Washington State:

Thousands of people marched about 2 1/2 miles from the Central District toward Seattle's downtown Jackson Federal Building on Wednesday after a May Day rally supporting immigrant rights and labor.

Many carried signs, with messages such as "We are America," and "There are no illegal humans." One sign suggested forgetting about marijuana and instead asking the United States to "Legalize my mom," a reference to Washington's recent legalization of marijuana.

The crowd chanted "Si se peude," Spanish for "Yes, we can," and a rallying cry for the United Farm Workers. Many wore bright purple, red or orange shirts, identifying them with their unions.

Also in Seattle, a May Day protester says a motorcycle cop ran over his bicycle. Also a look at May Day in Olympia, Washington.

It's May Day in Berlin! Hundreds of thousands of people were on the streets of Berlin all day on Wednesday, celebrating May Day. There were no cars, no traffic, no people at work, only people dancing, kissing, drinking and enjoying life. At least until the May Day march entered the banking district...

Clashes took place in Berlin during May Day protests. Part of the demonstrators broke the glass of Sparkasse Bank in central Berlin. Earlier on masked youth through bottles and other objects towards police vans and police officers. As a result the police came closer to the protest and accompanied them until the march ended.

Vermont:

Over 1500 people from across the state of Vermont came together on this day in historic show of unity, to say that the people of Vermont want a state that "PUT PEOPLE FIRST."

Dozens of organizations and communities united to hold the annual May Day march and a day of action in front of the State House.

Some of the sights and sounds of May Day 2013 at Union Square Park in NYC, just a fun day in the sun celebrating workers, unions...

Turkey: Clashes have erupted in Istanbul as 20,000 police attempted to cordon off Taksim Square.

Protesters are attempting to defy a government ban on May Day celebrations in the square.

Having allowed labour day gatherings for the last three years, the Turkish authorities did not grant permission due to safety concerns. The central square is undergoing major renovation. All transport to the area was canceled.

Amsterdam: May Day protesters march through the center of Amsterdam.

More video and updates on May Day 2013 to come...

Via Occupy Wall Street:

Schedule of Events

10:00 AM: Anti-Capitalist Demo @ City Front Plaza

12:45pm - 2:00pm: Occupy Chicago May Day Solidarity Speak Out @ Union Park, Randolph and Ashland

2:00pm - 4:30pm: International Workers Day March for Immigration Reform @ Union Park, march to Federal Plaza begins 3:00pm

4:30: Rally at Federal Plaza

Additional Info:

http://occupychi.org/

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyChicago

The U.S. House of Representatives held its first hearings for the current session on immigration reform Tuesday. Many immigration groups also submitted official testimony for the record. One name, in particular, jumped out as questionable, at best, in terms of being an expert witness on the topic of immigration—Jessica Vaughan, who submitted a written statement. Vaughan is the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), an organization that portrays itself as an "independent, non-partisan, non-profit, research organization" that advocates a "low-immigration, pro-immigrant" public policy. In reality, CIS is connected to a shadowy network of anti-immigrant funders and activists who participate in or are associated with movements for white nationalism.

The CIS was founded in 1985 as a project of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Founded by Michigan native John Tanton, FAIR is a designated hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. While CIS tries to portray a more neutral public face, FAIR has no such qualms. For example, its president Dan Stein said on Tucker Carlson's TV show: "Immigrants don't come all church-loving, freedom-loving, God-fearing....Many of them hate America, hate everything that the United States stands for."

While FAIR and CIS are formally separate organizations now, they are still heavily intertwined, sharing many of the same donors and several board members, and FAIR regularly cites CIS reports in its activities. Mark Krikorian, Tanton's friend with whom he has frequently corresponded about immigration, runs CIS after holding a similar position at FAIR.

Krikorian has a very spotty record on race and immigrant issues. He spoke at a meeting of the Michigan State University's chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a group that had generated significant controversy by having events, such as "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day," a "Koran Desecration" competition, and by posting "Gays Spread AIDS" fliers across campus. The same speakers series that the students hosted also included Holocaust denier Nick Griffin and Jared Taylor of American Renaissance, a racist publication that has argued that blacks are incapable of civilization. 

Krikorian doesn't limit himself to research but frequently writes columns for National Review that denigrate immigrants in a variety of ways:

• Ridiculing the proper pronunciation of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's name.
• Calling for the banning of all government record-keeping on race and ethnicity.
• Suggesting that Puerto Ricans were taking advantage of the United States "gravy train."
• Calling for a ban on pregnant women visiting the United States.
• Referring to an immigration rally in Washington, D.C., as the "illegal-alien march" and "illegal-alien-palooza."
• Saying that undocumented immigrants are "remorseless" invaders and undocumented immigration is a "catastrophe" and a "siege."
• Calling Muslims a "vicious people."
• Suggesting that women who married to get green cards were “small-time con artists and Third World gold-diggers.”
• Saying that Haiti is "so screwed up" because it wasn't a colony long enough to become civilized like its colonizers.
• Blaming diversity policies for the collapse of Washington Mutual bank.

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First Lady Michelle Obama announces Organization for Action, a non-profit organization that will build on the volunteer network and infrastructure of President Obama's campaign apparatus to continue to support the president's policy objectives, including raising the debt ceiling, gun control and immigration reform during the course of his second term:

"If we want to finish what we started and truly make that change we believe in, we can't stop now. And that's why today I'm proud that our friends and supports are launching Organizing for Action, the next phase of our movement for change. Supporters like you will be the heart of this organization, because for the past six years you've done something so much bigger than elect a president: you've given an ordinary people a place in our democrat process again."

Organizing for Action's mission, the first lady said, is "to build on the work we've already done by training and empowering the next generation of leaders and supporting the grassroots organizing that you want to do on the issues that matter most to your communities and our country."

Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina will be national chairman of the new OFA, but the first lady said the group's mission and activities will be shaped by its membership:

"In terms of the specifics of what this organization is going to look like, a lot of that will be up to you," she said. "It will be determined by your energy and ideas and feedback because, after all, this is your movement. And going forward, it can be whatever you want to give it."

The new OFA will be separate from the Democratic National Committee and it will be structured as a 501(c)4. That will allow it to accept unlimited contributions,but Buzzfeed reports that the donations will all be reported.

Organizing for Action will be a central topic of discussion on Sunday as 4,000 former campaign staff and volunteers gather in Washington for an "Obama Campaign Legacy Conference." The conference will be available online for those who want to watch from home.

Voters in Arizona's Maricopa County encountered a series of problems when they tried to cast their ballots on Tuesday at their polling places.

Via:

Many complained about long waits for provisional ballots, which are given to those who don’t show up on the poll roster or fail to produce proper identification.

Officials with Promise Arizona in Action, an organization that advocates immigration reform and fights discrimination, said they are concerned that poll workers were given pre-election instructions that may have forced the huge number of provisional ballots. They also said numerous voters reported their names were not on lists used by precinct workers.

Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona, said she was told that 200,000 provisional ballots were cast, as well as 200,000 early ballots. She said counting of those votes will not even begin until this morning and she feared the Maricopa County sheriff’s race would be called before then. And it was, with Sheriff Joe Arpaio beating Democrat Paul Penzone to win his sixth term in office.

“Four hundred thousand ballots — that’s a lot,” Falcon said. “Even if it’s an Arpaio win, those votes should be counted.”

Roopali Desai, Promise Arizona’s attorney, said the number of provisional ballots is “unprecedented” in Arizona — or anywhere. “Nobody can explain it,” she added. “We’re trying to get to the bottom of it.”

An update on Thursday shows the number of uncounted early and provisional ballots in Arizona is far greater than just the earlier reported 400,000...

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In endorsing President Obama this morning, Colin Powell slammed Mitt Romney’s foreign policy as a “moving target.” He said Romney hasn’t thought through national security issues, which is why he’s espousing the “very, very strong neo-conservative views” of his advisers and tried to change all of his extreme positions in the final presidential debate. Powell also cited the President’s leadership on job creation, immigration, education, and health care as reasons for endorsing the President.

"You know, I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012, and I'll be voting for he and Vice President Joe Biden next month," he said on CBS' "This Morning."

POWELL: I signed on for a long patrol with President Obama and I don't think this is the time to make such a sudden change. And not only am I not comfortable with what Governor Romney is proposing for his economic plan, I have concerns about his views on foreign policy. The Governor, who was speaking on Monday night at the debate, was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier. So I'm not quite sure which Governor Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy.

O’DONNELL: What concerns do you have about Governor Romney's foreign policy?

POWELL: Well, it's hard to fix it. I mean, it's a moving target. One day he has a certain strong view about staying in Afghanistan, but then on Monday night he agrees with the withdrawal. Same thing in Iraq. On almost every issue that was discussed on Monday night, Governor Romney agreed with the President with some nuances. But this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign. And my concern, which I've expressed previously in a public way, is that sometimes I don't sense that he has thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have, and he gets advice from his campaign staff that he then has to adjust to modify as he goes along.

ROSE: Are you concerned about the people that are advising Governor Romney?

POWELL: I think there's some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the Governor that I have some trouble with. There are other issues as well, not just the economy and foreign policy. I'm more comfortable with President Obama and his administration when it comes to issues like what are we going to do about climate, what are we going to do about immigration? What are we going to do about education? Lots of things like that. I do not want to see the new Obamacare plan thrown off the table. It has issues, you have to fix some things in that plan. But what I see when I look at that plan is 30 million of our fellow citizens will now be covered by insurance. And I think that's good. We're one of the few nations in the world, with our size, population and wealth, that does not have universal health care.

Guest Post by Jim Messina, Campaign Manager, Obama for America

For this video, we asked people to compare Mitt Romney's real positions with the ones he's claimed to support in the final weeks of the campaign.

We know Mitt Romney will say anything to win, even if it’s not true – just like he did in Massachusetts and in the first debate. The real Mitt Romney has been running on his “severely conservative” positions for years, but now – just weeks before Election Day – he’s trying to hide them because they’ll hurt the middle class and his chances of winning.

We saw this clearly in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, as Governor Romney cynically and dishonestly hid the self-described “severely conservative” positions he’s been running on – and there’s no doubt he’s memorizing more deceptions as he prepares for Tuesday’s second debate.

On Tuesday, Romney will be asked some simple questions by Americans from diverse backgrounds about how his plans will impact their lives. So we’ve provided some simple translations to help voters – and the media – interpret the deceptive answers he’s most likely to give in return.

Question #1: What’s your tax plan and what will it mean for middle-class families?

What he’ll say: “I will not, under any circumstances, raise taxes on middle-income families.” – Mitt Romney, Denver Presidential Debate, 10/3/12

Translation: As part of his tax plan, Romney has proposed $5 trillion in specific tax cuts. As independent, non-partisan analysts have highlighted, to pay for his plan, Mitt Romney has promised $1 trillion more in tax cuts for the rich than there are tax benefits to close. As a result, he would have to cut popular tax deductions that middle class families rely on, like the mortgage interest and charitable deductions, to pay for $250,000 tax cuts to multi-millionaires. Paying for Romney’s tax cuts would mean the average middle class family with kids would see their taxes go up by $2,000 a year.

Reality under President Obama: The typical middle class family has seen their taxes cut by $3,600 by President Obama over the course of his first term, and he has a detailed plan that would keep income taxes low for 98% of families and 97% of small businesses, while asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share to help create an economy built to last.

Question #2: What about that $5 trillion tax cut skewed toward the wealthiest I’ve heard about?

What he’ll say: “First of all, I don't have a $5 trillion tax cut…I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people.” – Mitt Romney, Denver Presidential Debate, 10/3/12

Translation: Mitt Romney has detailed a specific tax plan that provides $5 trillion in tax cuts weighted towards millionaires and billionaires – a combination of a 20 percent cut in individual income taxes, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, repealing the estate tax and the high-income Medicare tax, and cutting taxes for corporations by $1.1 trillion. That math is clear, but when it comes to paying for these tax cuts, Romney hasn’t specified a single loophole he’d close. Even if he eliminated every deduction for high-income taxpayers and enough loopholes to pay for his corporate tax cut, he’d still need to increase middle class taxes by $1 trillion to pay for his plan.

Reality under President Obama: President Obama has already signed $1 trillion in spending cuts as part of a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion, while maintaining critical investments in innovation, education, and infrastructure needed to create jobs now and grow our economy in the coming decades.

Question #3: So how can you claim your tax cuts won’t result in more taxes for the middle class?

What he’ll say: “Six studies have guaranteed…that this math adds up…even their own deputy campaign manager acknowledged that it wasn't correct.” – Paul Ryan, Vice Presidential Debate, 10/11/12

Translation: While Romney will cite “studies” to back up his wild suggestion that he won’t raise taxes on middle-class families, independent fact checkers and journalists have noted time and time again, those so-called “studies” are actually partisan op-eds, blog posts and analyses by conservative think tanks. None have disputed the total cost of his plan or the fact that it is a large tax cut for those at the top – so none prove that he can pay for his tax plan without raising middle-class taxes. He’s trying to take statements out of context to get around the truth: he’s proposed $5 trillion in specific tax cuts, and even if he closes every deduction for the wealthy, he’ll still fall $1 trillion short. That means he has to either raise taxes on middle-class families or explode the deficit.

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Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire want to hear what you’ve got to say. The two stars unveiled a campaign on Monday called Vote4Stuff. It urges voters to use social media to talk about what issues are most critical to them in the upcoming election.

A public service announcement went online Monday, asking: “What stuff is important to you?” Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jonah Hill, Zac Efron, Edward Norton and Ellen Degeneres — among others — also appear in the video.

Anyone interested can submit their own 30-second video about their biggest concerns going into the election. Then, selected videos — in addition to tweets, photos or posts directed at Vote4Stuff — will be incorporated into the campaign later in the month.

The PSA mentions several potential issues to talk about, including jobs, marriage equality, foreign policy, immigration and education. But DiCaprio and the team are encouraging people to be creative.

“Hey, knock us out and we’ll put (the video) in,” Norton says in the announcement.

What issues matter most to you in this election?

Please Note All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Latino Vote Matters: Immigration, Power, and an Interactive Look at the Map

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 10:30am, Ballroom A

The War on Voting

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 01:30pm, Ballroom A

Winning Without a Vote: Working with Federal Agencies to Advance a Progressive Agenda

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 03:00pm, Ballroom A

Safeguarding Democracy: Innovations in Technology and Human Rights

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 10:30am, Ballroom B

Intervention, Isolation and the Future of Progressive Security Policy

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 01:30pm, Ballroom B

The Worst Immigration Law in the United States

Panel; Sat, 06/09/2012 - 03:00pm, Ballroom B

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Via ChicagoSpring.org:

On May 19, Mayor 1% Emanuel will bring to Chicago military and civilian representatives of the 28-nation US-commanded and largely US-financed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and heads of state and finance ministers of the G-8 world economic powers.

They meet on behalf of the 1% of the world, the rich and the powerful, the bankers and generals. Their agenda is to continue to impose austerity, or poverty, by cutting social spending for workers and the poor to maintain profitability for the rich and to launch more wars to stop the rise of the poor nations of the Third World.

The people of this fine city do not want these summits. The mayor has his own agenda. In anticipation of widespread opposition to the war & poverty agenda of the NATOG8, Mayor Emanuel passed a set of first-amendment crushing ordinances, known as "Sit Down Shut Up", to stifle the exercise of free speech and assembly during the summits. The mayor single-handedly gave himself the abililty to issue no-bid security contracts and deputize out-of-town law enforcement while imposing harsh restrictions on parades, marches and demonstrations.

But we will not be silenced. We will stand up to this corrupt system and say enough! Join Occupy Chicago, Coalition Against NATO/G8 (CANG8), the Midwest Antiwar Mobilization and many more as we gather in Chicago in May!

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