July 25, 2012

NYPD 'consistently violated basic rights' during Occupy protests – study

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/25/nypd-occupy-protests-report

The NYPD report is the first of a series to look at how police authorities in five US cities, including Oakland and Boston, have treated the Occupy movement since it began in September 2011. The research concludes that there now is a systematic effort by authorities to suppress protests, even when these are lawful and pose no threat to the public.

Sarah Knuckey, a professor of law at NYU, said: "All the case studies we collected show the police are violating basic rights consistently, and the level of impunity is shocking".

To be launched over the coming months, the reports are being done under the Protest and Assembly Rights Project, a national consortium of law school clinics addressing America's response to Occupy Wall Street.




Luke Rudkowski ?@Lukewearechange

"The research concludes that there now is a systematic effort by authorities to suppress protests, even when... http://fb.me/1PNFcCwfm

July 25, 2012

Live update thread on July 24th protest in Anaheim against police brutality and murders:

Updated the thread title as this is now a day old.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/crossxbones#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9761681&utm_medium=social

http://www.ustream.tv/timcast

currently live; subject to change.

Two local men have been shot dead by Anaheim PD in nearly as many days, and locals at the =weekly= protest against APD violence were recently shot with multiple rounds of pepper bullets, and had a police dog released upon them...as they were obviously sitting on sheets on the lawn. This includes entire families, and plenty of children.

Some MSM have only reported about local unrest, painting citizens as the problem.

For those wondering about the militarized gear, DHS and arms dealers looking for new markets have been donating such gear to police agencies. Also, some agencies such as LAPD have undertaken training maneuvers with the military.



Earlier in the day on July 24th, protesters at city hall:

mcduh ?@mcduh

MT @whimgrrl:

ANAHEIM #'s (714) 765-1900
ANAPD 714.765.1986
Chief Police #Anaheim
Mayor Tom Tait 714-765-5247
(800) 952-5225 DOJ

Backstory with disturbing video:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002996860

July 24, 2012

Los Angeles Just Banned All Marijuana Dispensaries

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/07/los_angeles_just_banned_all_marijuana_dispensaries_1.php

Tuesday, July 24, 2012, by Adrian Glick Kudler

The Los Angeles City Council has just voted to ban all medical marijuana dispensaries--Councilmember Paul Koretz was the only person to vote against the ban, which Councilmember Jose Huizar wrote (although LA Times reporter William Nottingham says on Twitter that Koretz changed his vote, probably to prevent the need for a second vote next week). KPCC reports that the ordinance passed today will "prohibit the sale of medical cannabis in retail establishments. However, exemptions will allow patients to continue growing marijuana for their own use, and primary caregivers may continue to distribute the drug." So don't worry about the cancer patients, they will be fine as soon as their physicians find a dealer. No, but the City Council did also vote "to look at how 182 clinics that registered with the city prior to 2007 could one day be resurrected."

July 23, 2012

Scientists create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity

http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2012/07/scientists-create-highly-transparent.html

UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano.

The UCLA team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

"These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics and in other applications," said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering, who also is director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).

July 22, 2012

Colombia Has 100 Tiny Libraries in Public Parks

http://www.good.is/post/colombia-has-100-tiny-libraries-in-public-parks/

It’s no secret that ink-and-paper books are going out of style, mostly due to the rise of e-readers but also because fewer people are reading in general. And considering that the print book industry is pretty bad for the environment, maybe that trend isn't all bad. Still, not all is lost for fans of old-fashioned books—especially in Colombia, where tiny public libraries are operated out of parks all over the country.

The program was started more than 15 years ago, and it has continued to thrive, operating 51 mini libraries in Bogotá and more than 100 throughout the country. The libraries themselves are rather remarkable—they hold about 350 books each, and they’re operated by volunteer librarians who organize activities and help kids with their homework. They’re only open 12 hours per week, but at least those hours are usually over the weekend. The program is run by the nonprofit literacy group Fundalectura in conjunction with the parks system.

Regardless of how you feel about the future of print, it’s hard not to be impressed by this innovative network of tiny public libraries. And if they manage to get people reading—not to mention spending more time outdoors—it’s hard not to hope that they’ll stick around another 15 years.

(There is a photo at the link and no further text.)

July 22, 2012

Why can some people chalk, and others can't? Occupy LA - #chalkwalk:

http://occupyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/07/truth-about-lapds-violent-attack-upon.html

July 22, 2012

Anaheim CA police release police dog upon mothers, children; fire "less-lethal" rounds into crowd

protesting the earlier officer-involved shooting of a local man. Disturbing video at the link:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/07/21/officer-involved-shooting-reported-in-anaheim/

"Riot"? POLICE RIOT.

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/07/anaheim_police_employs_rubber.php

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-anaheim-police-shooting,0,6408042.story

http://www.rightnow.io/breaking-news/anaheim_bn_1342937680156.html


Amber Stephens: Article I did on the protesters who demonstrate weekly outside of Anaheim PD:

http://www.ocweekly.com/2012-06-21/news/caesar-cruz-anaheim-police-department

July 22, 2012

Shell Backs Out Of Agreed-Upon Arctic Emissions Limits

http://www.care2.com/causes/shell-backs-out-of-agreed-upon-arctic-emissions-limits.html

Now it’s been given the green light to desecrate one of the last truly pristine ecosystems on the planet, Shell still isn’t satisfied. The company is now begging the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen air pollution requirements for its Discoverer drill rig–requirements it already agreed to when the permits were granted.

In its application to the agency, dated June 28, Shell said the Discoverer cannot meet the requirements for emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia of an air permit granted by the E.P.A. in January. The company also asked for a minor air permit modification for its Kulluk drill ship, which is also supposed to begin work in the Arctic in the coming weeks.

Somehow, it’s hard to believe that Shell has just now realized it will be impossible to keep emissions within agreed-upon limits. Instead, it seems more likely that the company said whatever it had to, and now that it has permits in hand, it’s trying to rewrite the rules.

July 21, 2012

Lenovo CEO spreads the wealth, distributes his $3 million bonus to lower level employees

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/20/lenovo-ceo-spreads-the-wealth/

By Terrence O'Brien posted Jul 20th 2012 11:31AM

Lenovo CEO spreads the wealthThe list of CEOs and other execs in the US that have accepted multi-million dollar bonuses for lording over the crash and burn of a company (or even an entire economy) is staggering. And we can guarantee you that most of that money went towards fancy cars and golden toilet seats. Lenovo's Yang Yuanqing, on the other hand, received a sizable $3 million bonus for actually being good at his job. The additional bonus was a reward for steering the company to record shipments and profits despite a weakening PC market. And what did Mr. Yuanqing do with that money? He gave it back to his employees. That second bonus was broken down into 10,000 discrete chunks and dispersed to line workers, assistants and other lower-level employees. I think that officially makes Yang Yuanqing our new favorite CEO in tech.

(Only a photo remains at the link, that's the entire story. Good timing too; there IS good news in the world!)

July 20, 2012

Spanish rallies turn violent as million people protest in 80 cities (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

http://www.rt.com/news/spain-protests-austerity-cuts-634/

Spanish police have clashed with protesters who marched against the latest batch of austerity measures. Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities.

­Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as it tried to reach the congress building. In some more urban areas, activists set garbage containers on fire and tried to block police vehicle access. No injuries or arrests have been reported.

In Barcelona, similar scenes were reported. About a dozen protesters were arrested there, outside the local parliament building.