UPDATE: (Video) Food Attorney Ejected


UPDATE: Video Interview w/ Ajna

What would *you* do if you were seated on a plane, ready to take off, and suddenly two airline employees tell you to get up and leave?

999907_10152466559193475_1611945775_n Around 8am this morning, Attorney Ajna Sharma-Wilson was detained without explanation on a Frontier Airlines flight in LA. She is a lawyer who plays a critical role in defending the rights of people to consume and procure the foods of their choice. Fortunately, Ajna recorded the interaction. In the audio, which was recorded by her smartphone, Ajna can be heard asking all the right questions.

She asks the names of all involved, though they are reluctant to answer, and says, quote, “Please repeat what you said to me.” She also asks a nearby passenger to write down his phone number so that she may call him as a witness.

Ajna was eventually escorted from the plane under duress. Instead of offering an explanation to their customer, the airline employees threatened to call the authorities. She missed her flight because of the ordeal, and is now stuck at the airport. No explanation has yet been given. Stay tuned to Peace News Now for updates as they develop.

In the meantime, listen to the shocking audio that Ajna captured. And take a note from her! If something is happening around you that isn’t right, it is *your* responsibility to be prepared and to act quickly to get an objective record like Ajna did. She also sent out a blast email to friends and supporters to spread the word of this far and wide. This shouldn’t happen to anyone, but it can serve as an excellent model for others to follow if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Use the buttons below to share this story:

Russell Brand Calls for a Revolution

BlockChain-Banner

Actor/Comedian Russell Brand is shocking and delighting millions with his guest-edited edition of the New Statesman. On the BBC this week, Brand shared his views, which called for a recognition that the old world is dying and that a new one must be envisioned. Brand hints that in this new paradigm, authority is not bestowed upon aristocrats but instead derives naturally from the self-authority of all individuals. When asked what authority he has as a political commentator who is admittedly disinterested in voting, Brand said quote, “Why is that not my right because I’m an ‘actor’? I’ve taken the right. I don’t need the right from you. I don’t need the right from anybody. I’m taking it.” Some may (rightly) slam Brand for saying things like, “Profit is evil,” when he has clearly profited in order to amass a net worth of approximately $15 Million. But while Brand’s lack of philosophical grounding is somewhat discouraging, his attitude toward the old-world aristocracy is positively refreshing. Watch the interview and tweet us your thoughts @PeaceNewsNow.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO BBC VIDEO
Russell Brand’s talk of revolution inspired this episode of Peace News Now:


SoLM-banner-600

Man Buries Wife in Front Yard


BlockChain-Banner
You’d think the government would leave you alone after you’re dead, but in Alabama, an elderly man is resisting busybody bureaucrats because they won’t let his deceased wife rest in peace.

20131023_GRAVE-slide-PZ5O-articleLarge

The reason? 

James Davis promised his wife he would bury her in the front yard. And when she died of old age 4 years ago, that’s just what he did. He installed a vault, the funeral home put his wife in the coffin, and on a Saturday morning, Mrs. Davis was laid to rest before a gathering of family members. It was a lovely ceremony, the plot is maintained with colorful decorations and flowers, and the neighbors have no complaints, saying, quote, “it’s his right.” But the bureaucrats at city hall can’t leave well enough alone.

They want to dig up his wife and move her to a, quote, “properly licensed and approved cemetery.” Less than a month after buying his wife, city hall bureaucrats sent James a letter informing him that he was being sued by the government. Now, years later, the grieving widower has spent thousands of dollars protecting his wife’s burial plot. He lost in Circuit Court, then again this past weekend in the State Supreme Court. Defeated, he warned the bureaucrats that if a government agent so much as set foot on his property with the intention of disturbing the gravesite, quote, “there will be an incident.”

So instead of allowing the government to take his wife’s body out of the ground, James offered a compromise: allow him to cremate her body and bury the urn. The bureaucrats agreed. So now if Mr. Davis fully complies with the government’s order, the yard will end up looking exactly as it does now, only with an urn rather than a coffin underneath, leading reasonable people to ask, “What’s the point?” Tell us your thoughts on the Peace News Now Facebook Page.

grave

h/t http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/us/a-front-yard-burial-in-alabama-no-matter-what.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&ref=todayspaper&SoLM-banner-600

Greenwald Creating News Agency

BlockChain-Banner

Glenn Greenwald is leaving the Guardian newspaper. Greenwald is the reporter who has been releasing formerly unknown information thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. He wasn’t ready to announce this news, but the info leaked. Greenwald said: quote,

“My partnership with The Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling: I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved. The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline. My role, aside from reporting and writing for it, is to create the entire journalism unit from the ground up by recruiting the journalists and editors who share the same journalistic ethos and shaping the whole thing — but especially the political journalism part — in the image of the journalism I respect most.”

A philanthropist has put up the money for the new venture, and Greenwald said he looked forward to creating a new organization with quote, “no pre-existing institutional strictures on what you can do.”

h/t http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/exclusive-glenn-greenwald-will-leave-guardian-to-create-new

Homeless Programmer Released

As reported by Peace News Now this week, a homeless man named Leo, also called “The Journeyman Hacker,” was arrested after midnight for sleeping on a New York City Park bench. The out of work engineer’s crime was “trespassing.” He made headlines earlier this year when partnering with Patrick McConlongue to receive programming lessons.

Heather Callaghan at the Activist Post wrote an awesome article about this incident that I’d like to share with you.

Patrick had provided Leo with a laptop at his expense, and free software, books, Wi-Fi, and one hour lessons each day starting in August. Leo was set to go on The Today Show on Wednesday morning until police arrested him and confiscated his laptop and a new phone gifted to him. Patrick fought to have him released and push the hearing up so Leo could do his interview.

At 10am Tuesday, Patrick made this update: Quote,

Leo was released early this morning, in an incredible turn around time. He was taken to the hospital in the middle of the night for throwing up (sounds like stress) but the hearing after went quickly. Leo said, “The Police were doing their job, the officer who arrested me was just following orders and was very polite.” The laptop and prototype phone were not returned but after walking back to the 10th precinct this morning, we were told some paperwork needed to be changed for it to be released and to return at 12:00AM to talk with the arresting officer.

Business Insider reported:

McConlogue said he went to the precinct but was unable to retrieve Leo or Leo’s personal belongings, including the Samsung computer McConlogue purchased himself. Officer Carr said he was unable to return the computer because McConlogue could not provide a serial number for the device, though he did show Carr a receipt for the computer.

The two implored respect for the police and drew different kinds of jeers for their emphatic defense of the cops who arrested Leo. It almost sounded like a PSA to comply with the NYPD. They expressed sentiments for NYPD such as comparing them to 9/11 heroes and: “have faith in NYPD,” “they did nothing wrong,” “just doing their jobs,” “just following orders…” Whose orders?

If they did nothing wrong to arrest Leo, then why get him out – he would be a law breaker; and if NYPD acted rightly, that would mean they were justified in enforcing that law. Leo harmed no one – should he have been locked up and his few possessions taken and kept? It’s one thing to peacefully accept the crapstorm and find a solution; but it’s wholly another to eagerly defend unacceptable infringements. That complicity keeps bad behavior going.

Patrick made a point about the police action being part of an imperfect system. Meaning, they do not deserve scrutiny – it’s not their faults. Yet, how do broken systems continue? By its many enforcers who push empathy aside to “follow orders.” They did have a choice in the situation and they CAN give back Leo’s belongings.

Do You work in a bureaucracy? Remember that you are not just a cog in a machine. Your actions matter. The Milgram experiment proved the world is filled with people who will harm and even kill strangers when ordered by an authority. Be the exception. Think for yourself, and choose to do what is right.

h/t http://www.activistpost.com/2013/10/update-homeless-journeyman-hacker.html

Dalai Lama Likes Weed

The Dalai Lama recently endorsed cannabis, and said it should be legal to use as medicine. The spiritual leader made the comments in the middle of a debate as Mexico City considers legalizing cannabis. He came to the event hosted by former president Vicente Fox, who supports legalization because it cuts off revenue for the drug cartels.

h/t http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/10/dalai-lama-supports-medical-marijuana-use/70583/?fb_action_ids=10153353429695191&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210153353429695191%22%3A155444351333106%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210153353429695191%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Billboard Makes Drinkable Water?

water-billboardEngineers in Peru have invented a billboard that captures and filters moisture from the air, turning it into drinking water for any passers-by. The billboard is 50-feet tall and can produce 100 liters of water out of thin air every day. One billboard is capable of providing drinking water for hundreds of families per month. It was designed by Lima’s University of Engineering and Technology as an advertisement for enrollment. The billboard’s resourceful design takes advantage of atmospheric humidity to overcome the lack of transportable water in the coastal desert. Can you imagine these billboards in your city?


h/t http://isupportorganic.blogspot.com/2013/10/billboard-in-peru-produces-water-out-of.html

Activists Block Deportations in AZ

BlockChain-Banner
The Washington Times
reports that immigrant rights activists shut down a court in Tucson, Arizona this week by preventing authorities from processing illegal immigrants who were to be sentenced to jail and eventually deported.

The activists had chained themselves to bus tires and to the court entrance early Friday morning and had been there for three and a half hours. The court canceled its proceedings for the day as a result of their protest.

The immigrants on the buses were being held under something called “Operation Streamline.” Operation Streamline is a practice where Judges sentence immigrants to labor in Arizona jails before they are deported, as a punishment for entering the country without following the rules. The program circumvents the 6th Amendment by denying people a trial by jury and turns the state into judge, jury, and executioner.

Activist Roberto Cintli Rodriguez said, quote, “When humanity is confronted with unjust laws, it is our responsibility to challenge them.” Friday’s move was a precursor to next week, when the activists plan to try to shut down the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Phoenix.

Marisa Franco of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network said, quote, “Under the president’s administration, nearly two million families have been torn apart through detention and deportation. Our communities can no longer wait for the president to rediscover his moral compass or for Congress to actually do its job. We will do what any mother or father would do and keep our families together by preventing ICE from being able to tear them apart.”

On Friday, the activists posted live video of their protest online, showing some marching with signs in the middle of the road that read “End Streamline.” Others were lying down next to the bus tires to try to make sure the vehicles couldn’t move. In another video, activists had blockaded the entrance to the court where the illegal immigrants were supposed to be processed. The activists had linked arms inside of tubes, which makes it more difficult for authorities to separate them and remove them. One of those shooting the video said there were 70 people on the buses, and they were showing their shackles through the windows. One man on the video feed said, quote, “Today, for the first time in six years, we’ve seen Streamline be stopped.”
h/t http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/11/activists-block-bus-deporting-illegal-immigrants/
SoLM-banner-600

Activists Return from Egyptian Prison

BlockChain-Banner
The Canadian Press
reported that two Canadian activists returned home on Saturday after seven weeks in an Egyptian prison. On arrival, John Greyson and Tarek Loubani admitted many mistakes but expressing delight at being home again. They also gave thanks to those who helped win their freedom.

Tarek Loubani is an emergency-room physician from London, Ontario. John Greyson is an outspoken gay film professor and director living in Toronto. Greyson said, quote, “We call out the collusion of Western powers, seemingly unwilling to denounce military violence against peaceful citizens, and perhaps, most crucially, on the ongoing role of billions in U.S. military aid (that is) helping return Egypt to a nightmare of military dictatorship.”

The two said they had only planned to stop overnight in Cairo on their way to Gaza.

They believed they could safely document the violence that erupted in Cairo and tend to the wounded without invoking the wrath of the authorities. Instead, they were swept up in mass arrests and imprisoned in cramped conditions without trial. They said they were beaten and forced to sleep on the concrete with cockroaches.

The two were accused of participating in illegal protests and resisting arrest. This week state agents dropped the accusations against them and gave them permission to leave Egypt. Family and supporters mounted a relentless campaign to have them freed, to which Greyson said, quote, “Your hard work mattered, your voice mattered, it made a difference, we owe you our freedom.”
h/t http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/12/canadian-activists-imprisoned-in-egypt-return-to-canada-its-really-obvious-we-made-mistakes/
SoLM-banner-600

Here Come the Pot Taxes


BlockChain-Banner

Beginning next year, stores with special permission from the State can sell cannabis. But before that happens, voters in Colorado will decide whether to approve Proposition AA. The new law would impose a new tax of 30 percent. But that’s not all. Question 2A in Denver would authorize an additional sales tax of up to 15 percent to go to the city bureaucrats. That’s not in place of, but in addition to, the taxes that already apply to everything else. If all these taxes are approved and legislators set them at the maximum authorized levels, legal pot in Denver—home to most of the state’s medical marijuana centers, the only businesses that will initially be allowed to serve the recreational market—will be hit by a total sales tax of 38 percent, plus an excise tax of 15 percent. Now Denver attorney Rob Corry is campaigning to get Colorado Pot-smokers to vote NO on Proposition AA to avoid what he calls, quote, “the largest tax increase in Colorado history.” Unfortunately, Amendment 64, the ballot measure that Coloradans voted for last year, grants state agents the authority to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. But what happens if bureaucrats regulate the price of cannabis higher than the black market price? Will consumers go back to their old dealer for the better price?

h/t http://reason.com/blog/2013/10/10/will-colorados-pot-taxes-preserve-the-bl
SoLM-banner-600