https://occupyportland.org/cgi-bin/qr.pl?d=2012P

Today Portlanders joined over seventy cities across the nation to target corporations and legislators involved in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Portland’s march – which included nearly 200 yellow “ALEC Exposed” umbrellas, many colorful banners and a 50 foot anti-corporate wave – visited offices of many ALEC members, including ExxonMobil, McDonalds, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Verizon, FedEx, Taco Bell, Walgreens, Shell, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Responding to a national call from Occupy Portland, this is the Occupy Movement’s largest coordinated action this year, confronting ALEC corporations in the cities in which they do business throughout the nation.

“We took action today to challenge ALEC, a group made up of the world’s largest corporations, as well as many state and federal politicians. ALEC writes legislation focused on amassing more profit for the wealthiest 1% at the expense of our communities,” said Nicholas Caleb of Occupy Portland.

The final action of the day was an occupation of the law offices of Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler and Paul S. Cosgrove. Cosgrove is the state corporate co-chair for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Activists with the Animal Defense League made their way to the 34th floor of the Wells Fargo Center, chaining themselves together in Cosgrove’s office. Three members of the group were arrested.

“Paul S. Cosgrove, Oregon state corporate co-chair of ALEC, facilitates the creation of laws that systematically abuse animals trapped on factory farms, caged in laboratories and surviving in the wild,” says Courtney Eastman of Animal Defense League.

While the sit-in occurred on the 34th floor, members of We are Oregon and the Portland Central American Solidarity committee rallied against Wells Fargo’s lead role in home foreclosures and prison privatization.

“Wells Fargo more than quadrupled its annual spending on lobbying since the Great Recession began. I can tell you that money isn’t going to help struggling homeowners,” said Arelys Thompson, a member of We Are Oregon, which organized the assembled marches in a phone-in flash mob to Wells Fargo’s offices.

Nationally, actions against ALEC corporate members ranged from sit-ins and pickets to street theater. Some of the more creative actions included foreclosing on Citibank in Long Island, a “Corporate Debutant Ball” in Salt Lake City, UT, teach-ins in Norman, OK, Naples, FL, and Bryant Park, NY, and an Ice Cream Bloc in Oakland, CA. Three distribution centers of Wal-Mart were shut down in southern California, as well as the World Corporate Headquarters of Pfizer in Connecticut.

Portlanders gathered at 11:30 AM at SW Naito and Ankeny and marched between stops at nonviolent actions organized by some 15 social justice, environmental, and anti-capitalist groups. Many long-standing community groups, working under the banner “Portland Action Lab,” assisted in organizing the day, including Rising Tide, the Animal Defense League, We Are Oregon, Jobs with Justice, the Portland Central American Solidarity Committee.  The Oregonian estimated the crowd at 1000, an significant level of support for an event in a late winter storm with high winds and snow flurries.

ALEC is comprised of state and federal government legislators and many of America’s biggest corporations. In ALEC task-forces and committees, lobbyists work directly with legislators to draft and advance cookie-cutter “model” bills. According to ALEC’s figures, nearly 10% of state laws originate from their efforts. Wisconsin Act 10, attacking public employee unions, mirrors ALEC’s anti-union agenda and was introduced by Governor Scott Walker, an ALEC member from 1993-2002. Arizona’s widely criticized anti-immigrant legislation (SB1070) also has roots in ALEC model legislation.

“The decisions affecting our communities should be made democratically, not through a corrupt system that hides the influence of the very corporations that benefit at our expense. ALEC is representative of a failed system in which profit and greed are dominant over everything else,” said Kari Koch of Portland Action Lab.

Updates on actions throughout the day are available via liveblogging at shutdownthecorporations.org.

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Occupy Portland announces mass mobilization & direct actions against the
American Legislative Exchange Council

WHAT: Rally and march in downtown Portland to protest the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conglomerate of corporations and legislators that writes and passes legislation to advance corporate interests. 
The march will visit some of the over 15 social justice, environmental, and anti-capitalist groups that will take non-violent direct actions at ALEC corporations with offices in Portland. Concerned citizens, students, and occupiers in over seventy cities across the nation have responded to a national call from Occupy Portland; this will be the Occupy movement’s largest coordinated action in 2012 to date.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 29th, Rally at 11:30am, March at 1pm

WHERE: March begins at Waterfront Park at SW Naito and SW Ankeny

F29 Breakdown: 

• Umbrellas, drums, and waves oh! my! Be more than a warm body at the march! See below for info
• F29 march details Rally: 11:30AM-1PM at the Waterfront on SW Nato & Ankeny (under the west side of Burnside Bridge), march starts at 1PM!
• Follow @f29pdx for updates on Twitter
• Notes from the legal team…Write down this number: 503-902-5340, National Lawyers Guild/ELK Law Collective Legal Hotline
• If possible, wear yellow and bring an umbrella!

F29 *Open Affinity Groups*  
Arrive promptly at 11:30AM to get involved in the crowd-sourced street theater! We need drummers for the bucket drum core. We need umbrella-holders for the umbrella dance (umbrellas provided!…or bring your own). We need wave participants to crush corporate power. Please come at 11:30AM and get plugged into these groups.

F29 march and action schedule!
Over 70 cities around the world will come together on F29 to shut down ALEC’s corporate members. Join us in Portland, home to dozens of ALEC corporate members, as we shut them down! Come promptly at 11:30 to join the open affinity groups of umbrella action, drum core, and tidal wave to crush corporate power! Wear yellow and bring an umbrella, if possible!

Wednesday February 29th
11:30AM – 1PM Rally at SW Naito and Ankeny
1PM March begins. The march will visit ALEC corporate members where affinity groups are taking direct action to shut them down!

follow #F29, #OPDX, #F29PDX or follow @f29pdx for Twitter updates

Facebook Event http://www.facebook.com/pages/F29-Shut-Down-the-Corporations/169049533194891#!/events/234399339984123/

Legal jargon     503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340  503-902-5340 503-902-5340   503-902-5340
Please arrive on Wednesday with this number written on your body. If you’re arrested/see someone getting arrested, yell your/ask them their full legal name. Report this info to the legal hotline above.

 WHY: The goal of the protest is to see an end to ALEC and the role big corporations have in corrupting our democracy. The American Legislative Exchange Council is seen by protesters as the chosen tool of the 1% and the wealthiest corporations in the world to craft legislation that serves their interests. According to ALEC’s figures, nearly 10% of state laws originate from their efforts, laws that protesters feel have damaged communities, workers, civil liberties, the environment and democracy. The protest represents an effort to focus on corporate power as the root cause of the deep inequalities that the Occupy movement has brought to the surface in recent months.

WHAT IS ALEC: Organizers chose to focus on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) because of its behind-the-scenes role in crafting pro-corporate legislation, partnering with state legislators to pass these laws, and then profiting directly from those laws – a cycle that exemplifies the dominate role of corporations in our democracy. ALEC is comprised of state and federal government legislators – 14 Oregon state legislators are members – and many of America’s biggest corporations. ALEC is responsible for some of the most contentious legislation at the state level in the last year, including Arizona’s widely criticized Racial Profiling bill (SB1070) and the anti-union Wisconsin Act 10, which stripped public employee unions of collective bargaining last year. Prison and criminal justice legislation from ALEC include mandatory minimum sentences and Three Strikes laws, giving repeat offenders 25 years to life in prison; and “truth-in-sentencing,” which requires inmates to serve most or all of their time without a chance for parole.

WHO: Occupy Portland under the umbrella of the newly formed Portland Action Lab has spearheaded the protests, with participation from the Animal Defense League, Bike Swarm, Cascadia Earth First!, Friends of Peace House, Jobs with Justice, Our School, Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, Rising Tide, We Are Oregon, and others. Over 70 cities and occupations around the country and around the world have signed on to participate.

More information at occupyportland.org/f29,  www.shutdownthecorporations.org and www.portlandactionlab.org

headline/2012/02/21

Get Smart About ALEC #29 (under 2 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4kWRH0xzk8&feature=related
ALEC workshop by Civil Liberties Defense Center executive director Lauren Regan (50 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5as5K5fcYs

* This action was endorsed by the Occupy Portland General Assembly. *

Today Portlanders joined concerned citizens, students, and Occupiers in over seventy cities across the nation to target corporations and legislators involved in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The largest corporations in America, including ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Walmart use ALEC to funnel donations to legislators and craft pro-corporate legislation often at the expense of ordinary people. Responding to a national call from Occupy Portland, this is the Occupy Movement’s largest coordinated action this year, confronting ALEC corporations in the cities in which they do business throughout the nation.

“ALEC writes legislation focused on amassing more profit for the wealthiest 1% at the expense of our communities. We took action today to challenge this destructive organization and to empower communities rather than corporations,” said Nicholas Caleb of Occupy Portland.

Portlanders gathered at 11:30 AM at SW Naito and Ankeny before marching and making stops at nonviolent actions organized by some 15 social justice, environmental, and anti-capitalist groups. Many long-standing community groups, working under the banner “Portland Action Lab,” assisted in organizing the day, including Rising Tide, the Animal Defense League, We Are Oregon, Jobs with Justice, the Portland Central American Solidarity Committee. This action was organized in conjunction with Occupy Portland. All of the actions targeted corporations involved with the American Legislative Exchange Council.

ALEC is comprised of state and federal government legislators and many of America’s biggest corporations. In ALEC task-forces and committees, lobbyists work directly with legislators to draft and advance cookie-cutter “model” bills that serve the interests of the corporations rather than people. According to ALEC’s figures, nearly 10% of state laws originate from their efforts. Wisconsin Act 10, attacking public employee unions, mirrors ALEC’s anti-union agenda and was introduced by Governor Scott Walker, an ALEC member from 1993-2002. Arizona’s widely criticized anti-immigrant legislation (SB1070) also has roots in ALEC model legislation.

“The decisions affecting our communities should be made democratically, not through a corrupt system that hides the influence of the very corporations that benefit at our expense. ALEC is representative of a failed system in which profit and greed are dominant over everything else,” said Kari Koch of Portland Action Lab.

Stay up to the minute on Twitter using #F29 and follow @F29pdx. Updates on actions throughout the day are available via liveblogging at shutdownthecorporations.org.

* This action was endorsed by the Occupy Portland General Assembly. *

###

For more information:

CONTACT: Kari Koch
press@shutdownthecorporations.org, (503) 489-7353
Press packet at http://portlandactionlab.org/press-room/press-packet/

60+ cities across the country are on board for F29! Here is the latest from Portland! Please plug in, show up, and make Portland’s day of action great!

Deepen your well of knowledge about ALEC with this video!

Legal Observer Training by L&C NLG Student Chapter:  Sunday, 2/19/2012, Red and Black Cafe 400 SE 12th Ave
LO’s help ensure that state actors do not violate anyones right to protest. If they do, it will be witnessed and atttested to. Everyone is welcome

Fun Flash F29 Fliering RETURNS! Last chance to join the fun!Wednesday 2/22 9pm: The Vern (Hanigan’s) on SE 26th and Belmont.
Flier for one hour. meet back at the bar for fun social time! Meet up at 9pm with a roll of tape, staple gun, or paste, meet back at the bar at 10PM.

Affinity Group Rendezvous! Hey you! With the affinity group! 
On Wednesday the 22nd at 6:30pm we will have a meeting for affinity groups to meet with representatives from the legal, medical, tactical, march and media teams. All affinity groups should attend, or at least to send a representative. This meeting is at the 1st Congregation Church, 1126 SW Park Avenue.
See below for our regular spokes council meeting schedule.

Social Media Rendezvous! Bloggers, Lives+Ustreamers, Twitters + other self-publishers are cordially invited to plug in w/ F29 media for a meeting, just for you!
Friday, February 24, 6:30pm (orientation to PAL at 6pm) –  “3B” area of the 1st Unitarian Church (1011 Southwest 12th) 
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/250531785025629/

People to person puppets needed! Have you ever wanted to be the puppet person at  a giant march? We have puppets, we need YOU!
The visual spoke of Portland Action Lab is looking for 6 volunteers to carry two puppets (that’s three people per puppet) on February 29th. Interested? This will require a few hours of getting to know your puppet and puppet group leading up to F29. ContactJoin@portlandactionlab.org (please write “Puppets”) in the subject line to help out!