A Very Hyphy Obama Joker Poster Entry: We Are Change SF Guerilla Plasters the Bay Area

Pirate Party Hoists its Jolly Roger in Sweden

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/pirate-party-on-the-rise_n_243410.html

Former Student Dissidents Mark Tiananmen Square Anniversary Near US Capitol

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-05-voa29.cfm
On June 4, 1989 Chinese tanks rolled into the center of Beijing, crushing the country’s pro-democracy movement and killing scores of protesters. Twenty years later, former student leaders and Chinese immigrants gathered in Washington D.C. to mark the occasion. Many have not lost hope that democratic reform will one day come to China. An arc of students stood together in front of the U.S. Capitol to commemorate the brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tiananmen Square two decades ago.

Jackie Chan: Chinese people “need to be controlled”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_en_mo/as_china_people_jackie_chan;_ylt=AiGGaF.fn3EXviVsELoO..is0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFrY2NyYmNlBHBvcwMxNTQEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50BHNsawNqYWNraWVjaGFuY2g-
BOAO, China – Action star Jackie Chan said Saturday he’s not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he’s starting to think “we Chinese need to be controlled.” Chan’s comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China’s southern island province of Hainan. The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society. “I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan said. “I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.” Chan added: “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”

Pirate Bay guilty

http://www.thelocal.se/18908.html
The four men connected with The Pirate Bay were found guilty of being accessories to copyright infringement by a Swedish court on Friday, delivering a symbolic victory in the entertainment industry’s efforts to put a stop to the sharing of copyrighted material on the internet. “The Stockholm district court has today convicted the four people charged with promoting other people’s infringement of copyright laws,” the court said in a statement.

Thai Protests Prevent Asian Summit

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041100309.html?hpid=topnews
PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11 — Anti-government demonstrators forced the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders Saturday when they invaded the meeting site in this Thai resort town. The Thai government used helicopters to evacuate the foreign leaders, who were in a nearby hotel, and declared a state of emergency after hundreds of red-shirted protesters broke through lines of police and military guards and smashed through doors to reach the heart of the conference center. The summit was supposed to bring together the leaders of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The agenda was dominated by the international financial crisis, but leaders had also planned to sign an ASEAN-China agreement on investment, and China, Japan and South Korea were scheduled to discuss North Korea’s recent missile test. The annual meeting is almost the only time that Asian leaders gather without U.S. and European leaders.

Rioting follows state of emergency in Thai capital

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090412/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_politics
BANGKOK – Swarms of anti-government protesters attacked the prime minister’s car, seized control of major intersections in the capital and commandeered buses, bringing new chaos to the Thai capital as the country’s ousted leader threatened to return from exile to lead a revolution. The government declared a state of emergency Sunday but, without the intervention of security forces, it was unclear how any bans could be enforced. In front of the city’s biggest luxury mall, demonstrators danced atop two armored personnel carriers they had forced to a stop, waving flags and shouting “Democracy.” The red-shirted crowd swarmed around the vehicles and demanded the keys from the unhappy soldiers inside. “Sorry, can’t find them,” came a muffled reply. The protesters drifted off, and the vehicles left. The uncertain encounter — and others like it across Bangkok, where security forces stood by while protesters ran rampant — reinforced that three years of turmoil between alternating governments and protesters opposed to them seemed ready to peak again. As night fell, demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva controlled many streets in the city center. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.

State of Emergency Declared in Thailand

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/12/thailand.protests/index.html
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced a state of emergency Sunday in the capital city, Bangkok, and surrounding areas in an attempt to contain days of intensifying anti-government protests. Immediately after the prime minister’s announcement, dozens of protesters stormed the country’s interior ministry and pelted Abhisit’s car with rocks as he escaped. The emergency measure will allow officials to arrest and detain protesters without a court order and restrict gatherings, authorities said. Also Sunday, police arrested a leader of the “red shirt” movement — named for the color of their demonstrators’ attire. The leader, Arismun Pongruengrong, was charged with inciting people to break the law, police said.

No Mahalo from the Federal or State Government: Fed up Kauai residents repair road in 8 days — for free

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/09/hawaii.volunteers.repair/index.html
(CNN) — Their livelihood was being threatened, and they were tired of waiting for government help, so business owners and residents on Hawaii’s Kauai island pulled together and completed a $4 million repair job to a state park — for free. Polihale State Park has been closed since severe flooding destroyed an access road to the park and damaged facilities in December. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources had estimated that the damage would cost $4 million to fix, money the agency doesn’t have, according to a news release from department Chairwoman Laura Thielen.

new Ron Paul “What if…?” speech adobe flash video featuring accompaniment by Metallica (make it go viral!)