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Columbus Police arrested 7 activists as they read aloud a long list of complaints against US Bank. They face fourth degree misdemeanor trespassing charges, according to attorneys with Occupy Columbus. Activists had planned to do a “parade tour” of several banks in downtown Columbus, but only got to two of them when police made the arrests, said Justin Poulin.

“We went inside Fifth Third Bank. We protested for about 5 minutes, talked about the bank. Then we were followed from Fifth Third Bank by police to US Bank. We were followed into the lobby. We did exactly the same thing we did in Fifth Third. We were just talking about the bank. Then the police surrounded us and started putting people in hand cuffs,” said Poulin.

Justin Poulin Occupy Columbus

Using the ‘people’s mic.’ demonstrators were addressing anyone in the bank who would listen, said Poulin.

Seven Occupy Columbus members were arrested at a US Bank branch in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, November 15. Two of the seven report that they were arrested without warning after entering the bank as part of a "tour." A Facebook message from Occupy Columbus stated the tour was for "protesting the banker's unapologetic role in our economic downturn." A video obtained by the Columbus Free Press shows that the police were almost immediately on the scene. Earlier the demonstrators had visited a Fifth Third bank branch and left when they were asked to by bank security.

All seven demonstrators were charged with fourth degree misdemeanor trespassing charges and are to be arraigned tomorrow, Nov. 16. The Occupation legal team reports that they intend to plead not guilty to the charges.

Questions are being raised in the Occupy movement as to whether there is a coordinated national assault on them now that the election is over with recent attacks on Occupy sites in Oakland, New York and other cities.

An important progressive movement, MOVE TO AMEND is gaining momentum. It is a grass roots initiative to promote an amendment of the U. S. Constitution to negate the immoral ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court of January 21, 2010,
“Citizens United v The Election Commission of the U. S. Instead of making a ruling on a simple case, the Court by a 5 to 4 decision made a wide reaching law."

It declared that corporations and unions are people with First Amendment rights of free speech. That includes the right to contribute funds to help or deter candidates for public office and to influence the passage of referenda and state constitutional amendments. Money can be donated through PACs without transparency. The Citizen United ruling is destroying our democratic system of government. Corporations have unlimited funds and unions have much less money and political influence. This ruling is allowing corporations to weaken union even more.

Our campaign for Congress has climbed into second place. The presumed frontrunner keeps socking away corporate cash -- he recently had a PAC fundraiser just a few blocks from the Capitol -- while I refuse to take a single dollar of corporate PAC money.

Our strength is at the grassroots. At the same time, we need more resources to get our message out: No to Wall Street power. Democracy not "corporatocracy." Healthcare not warfare. A sustainable future.

Can you pitch in?

I'd sure appreciate whatever you can do. To contribute, or for background info, please click here.

Thanks a lot --
Norman

P.S. -- Can I win? The latest polling results say YES. But I need your help!

Solomon for Congress
Before leaving the G-20 meetings in Cannes, France, President Obama joined with French President Sarkozy to pay tribute to the two countries’ alliance and celebrate the successful intervention in Libya that ended the rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

“Every man and woman in uniform who participated in this effort can know that you have accomplished every objective,” Obama said. “Today, the Libyan people have liberated their country and begun to forge their own future.”

Obama, who launched the Libyan mission amid widespread Republican criticism, had good reasons to greet Gadhafi’s overthrow with relief. And all hope that democracy can take root. But once the U.S. intervenes in an internal foreign dispute, we bear greater responsibility for the outcome. Before the “war of choice” on Iraq, former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President Bush about the “Pottery Barn rule: If you break it, you own it.”

That’s why the U.S. and its allies must respond to the credible reports of terrible violence being wreaked on dark-skinned Libyans by the victors.
A truly very good (I get tired of "great") article. I read it and I believe Fitrakis and Wasserman are saving us all. (I have a special file on my computer for their work.

I know a lot of folks don't take me seriously, because I don't have the money machine behind me that Elizabeth Warren or Barack Obama, but but here's my two cents again. I am not rich. I am not owned by the corporations or by the political machine. I am of the working folk, like you. Not a Wall Street mouthpiece robed in false promises of populism. Not an Ivy League-educated lawyer with a web of powerful and dangerous connections.

I am not a lawyer, but I have been reading the Law now for years... like another man you may have heard of... his name was Abraham Lincoln.

I am tired of our current President and our current Congress tearing down our world. Every four years a new President come into office, and every four years, all the President does is work for the rich and for the war machine. And they continue to destroy and despoil our planet.

David lives with his family in Portland, Oregon and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable of who's who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times. Most importantly, he's really good. He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible.
Click on "Read the Article" to hear the Occupy Wall Street song.

The crushing defeat Ohio's working people dealt 1% politicians this week has critical implications for a whole other issue---election protection.

In a voting process that might otherwise have been stolen, a concerted effort by citizens committed to democracy---NOT the Democratic Party---guaranteed an official Ohio tally that finally squares with reality. The defeat of millionaire Republican Governor John Kasich's union-busting Issue 2 by more than 20% actually squared with exit polling and other reliable political indicators.

In the 2008 election, Richard Charnin has demonstrated how there was a more than 5% shift towards the Republican presidential candidates John McCain than predicted by the highly accurate exit polls, the gold standard for detecting election fraud. In Ohio’s 2010 election, exit polls revealed a 5.4% unexplained “red shift” towards the Republican Party. The shift led to the defeat of Democratic Governor Ted Strickland as well as Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Worsening floods, which killed 506 people, are inundating more of Bangkok, prompting warnings about how to avoid disease, electrocution, crocodiles and other dangers in the infectious, garbage-strewn water which thousands of people are wading through to reach food, work, hospitals and transportation.

The government is unable to stop sabotage by angry residents who are punching holes through some dikes, sluice gates and sandbag walls to drain deep, stagnant water from their neighborhoods which are on the wrong side of Bangkok's barriers.

"If the government cannot control the protesters...all districts will be flooded," said Bangkok's deputy governor Thirachon Manopaipibul.

Since July, one-third of this Buddhist-majority, Southeast Asian nation has suffered from storm-fed floods which have swelled above people's waists, and at some locations over their heads.

Foul-smelling, brownish-black water has also been moving south across Bangkok at about one mile a day.

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