Artist Molly Crabapple talks about her new paintings, entitled "The Shell Game" and her documentary drawings of global turmoil in 2011, including the rise of Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous hackers, the health insurance crisis, the Tunisian Revolution, protests in Greece, and the Spanish M15 movement.

Crabapple's paintings portray a darkly humorous year in cartoonish figures, and just ended their first showing in New York City.

While "Shell Game" bursts with depictions of corruption and violence, for Crabapple, the past few years have been a mix of birth amid destruction. "Yes, it was awful, but it was also magic, she told Wired in an interview. "It was the magic of people speaking to each other, waking up, helping each other. For every person beaten up, everyone arrested, it was also a year of fierce aliveness."

Molly has generously released "The Shell Game" art on Creative Commons for non-commercial use only and attribution is mandatory.

Three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have spent the last six months in prison for staging a protest against Russian leader Vladimir Putin inside an Orthodox cathedral. On Friday, the group was awarded the LennonOno Grant for Peace award by the artist and activist Yoko Ono. On Thursday, Pussy Riot also received the public backing of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently on her first visit to the United States in more than three decades. DemocracyNow!'s Amy Goodman is joined by two guests who have traveled to the United States on Pussy Riot’s behalf: Pyotr Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot member Nadia Tolokonnikova, and Alisa Obraztsova, lawyer’s assistant with the band’s legal defense team.

A full transcript of the discussion is available here.

Emerging folk artist Matt Pless is quickly becoming the quintessential Occupy folk hero, having traveled to Zuccotti Park from his native Baltimore with next to nothing but his guitar and his deceptively radical songcraft. Featured on the upcoming "Occupy This Album" project and currently touring up and down the east coast, Pless is definitely a modern Dylanite, but with a glaze of sincerity in his voice that is all his own.

Matt pless performs his original song "Ashtray."

Someone asked me if I found God?
Yes I think we met a couple times
But Im not sure if it was him
Cause I cant look him in the eye
And all I heard were warnings
From my conscience in the guilty night
That said Ill see you on the day you die
Ill see you on the day you die
Ill see you on the day you die

And I hate to say it, but Ive heard it all before
Theres a war outside my window
Revolution at my door
keep your corporate counter culture
That Im trying to ignore
Because I dont believe in nothing anymore.

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Late Wednesday evening, a member of Occupy LA was struck by a car as he rode his bicycle to cross a Beverly Hills street at a crosswalk. Following the Livestream, and statements from fellow occupiers, I've gathered that his name is "Will," and that he is one of the group's artists who has been with that occupy group since its beginning.

I'm not certain where the group was coming from, but it seems they had been at either a march or protest as they had signs, and at least one person was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. After about a minute into the video, you can hear a sound that was likely the impact, and those on foot catch up to where Will landed in the road with his mangled bike not far away.

Will was alert and responsive, attended to by police until emergency services arrived on the scene. He stated that his neck and back were hurt, and was kept lying flat until he was gently slid onto a stretcher. I didn't catch the name of the hospital he was being transported to, as someone off camera was giving that information to someone.

The car that struck him did stop, and the driver was being questioned by police. There was at least one witness who came forward, a plain-clothes Beverly Hills police officer who at first wouldn't speak to the occupiers, but did finally after giving his official statement to the other police on the scene.

Officer Hamill (I'm guessing at the spelling of his last name here) said that Will was right in front of him as they both were crossing the street at the crosswalk, and that they had the right of way. The car that hit Will did not yield the right of way, struck him, and he landed some 20-30 feet away in the road. He indicated that there would likely be an investigation into the accident before the driver would possibly be cited for any violation.

Members of the occupy group were upset that the driver wasn't given a breathalyzer test for alcohol, and at one point chanted demanding that he be given one. Also disconcerting was that the driver smiled widely as he watched the occupiers from where his car was sitting.

That's all I know at the moment, but I will be looking for updates later in the morning. Let's all hope for a speedy and full recovery for Will.