Jeff Reifman

How to Occupy the Law - Yes! Magazine

Update: Now on Common Dreams as well...

Yes! has republished our model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy (and all) communities! Check it out!

Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities

It's out: We’ve published the model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy communities that wish to begin mobilized initiative campaigns in their region. Think of the template as a menu to pick and choose what’s important in your community. It’s meant to provide a framework and a starting point, not necessarily to be used in its entirety. The text is derived from ongoing national and global work by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) such as Ecuador adding Rights for Nature to its Constitution, Pittsburgh stripping drilling corporations of corporate constitutional “rights,” such as corporate “personhood” and Spokane’s Community Bill of Rights initiative which narrowly missed passing by 1,000 votes last month. Those efforts have joined over a hundred other municipal campaigns that have driven into law local bills of rights.

WooT!

Robert Jensen on Thanksgiving and Holocaust Denial

Good essay by Robert Jensen on Thanksgiving culture via Yoga Modern:

I am afraid of Thanksgiving. More accurately, I am afraid of what Thanksgiving tells us about both the dominant culture and much of the alleged counterculture.

Here’s what I think it tells us: As a society, the United States is intellectually dishonest, politically irresponsible, and morally bankrupt. This is a society in which even progressive people routinely allow national and family traditions to trump fundamental human decency. It’s a society in which, in the privileged sectors, getting along and not causing trouble are often valued above honesty and accountability. Though it’s painful to consider, it’s possible that such a society is beyond redemption. Such a consideration becomes frightening when we recognize that all this goes on in the most affluent and militarily powerful country in the history of the world, but a country that is falling apart — an empire in decline.

 

Archive of We Are the 99 Percent

Turning Occupation into Lasting Change

Update: Thanks BoingBoing & Yes Magazine for running this too!

Thomas Linzey and I are offer up our ideas to the Occupy movement on how they can convert street level momentum into lasting change.

 

Come hear about some radically new approaches to social change

I'd like to strongly encourage you to come hear Thomas Linzey speak on Tuesday evening October 4th at Town Hallor meet him Wednesday evening October 5th at our smaller gathering in the University District. Thomas is the Executive Director at the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) which helped Pittsburgh ban fracking and strip corporations of judge-made "Constitutional" rights. He also helped Spokane author its community bill of rights on this November's ballot. And, he helped Ecuador add rights for nature to its Constitution.

I think it's the shear desperation of the failed progressive political movement in America that leads us to shine our spotlights on Occupy Wall Street, a semi-anarchical movement which I applaud and support, but which currently lacks much focus. On the contrary, Thomas' group is the effort I see that's actually analyzed the roots of our problems and systematically takes action in hundreds of communities around the country, largely by making and passing laws.

Learn more about Thomas' appearances in Seattle this week.

Save the Internet: Envision Seattle's Net Neutrality Ordinance

Update: Great posts to this from Slashdot and BoingBoing.

Envision Seattle has posted a model legal ordinance (pdf) for communities wishing to enshrine status quo net neutrality as law. The ordinance is co-authored by the legal group that helped Pittsburgh's city council ban fracking and corporate personhood last November. The concept of local municipalities defying FCC authority is troubling to some but the group counters that FCC authority actually violates certain rights that we hold as people, and the right to govern our own communities as an element of the right to community and local self-government. If we have a 'right to internet access' or a 'right to communicate' via these pathways, there are certain actions that can be taken by government which infringe on those rights. In our view, it's up to us to create these rights frameworks, and then enforce them at higher levels.

Add your ideas to Seattle's Bill of Rights

What rights do you want to see added to Seattle's Bill of Rights initiative? Visit The Needle's idea gathering page for Seattle's Bill of Rights. 

You can browse rights that people have posted, like them, comment on them and share them on Facebook and Twitter.

If you want to get involved in the Bill of Rights project for Seattle, be sure to sign up for the June 17-18th Democracy School.

If Health Care is So Great, Why Is This Woman Fundraising for Her Cancer Care?

If Obama's recent health care bill is such an accomplishment, why is Jeanne Sather having to fund raise for life extending cancer treatment? You can read about Jeanne's situation at her blog: Assertive Cancer Patient. Basically, Jeanne is part of an experimental trial in California that seems to be strengthening her and extending her life. The downside is that she has no money left and needs $1,000 per month to continue in the trial. 

You could make the argument that Jeanne has lived long enough (about 8 to 10 years after her initial breast cancer). You could argue that our society shouldn't fund experimental cancer treatments or that the drug company running the trial should cover all her costs. But, one thing you can't dispute is that funding Jeanne's care over the past decade has allowed her youngest son to grow up to adulthood with a mom.

Read my full post at The Needle

Envision Spokane Submits Petition Signatures

As an update to my earlier post on Spokane's community bill of rights initiative, the Spokesman reports Envision Spokane submitted nearly twice the number of signatures needed to be placed on the November ballot. This is great news!

Spokane bill of rights group submits signatures | Spokesman.com Subscription Required.

Interesting that the Spokesman wants people living outside of Spokane, $7/mo. to read a single story on their website. Not going to happen.