As Utah plays the perennial Lucy to my Charlie Brown, proffering a balmy football helpfully labeled "SPRING" by the Great Editorial Cartoonist in the Sky, only to cruelly yank it away at the last moment, the season's new life *is* creeping into #Occupy.
Not that #Occupy has been asleep at the switch - only yesterday, #OccupyOakland attracted enough attention from the police to earn the now-traditional "Greetings Citizen, We've Noticed You" gift basket of non-lethal gadgetry. No, sir, #Occupy have been busy little bees; it is I who have been remiss in reporting on domestic protest movements. It's an unforgivable lapse, really, but I've been busy traveling to L.A. and evangelizing about potatoes, while going to class part-time/online and tumbling head over heels down a rabbit hole of deepening interest in the occult. Anyhow.
As always, #OccupySLC's hub page can be found here . Facebook discussion forum complete with 6,000% of your RDA of abstract discussions of property rights and the Fed here . National hub here . Twitter round-ups here and here .
Tonight, the evening of Monday, 1/30/12, is our weekly Monday Night Workshop. The Downtown Library is unfortunately unable to accommodate #OccupySLC tonight - #OSLC is currently talking to Peaceful Uprising about using their space near 13th South and Main. I'll update this post as the time/place is confirmed for this evening. [UPDATE: Tonight's Workshop will be held at One World Cafe, 41 S 300 E]
Friday, 2/3/12, is the next Salt Lake City General Assembly, starting at 7 PM at the #OccupySLC Gallivan Dome (head to Gallivan Plaza - you can't miss it). Come make your voice heard! If you have not attended a GA during #Occupy so far, I strongly recommend that you do so at least once.
On the right, a tiny fringe of lunatics called "Birthers" (conspiracy theorists who think that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, and therefore not eligible for the presidency) keep convening "citizens' grand juries" and the like at the municipal level to officially tell the President that he is not actually President (time well spent!). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see this or this. I bring this up to emphasize that #Occupy's General Assemblies are not like that.
#Occupy GAs do not claim to represent any authority greater than the unified consensus opinion of the participants - it's an innovative, frustrating, and revolutionary way to conduct one's business and I find it endlessly fascinating.
Finally, Saturday, 2/4/12, is the day of a counter-NDAA* and EEA** Protest hosted by the good citizens and fellow workers of #OccupyProvo. In solidarity, I'm carpooling down to Provo on Saturday with a handful of other #OccupySLC fellows to help swell the ranks and show support - the event should kick off around noon, so if you plan to drive out from Salt City, give yourself some time.
I have nothing but respect for OccupyProvo - I've met several people from their group at various meetings/activities, and let me tell you: it is not easy to devote your time and energy to activism in Salt Lake City. It is ten thousand time harder and (in my opinion) more noble to devote your time and energy to activism in Utah County. Those folks have enormous hearts and souls that are unbreakable, pure and shining.
Come out, come out, wherever you are!
Maybe spring isn't quite here yet, but life is kicking into high gear. It's the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twelve - wriggle free of those winter blues, sleepyhead, and get your ass out there in the street! You can attend a local workshop or GA. You can do as I plan to and dust off your Guy Fawkes mask and take a carload of activists to Provo. You can break out your guitar or ukulele, ride a bike, go to a hearing, or sign up for a community gardening space. Why, you can do anything you put your mind to!
* National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2012. The controversy surrounding this ordinarily meat-and-military-industrial-potatoes bill regards sections 1021 and 1022 of this Act, which codify the indefinite detention and military (not civilian) trial of American citizens, among others, suspected - SUSPECTED, mind you, not proven guilty - of terrorism or various forms of collusion with organizations deemed "terrorists" by the government. It is some seriously awful, scary, black-bag-in-the-middle-of-the-night $h!t, and you can read as I freak the f%#k out about it here if you like.
** Enemy Expatriation Act , which is every bit as creepy as it sounds. Someone dropped the ball naming this one - usually the most awful legislation imaginable sails by with a name fit for a fabric softener or a non-binding bill celebrating the lifetime achievements of a beloved teacher of the blind or whatever. The EEA gives the government the power to strip suspected terrorists/terrorist sympathizers of their status as American citizens. No, I'm not making that up.
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