Yesterday, after a weekend training in nonviolent civil disobedience, protesters from the Tar Sands Blockade jubilantly swarmed the Keystone XL pipeline's construction site in Winnsboro, Texas. Keystone XL pipeline opponents have tried petitioning the government, filing lawsuits, and bringing their issues to the media's attention, but with Obama's recent endorsement of the southern leg of the pipeline, the Tar Sands Blockade feels justified to resort to civil disobedience.

Here, protesters emerge from a “sit-in” 70 feet in the air, in trees which stood in an area already cleared to make way for the pipeline. Protesters holler and cheer as they flood into the construction site, scrawling “blood for oil” on the machinery and holding up a banner that read: “All pipelines leak, all markets peak”. Some people locked themselves to pieces of equipment and others stood, defiantly, in the way of the dirty oil machines.

Eight were arrested yesterday but six of those were released from jail today on charges of criminal trespass. The two who chained themselves to Keystone XL machinery will be in court today.

"Here's to the watchdogs, the whistleblowers, the nonviolent resisters. Those who fight for fairness and hustle to keep the planet honest. Theirs is not an easy stroll through the tulips."

As part of the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, New Zealand band Minuit have teamed up with New York photojournalist Nina Berman to produce "Stories For Boys: Occupy Edit," a people-inspired music video. These photos were taken at the height of the New York occupation, from mid-September to mid-November, as well as in Chicago for the NATO conference in May.

Berman, a veteran photographer and associate professor at Columbia University School of Journalism, is no stranger to being amidst chaotic situations with her camera, and her award winning images capture the expressions, purpose and character in people.

Minuit says that’s what drew them to her work and is also the essence of the Occupy movement.

“Here in New Zealand, Maori have a saying: ‘What is the most important thing? It is people, it is people, it is people.’ Nina’s photos over that ominous beat are spine-chilling.”

But for Minuit the video is not only about Occupy: “It’s for the watchdogs, the whistleblowers, the non-violent resisters who fight for fairplay and hustle to keep their communities honest. That is not an easy stroll through the tulips. Hug an activist today!”

Via Occupy Wall Street:

More than 90,000 protesters, including the indignad@s and supporters of the #YoSoy132 student movement, took part in nonviolent, nonpartisan marches against political and media corruption in Mexico during the presidential debates last Sunday. Social media activists affiliated with #YoSoy132 have issued a video calling for supporters across the world to build an international movement for real democracy regardless of national borders. They ask for solidarity rallies at Mexican embassies and consulates to put pressure on the government and electoral officials ahead of the July 1 elections.

On December 10, 2011 at 5 am Occupy Boston’s Dewey Square encampment was raided by the Boston Police Department and other officials. Police arrested 46 peaceful protesters on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway just two days after Mayor Thomas Menino issued a notice of eviction. Throughout the two-hour period during which the arrests occurred, Occupy Boston members remained resolute and nonviolent in the face of a disproportionately large police presence. At least 100 officers were counted inside Dewey Square at 5:30 am, while some estimates place the count at greater than 200.

Tents and other personal belongings of Occupy Boston members were gathered by police. Tents were slashed with knives, and all items loaded into garbage trucks and destroyed by compacting.

A statement received via email from members of Occupy Boston:

"Credentialed press, citizen journalists, academic researchers, and Occupy Boston media members were repeatedly corralled and moved to surrounding areas 50 feet away or more, prohibiting many from thoroughly covering the raid. From pointing lights in photographers’ lenses to targeting the two official Occupy Boston USTREAM live videographers for removal, officials went to great lengths to block media access."

"You cannot evict an idea whose time has come. Boston’s Occupiers will persist in rejecting a world created by and for the 1%. We might have been evicted, but we shall not be moved. We remain invested in the future of our movement. We will continue to challenge Wall Street’s occupation of our government."