tagged w/ Corporate Tools
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http://youtu.be/5curJyngiDI
The Yes Lab is a is brainstorming/training effort associated with the Yes Men to help activists subject people in positions of influence to well deserved ridicule. Aquifer highlighted their latest project, which was infiltrating an award ceremony for a trade group in Dallas and bestowing their own prize.
Unfortunately, it looks like the police intervention interfered with the best parts being captured on tape.
This part (from in the press release) describes the part not recorded (with some overlap for continuity):
The crowd of negotiators and corporate representatives applauded, and “Haversall” continued: “I’d like to personally thank the negotiators for their relentless efforts. The TPP agreement is shaping up to be a fantastic way for us to maximize profits, regardless of what the public of this nation—or any other nation—thinks is right.”
At that point, the host of the reception took the microphone back and announced that the evening’s formal programming had concluded. But Mr. Haversall confidently re-took the microphone and warmly invited Kirk to accept the award.
Kirk moved towards the stage, but federal agents blocked his path to protect him from further embarrassment. At that point, a dozen well-dressed “delegates” (local activists, some from Occupy Dallas) broke into ecstatic dance and chanted “TPP! TPP! TPP!” for several minutes until Dallas police arrived.
Fifteen minutes later, another dozen interlopers from Occupy Dallas interrupted the reception with a spirited “mic-check.” Outside, activists projected a message on the hotel, and throughout the night, delegates discovered that hundreds of rolls of custom toilet paper had been installed in the conference venue.
And this was the objective:
The activists disrupted the gala to protest the hijacking of trade negotiations by an extreme pro-corporate agenda. “The public and the media are locked out of these meetings,” said Kristi Lara from Occupy Dallas, one of the infiltrators. “We can’t let U.S. trade officials get away with secretly limiting Internet freedoms, restricting financial regulation, extending medicine patents, and giving corporations other a whole host of other powers allowing them to quash the rights of people and democracies, for example by offshoring jobs in ever new ways. Trade officials know the public won’t stand for this, which is why they try to keep their work secret—and that’s why we had to crash their party.”http://youtu.be/5curJyngiDI
The Yes Lab is a is brainstorming/training effort... more
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A bill that would have made New Jersey the first state to ban fracking for natural gas was vetoed today by Gov. Chris Christie, who proposed a one-year moratorium instead.
In a statement, Christie said the moratorium would provide time for state and federal agencies to study fracking and its environmental effects.
"While I share many of the concerns expressed by those who support this legislation, I believe that a one-year moratorium on fracking in New Jersey while the issue is studied ... is the most prudent, responsible, and balanced course of action," Christie said in the statement.
The Legislature approved the ban in June.
Environmental groups disapproved of the governor's decision and called for the state Senate and Assembly to override the veto.
"This is a dismal day for New Jersey," Maya van Rossum, of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said in a news release.
"A one-year moratorium is an insult to the people of New Jersey. It does nothing to protect them or New Jersey's drinking water from the threat of fracking," Jeff Tittel, of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a news release.
Opponents worry chemicals used in fracking will pollute the Delaware River basin and threaten New Jersey's drinking water.
Shale drilling requires blending huge volumes of water with chemical additives and injecting it under high pressure into the ground to help shatter the thick rock -- a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Some of that water returns to the surface as brine potentially tainted with metals and trace radioactivity.
While it's unclear whether there's enough gas to drill for in New Jersey, the state Senate, state Assembly and local governments have increasingly discouraged fracking for natural gas as the natural gas industry booms in the Marcellus shale deposit underneath seven states, including Pennsylvania.
More at the linkA bill that would have made New Jersey the first state to ban fracking for natural gas... more
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