Video: Indian Man Releases 40 Snakes in Tax Office In perhaps a new take on the Occupy protests, an irate snake charmer dumped three sacks full of poisonous reptiles on the floor of a Government Land Registry Office in northern India, the Guardian reports. The man, reportedly named Hakkul, was angry that local officials in the state of Uttar Pradesh had failed to act on an application for land and also accused bureaucrats of demanding bribes. The slithery move Tuesday certainly had an impact. Video of the incident shows office workers climbing on desks and chairs as hissing cobras, four of which were among the 40 snakes released, reared up from the ground. (LIST: Top 10 Zoo Escapes) The Telegraph reports that Hakkul later said a district magistrate had agreed for him to have a plot of land for his snakes two years ago. But officials pushed back on the silver-bearded charmer’s claims. Nobody was reported bitten by the snakes, which were later captured by forestry-department officials. PHOTOS: Indians Protest the Arrest of Anna Hazare
Occupy Portland: Protesters march; photo of bloodied teen makes rounds View full sizeRay Whitehouse/The OregonianWalker Prettyman, 15, was photographed Saturday night during confrontations between police and Occupy Portland protesters downtown. Prettyman told the photographer he had been hit in the face with a police baton. A few dozen Occupy Portland protesters marched downtown and hung out at Shemanski Park on Sunday, hours after confrontations with police led to 19 arrests. The arrests Saturday night came after protesters set up a camp in the park, in the South Park Blocks behind the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tensions rose after police in riot gear moved in about 8:30 p.m. and took the camp down. Most of those arrested were cited and released. Sunday's events were decidedly more low-key. Protesters spoke against the $662 billion defense spending bill, singling out language in the U.S. "The thing that concerns me is reflections on McCarthyism," said march organizer Terris Harned, 32. "I talked with sergeants last night," Simpson said. -- Owen R.
LAPD Made Sure The Whole World Ain't WatchingMiseryXchord During the LAPD raid on OccupyLA on November 30, 2011, press was ordered to leave the site or be subject to arrest and exposure to “less lethal” force. Press remaining to cover the city’s action was penned across the street where this image, captured during livestream broadcast by Spencer Mills/ OakFoSho , is representative of their view of the raid. By Guest Contributer Ruth Fowler As both a journalist who occasionally freelances for the mainstream media, and an Occupier, I find myself in a conflicted position regarding reporting on Occupy LA . Referring again to The Guardian, a recent article by Naomi Wolf , entitled The Shocking Truth About the Crackdown on Occupy, caused a furore across the internet . #LAPD meeting to do lottery to select “pool media” for future #OccupyLA activity. RT @DavidBegnaud: #LAPD media relations to hold news conference at 7:15pm tonight @LAPDHQ regarding #occupyla #ktla You can follow Ruth Fowler’s Blog at Occupy Los Angeles. Related posts:
Warsaw protester launches drone to spy on police By David EdwardsThursday, November 17, 2011 13:15 EDT During protests in Warsaw last weekend, one crafty activist deployed a flying drone to spy on riot police. YouTube user latajacakamera — or “flying camera” in Polish — uploaded the amazing video that the drone effortlessly captured as it hovered over teargas-filled streets. In another video, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) floats in front of a formation of police in riot gear as they rush towards demonstrators. None of them appear to notice. Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson confirmed that the flying machine was built by the Polish company Robokopter. Watch this video from latajacakamera, uploaded to YouTube Nov. 12, 2011. (H/T: Danger Room) Copyright 2011 The Raw Story <a style="color: #336699; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" href=" David Edwards David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006.
Bank Of America Sends Internal Email Exposing Where The "Occupy" Movement Is Hurting It Most While the general media may be ignoring the latest peculiar twist on the "Occupy" theme, or in this case the "occupyourhomes.org", Bank of America is taking it quote seriously. As a reminder, "Tuesday, December 6th is the National Day of Action to stop and reverse foreclosures. The Occupy Homes movement is holding actions around the country in support of homeowners and people fighting to have a home. Find an event near you and join in our day of action tomorrow!. There are actions happening in over 20 cities nationwide. Events are taking place in Brooklyn, Buffalo and Rochester New York; Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Petaluma, Sacramento, Paradise and Contra Costa California; Lake Worth, Florida; Atlanta, Fayetteville, and DeKalb Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Bloomington, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Detroit and Southgate Michigan; St.
Police Respond to Video Showing Plainclothes Cops at Occupy Portland Meeting Last week, I wrote a story that looked at Occupy Portland's growing tactical awareness that the Portland Police Bureau has been—and will continue to be—keeping close tabs on the movement, either by openly attending or watching meetings, but also by relying on information passed along by sources among Occupy. One question was whether the bureau was also sending plainclothes officers to Occupy events and meetings. Police spokesman Sergeant Pete Simpson told me "there was no need" because so much of what Occupy does is out in the open. In the comments of my story, someone posted the following video, which clearly shows to plainclothes officers attending an Occupy general assembly days at Tom McCall Waterfront Park before the big launch march on October 6. I sent Simpson a link last week and reminded him about what he said in the paper. Interestingly, an officer outed after hanging out in plainclothes at Occupy Oakland filmed a video saying he supported the movement.
Standoff ends between police, Occupy DC protesters NEW: Structure is dismantled by maintenance crews31 arrests are made, park police sayPolice surround a wood structure erected overnight in McPherson SquarePolice could not be reached for comment on the ongoing situation Are you there? Send images to Open Story Washington (CNN) -- An hours-long standoff between police and Occupy DC protesters ended Sunday night after officers forcibly removed several people clinging to a wood structure erected earlier in the district's McPherson Square. A total of 31 people were arrested over the course of the day, according to U.S. The standoff started shortly before 11 a.m. as park police surrounded the structure built overnight as a place where protesters could stay warm in the winter and hold their daily general assembly meetings, according to Wade Simmons, one of the Occupy demonstrators. Occupy DC protesters sit atop a wooden structure at their encampment in Washington's McPherson Square on Sunday. Onlookers chanted "Let him go!"
An Apology To Veterans and Seniors I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to two groups of Americans: our military veterans, and all senior citizens who are members of the World War II era, also known as The Greatest Generation. I want to apologize for myself and my generation not doing our part to be more like you. You sacrificed, took risks, did without, and delayed gratification of one sort or another for a cause greater than yourselves. My generation and the rest of the American population has been rather cowardly when it comes to defending our liberties. Most recently, by my count, we have been "at war" for nearly a decade. What have we sacrificed to get the ugly job done, whatever the goal is? We are a rich nation of 300 million people, and we cannot win and end a war? We lined up like patriotic lemmings with flags on our lapels and allowed groups of privileged men to orchestrate a never-ending series of wars, while most of them NEVER went to war, let alone served their country in uniform.
Massachusetts attorney general sues big banks over foreclosure practices The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, names the same banks whose foreclosure practices caused a national uproar last fall and triggered state and federal investigations: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and GMAC, now known as Ally Financial. The lawsuit also names Reston-based Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems and its parent company, MERSCORP, whose vast computerized registry helped lubricate the housing boom by allowing banks to quickly and cheaply transfer the ownership of loans. The Massachusetts suit accuses the banks of foreclosing on homes without holding the mortgage note, undermining the state’s land recording system by using MERS, failing to live up to loan modification agreements with troubled homeowners and filing fraudulent documents. In statements on Thursday, the firms named in the lawsuit denied wrongdoing and vowed to “vigorously” defend themselves against the allegations.