“The sleeping giant is now awake”

“I’m sorry I didn’t do more to stop the madness”

“Sleep? I’ll Sleep When Conservatives Run Congress”

“No Taxation Without Deliberation”

“No Taxation Without Deliberative Representation”

“No Spending Without Deliberation”

“No Spending Without Deliberative Representation”

Despite the fierce verbiage, there seems to be some timidity among event organizers. Local Tea Party blogger “cinnfullyconservative” warns: “Beware of the anti-tea party saboteurs!” Word — from Michele Malkin and other rightwing bloggers — is that clipboard-wielding nogoodniks are planning to “infiltrate tea party events and try and collect information from participants.” Cinnful’s advice:

If you are asked to sign something at the rally, please make sure the people asking have the proper credentials.

Nothing says “Revolution! Nuff said” — as one sign idea reads — than “Can I see your ID card, please?”

Photo details: Flickr/Eric Richardson, DU.com/Kadie

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 in hundreds of homeowners picketing a mortgage financier’s Connecticut home. But there’s union help in spreading the word about anti-AIG-themed economic protests planned for Thursday at sites across the country. They’ll have to draw the advertised 10,000 to the streets without us: The Minneapolis protest is set for “500 Griswold St, Detroit, MI,” time TBA.

As usual, California is ahead of the curve, with a lightly attended anti-AIG demonstration yesterday, documented here. Another protest at Wall Street will take place April 3-4.

None of it will likely reach the heights Fox’s Sean Hannity hoped for late last month with an online poll asking which sort of revolution (right wing, natch) viewers prefer:

The Queer Women’s March will take place at 9 p.m. on the corner where Boyne was attacked, at Bryant Avenue and Lake Street. Organizers are urging people to bring signs and candles to mark the event as “a loving and peaceful demonstration” to counter the violent act.

“Love, compassion and understanding is the only cure for hatred and fear,” said the group’s organizers. “So in response to this senseless act of hate and violence, we will march to demonstrate that queer women (and all women!) will not tolerate being victimized by hateful bigotry and violence.”

While the march is organized for women, everyone is welcome.

“We are all for a boycott if that is what brings about a sense of community for people,” said Sean Hetherington of West Hollywood, Calif. Hetherington dreamed up the idea as a protest to the passage of California’s Prop 8. “You can take away from the economy and give back in other ways,” he told the Associated Press.

Hetherington’s website has serves as a portal for the event, connecting participants to volunteer organizations. For those that live in the 30 states where it is still legal to fire someone just for being gay or lesbian, the website offers other ways to get involved without risking employment.

In Minnesota, some of the opportunities to get involved include the following:

The Hub Bike Co-op will be hosting free classes in honor of the event. The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center is looking for volunteers to help run an event featuring the film A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman. Open Arms of Minnesota, a nonprofit that delivers meals to those with severe illnesses, including AIDS, has openings for drivers. Family and Children Service will be wrapping presents for those in need and Avenues for Homeless Youth need assistance cleaning and painting the shelter.

Photo by Simon Hare Photography

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. (This week, it will be on view curbside in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. See video below.)

The unconventional project is part of a “series of non-partisan citywide programs around the theme of participatory democracy through art, education and journalism,” geared around the political conventions. The vehicle is just one of many politically minded exhibitions and events that also includes other remade forms of transportation. (Go here for a full schedule of events.)

Once a detective’s car, the cruiser, an all-white Ford Crown Victoria, retains its former glory with a black wraparound stripe and tongue-in-cheek markings that read, “To project and present” and “projection vehicle.” However, the real spectacle comes from inside the multimedia car/installation: It is furnished with several digital projectors that play video footage, providing the kinds of details you won’t find in an incident report.

From the back seat, a Brazilian man’s image flashes life-size across the rear windows, while his narration comes through the roof-mounted speakers — fixtures that bear a striking resemblance to sirens and lights. The immigrant, who has been taken into custody, tells the story of what brought him to the U.S. and the difficulties he has faced since then. (Cool back-story: Gagnon bought the car from a Brazilian woman whose work permit had expired.)

One of the biggest challenges of the project, Gagnon says, was to pull it off legally — avoiding any kind of official police car branding. Even so, the traffic-stopping installation isn’t immune to scrutiny. When taking pictures of the finished product, Gagnon was questioned by police who responded to 911 calls about a fake police car. The cops then stayed close for the remainder of the photo shoot, so as to prevent additional calls. On the other hand, “it gives you a sense of authority even though you have none,” he chuckled, noting that fellow drivers always stick to the speed limit around him.

Gagnon, who comes from a long line of auto mechanics, similarly revamped a New York City taxicab into a mini theater. In “Eins Werden,” which combines equal parts West German-manufactured Mercedes Benz and East German Trabant, he portrays the reunification of Germany, while another piece uses a 1930s Ford to describe his origins. “A lot of my work has dealt with who and what is an American? Who am I as an American?” said Gagnon, who comes from an immigrant family. “I want to raise awareness and provide more dignity to these people who many perceive as second-class citizens. This is a way I can give a different perspective.”

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.” But Sockwell, who has created illustrations for clients from the New York Times and Apple to Newsweek and the U.S. Holocaust Museum, agreed to share some illustrations from the book here, along with each work’s title. And next week, he’ll give MnIndy an exclusive illustration that traces the evolution of the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant logos.

As a stark counterpoint to the “scripted democracy” of this fall’s GOP nominating convention, a project by mnartists.org, the Walker Art Center and the UnConvention is inviting people of all political stripes and artistic abilities to create yard signs to coincide with the RNC — and, fittingly, the 50 designs getting the most online votes will be produced and distributed around the Twin Cities and near the convention site.

Visitors to the My Yard, Our Message site can submit designs by June 30; then open voting will be held from July 1-27.

Don’t want to leave the fate of your design in the hands of we, the people? For $20 bucks, the project will produce and deliver a one-off of your design. 

Featured: “Ugly Partisanship” by Emmet Byrne; “Convention” by Andy Pressman; “Groove” by Emmet Byrne; “Now or Never” by David Barawski

Got a tip? Email us examples of creative response to the convention for inclusion in future editions of RNC DIY!

In February, the New York City Law Department subpoenaed Tad Hirsch, an M.I.T. doctoral candidate who wrote the code for TxtMob, an SMS application used by many, including reporters — and, possibly, police — during RNC04. Lawyers representing 62 people arrested during the protests are seeking to reveal the contents — including senders and recipients — of a (virtual) mountain of text messages. Hirsch says he won’t comply — and that he no longer has the nearly four-year-old-data. His lawyer says the request is “overbroad” and a violation of the First Amendment, while Hirsch offered assurances to TxtMob users on his website “that I take their privacy seriously, and that I am taking what actions I can to protect their civil liberties.”

Katrin Verclas, urging readers of the Personal Democracy Forum to donate to Hirsch’s legal fund, calls the move “a blow to privacy and a chilling development to activists.”

Local tech blogger Ed Kohler agrees that the subpoena, if complied with, could chill dissent here, but adds that since Hirsch’s software is open-source and available as a free download, activists could easily create an anonymized version, hosted elsewhere. “I’m sure they could find someone in the world who’d be out of the reach of the St. Paul Police Department,” he told me. (Or, as a commenter at Slashdot suggested, “They cannot subpoena logs that you don’t keep.”)

And he sees no problem with that: Hirsch created a tool for communication and shouldn’t be punished for how it is used. “It’s no different than creating the phone system,” Kohler said. “He’s just providing a platform that people are using in a variety of ways, mainly, from the looks of it, just to keep in touch with each other. It’s like creating a private-label Twitter network.”