Parezco ilegal?

Parezco ilegal?
A new piece by Jetsonorama in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mean and Stingy Amazon Exposed

Nice bit of Artivizm in downtown Seattle the other night.  On the walls of the Seattle Art Museum on the eve of Amazon's shareholder meeting. It comes on the heels of this embarrassing revelation about Bezos'/Amazon's corporate selfishness.  The gist: 

Amazon needs to pay its fair share of taxes.

• Amazon paid an effective federal income tax rate of 2.6% in 2011--dramatically lower than the 35% rate set in law.
• Amazon avoided paying millions in taxes by taking advantage of an outlandish loophole that gives them a $1 tax deduction for every $1 in stock options they give to executives.

Amazon needs to treat all their workers with respect.

• Amazon's giant warehouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania was exposed last year for nightmarish working conditions, including indoor temperatures that rose above 100 degrees in the summer.
• The company's initial response was not to increase ventilation or install air conditioning. Instead, they just stationed paramedics outside.

Amazon needs to cut ties with ALEC.

• Amazon was a "Director Level" sponsor of ALEC in 2011.
• ALEC has become notorious for its support of Stand Your Ground laws, as well as efforts to create tax loopholes, undermine workers rights, and make it harder for young people & people of color to vote.
• While major corporations like McDonald's and Kraft have publicly dropped support for ALEC, Amazon has refused to do so.

Learn more at http://workingwa.org

Occu-Pie

Occupy DC

West Coast Port Shutdown 12-12-11

Heritage Park, Olympia, WA

Trans-Pacific Artivist Solidarity

Another fabulous project from the inspired and passionate folks at Just Seeds, this time to bring attention to the environmental and humanitarian devastation inflicted from liquefied natural gas exploitation on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.  Three Portland-based Just Seeds members (Alec Dunn, Roger Peet and Pete Yahnke) teamed up with Indonesian political art collective, Taring Padi to create a twinned set of two large-scale block prints depicting the poison effects of liquefied natural gas exploration and mining in Java and the destruction of farms and natural habitats that would result from the construction of the Palomar natural gas pipeline across the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. 

The two prints are touring both the US and Indonesia and serve as the spark to raise awareness and foster solidarity. This image is from a recent Taring Padi protest organized at the site of the Sidoarjo mud-flow, an environmental and social disaster area in North Java. The desolate area in the background is the result of a blowout of a natural-gas well.

Proving activism and solidarity can pay off,  LNG cancelled plans for their proposed pipeline through the fragile Oregon ecosystems.

Tonight in Portland, you can see the prints up close at the exhibit's closing (7pm, at the Fresh Pot on NE Mississippi). You'll hear about the threats still posed by LNG development plans and see a presentation by Roger about the project.  If you miss that, catch up with the project or buy small silkscreen versions of the prints at the project blog here.