AlexLandis.com » Activism

Images From The 2008 Democratic National Convention

Alex — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:54:04 +0000

Questions: Did you watch the video? What did you think?
Comment about it here!

I’m a Denver, Colorado native and have lived here my whole life. When I heard that the 2008 Democratic National Convention was going to be held in Denver I was stoked! The 2008 presidential election is going to be one of the most important elections of our lifetimes, and having the DNC in my home town was something that I had to participate in. With over 50,000 people from around the nation, media coverage from the around the world, tons of celebrities, all coming to Denver, how could anyone living in Colorado not become involved?

I knew that the convention was held in Denver from August 25th to August 29th, so the Sunday before the convention began, I purchased a small camcorder to capture my experiences during the week of the DNC. I had a lot of fun shooting video during that week, and I managed to film some pretty cool events that happened during that time. I attended the free and awesome Rage Against the Machine concert to support the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), as well as the following protest to end the war. I interviewed several people downtown as well to get their opinions of the DNC, and I will posting all the cool videos I shot during that week soon.

In the mean time, here is a YouTube teaser video showing a series of video stills form the video I shot that week, and below the video you can see all the photos individually with my commentary as well. I hope you enjoy the video and photos, and keep coming back because there is more coming soon! Thanks!

If you have trouble viewing the youtube video, click here.

The 2008 Democratic National Convention was from August 25th, to August 29th, 2008.

The Daily Show was at the DNC, and these two guys were part of the show.

Posters supporting numerous causes, events, and groups could be found throughout Denver.

All over Denver you could see patriotic support for the DNC.

Police from all over Colorado were in Denver to make sure things went ok during the DNC.

There were many protests during the week, and most of them went peacefully.

This is self-explanatory…haha

Protesters and media coverage during the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) protest

All over the 16th street mall downtown you could see people supporting their causes.

More protesters supporting IVAW.

Bullhorns always help you get your point across!

“This was an awesome poster!”

MSNBC covered the events of the DNC live almost nonstop.

Local strip bar Shotgun Willie’s parading their car through town!

This is from the “Pictures of you” Images From Iran art piece.

Left to Right: James Laurie (Flobots), Zach De La Rocha (RATM), Tom Morello (RATM), Wayne Kramer (MC5), and Boots Riley (The Coup)

This is my brother participating in the IVAW protest. Go Jared!

The Rage Against the Machine concert to support IVAW was EPIC!

AIDS Walk fundraiser, I need your help!

Alex — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:19:54 +0000

Click Here to Donate to AIDS Walk Colorado 2008 now!

I work at a hospital and will be participating in the 21st Annual AIDS Walk Colorado & 3rd Annual AIDS run on Saturday, September 6, 2008. This event helps raise much-needed funds for people living with HIV/AIDS and to prevent HIV infection in the state of Colorado.

New treatments are now available that were unheard of ten years ago. These have decreased the number of AIDS related deaths; unfortunately, more people are being infected with the virus everyday.

I’m taking donations, and my donation goal is to collect $500 by September 6th. By sponsoring me, you will help continue to provide services such as case management, food bank provisions, emergency financial assistance, housing assistance, support groups, prevention, and educational outreach for those in need.

You can donate any amount you like, and donations can be made with a major credit card through a secure, online donation page

On behalf of those who are living with HIV and AIDS and those who have been lost, thank you for your generous support.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Colorado AIDS Project. Thank you for helping me reach my fundraising goal!

Diana DeGette’s Email

Alex — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 05:55:41 +0000

     After writing, “Cyber Bias: The Threat of a Two-Tiered Internet” I sent a message to our congress from Save The Internet.com informing them of the threat to the net neutrality principle that many ISP’s are wanting to impose, and I received an email from Colorado’s congresswoman Diana DeGette responding to my message. This is what she had to say:

—————————

Dear Friend :

     Knowing of your interest in net neutrality, I would like to provide you with a brief update of recent events in Congress.

     As you may know, I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee which has jurisdiction over telecommunications matters. Last year in committee, I voted for an amendment to H.R. 5252 , the “Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act”, which would have preserved net neutrality. Unfortunately, this amendment failed. I believe that the concept of net neutrality is an historic one that has contributed to the success of the Internet and that it is vital to codify this concept so that access to content remains in hands of users, and not the companies that provide Internet access.

     H.R. 5252 was later voted on by the full House. Once again, I voted for an amendment to preserve net neutrality, and once again it failed. Unfortunately, the bill passed the House by vote of 321-101. The principle of nondiscrimination is critical to keeping the Internet open, equitable and free. I believe that passing this legislation without a strong net neutrality provision could seriously hinder continued innovation and economic growth in the technology sector.

     Again, thank you for letting me know your views. Please feel free to visit my website at www.house.gov/degette . There you can sign up for my e-newsletter to stay up-to-date on current events in Congress. I look forward to our continued communication.

—————————

     The H.R. 5252 amendment that Diana is referring to is part of the original Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE Act). The COPE Act is a bill that benefitted ISP’s, while hindering the net neutrality principle. Ed Markey created an amendment that would have supplemented the COPE Act with a prohibition against service tiering. The COPE Act was passed but the Markey Amendment was turned down, so the bill has no significant network neutrality provisions.

     It’s unfortunate this happened, but it’s nice to know that our congresswoman is doing what she can keep the internet free for Americans. If you are in support of a free internet, I urge you to check out these sites dedicated to fighting the cause for net neutraility:

Save The Internet
Public Knowledge
Common Cause

The Jena 6: The 10 Reasons The Fit Hit The Shan

Alex — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:55:22 +0000

This post references information from the Wikipedia Jena 6 page.

Yesterday, September 20th an estimated 60,000 people rallied in Jena, Louisiana to protest the sentencing of six African American teenagers referred to in the media as the “Jena 6″. The group of young men were accused of various charges from assault to attempted second-degree murder for the beating of Justin Barker, a fellow student who attended Jena High School with them. The beating followed a rash of racially charged incidents that could have been avoided, and I wonder, what else could have possibly gone wrong in Jena? Here are the 10 reasons why the last year at Jena was a complete cluster fuckapalooza*.

*cluster fuckapalooza
military use: a situation where nothing will go right, casualties will occur, evac will not happen, often engineered by the stupid.

- by the urbandictionary

Come on, it was the best phrase I could find.

1. A School Divided by Racism
Before the incidents at Jena, the students at Jena high school segregated each other. Black students sat on bleachers by the auditorium, and the white students sat under a large tree known adequately as the “White Tree”. This is what lead up to the hanging of nooses from the tree after a group of black students sat under it the previous day. I can’t believe someone would do that this day in age. I mean, why try to kill yourself with a noose when your mom’s medicine cabinet is full of vicodin?

2. Hangman. Game or Hate Crime?
Three white students were found responsible for hanging the nooses, and the principle urged their expulsion. The board of education rejected the principle’s recommendation treating the incident as a prank and the student’s punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension even though incidents like this may be treated as hate crimes by the F.B.I. Hmmm…I want to congratulate the board of education for knowing exactly how to prevent a problem from happening, by not preventing it at all. Good job people, good job.

3. The Pen is Mightier Than the Protester
An assembly was called at Jena High school after a protest to the reduced punishment of the three boys was broken up by police. LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters was asked to speak to the assembly and ended up threatening the black protesters by telling them that he could, “affect lives with the stroke of a pen” if they didn’t stop making a big deal over an “innocent prank”. I’m not sure about this one Mr. Walters. When did innocent pranks start involving nooses and racism? I guess things have changed since the good ol’ 90’s.

4. Ignorance is Bliss
A few days after the assembly, a group of black students went to the school board in regards to the recent incidents, but were refused to speak to the board because the board believed the problems had been solved. I’m amazed at the incompetence from the people who had a chance to stop this problem from escalating.

5. Fires, barn parties, and shotguns. OH MY!
Incidents at Jena steadily worsened with the school being set on fire, racial fights at the Fair Barn party, and an argument at a convenience store which resulted in a white student pulling a shotgun on Robert Bailey (a black student who had been beaten in the Fair Barn party fight), and several of his friends. Bailey’s friends took the gun and refused to give it back. Bailey ended up being charged with three counts including robbery, while the white student wasn’t charged.

6. Two Wrong Charges Don’t Make a Right One
Shortly after the fight at the incident at the convenient store, 6 black students assaulted and beat Justin Barker on December 4, 2006. Barker, a white student, was supposedly bragging about how Robert Bailey had been beaten days prior at the Fair Barn party. A fight broke out shortly afterward resulting in several of the black students beating Barker by kicking him.

The 6 black students, who were eventually called the, “Jena 6″ were arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, which caused protests from black residents who believed the charges were unfair. The charges were later reduced to aggravated second-degree battery which requires the use of a deadly weapon, but what exactly was the deadly weapon?

7. Assault With a Deadly Tennis Shoe?
During the trial of Mychal Bell, one of the Jena 6, District Attorney Walters, argued that the shoes the students used while kicking Barker were deadly weapons and justified the aggravated second-degree battery charge. Does anyone else find this ridiculous? A shoe a deadly weapon? Although, I must say that ninjas can turn even a Kleenex into a deadly weapon, so maybe Walters was right.

8. The All White Jury and Daddy’s Friend
Bell’s trial had an all white jury. Funny thing is though, that this wasn’t the result of poor jury selection. What happened was none of the black citizens called to jury duty showed up so it ended up being all white. On top of that, one of jurors was friends with Barker’s father, which made him biased. I’m telling ya, it doesn’t get better.

9. The Worst Offense Is a Bad Defense
Bell’s public defender, Blane Williams, who is a black man himself, didn’t call a single witness in order to help defend Bell, when eye-witness reports said he may not have even been in the attack. I honestly just want to stop here.

10. Charges Not Reduced
The charges on the other students created a public outcry demanding that they be reduced because the charges didn’t fit the crime they committed, which resulted in a an online petition receiving almost 400,000 signatures and the rally of nearly 60,000 people at Jena in support of the boys.

I think Jena 6 has once again reminded us that racism is quite strong and that justice can nearly be ignored by everyone with the responsibility to fight for it.

Cyber Bias: The Threat of a Two-Tiered Internet

Alex — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:42:00 +0000

If the video doesn’t load, click here.

Imagine…

It’s the year 2010, not long from now, and things haven’t changed much. There are still no flying cars, teleportation devices, or virtual reality porn chambers, but the world remains hopeful. Things seem to be continually advancing as they always have, and you wonder what you are missing. There must be some point or inner reason why I told you to imagine about the future right?

So you do what any rational human being would do and head to the nearest library computer to ask the almighty and omniscient Google for help. You type in the address and hit enter, but wonder of all wonders, nothing comes up but a blank screen and this message:

Yo, you’re trying to access the awesomeness of Google from a library.  Libraries are prohibited from viewing any bitchin’ sites unless you are willing to pay an additional fee or you’re on the Preferred Library Book Checkout list.  Thanks for your cooperation,

Your ISP of Doom

     ”What the hell?” you say to yourself as you desperately type in various web site addresses. “Oh hellz nah.” you mutter as you can no longer play Yahtzee at Games.com. “Fuck!” you shout as you can’t view Lonelygirl15’s newest video on YouTube. “This can’t be happening!” you scream as you realize you’re blocked from viewing nearly 3 years of unread Myspace messages. What could have caused this cyber catastrophe? What evil force is behind it?

     You grab the guy next to you and ask him why you can’t check out your favorite sites anymore, and the guy responds, “Whoa brainchild, where ya been runnin’? 1984? It’s the two-tier net, and you’re not preferred.” He says this as he scans his barcode tattooed wrist with the laser mouse and Google’s homepage suddenly appears. “Hey,” he asks, looking at your wrist. “Wheres your scancode? Oh shit, you’re illegal! Someone call immigration!”

     He tries to grab you, but you click the heels of your ruby red slippers three times while reciting, “There’s no place like home” and bust ass out of this horrible nightmare. You’re glad to be back in good ol’ 2007 and wonder what went wrong to have caused that evil future…

     What you just experienced is the result of the two-tiered internet, your internet service provider’s (ISP) avenue of content control over the net. For the last couple years, the concept of a two-tiered internet has been circling online since the recent popularity of media driven tv and video web sites like YouTube.com. ISP’s have noticed this and want to start charging additional fees to users and web sites in order to view them, or create “preferred” services that only certain users can have.

If the video doesn’t load, click here.

     Up till recently, the internet has strived under a single principle of equality known as the “network neutrality principle”. This principle asserts that ISP’s provide data to users equally without bias as to what the data/content is or who receives it.

     The network neutrality principle has benefitted the internet, and everyone involved in it since the inception of the internet’s creation. Users have always been freely able to visit any site/content they have wanted to without restriction from their ISP. Businesses (especially small ones) have been able to become successful because of the free market the internet creates which allows any business no matter how great or small equal access and usability. Even ISP’s themselves have benefitted from this principle, because they aren’t liable for the content that users see on the net.

     A two-tier internet threatens this universality of the network neutrality principle by restricting access to certain web sites/businesses, or restricting access to certain preferential treated users. This would mean that some users would not be able to view some sites unless they paid additional fees, and some businesses wouldn’t receive certain users if they didn’t pay additional fees.

     In my opinion, it is unethical, and totally undermines the greatness of the net and the 1st Amendment. It puts at risk the equality, choice, and freedom we’ve all had as users so the ISP’s can gain control to reap the almighty dollar. It makes me sick to my stomach. The fact that the US Justice Department is backing it is ironic to the utmost degree. Justice use to mean fairness, so please someone out there tell me what’s fair about removing freedoms?

     The good news is that the FCC plays the unlikely hero who may save the internet. The FCC has been enforcing net neutrality among companies who may want to control how a consumer uses the internet. But is there anything you can do to help? Of course! The Savetheinternet.com Coalition is fighting to make sure that net neutrality remains on the internet forever. You can write the FCC and let them know how much net neutrality means to you as they are currently inquiring about protecting it or letting the telcom companies control the internet’s use.

It’s not too late to make your voice heard!

Additional resources:

Wikipedia: Network neutrality
Wikipedia: Tiered Internet
US backing for two-tier internet
Towards a two-tier internet
Why the net should stay neutral
Web inventor warns of ‘dark’ net
How Would Two-Tier Internet Work?
Greed Watch: The Two Tier Internet
Exposing the Justice Department’s Hit Job Against an Open Internet