Bachmann’s clinic protested by dancing, glitter-throwing ‘barbarians’

A flash mob at Bachmann & Associates, a Christian counseling clinic run by Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus, protested the clinic’s acceptance of state and federal money Wednesday and poked fun at allegations that the clinic performs therapy to “cure” homosexuality. The mob, dressed as barbarians — a nod to one of Marcus’ comments about LGBT people — danced a choreographed routine to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

Minnesota tea party to protest Medicaid signing

Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to sign an early Medicaid expansion for Minnesota on Wednesday, and the tea party is planning to be there to protest. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty refused to sign the state up for the early Medicaid opt-in, in which all states will have to enroll by 2014 as part of health care reform. An email from the Tea Party Patriots of Minnesota says they hope to have 100 protesters at the Capitol rotunda.

Tepid Tea Partiers warn of clipboard-wielding “saboteurs!”

Is it just me or are some of the slogans suggested for Tax Day Tea Party banners far from…. revolutionary? Attendees at next Wednesday’s Capitol rally are encouraged to download banners or make their own bearing mottos…

Why are we not rioting? The AIG-bonus (and last?) edition

Americans’ anger over AIG’s publicly funded executive bonuses may make this the last “Why are we not rioting?” post. First, one more observer remarks on the stateside calm, blaming low levels of unionization while seeing sparks of resistance…

Group plans march at site of Uptown hate crime

Community members have organized a Thursday march in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood as a protest to last week’s suspected hate crime against Kristen Boyne. Police say Boyne was beaten unconscious after two men called her a lesbian and kicked…

Did you call in gay today?

Thousands of gays and lesbians, along with their friends and families, are “calling in gay” from work today. “A Day Without a Gay” is a nationwide economic protest against same-sex marriage bans passed in California, Arizona and…

MnIndy Video: Detained Glass Bead videographer on policing in the age of YouTube

This morning, a group of journalists and activists held a press conference to raise awareness of what they see as a frightening trend: police, in the run-up to the Republican National Convention, increasingly targeting journalists. I’ll have video of the conference later today, but here’s a quick video on Vlad Teichberg, a member of the Glass Bead Collective, a New York new-media art group. He and two colleagues were detained by Minneapolis police this week without charge and searched. Police confiscated notes, computers and videocameras, exposing the film in one camera and finally returning the equipment days later. He says we’re at a cultural tipping point: With so many citizens toting cameras to events like RNC protests, police have little choice but to follow strict police protocols — or run the risk of being outted on YouTube.

‘To project and present’: One artist’s RNC project is — literally — a vehicle for political commentary

As a part of the UnConvention, a sideshow to the Republican National Convention, next week Miami artist Steven Gagnon will drive his sculptural contraption to the Twin Cities and park it in a public spot near Intermedia Arts, a sponsor of the festivities. Gagnon’s “border cruiser” calls attention to the experience of undocumented people in the U.S.

Video: Peaceful protesters blocked by police in Denver

A peaceful protest in Denver last night turned ugly as police in riot gear blocked progress of a march down a public street, turning tear gas and paintballs on the corralled crowd, according to the American News…

Deconstructing Dumbo: 100 GOP logos

Last time the Republicans had a national convention, New York-based designers Thomas Fuchs and Felix Sockwell couldn’t pass up a chance to protest — only they did so in a medium they’re comfortable with: They reinvented the GOP elephant in 100 different ways. Sockwell distributed the logos — a Pepsi-sponsored GOP elephant, a trunk transformed into a gun aimed back at a soldier’s head, a pachyderm turned into a hunch-backed man with a cane — in a bicycle rickshaw throughout New York.

With another convention in the wings, I contacted the artists to see if they had any updates to their self-published book, GOP 100: Deconstructing Dumbo. While they said the book is still fresh four years later and doesn’t necessarily need updating, they had one: a retitled piece showing an elephant in prison stripes (reminiscent of this year’s convention logo). It’s now called “Larry Craig.”