Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Updates 6/12/12

Hello everyone.



Here's a funny little story not connected to Occupy, but is a little heartwarming to me. There's a man named Matthew Inman who runs a comic website titled The Oatmeal, aptly found at theoatmeal.com. He draws all comics himself, and they are pretty lighthearted and hilarious. Last year, the website called FunnyJunk.com got into a bit of a spat with him, as FunnyJunk's users uploaded hundreds of Inman's comics while removing all credit to him. Since Inman's work is under copyright, he was a little annoyed, and mentioned it in a comic. Some of them were taken down, but Inman just let it go, not wanting to get involved in a legal debacle. Just a few days ago, the owner of FunnyJunk decided to have his attorney serve Inman with papers, saying that if Inman didn't pay FunnyJunk $20,000, FunnyJunk was going to sue him for false advertising and such. So basically, FunnyJunk is trying to sue an artist for complaining that they have stolen his work. 

Obviously Inman was a bit staggered by this. So he decided to do something funny about it. He is a comedian, after all. He drew a funny comic making fun of the FunnyJunk owner's mother attempting to have relations with a bear, and came up with a plan. He would raise the $20,000 in donations from fans, take a picture of the money, and then donate half of it to the World Wildlife Federation (to save the bears, which is a joke you need to read to fully understand,) and half to the American Cancer Society, because cancer sucks. In 64 minutes of starting the fundraiser, Inman hit the $20,000 mark. Apparently even FunnyJunk users are appalled at the website's lash out against Inman and The Oatmeal, and are donating as well. As of this morning, the fundraiser topped $100,000, and is still climbing.

This obviously hasn't ended the legal kerfuffle between the two, but it's highly unlikely that FunnyJunk will win the case. And two great charities are getting some help from a funny guy and his monster fan base. In the world of internet comedy, there's not much better than that. If you like, head over to theoatmeal.com and have yourself a little fun.

To read the comic I'm talking about, go here:

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/funnyjunk_letter

If you'd like to donate to the hilariousness or check out how much has been raised, go here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/bearlovegood



On to the Occupy news.



-- Occupy DC is officially removed. Originally, it was reported that drunk locals had torn down the rest of the tents, but an Occupier stepped out to say that it was actually their own who took the remaining structures down following a meeting on Sunday. Other protesters put up a few temporary structures to try and rescue the encampment, but it hasn't been used much since they were last raided. 




-- The last two members of Occupy the Farm will apparently not be charged, meaning that there will actually be no charges filed at all against any of the Gill Tract Occupiers.




-- Occupy Oakland is protesting against the shield ban by rallying outside the home of the councilperson that presented it.




-- Here's a fun one. Occupy Portland stepped up to bat against Portland City workers--literally. Here's a description of the promised ball game between them, and the suprise guest who ended up as umpire for the game.




-- Over 60,000 protesters came out in Russia to fight back against Putin's regime, pushing way beyond police estimates of 18,000. Read more here to find out what happened. 




Sorry I had to type that quickly. I just received several important emails from my university. I need to work on responses asap. 


***Solidarity*** (and thanks for your patience and love)

To contact me, please email elvishbutterfly@hotmail.com, or leave me a comment. 

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