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"Day 3 Protest Continues!" by Josh Lopez on flickr
The Stop the Pipeline!-The Tar Sands Action ongoing in Washington, DC deserves the support of all of us. The protest has gotten the attention of the White House as they mistreated protesters arrested on the first day. President Obama would have liked to quietly approve the pipeline but climate activists are making that impossible. The October2011 Movement which is organizing an occupation at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC beginning on October 6, 2011, is urging its participants to come to Washington, DC and join the pipeline action. The over-reaction to carefully choreographed and negotiated civil resistance shows the fear the administration has of mass civil resistance. It means we need to up the ante and show them that their actions are increasing the protests, spreading confidence among protesters and showing us that we can make a difference.
KZ
Critical action is being taken right now to stop the machine and create a new world. We are writing to urge you to participate.
From now until September 3rd in Washington DC, Stop the Pipeline!-The Tar Sands Action is fighting to stop what will be an ecologically destructive Keystone XL pipeline, a pipeline also with great potential for massive leakage, that would run through the United States from the tar sands in Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Protestors are demanding that President Obama reject any permit for the pipeline. The pipeline will send 900,000 barrels a day of the world’s dirtiest oil to US refineries, allowing further development of the Alberta tar sands. If this is allowed to occur it could mean ‘game over’ for the climate in the word of the nation’s leading climate scientist, NASA’s James Hansen.
Civil disobedience sit-ins are happening every day at the White House Fence. A news story posted today in Firedoglake covers a significant development: Police have been telling organizers of the sit-in that they were keeping the first wave of demonstrators in jail to deter people from taking part in the civil disobedience. In fact, the arrests have just the opposite effect.
“Saturday’s arrests and overnight jailings are already lighting a fire,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, who was arrested Saturday. “More people are now inspired, determined, and committed to join.
Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake.com describes how the resisters were treated and urges all of us to join in lighting a fire.
And from an earlier article: “US Park Police told protest organizers protest participants would be able to pay a $100 fine and be released the same day. But, the US Park Police went back on what they said and made a calculated decision to hold the activists for 48 hours. The Park Police told Tar Sands Action organizers jail time was given to deter future participants from engaging in civil disobedience.”
The decision to hold protesters was made at a “higher level” according to the police. The decision on whether to proceed with the pipeline rests solely with President Obama. The Congress has no role in it. It is his decision alone. The White House does not want the pressure of mass protests and is trying to discourage protests with harsh treatment, especially on August 28th when the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is dedicated. We need to show the White House that courage is contagious and the more aggressive they get, the stronger the resistance will be.
When the corporate-government machine goes to such lengths to deter us, we know we are on the right track. The October2011 organizers urge everyone that can to go to Washington DC and support this critical call for civil resistance. To get more information and to sign up for this critical action please go to http://www.tarsandsaction.org/.
If you’d like to be associated with others who are supporting October2011, when you sign up for the Tar Sands action, list October2011 Movement as your group. And when you go, if you already have one, wear your purple Stop the Machine! t-shirts! See you in DC! Let’s make it happen now and in October!
In Solidarity,
The October2011 organizers
11 Comments
More compelling reasons to Stop The Machine including my observation of the Keystone XL Pipeline route and the Ft. Calhoun Station Unit 1 nuclear facility near Omaha, NE (please be sure to read the post to which the comment is attached) and TTC-35 route.
Tell Washington you want this kind of car:
http://www.solarnovus.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1994:australian-solar-car-breaks-speed-record&catid=41:applications-tech-news&Itemid=245
I am way beyond infuriated. The steady stream of lies coming out of the media totaly misrepresnts the facts and people who get their information there are living in lala land. 1984 predicted this was going to happen.
Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a dystopian fiction written by George Orwell about a society ruled by an oligarchical dictatorship. The Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. Oceania is ruled by a political party simply called The Party. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party’s propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother. Wiki
So how closely does today’s government resemble the Orwell descriptions? Never ending wars. FIS A complete and utter surveillance of the planet through downloading ALL electronic and telephone communications through telecom hub ports were required by 1990′s laws. These ports are then accessed by the many spy agencies in the USA. Then we have unlimited access by national security, FBI and CIA into peoples homes and businesses without warrants. We have the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act which no linger assumes innocents until proven guilty. The core of the rule of law that was provided by the constitution that overthrew British tyranny has been gutted. The Obama administration has taken the lead in the destruction of our civil liberties. He is Bushco II on steroids.
Good karma actions you can take now:
+ signing up for the Tar Sands Action
+ donating what you can to support the Tar Sands Action
+ signing up to attend the October 6th action
+donating what you can to the October 6th action
+ Sponsoring someone(s) to go to either/and actions even if you can go!
Kevin, hello and welcome. You keep popping up at the best times.
I would suggest that these activities should not be labeled as disobedience but rather people assembling to petition the government for a redress of grievances which (unlike disobedience) is protected by the Constitution.
Amendment I – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.
“America has always had a Keystone XL pipeline.” Gibbs will say tomorrow.
It would be nice to to know the identities of all the investors in The Unmerican Pipeline. Dubai? China, BOE? SNB? BP? Are they involved in this pollution corridor?
I find it extremely ironic that one of the “reasons” given by the DC Park Police for arresting and holding the protesters is to keep them from disrupting the dedication of the memorial to MLK.
WTF????
If MLK were alive today I believe he would be right there in the middle of this protest! MLK, especially in his later years, was a fierce advocate for economic justice. You cannot have economic justice without taking care of the environment – since environmental degradation often is visited upon those communities of poor and color who are least able and likely to protest against it. It results in them having higher rates of illnesses and deaths – and all so that some mega-corp can make more money.
These non-violent sit-ins are exactly the kind of thing that MLK championed. He would be so proud.
I too wish that we could get communities of color more involved. Perhaps we could ask our esteemed Jane Hamsher (when she is not busy getting locked up!!!) to initiate a contact with Van Jones. Jones has done excellent work with several groups, some of which he founded, that engage with people of color on environmental issues.
The framing he has developed is useful and we should all be using it. Environmental issues are social and economic issues as well. If the environment is not taken care of – the economic part of your life will be impacted through your health and well being. If the economic part of your life is impacted – that impacts your social standing. If your social standing is reduced – you wind up living in areas of degraded environment. And around and around it goes. Makes it relevant to everyone.
So when we ALL talk about the environment – use this framing and make sure we relate each issue to all three aspects. That way we get buy in from even enviro-skeptics when they can see how it really does impact them even when they didn’t realize it.
I takes having some kind of income and monies, planning and broad-based supports to do this type of action. You can see my comment here regarding what communities might have to overcome to do actions as these. I don’t speak for Jane but noticed she makes her own statement here which you might want to read.