Rainbow Press Crew needs YOU!
- From: The Other Karen <krcecilio@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:30:46 -0700 (PDT)
I am posting the following on behalf of my friend FireFly and the
Rainbow Press Crew...
**********************************************************************
Going to the Gathering?
NOT going to the Gathering?
Want to plug-in in a vital way?
Be a part of the Rainbow Press Crew!
Rainbow needs a Press Crew to balance the information handed out to
the media by the Law
Enforcement Officers ("LEOs"), to tell our side of the story.
What can you do? Be a small part of our big crew!
Here's how it's going to work:
1. Assorted folks "on the land" will write up a daily summary of the
day's events, legal issues, fun stuff, etc.
2. That summary is dropped of at a specific vehicle where someone will
type it out, and print out 7 paper copies.
3. Meanwhile, Info will help direct volunteers to head out to the
Parking Lot after dinner, stop by the vehicle, and pick up the paper
copies.
4. Those seven copies will be brought to the road and divvied into 7
different cars already leaving the Gathering with instructions to call
a number as soon as possible and read the summary into a voice mail
box. Hopefully, at least 3 copies will be called in, in a timely
fashion each day!
5. A person (not attending the Gathering) at the voice mailbox will
transcribe the summary into a concise press release and email it out
to 100 media outlets.
6. 20 different folks (also not attending the Gathering) will follow-
up by calling 5 media outlets each. This is the professional way to
send out press releases; the press expects this and it is a sure way
to be taken seriously. The callers will ask if they can answer any
questions (making it clear that they can't speak for Rainbow) and
stress that the most accurate story is at the Gathering. This will
take about a half hour a day.
7. Directions to the site will be included in every release. When the
press arrives, they'll be directed to a Media Check-In Area and check
in. Tours will be available to escort them thru the camp at 12 pm
daily.
Voila! Fair and Balanced Media!
So far, thanks to the help of many, videos, quotes and info has been
collected for the press, a list of well over 100 media outlets and
press emails from regional, national and international areas has been
built, both mainstream and alternative, a phone line has been set up,
a printer and printer drivers are at the Gathering, reports have been
leaving the Gathering and two press releases have already gone out!
We also have 12 kind and loving brothers and sisters lined up to do
different jobs in this chain, but still have quite a few spaces to
fill. Three of the 12 are off-site "press release follow-up phone
callers." The remainder of volunteers will be attending the Gathering.
Many of the jobs will be done by more than one person to prevent
burnout.
PLEASE consider helping out with this awesome project!
What job openings are still available?
* 17 folks not attending the Gathering to be off-site press release
follow-up phone callers, to total 20; now that's a crew! To get
yesterday's news out today, callers need to make the calls early to
meet the press's news-acceptance deadline of 1pm. That's 12pm PT, 1pm
MT, 2pm CT and 3pm ET.
* Detail oriented, accurate summary writers on the land with legible
handwriting and decent grammar.
* Typists and Printer-outers of 7 copies a day
* Assorted people to take turns finding responsible drivers/callers on
the road heading out
* Printer vehicle security
* Diligent yet entertaining Rainbow Tour Guides with RADIOS to STAY
WITH the MEDIA throughout their visit in case they (the media) need to
be dispatched to an incident. Periodic and loud announcements of
camera presence is needed so folks are always aware. And give 'em a
great tour!
Please Join Us!!
If you have any questions read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
below. To sign up, contact us at rpcreww@xxxxxxxxx
In Harmony,
FireFly
Rainbow Press Crew FAQs:
**********************************
Why do we need a Rainbow Press Crew?
It's hoped that peaceful, safe Rainbow Gatherings will exist again.
However, two gatherers were tasered at the '07 Arkansas Annual
Gathering. Two months after that Gathering, the Forest Service (FS)
purchased 700 tasers.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&Date=20070919&ID=7496520
They've informed the Family that their LEOs are trained to use these
"less-lethal" weapons
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/nyregion/15taser.html and will be
outfitted with them at this year's Gathering. FS guideline documents
have even been updated to include the protocol for taser use.
http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsm/5300/5380.doc
http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsh/5309.11/5309.11_50.doc
This year's Annual Gathering is being held in Wyoming; the #1 least
populated state in America, where accountability will be most
unlikely. If a tree falls in the woods and no one saw it fall, did it
ever even fall?
If, God forbid, an incident does happen, we need the press to see it.
But a main reason for getting mainstream press, namely cameras, into
the Gathering, is to keep the LEOs on their best behavior and deter
them from committing any more acts of violence against us folks whose
purpose in gathering is to pray for peace.
************************************
Won't our own cameras be enough?
No. It would be great if that were true. The more civilian cameras
coming out only to capture Law Enforcement Officer ("LEO") violence
the better. By all means; should an incident occur, please put calls
out on Rainbow radios for all cameras to head to the incident. This
way even Rainbow Tour Guides hear the call and can bring mainstream
cameras to the scene immediately.
But know the risks if you decide to approach a violent LEO attack and
get it on film. Your camera can be taken right from your hands,
without sufficient warning, and you can be arrested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_1PH7KakcY&NR=1
Then you and your footage are in custody. Often LEOs will keep
cameras, footage, bicycles, etc. for months after your release, as was
the case in the Ocala inident. And/or you could be injured, or worse.
We've placed several calls and emails to Wyoming authorities to
confirm how far a civilian must be from an LEO and still be allowed to
film. So far we've received no response. We'll keep trying. This may
be a good time to remind everyone to always film the filmers.
Instances in which police attempt to snatch TV news cameras are rare.
When civilian cameras capture valuable footage, even if it makes it
onto Indymedia or YouTube, it's considered "amateur" footage and
rarely results in any accountability.
Sometimes in Rainbow, if the footage is found, it doesn't get used. At
the '05 West Virginia Annual Gathering, a gatherer videotaped an LEO
sneaking up on and macing a dog who was tied to a van. The LEO was
never found liable.
*******************************
What could be the long-term effects of this increase in harassment?
Police harassment has been known to completely squelch events. For
example, the monthly
New York City Critical Mass Bike Ride is currently down in numbers
from thousands to dozens.
The evident increase in LEO harassment towards Rainbow is succeeding
in decreasing our numbers as well. Each of us Rainbow gatherers know
of really peaceful folks who've gradually
stopped attending because of the rise in law enforcement, and the agro
vibe that often comes
with it.
Even High Times Magazine's Steve Hager agreed back in 2001, when he
wrote in the July issue in reference to the government's intensified
campaign against the Rainbows, "If the spirit
of Woodstock is going to be passed down to a new generation, the
Rainbow Family must find a way to protect and defend itself."
The FS has really stepped it up since then; especially by outfitting
themselves with these
deadly weapons to police a peaceful event that has policed itself
successfully for over 35 years.
It is essential for the future numbers of our Family that measures be
put into place, now, to provide for a safe, comfortable and truly
peaceful Gathering. It's hoped that these measures will be carried
forth and implemented at every Gathering so that soon our old friends
will feel comfortable returning Home.
****************************************
I don't want to put myself out there.
Everything being done and requested is legal. Taking a pro-active
stance towards protecting
our brothers and sisters may be frowned upon by some in babylon. And
yes, even though what
we're doing is entirely within the scope of the law, it may be frowned
upon possibly to the
point in which our actions may be watched. But really, who cares what
they think? You're
going to let their thoughts control your actions, to the point of
inaction? As far as being in the 'scope' of some monitoring system,
"If you don't have a file on you, you're not doing something right!" -
Stevie S.
***********************************************
Maybe i'll plug in to Rainbow Press Crew a bit, if I see it work.
A machine must have cogs for it to work. So there's that leap of faith
thing again. And, "be the change you wish to see in the world." -
Gandhi.
*******************************
How often will press releases go out?
The goal is for short updates to go out every day, please. The FS
sends out press briefings on a regular basis throughout the duration
of our stay in the woods, reporting how many tickets they've given out
and for what, etc. It would be smart for us to do the same.
Remember, the FS is now carrying tasers, this is serious. The call
heard in the woods can be
"Zap Up" or something now, since the FS is much more likely to taser
folks with these "non-lethal" weapons rather than shoot them with
guns. Really, why did they buy both the tasers and the training to use
them, with such a low budget due to last year's fire season, if they
don't intend to use them on us? http://www.docuticker.com/?p=18223
They're not going to use them on lions and bears; they have
tranquilizer guns for that.
***************************
Aren't tasers non-lethal?
No. The "non-lethal" status of these weapons becomes a "less-lethal"
status when someone
with a pre-existing medical condition gets tased. Here are the types
of tasers the FS has, the kind they specifically requested.
http://www.peer.org/docs/fs/07_4_12_taser_justification.pdf
Not the old stun gun type, but the kind that shoots wires up to 35
feet out, which have projectiles on the ends capable of piercing
through one inch of clothing. And agencies themselves are ever
increasingly replacing the term "non-lethal" with the term "less-
lethal" when referring to these lethal weapons, as noted in the New
York Times, June 15, 2008. The article continued, "Also on Wednesday,
Amnesty International said it had tracked more than 300 cases since
2001 in which people died after being shocked by a Taser."
******************************
But they say they're going to be nice this year.
I cannot even begin to count the times I've heard that before. Please,
just look at the history of the FS's relations pre-, mid- and post-
gathering. It's evident that they are notorious for saying one thing
before the gathering, doing another thing during the gathering, and
then raving about how well we cleaned up in the end.
********************************
Is this idea all talk? Who's FireFly?
A part-time mover and shaker. At the '06 Colorado Annual Gathering,
hundreds of gatherers were ticketed, had to leave the Gathering to go
to a makeshift court, and wait outside all day with no food or water
(the spigot was shut off) until their names were called. This went on
every day. I was able to help by establishing and implementing a
system within the gathering of preparing and delivering 'food for
court' on a daily basis, and our ticketed, satellite, off-site Family
was fed. Dozens of folks plugged in to make it work, you know who you
are, THANK YOU! And THANK YOU in advance to all who remember to carry
on sharing food with our not inevitably ticketed, extended, off-site
Family who hopefully won't have to spend any time away from Home at
some kangaroo court.
If you are considering helping and can commit, please contact
rpcreww@xxxxxxxxx for more
info and FAQ's.
Please forward
.
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