About the Counter Propaganda Carolers

The Counter Propaganda Coalition fought media bias and produced alternative media. The longest-running action of the group has been Counter Propaganda Caroling, which has gone on for several years. Thanks to the initiative of folks like Colleen Rowley, who has been a dedicated anti-war activist for some time now, we have gotten some of our songs filmed and up on YouTube.

Several of them are online. We wrote some new ones for the Republican National Convention - or rather, for the aftermath of those who survived the police state that was the convention.

For more information about the Counterprop Carolers, leave a contact in the comments, or email me (dr dot diogenes at gmail dot com).

Counter Propaganda Carol for the RNC #1

A little ditty for the season, from the survivors of the Republican National Convention.

Pepper Spray
(Silver bells)
with an assist from sueann
note – baton as BAH-ton, not ba-TON

Pepper spray – pepper spray – it’s protest time in our city…
Taser guns… are such fun… Why can’t we keep it this way!

Secret Service, Ramsey County, and the Saint Paul P D
Gung-ho cops with a fondness for violence

Chain link fences, razor wire, and pre-emptive arrests
Soon it will be protest day!

Pepper spray – pepper spray – It’s protest time in our city…
Taser guns… are such fun… Why can’t we keep it this way!

Snipers watching, cameras rolling, just who broke that window?
We don’t care cuz that brings out the tear gas.

Plastic handcuffs, wooden batons, nice new storm trooper suits
Hoo-ray it is protest day!

Pepper spray – pepper spray – it’s protest time in our city…
Taser guns… are such fun… Why can’t we keep it this way!

Starhawk on the bridge

Pagan activist Starhawk's last day report (excerpt, read the whole thing on her site.)

The march heads up the street alongside the Capitol lawn, and then tries to turn across one of the bridges leading into downtown. The police move in, and block us.

There's a tense crowd of people on the bridge and filling the intersection. Around us are police in full riot gear and gas masks. There's also a group of bike cops, looking slightly underdressed in shorts and gas masks. They've brought in the Minnesota specials-a line of snowplows across the bridge. On them are perched black-masked cops in heavy leathers holding thick-muzzled rifles that shoot rubber bullets.

The energy is unfocused. Nobody knows quit what to do. It could all fall apart, in a moment, with the cops attacking the crowd, or it could remain a standoff for a long time. I am softly drumming, not quite sure what to do, when a young, African American woman with long
urls and a ring in her lip comes up and says, "Do you know how to sing, 'Aint' Gonna Study War No More?"

I shift the beat, we begin singing, and soon gather a small chorus that forms around us. A tiny, round, young black woman in spectacles
steps in front. She has a large voice, and she takes over as lead singer. The chorus grows and a space opens up in the center of the intersection, that is soon filled with riders on bikes, circling around and around, counterclockwise. A young man turns a cartwheel. A clown on stilts appears, out of nowhere, and joins the ride. Suddenly, it's a circus in the street. The mood shifts and becomes almost festive.

My own mood has shifted, too. I've been practicing a more Buddhist-style meditation lately, just watching my breath in odd moments and being present to what's happening. I'm doing that now, breathing and drumming with the bikes and the song and the riot cops, and for no rational reason whatsoever I feel a surge of pure joy.

Two of the cyclists are punk kids covered with patches and graphics that I've seen at spokescouncil. One of them is named Maggot, and I've seen him sitting with his head down, mumbling his comments which always make sense. Now he's on a bike, his head up, smiling.

The young woman in front of me turns and taps my elbow. "Let's sing, 'We Shall Overcome'", she says.

I drum and the others join hands and sing.

"We shall overcome, we shall overcome, We shall over come, someday…"

There's some piece of magic at work here. The circling bikes remind me of our dragon-clad cyclists from the ritual that began this week. Now, after all the pain and the ugliness, the tension and the snatch squads and the media lies, after all the arguments and conversations about violence and nonviolence and tactics and accountability, after the splits between Obama and Hillary and the fruitless arguments about which is more crucial, gender or race, it seems deeply and oddly wonderful to be asked by two young black women to sing the old Civil Rights songs of the sixties here in the face of the riot cops. As if something is truly welling up from the earth, some spirit that knows and values rage but persists in remembering the power in acting out of love.

It's a spell. For just one moment, in one place, we sing in spite of our fear, and the violence abates.

And now, the spell of fear and hatred. And the courage of the woman who faced it.

Welcome to nihilix!

I've been checking my hit counts, and more people are coming here, so now I have to re-introduce the blog or something. (I know White Trash Academic has fallen under my lurid spell... grin)

I've changed comment moderation to just block comments on old posts. I got some marketing spam and so switched to 'all mod' but fuck that. Please comment, though!

If I'm doing something that's a group project, like work on a list, I'll try my best to get the changes up on the blog.

I think I'm gonna be blogging again, dealing at least with this RNC stuff. And that means my WoW guild will be missing me! Oh well.

And again, thanks to M. LeBlanc, Ding, Sybil, and especially Dr. B for the use of their microphone.

Post RNC Stress Disorder

I had a bit of a crash day - a kinda tough work discussion, followed by a in-the-office alone day, and big waves of weary came over me.

There's a lot of people suffering post RNC stress disorder. I had a friend who was collared, tasered, tackled, tasered some more, and is facing felony charges. I saw him Saturday - four days after all this happened, two days after his release from jail - and he was a wreck. Big guy, pagan, quiet, powerful, a definite masculine energy; not the type of guy to cry in front of you. I saw him cry like five times.

We went to the intersection where it happened - he'd been targeted because he brought my three-stick Heart of the Beast puppet to the Poor People's March. The sticks were 'too big' and the cops started paying attention to him. He put the puppet back in, but he'd been marked.

"I was talking to the officer on the horse, at the edge of the crowd, when they held their hands up in the air with one or two fingers up. I started to think it was a bad place to be"

They grabbed him, dragged him back, tasered him three times with shootin' tasers, and tasered him on the ground. He lost awareness and only when he began shouting "I am not resisting" did they stop.

Anyway - there was a plan to do a healing, a processing. We went down to the intersection, watched. There was a music festival in the park - the lowertown community decided they wanted to purge the police state energy as well. So salsa music was playing.

About eight or nine of us danced around the intersection, chalked things up. He moved into the places where he was hurt- walking throught the intersection. The police were at the corner, and left (they've been amazingly out of sight for the last few days) and that was good. Chalk came out, the street got decorated. The most amazing healing chant was sung.

Sunday he came over, we talked, cooked, talked, ate. Every so often his eyes would fill, and he'd go off, sometimes with his sweetie. He couldn't make decisions.

Sounds to me like he was suffering PTSD. And he has reason to.

Today I had a bit of my own P-RNC-SD - sadness and lethargy. And a lot of work to get back to!!

The Truth about Police State on a Stick; Stage Two

Hey folks!

I'm assuming there are some folks there. The hit counts are up, but unless you leave comments, I don't know if you're a bot or whatever. This is kinda like doing pirate radio - there are no nielsons, unless you get a call you never know... except blogs have hit counts. OK, not so much like pirate radio.

This is the list of themes as added to at BitchPhD. Thanks to all four of them for the opportunity to blog there, by the way.

So this is the big list that was came up with by folks there. Now we need to re arrange them and look for themes. Thanks to unhappy student and joanna and white trash academic and taddyporter and TA

Massaging the list, I see - abusive corrupt use of power - torture and pain - conspiracy of silence and lies - need for context. How about you?


If anyone posts, I'll add to the list. And anyone who wants to try and rearrange the list, great! It's the top level of a bulleted list with a few subs. There's lots more subs too.

• The Twin Cities became a police state for four days
• There were numerous unprovoked attacks by officers
• Sheriff Fletcher in trouble and possibly crooked and that motivated his behavior
  
• The police criminalized radical dissent, particularly with regards to anarchists
• Sub: Felony charges will impair their democratic rights
• Sub: Arrest records will follow people
  
• The important role of journalists society was not respected
  
• The RNC brought the methods of Iraq to Saint Paul
• Sub: The convention center security was like the Green Zone
• Sub: People who were in jail were hooded and abused like Abu Ghraib
• Sub: Overwhelming use of superior weaponry was the first choice of response
• The police were comical in their use of force
• Amnesty International says that human rights were likely violated
• ron paul had a mostly ignored totally peaceful action across town
• most charges are dismissed, most detainments not charged
• people detained were requred to give info to get away , getting on FBI database
• the corporate media buried the story
• the corporate media's coverage of the protest was all cops vs robbers, ignoring the antiwar message
• the police did to others what they do to communities of color all the time (drug war, etc)
  

Three other points made by people:

• Earth activists - pagans, environmentalists - need to know that the reason this police state matters to you is that you - supposedly - care about the earth
• That Saint Paul was taken over by a 'fascist Brigadoon' that showed up and then disappeared
• That someone needs to re-write the lyrics to 'Springtime for Hitler' to 'Springtime for Fletcher'

What needs to be said about the RNC police state?

Once upon a time, I had a fling with academics, although I did not climb the same august peaks as Dr. B. My seven year postgraduate career did produce a Masters in Linguistics. My big paper was on political metaphor, particularly George Lakoff's Moral Politics.

I've been trying to wrap my brain about the story that I think needs telling based on my experience with the protest movement. I'm not talking a thematic analysis of the images the RNC wanted you to see. In other words, I'm on Zinn's mission of working on history from the other side. Let me know what resonates with you.

The values espoused by the protesters, particularly the pagan cluster (who are doing the most interesting semiotic work, I think) are abundance and common wealth, interconnectedness of everything, and fun. Rebellion and resistance to injustice are others on the anti-authoritarian left.

The values of the Republicans are out of Lakoff's book - strong hand, justice delivered, hierarchy of god above man above planet. A harsh response to disobedience is to be expected; violence is sadly necessary. They were asking for it, doing what they did. The glittery side is glitzy, the ugly side is very ugly.

I also came up with a list of thing I would want to include in any good story about the convention.

• The Twin Cities became a police state for four days
• There were numerous unprovoked attacks by officers
• Sheriff Fletcher in trouble and possibly crooked and that motivated his behavior
  
• The police criminalized radical dissent, particularly with regards to anarchists
• The important role of journalists society was not respected
  
• The RNC brought the methods of Iraq to Saint Paul
• The police were comical in their use of force
• Amnesty International says that human rights were likely violated

Let me know what should be on this short list, what stuck with you, and what should be off of it.

Amnesty International: RNC Force Disproportionate

PRESS STATEMENT
For immediate release:
Friday, September 5, 2008
Contact: AIUSA media office
202-544-0200 x302

Use of Force Against RNC Protesters “Disproportionate,” Charges Amnesty
International

[London]--Amnesty International is concerned by allegations of excessive use of force and mass arrests by police at demonstrations in St. Paul, Minnesota during the Republican National Convention (RNC) from September 1-4, 2008. The human rights organization is calling on the city and county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations.

The organization’s concerns arise from media reports, video and photographic images which appear to show police officers deploying unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating outside the arena where the Convention was being held.

Amnesty International urges that an inquiry be carried out promptly, that its findings and recommendations be made public in a timely manner. If the force used is found to have been excessive and to have contravened the principles of necessity and proportionality, then those involved should be disciplined, measures put in place and training given to ensure future policing operations conform to international standards.

Police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on peaceful demonstrators and journalists. Amnesty International has also received unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at Ramsey county jail.

Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that several journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while filming and reporting on the demonstrations. They include host of independent news program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the program’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. A photographer for the Associated Press (AP) and other journalists were also arrested while covering the demonstrations.

Kouddous described his arrest to media, “…two or three police officers tackled me. They threw me violently against a wall. Then they threw me to the ground. I was kicked in the chest several times. A police officer ground his knee into my back…I was also, the entire time, telling them, ‘I’m media. I’m press….,’ but…that didn’t seem to matter at all.”

Amnesty International recognizes the challenges involved in policing large scale demonstrations and that some protestors may have been involved in acts of violence or obstruction. However, some of the police actions appear to have breached United Nations (U.N.) standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. These stipulate, among other things, that force should be used only as a last resort, in proportion to the threat posed, and should be designed to minimize damage or injury. Some of the treatment also appears to have contravened U.S. laws and guidelines on the use of force. The U.N. standards also stress that everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and peaceful assemblies, in accordance with the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office at 202-544-0200 x302 or visit our website at www.amnestyusa.org.

# # #

RNC: From the inside of the Xcel. Practically liveblogging.

Ohh, this was a night.

I made it into the Bowl tonight - the nosebleed row at the top of the Xcel in the press section. I had press credentials through the radio station.

About halfway into it, I started writing this post. Here's what I scribbled in my little 'reporters have to have notebooks' notebook.

There is a scary vibe in this convention...

I've seen Imperial Troopers in their ninja turtle armor, I've seen teargas, and the Bean Bag Buggy.

The cadaverous face of Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher, the glints on the dark pebbles that are Senator McCain's eyes...

In between the security gate and the TSA magnetron, at about 8 PM, I saw them.

Two, three, four men who were not the ones you saw at podiums, behind Fox News desks. The man who's pure evil. Hard men. Men who say 'flip the switch' or 'push the button' or 'pull that lever.' When they were younger, they might have done it themselves.

They are the hidden men, not even the grey eminences. The fixers. The do-ers. "That one, now!"

Now the convention is booing Obama. Perfunctory, and unenthusiastically. Oh, line about immigrants being Americans too. Pro forma applause.

The crowd boos, the crowd cheers the war. Rudy Giuliani move them to froth - Lindsay Graham moves them to scorn.

It's an... evil triumphalism. It's the party of Jupiter Maximus, with Mammon on the one side and thuggish Ares on the other. A party where the leaders are feted till they puke, where the powerful pushing down the weak, those declared 'entarte' or unclean - is not only allowed, not only encouraged, but considered a sacrament.

He's against public money. He says he's against foreign aid - and the rousing cheer, the triumphal roar that he got when he said that surprised even the candidate.

The speech is flat in delivery, the crowd, partisans all, know what to do. There are spaces - seats unfilled in the auditorium.

Iran, Russia, the fears!!

The reptiloids. Those men I referred to earlier were preditors on the body politic. They chattered like velociraptors.



Tomorrow - Cleaning up the cop poop. 200 more arrests.

Sheriff Fletcher's Favorite Toy

This is too silly to be true. But it is. Lookit what they bought for the RNC! A toy teargas cannon ATV! The GasBuggy!

Imagine taking THAT up to an ATV race! Eat hot chemical irritant, leroy!

And the level of national guard is supposed to be getting worse, too. The Admiral is coming to town, after all. What, he wasn't an admiral?

EDIT: It was a bean bag buggy, not a gas buggy.

An Upwelling of Earth Wisdom

Karl Rove is a black wizard. He manipulates visions of fear, and death, and he sends these visions into your head. He and his ilk, with their information distribution networks, are casting a magical spell, a black magical propaganda spell against us.

Starhawk is a permaculture witch. She, along with a lot of other people, has an organic sloppy goofy kind vision of supple strength and languid living and a fierce determination to put out the fires already. From the heart, the Zapatistas say - from the left and from below. Coming from the left, but from below- the underleft. We have our information distribution networks, as well.

The spell the witches cast for this particular convention, in opposition to the spell cast by Karl Rove and his ilk, was that of an upwelling of earth wisdom.

Gaia also came to the table with an upwelling of pissed off water and air. The hurricane, in one sense, was a Deus Ex Machina, giving the despised occupant of the White House an excuse to not show up, much to the relief of Karl Rove and his ilk. George is damaged goods, a brand that has reached the end of it's shelflife and is headed to the collectors market. Pro baseball ownership, perhaps, until the protests at all his away games drive him to the speakers circuit. Unfortunately, the hurricane reminded people of Katrina, which might remind them of corpses lying rotting in the streets of a major American city for days on end, which was the keystone event to push the Bush 43 brand totally over the edge.

Air, water, and earth rising up to extinguish the fire that is killing the planet.

The war of visions - dark fear or cheery permaculture - is helped by the militarization of the state. Because, frankly, it looks like crap, with all those suits of armor out there. Our town has been invaded by these evil suits of armor, which, like Spiderman's evil black suit, takes cops (some of whom are thumpers already) and hides them and closes their hearts up and instills this faceless freedom to thwack the shit out of the bad guys. So the same arrogant bully vibe that permeated Iraq is driving the police responses in Saint Paul.

But enough of that trip. What we have is red white and blue puppies in the street. We have wave after wave of people who care deeply about the fire that needs so desperately to be put out. And with the winds blowing in the Gulf, we have a convention that's taking on water. The addition of a goofy sidekick, the evil most popular girl in high school with her surface evangelical credentials (she didn't deliver for them as Governor) and name after name dropping off the list... Giuliani's in, no he's not. The speaker order shows up late. The hall is empty empty.

The liberal and progressive blogosphere is, of course, the bulwark of the underleft's ability to spin against the cable and broadcast tv systems of Karl Rove and his ilk. The convention is supposed to get the Republicans news cycles. The show of force is intended to show us street scum who's boss, once and for all. It's not supposed to become the Teenage Ninja Turtles, comically slapsticking their way across the Twin Cities.

So yes, police state, yes Karl Rove and your ilk, you can slap people around, but they keep on springing up over and over. Aren't there a whole bunch of them? 2,000 rock and roll kids took off down the streets tonight after Rage got kicked offstage. (There is video of this, I hear.) Probably 1500 of them wouldn't have come out without the music, but when you got them there, riled them up, and asked - you wanna go for a walk downtown? they said YEAH.

This town's political dynamic will be changed by this, probably for the better. One council member, Dave Thune, has spoken against it in Saint Paul, two in Minneapolis, but Mayor Coleman stands behind the actions, the cops claim they're standing tall (although Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher isn't crowing about much now.)

Getting back to the spell Rove and Ilk wanted to cast, that would be the hypnotically intoned JOHNNN MC CAIIIINNNNN.... FOR PRESSSIDENTTT... Particularly given the exceedingly well-cast spell over in the Obama camp, which was as glitzy as fuck and slicker than shit and made you cry three times and sign a check AND a volunteer form. They really needed to slam dunk this one.

But they didn't, and they won't. Because they're nominating the Also-Ran, and they know it, and the lobbyists know it, and some of the media know it. It's getting to the point (comically creepy) where they almost don't seem like they're even trying. Sarah Palin?

There's a ton of links that I need to add to this post, but it's way late and I have to work tomorrow. And here's some links I did save!

Twin Cities Indymedia kickin' some serious ass!

Garrison Keillor rips them a new Powerhorn Biscuit Hole

Indymedia podcast about crashing the hot lobbyist afterparty and ruining their fun

Really funny cartoon of an interview with two kids who got peppersprayed and are, like, talking about it. By Bateman.

Announcement that the seed that was planted by the Free State is starting to bloom. (Camp Coldwater soveriginity claim by Dakota.)

Lies, big lies (and radicalizing moments)

There's a GREAT picture of some kid dressed in black throwing something into a store window. Clearly the violent protesters are violent and doing violence.

And three broken Macy's windows, two broken police car windows, and two popped tires are plenty of reason to deploy batons, pepperspray, pepper balls (like paintballs but with pepperspray), tear gas, flash-grenades, and at least 200 arrests, including Democracy Now host Amy Goodman. At least they didn't use the tasers. But they did pepperspray a girl trying to hand a cop a daisy.

Sigh... it's been a long day in Saint Paul. I got my press pass and didn't make in into the convention center, but that's OK because there really wasn't much going on inside.

My sweetie works at a church where they gave out water all day. There was a guy with a red-white-and blue doggie. He was fabulous. So was the dog. The permit march brought at least ten thousand out. After the permit march, the direct action crew tried to blockade delegates, even though the convention was a party for a no-show, to nominate the also-ran.

Of note are the attempts (largely successful) to blame police violence on the protesters, the attempt (somewhat successful) to create 'good' and 'bad' protesters*, the arrest of Goodman, and the wonderful day where lots of people gave time and bodies to try to make this world a little better place.

I love these protest kids. I get their politics (agree with some of them), and love their energy and courage. Check this amazing Minnesota Independent story about being 'embedded with the anarchists' and don't believe anything CNN tells you.



Here's a quote from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which used to have a liberal editorial board but news reporting has been conservative for some time... check this out...

The peaceful mood really started to change after 1:30 p.m., when several groups broke off and began resisting police.

What this means is these groups broke off and tried to walk down other streets. The police then pushed these groups around. The agency of 'began resisting police' clearly is with the protesters, while the actual use of force was by the police. The suspect resisted my baton with his head, your honor.

A lot of progressives in this city are being radicalized right now. Actually seeing the hordes of jackbooted, armored, visored police in their spiffy new matching riot gear in their hometown does that to a person.


*This from Stauber and Rampton's book, Toxic Sludge is Good For You...

The public relations industry . . . carefully cultivates activists who can be coopted into working against the goals of their movement. This strategy has been outlined in detail by Ronald Duchin, senior vice-president of PR spy firm Mongoven, Biscoe and Duchin [MBD]. . . In a 1991 speech to the National Cattlemen's Association, he described how MBD works to divide and conquer activist movements. Activists, he explained, fall into four distinct categories: 'radicals,' 'opportunists,' 'idealists,' and 'realists,.' He outlined a three-step strategy: (1) isolate the radicals; (2) 'cultivate' the idealists and 'educate' them into becoming realists; then (3) coopt the realists into agreeing with industry.

According to Duchin, radical activists 'want to change the system; have underlying socio/political motives' and see multinational corporations as 'inherently evil. . . These organizations do not trust the . . . federal state and local governments to protect them and to safeguard the environment. They believe, rather, that individuals and local groups should have direct power over industry. . .

Duchin defines opportunists as people who engage in activism seeking 'visibility, power, followers and, perhaps, even employment. . .The key to dealing with opportunists is to provide them with at least the perception of partial victory. . . If your industry can successfully bring about these relationships, the credibility of the radicals will be lost and opportunists can be counted on to share in the final policy solution.' (pp. 66-67)

Second thoughts, officer?

At the end of the day, a long day, a hot day, this picture sticks with me. Credit to "intrepid photojournalist Tony Webster"

It's off of Twin Cities Indymedia, and the young woman on the left is Megan Wilson. She's seventeen and lives on a big green bus and her house was just arrested.

The big green bus is the "Skills for the New Millennium Tour and Earth Activist Training Permaculture Demonstration Bus", or the Permibus. Two adults, Megan, three dogs, three chickens. There's details in other places.

Megan's having a hard time of it. She knows it's a war for the health of the planet, she's not surprised. And I think she'll be fine. But seeing your life towed away does bring tears to your eyes. The other woman in the picture loves her deeply, and her gaze is on the next few things that need to be taken care of. And the officer behind them wonders why he'd been told that these were the bad people.

Prayers for all of us - activist girls who'd rather be playing with the kids, mothers who are doing what they need to for their families, people who passionately want to change systems, and people who are caught in the systems that so need changing.

Police target protesters with preemptive raids in Saint Paul and Minneapolis: media sources

There are several fundamental constitutional issues that are being played out on the streets of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in these days before the scheduled convening of the Republican National Convention. They include the free speech rights of the delegate as well as the rights of those who wish to "petition their government for redress of grievances."

Those last have been undergoing a campaign of suppression by the police. What has happened is an militarization of the Twin Cities. Police powers have been expanded and are being used.

Two days out from the convention, roads are closed and raids are occurring. For months, protesters from a number of different political tendencies and points of view have been organizing. Particularly targeted are the anti-authoritarian RNC Welcoming Committee. The lead agency in these raids appears to be the Ramsey County Sheriff's department, led by Bob Fletcher.

Sheriff Fletcher, a former Republican city council member, is following a hard-line, law-and-order playbook that includes a series of raids and selective arrests.

There are a number of sources who are covering these actions. These are the best, if you are looking for journalism that does not begin (and sometimes end) with official police statements.

Twin Cities Indymedia
An explicitly activist media center, the Independent Media Centers were formed to give alternative media types a central location at protests like this.

www.twinicites.indymedia.org

The Minnesota Independent

MNIndy (Mindy?) is one of a network of independent media sites, run by the nonprofit Center for Independent Media (not the Independent Media Center. See above.)

www.minnesotaindependent.com

Twin Cities Daily Planet

The Daily Planet is a 'group blog' of Twin Cities alternative, ethnic, and neighborhood media, which also does independent reporting on it's own.

www.tcdailyplanet.net

Also look for these resources -

The Stimulator is a video activist who is producing short clips. Salty language, salty politics.

www.submedia.tv

The legal collective for the activists - Cold Snap - is using a twitter channel.

twitter.com/coldsnaplegal

Use these channels to back up the reporting you see in other areas.

Forgot the Uptake!

The Uptake

Progressive street video bloggers.

theuptake.org

Getting ready for the RNC

This is AWESOME. Check the race/gender/solidarity moments. The mohawked anarchist kid. The black girl is the one who gets the idea. Cool as all get out. Hat tip The Field.