On the 29th of July, the Trot for Trans Lives came to Orlando, the finishing point of Transgender ultramarathoner Cal Dobbs’s 2,700 milecross-country run from California to Florida. Cal called Florida “the epicenter of anti-trans legislation.”
The cross-country run was to show support for Florida’s beseiged trans community. At many stops a local Trot for Trans Lives 5K run/walk fundraiser was held, the last of these in Orlando at the finish of the run.
On the 25th of June, near the end of the meeting, a speaker hammered the Polk County, Fl school board. They have refused to make any statement of defiance against a new requirement that students must be taught that Black people benefited from SLAVERY. That’s right-Black students are supposed to tolerate being “taught” that slavery was a good thing for their ancestors. The Polk County school board is silent on this and thus expected to comply
On July 24, Generation Ratify blocked DC’s Constitution Ave to support ratification of the ERA(Equal Rights Amendment). Twenty or more activists set up the blockade, while maybe 5 members of the forced-birth group PAAU (the fetus stealers) tried to counterprotest but were ineffective. Two pro-ERA blockaders were arrested
On the 20th of July, Beyond Extreme Energy and residents of the area near the Mountain Valley Pipeline project protested first at FERC, then at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Direct action teams are again working to block MVP construction after Manchin rammed it through as part of a budget bill. Someone noticed that rusted pipe segments are being used without repair in the ongoing attempts to finish the pipeline.
The 42 inch diameter pipeline sections the MVP’s builders are seeking to put into use have been out in the rain, snow, and sun as long as 6 years in some cases. They’ve also been in floodwaters and standing water. Pipeline safety experts and even some of the MVP’s own staffers have warned that just one year or even six months in the open can damage the protective coating meant for use underground. Once that occurs, the piple can rust through, and when a big high pressure gas pipeline rusts through an explosion at the pipeline may be the least serious case. Slow leaks into basements can actually worse as then houses are what blow up. One more way natural gas can blow up your house
FERC is the infamous Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, once again turned into the pipeline industry’s biggest rubber stamp, this time by Sen Joe Manchin. If Manchin things environmentalist are going to knock on doors for him in W Va in his next re-election, he must be hallucinating.
On the 19th of July, Climate Defiance got inside the Rayburn Building and again shut down a Biden administration official responsible for approving more fossil fuel projects. This time the target was Deputy National Climate Advisor Mary Repko. She packed up and quit the field like all the others driven off by Climate Defiance.
Around Noon, Mary Repko was holding a lunchtime meeting of the so-called “House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition” at the Rayburn Building.
Climate Defiance showed up, and demanded she publicly oppose the Willow Project, a major propose Alaska oil drilling project. They called out the Biden administration (her boss) for approving new fossil fuel projects at a faster pace than even Donald Trump.
Instead of answering questions, she and her flunkies packed up and adjourned the meeting. When they cannot explain themselves to the public, they take the ball and go home it seem!
Nine climate activists were arrested, but once again Climate Defiance has put closet fossil fuel promotors to flight.
Wednesday, the 12 of July was one of the four hottest days ever recorded globally. On that day, members of Congress fiddled while not only Rome but the whole world burned. The Congressonal Women’s Baseball Game was supposed to be business as usual, but Climate Defiance had other ideas and temporarily shut the game down.
As protesters in Stop Fossil Fuels T-shirts took over key parts of the field, some of the players started dancing in an attempt to keep the audience focussed on anything but the climate protesters.
At the moment there is no way to upload a still photo here due to block editor issues
On the 12th of July, protests were held all over the US for the Tampa 5, who were beaten, arrested, and charged w felonies for a peaceful protest at the University of S Florida on March 6. One of these protests was directly outside the courthouse, and the defendents spoke to the rally before going inside for what sounded like a status hearing.
The original incident was a brutal police response to a peaceful protest inside the University of S Florida President’s office. Despite many videos of the police brutality, prosecutors attempted to offer a plea bargain where the victims of the brutality would be expected to “apologize” to their uniformed assailants. All of them refused the “deal.” In response, additional felony charges were laid on, increasing maximum theoretical prison time for some of the defendents to 20 years.
The Tampa 4 case, the Florida 4 case, and the Tallahassee Occupy warrants are all trial runs for wholesale repression of all peaceful protest in Florida-and nationwide. DeSantis is a Fascist, and this is what Fascists do. Only thing is, if protest is outlawed, only outlaws can protest.
Extinction Rebellion DC challenged Washington Gas to a joust over the future of their $5B “project pipes” in Banneker Park on the 7th of July. Washington Gas was a no-show, so contestants best described as the Green Knight vs the Gas Knight (stand-in for Washington Gas) jousted against targets for the win. Washington Gas’s stand-in just could not hit their climate targets.
The gas pipelines in the DC area owned Washington Gas have been rusting out for decades and are leaking like sieves. Washington Gas is a for-profit corporation with deep pockets, yet they have declined to pay for fixing their polluting, leaky pipes themselves. Instead they have gone to the DC Council, demanding a $5 BILLION subsidy to replace the pipes at taxpayer expense while they keep raking in profits.
If an Uber driver’s car could not pass emissions due to a failed catalytic converter(about $1,500 for a good one), the DC Council would not buy them a replacement! They would have to buy their own catalytic converter, pay for a “low emissions tuneup” at every emissions test, or scrap the car. As it is for the Uber driver, so it should be for Washington Gas. If they cannot pay for the pipes, they can shut down, and the DC Council can either take over the pipes as a not for profit public utility or spend the $5 billion on replacing everyone’s gas furnaces with heat pumps and gas stoves with induction stoves. The latter has the advantage of making ready for future renewables.
Note that heat pumps and induction stoves make far better use of energy than a straight flame does. A heat pump can move several times the heat required to make the energy to drive it (near 300% equivalent efficiency), and an induction stove heats ONLY the pan. To boil water with gas at induction stove efficiency is possible, but would require a kettle with a network of many small tubes within and a fan to pull the flame into it, much like a locomotive style tank boiler. No such kettles are on the market.
Atlas Technical Project Manager: “Atlas is no longer involved [in Cop City]…because you guys are fucking nightmares and you broke all of our fucking windows”
From scenes.noblogs.org
https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2023/07/04/you-guys-are-fucking-nightmares-atlas-employees-claim-to-have-dropped-cop-city-contract/
July 2nd- Dozens of protesters visited Atlas Technical Consultants’ homes demanding they drop the contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Cop City project. Activists showed up with instruments, chants, and banners to the houses of Atlas employees in Minnesota. We marched down the street, knocked on the doors of the consultants—handing them a letter of demands— and canvassed their neighbors. We left sidewalk chalk art telling them to stop cop city and drop the contract. Two high-level Atlas consultants claimed Atlas was no longer funding Cop City; meaning they were either lying, or Atlas has not yet publicized that they’ve dropped the contract.Highlights of the house visits included:
– Atlas’s technical project manager claimed the firm was no longer in the project because of activism: “Atlas is no longer involved… because you guys are fucking nightmares and you broke all of our fucking windows” (For added context: back in January, someone smashed windows at Atlas’ offices in Minnesota.)
– One consultant’s husband got so angry he turned his back to us, squatted down, and mooned the whole street. Protesters and neighbors saw his pale suburban ass for several seconds.
– Atlas consultants themselves said they were against cop city and disliked cops.
– We had many kind, receptive neighbors engage in good conversation about Cop City with us. They all disliked the project. One neighbor even gave us a 6-pack of gatorade.
– One consultant pretended not to be home, but we saw her filming us through the window.
– One consultant pretended not to be home, but we saw her filming us through the window.You can recreate this action anywhere in the country! Go to https://www.stopcopcitysolidarity.org/ and find subcontractors like Atlas, insurers like Progressive, or bankrollers like Wells Fargo. Use Tor and a VPN (or even TAILS) to look employees up; either those already researched on this website, or find more on white pages. Gather a big group of comrades! Make signs and art! Print out letters for the targets and for the neighbors! Caravan around to their houses with silliness and rage.
If Atlas has indeed dropped the contract this marks a huge win for activists. Protest works, direct action works: stay in the streets!
Submitted Anonymously Over Email
With all the fireworks of hate coming from the Supreme Court, some protesters decided to show up at “Justice” Alito’s house. The usual cops were NOT present at Alito’s house, suggesting that they are present only when protesters are expected and this time around caught them by surprise.
Alito was a well-picked target, as in the leaked draft of the Dobbs decision Alito cited notorious 17th century jurist Matthew Hale. Matthew Hale is famous for having two women executed for witchcraft as well as originating the doctrine that rape was legal within marriage. This earned Hale’s follower Alito the “witchburner” name
