you'd think that after years of posting in a forum that encourages political discourse, one would grow and evolve their world views after being exposed to many different positions and ideas.


but apparently that's just not the case.


sad.

5/5/2013 5:07:30 AM

yeah. when will you ever learn :p

5/5/2013 11:23:20 PM

Over 100 went inside this time and 27 were arrested this evening.

5/6/2013 7:36:32 PM

"Protests a 'political bomb threat?'"
http://www.wral.com/protests-a-political-bomb-threat-/12415108/

Quote :

"Do they know that everyone they have encouraged to break the law, will stop at 'civil disobedience?'""

The AFP (I think Pope used to serve on their board/provide funds) suggest that the media not cover civil disobedience for the same reason they shouldn't cover bomb threats. Looks like they didn't get their wish.

"NAACP protest at legislature nets 30 arrests"
http://www.wral.com/naacp-protest-at-general-assembly-nets-27-arrests/12414437/

Quote :

"A demonstration last Monday led to 17 arrests. Those arrested this week include members of the social justice group Raging Grannies, several university professors"

Seeing grannies get arrested just highlights how silly the warning against the media covering a dangerous event like this is. The arrests last Monday were peaceful. The students who were arrested last Wednesday weren't even inside the General Assembly.













There will be another protest tomorrow, and probably more arrests next week.

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 9:05 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2013 9:02:11 PM

In just over a week that is over 50 arrests at the NCGA (if you include May Day)

5/6/2013 10:23:37 PM

I haven't seen anything about the protests outside of tww.

Granted, I only keep an eye on google news local.

5/6/2013 10:24:21 PM

Isn't occupying a government building a form of terrorism?

5/6/2013 10:27:22 PM

WTVD's take (ABC 11)
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9091419

Sadly a local story for them was written by AP lol.

Moron take a look at WRAL, and NBC 17 as well. I am sure the N&O will catch up tomorrow.

As for it being "terrorism" that is true only in the wet dreams of the neo-fascist far right.

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 10:33 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2013 10:30:53 PM

^^^Here are some articles for the first round of arrests (it was also on MSNBC), and I think all the same networks covered May Day and stories from today are starting to pop up on all of them:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/29/2859057/17-arrested-outside-nc-senate.html

http://www.wral.com/naacp-protests-assault-on-poor-at-general-assembly/12392563/

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9083759

http://triangle.news14.com/content/top_stories/693512/nc-naacp-protest-at-nc-legislature-ends-in-17-arrests

http://www.wncn.com/story/22107021/naacp-gears-up-for-protest-at-nc-general-assembly

http://chapelboro.com/news/state-government/naacp-protest-at-nc-legislature-ends-in-arrests/

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 10:35 PM. Reason : also I'm seeing promos for arrest stories for the evening news as I watch Revolution]

5/6/2013 10:33:38 PM

They can protest all they want outside. Entering the building is an attempt by a mob to threaten and intimidate elected officials, which is unacceptable in a democracy.

5/6/2013 10:35:36 PM

^You realize the peoples house is generally open public space, in much the same way a park is. And legislators serve the public, so the public expressing their opinion isn't terrorism [/illstopfeedingthetrollnow]

5/6/2013 10:41:36 PM

^
I know how to find articles.

I'm saying the word might not really be spreading. The "damage" is being contained.

5/6/2013 10:44:52 PM

^ It will if they keep it up as promised. MSNBC has already made mention of it nationally.

5/6/2013 10:47:28 PM

Each action has been bigger than the last. Tomorrow will be bigger if the weather doesn't severely diminish things. It's on the evening news, on the news websites, and made it on national on MSNBC.

What do you have in mind to count as not "contained"?

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 10:53 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2013 10:48:44 PM

State law is quite weak on this matter. However, if the Republicans can arrange for someone temporarily protected by the Secret Service to be present in the building, the protesters can be imprisoned for 10 years each.

Thanks Obama....literally. He signed the law last year.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr347/text

Or, if the protestors at any time hang someone in effigy or produce any other sort of "threatening exhibit", they can be charged for violating North Carolina's strict anti-KuKluxKlan laws.
http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_14/Article_4A.pdf

Quote :

"§ 14 - 12.13. Placing exhibit with intention of intimidating, etc., another. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to place or cause to be placed anywhere in this State any exhibit of any kind whatsoever, while masked or unmasked, with the intention of intimidating any person or persons, or of preventing them from doing an y act which is lawful"

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 11:05 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on May 6, 2013 at 11:07 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2013 11:01:38 PM

Greensboro's own Rev. Nelson Johnson was also one of the ones arrested. He's the moron that was a major part of the CWP's "Death to the Klan" match that got several folks killed. That's one where they went to a klan meeting, called them out and challenged them to come to the march that they decided to have the march in a predominantly black neighborhood.

The klan and Nazi parties show up and drive through the neighborhood. Someone throws a rock at a car and others join in. This pissed the klan off and they got out. A shot was fired, each side says the other shot first. The klan and nazi's being the redneck hunters they are were better shots than the CWP members that also brought guns.


Rev. Johnson was also in charge several years before that when Dudley and A&T students protested and the national guard was called in. I think there was one death in that case. That stemmed from a student body election at Dudley. A student that Rev. Johnson supported and was a part of a few of the more radical civil rights groups won the election through the write-in votes. The staff of the school refused to allow him to be the president because of his ties to Johnson and the groups. This just set everything off and Rev. Johnson used it to his advantage.



Anything that man is a part of, no matter how just it might be, is tainted by his own hatred of folks and lust for power and control.

5/7/2013 1:41:01 AM

^ You can't always control who shows up at protests and i don't hold that against the rest of the group. Obviously the intention of the actions at the legislature is not to see anyone get hurt. In this case it is political theater. The police know an act of civil disobedience was coming so there was no chance they or anyone would really overreact (unless an agent provacateur were to join the group).

5/7/2013 8:23:53 AM

They even had a pre-training for anyone who wanted to participate in civil disobedience on how to do it in an appropriate way, and discouraged anyone from the larger group of protesters from getting arrested that day if they hadn't gone through the training, saying there would likely be future opportunities for them to get that instruction before getting arrested.

Between the training, and so many of the people getting arrested being senior citizens, including some members of the singing group the raging grannies, this was about as calm/controlled of an act of civil disobedience that I've ever seen.

The students getting arrested last week was a little more rowdy, but that was in part due to the police shutting down the people's house with a wall of cops and using mounted policemen on horses for crowd control, kind of escalating things.

5/7/2013 11:58:53 AM

Holding "training" meetings that instruct individuals on how to best break the law is a violation of the same general statute meant to combat the Ku Klux Klan, with maybe some conspiracy charges thrown in.

You lost the election. Now go home and wait several years like good little citizens. Repeatedly storming the offices of elected officials is a road to anarchy, and will invite increasingly severe punishments, as it should.

[Edited on May 7, 2013 at 12:59 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2013 12:58:09 PM

Won't someone please stop the so called political bomb threats/terrorism/anarchy/riots? Who is going to stop this granny's madness?

5/7/2013 1:05:45 PM

You advocate mob rule by a lawless minority faction.

This tactic didn't work in Wisconsin, and won't work here. If anything the Wisconsin protests reinforced Walker's support among the general electorate.

5/7/2013 1:14:47 PM

When they arrested the students who were advocating for not making it harder to vote and not disinvesting in education, it was a few people trying to enter the people's house and share their thoughts with people who are supposed to be working for and representing them (as lobbyists get to do every day, and the general public is allowed to as well). If you want to paint that as anarchy, then bring on the anarchy!

5/7/2013 1:36:00 PM

^^ This is a risk for sure and of course since they are gerrymandered into safety the ballot box won't be effective either. The only viable option for progressives may be to abandon ship and leave NC for friendlier territory.

5/7/2013 4:00:31 PM

^Or try to get the media involved. It's one of the few checks and balances they seem to care about, at least a little. So rallies/protests/marches/press conferences might go a lot further than voting, at least until the new districts after the 2020 census.

5/7/2013 4:20:33 PM

I can tell you one thing...as nutty as you people call them, the Tea Partiers didn't advocate civil disobedience.

5/7/2013 6:13:59 PM

http://downdirtyword.blogspot.com/2012/12/tea-party-founder-calls-for-civil.html

5/7/2013 6:46:52 PM

The GOLO comments on this are hilarious.

I for one am glad they didn't stop protesting after one day. Its big news to keep this up for a week. I hope they can do it.

5/7/2013 7:09:55 PM

Wait wait wait, since when did civil disobedience (one of the founding activities of this country) become a bad thing?

5/7/2013 7:10:38 PM

since gandhi. DUH.

[Edited on May 7, 2013 at 7:12 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2013 7:12:15 PM

The phrase "people's house" must have been put on some democrat cheat sheets, cause Jake is using the hell out of it

5/7/2013 8:10:57 PM

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9092899

Quote :

""If you meet with lobbyists secretly but refuse to meet with us publicly, you are violating the constitution," said Barber."

Quote :

""The constitution says we have a right to assemble for the common good, and to instruct our representatives and to apply to the General Assembly for redress of our grievances," said Baber. Barber announced they will now take their fight to 15 counties across the state."

Quote :

"Barber says they will announce every Friday their plan for rallies and protests for the following Monday. The next time they will meet is Monday at the Davie Street Presbyterian Church at 3:45 p.m."

No arrests at today, but according to the news coverage it looks like they may keep them up on Mondays, and take this show on the road to hit more media markets and target legislative districts.

Not your usual arrest mug shots:

5/7/2013 10:32:51 PM

smc is, without a doubt, the most baller-ass poster on this forum.


Dude is a gangsta, and gets the goat of people who self identify on the left by attacking them from the left.


Tip of the hat, good sir.

[Edited on May 8, 2013 at 2:15 AM. Reason : ]

5/8/2013 2:02:54 AM

A wall of citizens in front of the General Assembly today. A striking juxtaposition when compared to the wall of cops that were there last week.



[Edited on May 8, 2013 at 11:02 PM. Reason : .]

5/8/2013 11:01:00 PM

Here is last Monday with some of the most comprehensive footage out there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr1hpXT_PnU

5/12/2013 3:35:07 PM

Today's episode begins at 3:30pm

5/13/2013 8:04:34 AM

It took 2 buses to arrest everyone who got arrested today. I can't help but see images like this and think of Wisconsin:

5/13/2013 8:26:53 PM

200 protesters with 49 arrested. That brings the total to 101 total with "Moral Mondays" and May Day. I hope it keeps growing!

5/13/2013 10:36:06 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/13/2890544/nc-moral-monday-demonstrations.html

RALEIGH — Nearly 200 protesters crowded inside the Legislative Building early Monday evening, singing, chanting and echoing many of the same concerns that demonstrators have for the past three Mondays.

As members of the state House of Representatives tended to business, North Carolinians dissatisfied with tax plans, education policies, health care proposals, welfare cuts, environmental deregulation and new voting policies grew louder and louder.

General Assembly police used bullhorns to tell the protesters to quiet down. “You have five minutes to leave,” an officer called out to the demonstrators gathered in the second-floor rotunda.

The crowd, diverse in age and backgrounds, was in Raleigh to take part in a growing protest movement organized by the state NAACP and others to highlight widening concerns about the impact of political initiatives coming out of the Republican-led General Assembly and governor’s mansion.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/13/2890544/nc-moral-monday-demonstrations.html#storylink=cpy

5/14/2013 10:31:03 AM

why are they being arrested again?

5/14/2013 12:01:34 PM

^ For the most part the official charges are trespassing. You are not allowed to demonstrate inside the building.

5/14/2013 12:10:00 PM

Too bad we don't have the 3 strikes and you're out program.

5/14/2013 3:27:51 PM

^ Even if we did it is different people being arrested each time. It is also growing in size with new people coming for the first time each week.

5/14/2013 4:05:58 PM

Here's an interesting take on protesting:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/15/north-carolina-birth-control_n_3280295.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Quote :

"would effectively reverse a 14-year-old state law requiring all employers who cover other prescription drugs to also cover contraception."

Quote :

"“We love a good vintage look -- but not when it's running the state legislature," Melissa Reed"

Quote :

""That is why we are here to remind these politicians and bosses who continue to insist that they should be the ones who decide if and when women can access birth control.”"

Quote :

"The House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill earlier this month that would require teenagers to present a notarized parental consent form in order to access sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, mental health counseling, pregnancy care or substance abuse treatment. And a bill approved by the Senate Health Committee last week would require North Carolina’s health instructors to teach that abortions can cause premature births in later pregnancies, a statement that was strongly disputed by medical health experts at the bill's hearing."

5/15/2013 5:48:45 PM

The NAACP video from last Monday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ziOQXcCL7Y

5/16/2013 8:57:29 AM

Quote :

"That is why we are here to remind these politicians and bosses who continue to insist that they should be the ones who decide if and when women can access birth control."

nobody is telling women they can or cannot access birth control. They are just saying if they will or will not PAY for it.

5/16/2013 9:18:26 AM

then we shouldn't limit it to birth control, employers should be able to make all the decisions about what their insurance covers (insurance managed by an external party). Don't like prostate screenings? Not covered. Think allergies are for wimps? Don't cover. Think that all psychological disorders are fake and based on thetan levels? Don't cover it. Kathy's cancer is really dragging you down? Stop covering her treatment. etc...

5/16/2013 10:31:40 AM

Quote :

"then we shouldn't limit it to birth control, employers should be able to make all the decisions about what their insurance covers (insurance managed by an external party). Don't like prostate screenings? Not covered. Think allergies are for wimps? Don't cover. Think that all psychological disorders are fake and based on thetan levels? Don't cover it. Kathy's cancer is really dragging you down? Stop covering her treatment. etc..."

Yeah, I'm not seeing why the government should mandate any coverage for anything (of course they do now as part of .govcare but that's besides the point). The fact is, health benefits are just that benefits, offered by your employer as part of compensation. They should be able to determine exactly what they do and don't want to cover. They'll still have to find an insurance company that will offer such terms, but if they can, what business is it of anyone except the employers and employees as to what will be covered? Of course, if we worked to disentangle employment with health insurance, we'd avoid this issue entirely since you personally would decide what you wanted to have covered when you purchased your own insurance.

5/16/2013 12:21:48 PM

Because as history has shown countless times, people in power, such as employers, will abuse that power. Considering corporation aren't part of a governance structure, then society has to keep their power (including potential abuses) in check.

5/16/2013 12:23:21 PM

How is deciding what amount of insurance the company will pay for abusing their power? Is the fact that my current employer buys a less comprehensive plan than my previous employer an abuse of power? But going a step further, if employers choosing what coverage they will or won't provide is abuse of power, then let's stop trying to regulate that abuse of power and lets get health insurance disentangled from employment.

5/16/2013 12:37:49 PM

i agree about disentangling it from employment

the government really needs to provide health care

5/16/2013 12:55:57 PM