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Gone Green

whiteleaf.gifThat’s it. I’ve gone Green. The Democratic Party has failed me something fierce. Their strategy was to go against Bush playing his own game, trying to position Kerry as a slightly “gentler and more thoughtful” version of Bush. Kerry agrees with the war in Iraq, but he would have “executed it differently”. Kerry voted for and believes in the Patriot Act but would “tweak it” a little. Guess what? A watered down version of Bush is not that appealing to either the left or the right! The Democratic Party has let the Republicans walk all over them this election and they can’t blame Nader for it this time. But they are blaming. Diane Feinstein is blaming Gavin Newsom for the Republican attack on gays. This is classic broken Democratic Party thinking at work. Find someone else to blame, don’t look inward and take responsibility for your own failings. That’s EXACTLY the game the right wing idealogues play! Democrats are supposed to be the ones standing up for civil rights, social justice, peace, equality and a living wage.

That has changed, it is now the Green Party espousing these values along with corporate accountability, electoral reform and environmental sustainability. It’s going to take a third party to “remind” the Democrats what their principles are. History has shown that when one of the major parties strays too far from their principles, it takes a third party eating their base to bring them back to reality. Either way, going Green can only mean good things. Either the Greens grown in strength and continue to win more local and state offices or the Democrats finally wake up and co-opt the values they have strayed from. The outcome is good for anyone who cares about democracy and equal representation for all.

If you live in California, here’s a link to change your voter registration online. I recommend it.

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Bloc Up the Vote!

From the League of Pissed Off Voters…

Local Hip-hop/Punk Voter Blocs Launch Today in 90+ Cities To Swing Elections Up and Down the Ballot

You’ve seen Eminem’s video.
Now watch us make it REAL
As we unite and swing elections from Tallahassee to Toledo

Hip-hop + Punk Political Power Goes to the Next Level 115+ Local voter guides launch today on www.indyvoter.org covering more than 90 cities in 31 states. Members of The League of Pissed Off Voters researched local candidates across the country and endorsed those who best represent our interests. NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THIS BEFORE. Get your local voter guide on www.indyvoter.org. Print it. Take it to the polls. And sign up for the VOTER BLOC. Then email blast to everyone you know. Th! e more people we get to use the guides and join the BLOCs, the more elections we win. Then we can prove our numbers as a hip-hop + punk voting bloc that can hold politicians accountable after November 2.

This is how we WIN elections up and down the ballot– and PROVE we did it!!

DON’T LEAVE 90% OF YOUR BALLOT BLANK!!!

Make sure everyone you know brings a Voter Slate to the polls –Tuesday!!!

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Launching Softly

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The activist resource social network known as Indyvoter.org has achieved flaccid soft launch. Hard launch is expected soon. Just a few more long intimate nights of coding by the dev team. Check it out. Create an account, explore people, communities, events, and voter guides. Gimme feedback. Seriously, we need it. And yeah, we know it’s slow. Do you know how to optimize a MySQL RDF object store? Yeah? We NEED you, and you don’t know it yet but you need US. And you’ll soon be eating Zante’s for free for as long as you like. If you’ve got the skillz, we gotta connect!

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Political Prisoner in NYC

UPDATE 1/15/14: After almost 10 years, the lawsuits that arose from this event are finally settled. A sort of hollow victory, as the NYPD admits no liability, even though that’s quite obviously complete bullshit. Thanks to the NYCLU for doing the hard work of seeing this through.

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Hey everyone.

Thanks for the amazing outpouring of support. I was released Thursday, September 2nd at around noon after being detained for 40 hours. I was one of 1200 people arrested in a 4-hour period on Tuesday night during RNC week in New York City. I, along with many others were not actively engaging in civil disobedience or otherwise doing anything other than walking down a sidewalk taking pictures. The police penned in a whole block near Union Square and arrested everyone within. We were all taken to Pier 57, now infamously being called Guantanamo on the Hudson due to it’s chain link fencing and razor wire. Most of us were held there for at least 12 hours under filthy and crowded conditions. The place had been a former city bus garage. The cement floor has accumulated years of motor oil, diesel fuel, antifreeze and who knows what other chemicals. During my stay, there were few benches in the smaller cages and none at all in the larger cage. People were forced to lie down on the bare toxic concrete to try and sleep away the hours. After some processing, we were taken by prison bus to Central Booking aka The Tombs. The next 28 hours were an endless series of shuffling from cell to cell, multiple searches, subhuman food, mind control and frustration. It wasn’t until 20 hours into the process that I was allowed a phone call and not until the end of my 40 order hour ordeal was I able to see a lawyer and soon thereafter, a judge. I was charged with 2 counts of Disorderly Conduct and one count of Parading Without a Permit as were many others. These charges are violations and normally warrant an on the spot Desk Appearance Ticket. It was quite obvious to me that the intent of holding us so long was to keep us off the street as long as possible. A New York State Supreme Court justice ruled the city is in contempt for holding us so long and may be fining the city $1000 per head ($500k) for doing so. I walked away with an ACD, Adjournment of Contemplation for Dismissal, which means no conviction, no fines and the record is sealed as long as I don’t get arrested for the same offense within the next 6 months.

There is talk of class action suits to address the toxic conditions at Pier 57 and the ridiculous & illegal amount of time we were held. Everyone is encouraged to document their experiences as soon as possible while it is still fresh. The more documentation we have, the easier it will be to backup any claims that arise.

If you have any questions or comments regarding what happened to me, feel free to drop me a line and I will do my best to address them. If you were also locked up during this time, please contact me and say hi. I’m trying to maintain connections with as many people as possible that has gone through this.

In solidarity,
Eddie Codel
email: eddie@eddie.com

Click below to read the long story. It’s a detailed account of my 40 hour experience.
Read More “Political Prisoner in NYC”