MICATS Facing Felony Charges for Enbridge Pipeline Blockade

Today representatives for four people charged with resisting & obstructing are requesting their felony cases be quashed in Ingham County 55th District Court by Judge Donald L. Allen Jr.. I'm tracking this case live from court and building the Storify content as it happens.

Unfortunately my laptop battery power died during court. I was not able to take photos inside the court either.

Reaping What We Sow - Hope for Better Days?

I was looking at the historic origins of patriotism and found this passage from "Fears In Solitude" within Sibylline Leaves [The Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Prose and Verse]. It was written in April 1798 during the alarm of an invasion.

We send our mandates for the certain death of thousands and ten thousands! Boys and girls, and women that would groan to see a child pull off an insect's leg, all read of war, the best amusement for our morning meal! The poor wretch who has learnt his only prayers from curses, who knows scarcely words enough to ask a blessing from his Heavenly Father, becomes a fluent phraseman absolute and technical in victories and defeats, and all our dainty terms for fratricide. Terms which we trundle smoothly o'er our tongues. Like mere abstractions empty sounds, to which We join no feeling and attach no form! As if the soldier died without a wound. As if the fibres of this godlike frame were gored without a pang. As if the wretch who fell in battle doing bloody deeds pass'd off to Heaven translated and not kill'd; As though he had no wife to pine for him, no God to judge him! Therefore evil days are coming on us, O my countrymen! And what if all-avenging Providence, strong and retributive, should make us know the meaning of our words, force us to feel the desolation and the agony of our fierce doings!

The statements are intended to have the reader consider the position of those committed to war. Not just the traditional wars labelled as such, include these:

• the war on the poor 
• the intentional derogation of societies and communities 
• the preying on differences in the name of greed and superiority 

We must ask who has represented us and brought the conflict forward. What stake do those responsible for the deaths of those involved have in the choice of war? Will the responsible parties hold to being responsible? They must know the reality of war, don't they? Rather than bear that responsibility the story is turned over to our press and television. They will wash away the true nature of violence, sanitize it for easy consumption and build support for the effort of war, rarely questioning the premise for engaging.

As I view and think it through I find it is aligned with thoughts that we will reap what we sow. Violence will beget violence. Sadly we contribute to the maddening delusion that the war must exist. We also cling to the belief that our press and television are there to provide news in the manner we need to hear it. The message is clear that the authorities behind the message are helping us, providing guidance in the "truth" of the matter.

Welcome to 2014 - I hope you continue to read what is outside the mainstream. Remember this saying I've been using throughout 2013, it deserves more time in our lives.

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Question authority or be enslaved by it.

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Educate yourself, quest for the truth, live a life of service to others and know through this you will be cared for as the community grows. Be so close to the story you follow that you are part of that story knowing it intimately. Its time to be engaged in living and responsible for making future plans that have a future for our children.

Detroit Warming Centers 2013-14

The warming centers in the city of Detroit for the Winter of 2013-14 are listed below.

Center Name with City weblink	Address	Open Hours
Crowell Recreation Center	16630 Lahser	11am - 7pm
Farwell Recreation Center	2781 East Outer Drive	1pm - 9pm
Heilman Community Center	19261 Crusade	1pm - 9pm

This map of the locations is from the City of Detroit website for all recreation / community centers.

Response to NY Times - Detroit Bankrupcty

Response to Detroit Bankruptcy Ruling, NY Times, Dec 3rd

I have a tough time watching the gentrification of downtown Detroit occur while the surrounding area has been shoved further and further out of view. Money focuses on what it knows and the marketing pulling into the city spins like a vortex on downtown & midtown. Detroit has beautiful areas that have been languishing, waiting and deteriorating, they need recognized and prodded forward.

The plan from Kevyn Orr (aka Bing's old plan, not quite the Future City plan) will be scrutinized in these ways most specifically:

1. Transparency - the city and state get failing grades on bringing the public in during pre-planning and planning. City Charter requirements from 2012 need to be fully implemented, including extending the council to interact with the neighborhoods (CACs were supposed to have happened in 2012 election). The Mayor (and EM) should be available to the public, not locked up in a office talking with the media offering well-timed press conferences on continued corporate domination of the city.



Check Revolve Detroit for info
about the "Avenue of Fashion"

2. Equality - the city has a lot of land for the number of residents. The people are asking for COMMONS to be formed that would not be corporatized or privatized. Places for gathering in education, entertainment, and exchange. We need community land trusts all over the city - so the people own it and have a place to gather.
3. Clean Up Pollution - corporations chose Detroit for polluting and willful destruction of environment. Public oversight on regulatory activities is needed - the people need to know and be cared for. Profit over people is a risky game. We need to reassess all tax abatements and the rationale for them - most need removed and taxes are what a city needs to operate.
4. Ensure Access - public transportation across a broad city is a MANDATORY NEED. Income levels, insurance red-lining, and continual redistricting/zoning makes mass transit vital. Mass transit must visit the community commons - not the corporate shopping malls.
5. Embrace New Ways - high tech infrastructure has been driven down in cost. Green energy is cheaper to produce than dirty energy. Bicycling & walking is healthier. Detroit needs walkable neighborhoods with full services - grocers, clothiers, shops, offices, and light portable industry scattered across the city. City gardens and farms need to be endorsed and supported - give them the watering and feeding needed to grow. That means commons for markets, resources, and growing young gardeners.
6. Education For All Ages - not just traditional education, this is knowing how to live in an progressive, forward thinking, creative realm. Learning how to work smarter with what you know you have and having access to find what you don't know, partnering it in. Stepping out of corporate mentality into community coops. Make sure our elders and youth discover lifetimes that last an eternity by learning together.

There is more that needs mentioned. There is an active movement around the city that is exploring and supportive of what is mentioned above and the "more" I've alluded to. It may be talked about as a focal few, but that number has been growing from hundreds to thousands who are putting their feet in the street, bodies in the chairs, and speaking their minds in public forums.

Streaming Video From a Pole

I've come up with a few crafty solutions as a livestreamer on events including marches and other very active stuff. Most of my highly portable streaming to date has been with an Android cell phone using the app Bambuser. This doesn't mean other phones or apps won't work - what I'm discussing in this note is the rigging for the phone. I have used the lessons with a camcorder on a monopod.

Any streamer would tell you - LEARN YOUR ANGLES when framing a scene. Practice before being called to action, it matters.

What you'll need: 

• A 2.5 meter (8' or taller) cardboard pole or PVC pipe (haven't used PVC but may look too "professional" / look like a weapon). The pole must be thick, sturdy, and lightweight - appearing "trashy" can be in your favor. 
• A monopod can be used or tripod (bulkier), though both appear more professional, depends on where you are going and if welcomed. 
• A bag of rubber bands with a mix of wide and narrow bands that all expand enough to go around your forearm. 
• A USB power cable that is about 3 meters (10'), long enough to go from the top of the pole to your power source. 
• A USB power source - can be a laptop or batteries
• Laptop with a small screen size (11" rather than 15"+) to reduce weight and size. Setup a power configuration which has it in sleep mode with screen and disk turned off but the USB connectors remain on. I've found at least six hours of continual life from my laptop setup this way.
• One or more USB batteries which are pre-charged or solar cell power pack. The battery solution can be much less obvious than a backpack. If using batteries be prepared and looking for power to recharge during long events. Enlisting a friend to scout for power is a bonus!

Advantages: 

• Phone uses automatic exposure compensation - the downward angle can eliminate bright sky in frame. Remember - similar brightness in a frame gives best viewing. 
• Pole keeps your arm and shoulder from tiring. 
• Pole can be rest on a solid surface (ground, chair, car, ...) to give steady shot. 
• Using what appears as trash to many keeps it from appealing to thieves. 
• Reaching across a crowd to get image in frame is much easier. 
• Cardboard tube is lightweight and sturdy. 
• It is possible to put a camera mount secured in the top if you need a traditional video camera up there. 

Disadvantages (most with solutions!): 

• Cardboard gets wet and dissolves - solution: use a sealer on the cardboard - it can also be painted with messaging on it. Mine says "The World Is Watching". It was exposed to water recently, so about 2 feet is lost (cutting that off, smaller pole). 
• Round object doesn't keep strapped on phone steady - solution: cut a square into the tube which is the width of the phone, this secures the phone better. 
• Can't see the screen (#1) - solution: strap the phone on the other way so the screen faces you and the camera shoots past the pole. 
• Can't see the screen (#2) when elevated - sorry I don't have a solution short of mounting a bicycle mirror to the pole and reflecting the image down. Haven't tried but seems possible. 
• Controls are hard to use with rubber bands covering them - solution: reposition the bands toward the outer edges. Use thick bands to provide much steadier mounting than thin. You may have to move a band back and forth at the start/end of your stream. Each phone has controls in different positions, find what works. 
• Long USB cord is flying around loose - solution: rubber band it to the pole with a "pin" (like a pen top or golf tee) 
• Laptop is huge and hard to carry in pack - solution: smaller screen laptop. Make sure your pack has wide straps and isn't digging into your shoulders. Use both shoulder straps to distribute weight and for comfort. 
• Laptop is heating up - solution: make sure power settings are for USB to remain on, disk off, screen off. Another solution is to use dry cooling packs with a towel barrier to catch condensation as they warm and protect electronics from getting wet.

Sample Stream 

http://bambuser.com/v/3380737 - event is the Forward On Climate rally in DC held Feb 17, 2013. Check out a variety of streams from that event with the tag #ForwardOnClimate.

More videos at http://bambuser.com/channel/occupydetroit

Treat Your Phone Well! 

The phone fell while mounted on the pole 8 feet onto asphalt road. It fluttered along a few more days then died. Moisture got into the cracked screen and shorted out the LCD beneath.

Phone Service

If you are looking for a phone service providing unlimited talk, text, and data - please consider my invitation link to Solavei. Specials are held frequently for new customers. You are not on a contract, it is monthly service. You can bring an existing unlocked GSM phone. Personally I bought a phone through eBay for $80 and service at this time is $49/month.

Advanced solutions for live coverage are being checked out, so watch for more blog posts tagged streaming video.