Photos from Week 4 of Occupy Anchorage

[Blue_In_AK]

With the temperature hovering right around freezing, a small but dedicated group of protesters gathered yesterday in Town Square Park for our fourth week of Occupy Anchorage and the eighth day of 24/7 occupation. Here are a few photos:



McClatchy, which owns the Anchorage Daily News, has allegedly made a financial deal with BP not to publish the real truth about the oil tax plan which our governor, Sean Parnell, tried to ram through the legislature last session and is still pushing. His plan would give a $2 billion a year tax break to the big oil companies to incentivise them to do more exploration on the North Slope. The problem with that (aside from the fact that it would wipe out our budget surplus in five years) is that BP/Conoco/Exxon will make no commitments for local hire or even that any more exploration will take place in exchange for this gift. The governor, who is a lawyer, represented Exxon during the spill litigation and was formerly a lobbyist for Conoco-Phillips. We are calling him Seanico Parnellips. In any event, this is Ray Metcalfe's and the ILWU's 30-foot tall rat highlighting the ADN bias.

Oh, did I mention that Conoco-Phillips alone (excluding BP and Exxon) made over $1.5 billion in profits from Alaska in the past three quarters? Why don't we just give them some more? http://www.themudflats.net/2011/10/27/alaska-disasta-conoco-net-profits-look-grim/



Phil Munger of ProgressiveAlaska http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/, who has reclaimed the Gadsden flag from the Tea Partiers, interviews one of the overnight occupiers.


Words to live by.







More here: http://northernvisions.smugmug.com/Politics/Occupy-Anchorage/Occupy-Anchorage-10-29-11/19816194_kcJ8Fx#1557616415_GmcqT29




The organizers are in negotiations with the city now for a permanent place to occupy and camp during the winter, hopefully on the Delaney Park Strip which is visible to all entering downtown from the Minnesota Bypass (for those of you familiar with Anchorage). The only sticking point seems to be a requirement for liability insurance to absolve the city from any responsibility for the safety of protesters. Of course, no local insurance companies want to issue such a policy, so we'll see if the city will waive that requirement. If not, the GA has agreed to civil disobedience. If the mayor is smart (which is doubtful), he won't let it come to that.

While the group seems small, there have been many different participants over the four weeks, so in total we've had a good turnout, plus support from passing motorists. We were told that over 1,000 people are following Occupy Anchorage's live stream, which is pretty remarkable.



Oh, one more thing. Several Occupy Anchorage folks picketed Karl Rove at our convention center last night. I wasn't around for this, but video has been posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=629987&mesg_id=629987

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good job, my dear Blue!

I really respect your efforts, and those around you.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Thank you, Peggy.

We're small but we're mighty. Power to the people. :)

[malaise]

2. K & R

Nice

[Dystopian]

3. KandR

Thank you...


peace~

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. K&R!