If you've never seen or heard of the
Overpass Light Brigade, you've been missing out. Whether you have or haven't, there's a treat for you tonight as Night Owls includes a video of the brigade's work against the Keystone XL pipeline. If built, it would enable more strip-mining of the Canadian tar sands, a dirty source of unconventional oil that has a lot of fatcats licking their chops and lot of other people doing double face-palms.
The OLB emerged out of the Wisconsin Uprising in 2011:
Our messages shine over highways at night. We believe in the power of communities coming together in physical space, as well as the importance of visibility for grassroots and progressive causes. We are a loose and inclusive affiliation of people dedicated to the power of peaceful and playful protest.
In addition to its Wisconsin work, the OLB has taken on corporate tax dodgers, supported the Chicago teachers' strike and backed the Nuns on a Bus anti-austerity campaign. The brigade has also worked with the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa against a mining bill that would harm tribal lands and lower the quality of water in Northern Wisconsin. The organization now boasts 24 chapters in the United States.
OLB has been actively opposed to the aggressive rise of unregulated resource extraction. That, as Kossack and OLBrigadista noise of rain says, "seems to be the trend both locally and nationally as we continue to willfully ignore the massive implications of manmade climate change."
As you can see from the composite photo, the Keystone XL pipeline is one the brigade's current targets. The video on that subject is the pièce de résistance.
It was created by Dusan Harminc, a Minnesota filmmaker and time-lapse animator. The brigade spent three long nights shooting at various locations in Wisconsin that are, noise of rain told me, "emblematic of either dirty energy (oil container units in the Port of Milwaukee) or clean alternatives (nearby wind turbines). Our intention is to send President Obama a 'video letter' since he is soon to decide on the issue. Will President Obama make good on his implicit electoral promises and full-throated enthusiasm for a new energy future, or will he capitulate to the power and greed of Dirty Oil?"
On each of the three shoots, as the time-lapse progressed, the brigade's volunteer "Holders of the Lights" stood for three or more hours in the cold. It took about 12 hours of field work in addition to video production and transportation to create the one-minute video. Enjoy.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2005—Time for 101st Fighting Keyboardists to enlist:
So why don't they enlist? Is it that they think they're too good to serve with the good men and women in the armed forces? Too middle-to-upper class? Too intelligent? Do they think the nation will suffer from their blogging and punditry absence? That they're doing more for the war effort than they could ever do so with a rifle in their hands?
Or is it merely cowardice?
Except that "cowardice" is too light a word for those who claim to believe in a just cause, but would rather send others to die in the service of that cause.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Americans lined up at military recruitment offices to give themselves to their nation in its time of need. That was the true definition of patriotism, those men spoke truth to our national anthem's "home of the brave."
The cowards in the 101st Fighting Keyboardists are the polar opposite. They lay shame to our nation.
|
Tweet of the Day:
I'm instituting a paywall to keep Politico away from me. $8.99 a month or I don't read an article.
— @ddayen via web
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show,
Greg Dworkin discusses a proposed July 4th open carry protest in DC, austerity impeding the recovery, and the persistent belief that the President could somehow be charming his way to success.
Meteor Blades joined in, and also updated us on the Benghazi circus. Picking up on yesterday's themes, we read through Lee Fang's "The Reverse Revolving Door." And despite dropping crime rates, firearms deaths are nonetheless on the rise in Florida. Some say more guns leads to less crime, but there are strong arguments for many, many other factors playing a bigger part.
High Impact Posts. Top Comments.