outside the Oscars in Hollywood in 2003. It was eye opening and disgusting. Across the street, further away from the Oscar goers was the anti war crowd who had been prevented from crossing the street by those protecting and serving the military industrial complex.  I had a sign taped to my monopod that said "Think Outside the Bomb".  Most people were very confused by it.

Who Deserves Freedom?

A very concise description of the interactions of God/Government that clearly outlines where the responsibility for our repression lies.  Authority / Obedience and freedom dance in the heads of comman men and women of all races/religions/ages.  Obey Yourself.  You are the Authority. You are your God.  You are your Government.  Self Government is the only freedom.  Are You Free?

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WV Chem Spill Interventions 1/30/14

Today People Demonstrated to the WV Governor and Legislature Their Desire for Real Clean Water Safeguards and Regulatory Enforcement.  The most entertainingly sick moment of the day was when Dustin White was ejected from the captial building for carrying in a jug of tap water from his fathers spigot in Boone County.  The officers claimed it was an "Unknown Substance".   And they're right, but that's what's coming out of people's taps.  Watch the video of this incident below.

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