TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
                                                                               For Immediate Release October 14, 2011

October 14, 2011
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
For more than two decades, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of men, women, and children in central Africa. The LRA continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security. Since 2008, the United States has supported regional military efforts to pursue the LRA and protect local communities. Even with some limited U.S. assistance, however, regional military efforts have thus far been unsuccessful in removing LRA leader Joseph Kony or his top commanders from the battlefield. In the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, Public Law 111-172, enacted May 24, 2010, the Congress also expressed support for increased, comprehensive U.S. efforts to help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability.
In furtherance of the Congress's stated policy, I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield. I believe that deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa.
On October 12, the initial team of U.S. military personnel with appropriate combat equipment deployed to Uganda. During the next month, additional forces will deploy, including a second combat-equipped team and associated headquarters, communications, and logistics personnel. The total number of U.S. military personnel deploying for this mission is approximately 100. These forces will act as advisors to partner forces that have the goal of removing from the battlefield Joseph Kony and other senior leadership of the LRA. Our forces will provide information, advice, and assistance to select partner nation forces. Subject to the approval of each respective host nation, elements of these U.S. forces will deploy into Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The support provided by U.S. forces will enhance regional efforts against the LRA. However, although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense. All appropriate precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of U.S. military personnel during their deployment.
I have directed this deployment, which is in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive. I am making this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.
Sincerely,
BARACK OBAMA
# # #

The Most Important Occupy Wall Street Photographer You've Never Heard ofost title

• CORD JEFFERSON
  Senior Editor

• October 28, 2011 • 12:15 pm PDT

You may not know his name, but if you've been paying attention to the Occupy Wall Street protests for the past several weeks, you've no doubt come across David Shankbone's photographs. They've run in New Yorkmagazine, Gawker, Business Insider, and The New York Observer, and here on GOOD—not to mention on countless blogs from around the world. With so many major outlets running his OWS documentation, one would think Shankbone would have amassed a small fortune in the past several weeks. And he probably would have, if he charged any money for his photographs.

For years now, well before OWS was a glimmer in anyone's eye, Shankbone, a native New Yorker, has been taking photos of famous people and events and uploading them to his Flickr account andWikimedia Commons. From those sites, all of his pictures are in the public domain by way of Creative Commons licensing, meaning anyone can download them and use them for free for whatever purposes they'd like. Shankbone believes it adds to the greater good to distribute his work this way, and if any photographer represents the spirit of OWS, it's him.

GOOD talked with Shankbone this week, more than a month after he started shooting OWS, to better understand his life, his motivation, and the hobby that's turned him into the most important photographer in Zuccotti Park.

GOOD: We've heard photography is not your day-to-day career. What's your day job and what made you first decide to go take photos of OWS?

David Shankbone: I manage a legal department on Wall Street, so my proximity to Zuccotti Park has helped my work. Months before Occupy Wall Street, there was a lot of online chatter about it, and I received a few e-mails asking whether I was going to shoot it for Wikipedia. Influential folks from Anonymous were talking it up, which got my attention. But then I forgot about it until September 3, when I went for a walk in Tompkins Square Park and stumbled upon an Occupy Wall Street General Assembly strategy meeting. There was a big group of people in the dark with a flashlight under the Hare Krishna tree looking at a large map of the financial district. Around them were people handing out fliers that explained what they were about. I looked up from the flier and said, "Oh!  I heard about this!" and took out my cameraphone to snap some shots.

Protests catch my interest, and I’ve shot about a dozen of them for Wikipedia and Wikinews. Protests are about people, passion, and conflict, so you can't go wrong for good photos.  

GOOD: Since the start of OWS, have you been out to shoot everyday?

Shankbone: No, I've been out a little less than half the days. Photographing OWS too many days straight feels like I'm taking the same photos over and over. Clustered together, the days are filled with the same types of people, same types of signs, same blue tarps. When I’m gone for a few days and come back, it’s like, "Wow! The library has grown and now they have a sanitation department and medical tents!"

GOOD: Are you trained professionally in photography?

Shankbone: In 2003 I was on a volcano in Ecuador with some locals who ended up stealing my digital camera and all of my clothes, and it wasn’t until 2006 that I had a camera again. My sister bought me a point-and-shoot for my birthday, and I was bored and needed a cheap hobby. I loved Wikipedia and it had virtually no photos back then, so I taught myself in order to start filling it out with more pictures. Along the way I've been mentored by some legendary photographers like Billy Name and Christopher Makos.

GOOD: As this is one of the biggest stories in the world right now, you almost certainly could have made a lot of money with your OWS photos. Why do you give them away for free?

Shankbone: Getty Images approached me on Flickr because they had a client who wanted to purchase some of my OWS work, but I would have needed to take those shots out of the Creative Commons. I decided against it. What is going on in Zuccotti Park is important, and people need to see it unvarnished without having to wade through all sorts of possessiveness.

GOOD: Besides your OWS pictures, you also take portraits of celebrities and politicians and give them away for free for use by media organizations that may not have a lot of money. What made you interested in doing that?

Shankbone: Americans are often trained to measure worth only in dollars, but I care more about experience than money. I was at a party once where someone asked me about my work and she said I must make a lot of cash. When I said I give my photos away to the public, she looked at me like I was a fool. She derisively asked, "Why would anybody do that?" and I replied "What did you do last Tuesday?" She said that she came home from work late and watched Law & Order on her DVR.  I said, "Last Tuesday I had a four-hour dinner with Augusten Burroughs, and then I photographed him. I didn't make any money off of it, but it was a hell of a Tuesday night." Then she smiled and got what I was about.

I never expected to make any money from photography; I expected to make it from law, and I see my photography as a way to experience the world. For instance, besides the Burroughs story, I met one of my good friends, the writer John Reed, because I photographed him speaking on a panel. I do get paid to do some of my photographs, but it adds a lot of pressure. When I’m shooting free it doesn’t matter to me if people like the results or not, although I hope they do, of course.

GOOD: Do you consider yourself a photojournalist?

Shankbone: Not really. I try to remove any trace of myself from a photograph, and that's the only way I think I'm like a photojournalist. I use my flash for almost every photo because light is revealing and I want as close to the truth of the situation as possible. If I manipulate shadows and try for artsy angles, I feel like I'm making myself part of the subject. I want my pictures to be windows into the subjects, not my artistic interpretations of them.  

GOOD: What's the most unexpected thing you've come across at OWS?

Shankbone: Its success.    

GOOD: Do you support what's happening at OWS, or are you just there to be a spectator and take photos?

Shankbone: I'm a liberal, and my whole life the left wing has been pretty pathetic, in my opinion. Liberals were embarrassed to call themselves liberals, because to be a liberal was to be a wuss. We were all about sensitivity, flaky theories, and milquetoast political correctness. Conservatives took advantage of this and successfully fought liberalism using street tactics like those pioneered by Newt Gingrich and Roger Ailes. We brought spoons to what we knew were knife fights, and then complained that the other side brought knives.

At OWS, it's exciting to watch liberals publicly and unapologetically fighting for their vision, and to make strong arguments for the world they'd like to see. There’s an epic struggle over basic American values going on out there, like whether we want to have a nation that tortures people or lets the uninsured die in the streets. It feels like we're finally fighting back.

Check out a slideshow of Shankbone's 15 favorite photos from Occupy Wall Street.

Boehner as a NASCAR Driver: See Who's Sponsoring the GOP Leader

 CORD JEFFERSON
Senior Editor SHARE THIS 142 76 March 29, 2011 • 3:30 pm PDT

Three years ago GOOD had the idea to plaster politicians' financial sponsors all over their fancy suits, just like they do in NASCAR. With corporate money being such a huge part of the American political system—and with its influence set to get even bigger—it would help voters if our elected representatives were as transparent as possible about who's backing them, and to what extent.

Reddit user crandyj1220 has followed our lead. Last week he uploaded to the social news site his own Nascar-ized politician, this one of our new Republican House speaker, John Boehner. An image like this isn't all you need to make your decisions about a politician, of course, but it's sure nice to know when these people are getting fat checks from tobacco companies and health insurance giants.

If by chance you make your own NASCAR politician, be sure to send us the image. You can see a larger version of crandyj1220's here.

Occupy Wall Street, Wisconsin would like a word with you.

By Laura Conaway

  -  

Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:32 PM EDT

As I type this in New York City, it's 33 degrees and snowing outside, with occasional thunder. Thundersnow, Octobergeddon, lousy weather, freak weather -- whatever this, it's the first real test of whether Occupy Wall Street can hang tough through the winter. New York City officials yesterday upped the difficulty factor, taking away generators and gas canisters used for heating at Zucotti Park.

@grimwomyn tweets the pic above of the media tent, and also that she just saw someone helping an Occupier buy winter clothing. Gear's the thing: What Occupy Wall Street is trying to do has been done before, in colder temperatures and without tents. Remember Walkerville, when they slept out in the cold in Madison, Wisconsin? "There's usually food provided, and blankets, mats and sleeping bags are piled against the building for anyone to use," theIsthmus Daily reported in March, when temps got into the teens. "A tarp is laid on the ground to keep sleepers dry. But the protesters have been denied the use of tents."

Below, a couple of videos show how they did it in Wisconsin. Layer up, Occupy. Wisconsin believes in you

Uploaded by BrendaKonkel on Mar 2, 2011After two weeks of labor protests over Gov. Scott Walker's budget "repair" bill, protesters were not allowed back in the building. As a result, instead of sleeping in the Capitol, they slept outside in the Wisconsin winter because they were not allowed back in the capitol without "official business".

Walkerville from luciano M on Vimeo.

Protesters arrested in Nashville for second day

Arrests follow a week of police crackdowns around the country

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee state troopers for the second time arrested more than two dozen Wall Street protesters for defying a new nighttime curfew imposed by the state's Republican governor in an effort to disband an encampment 

***********And for a second time, a Nashville night judge dismissed the protesters' arrest warrants.************

The Tennessean newspaper reported early Saturday morning that Magistrate Tom Nelson told troopers delivering the protesters to jail that he could "find no authority anywhere for anyone to authorize a curfew anywhere on Legislative Plaza."

Occupy Nashville protesters — including many of the 29 arrested in a pre-dawn raid on Friday — returned to the Legislative Plaza that evening and remained through the 10 p.m. curfew.

Troopers arrested 26 people this time. All were charged with trespassing; two were also charged with public intoxication; and one was also charged with criminal impersonation, Department of Safety spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said. The judicial commissioner refused to issue warrants for any of the charges.

Officials said 72 troopers were involved in the curfew enforcement.

"To see it from the other side is even more infuriating," said Chip Allen, one of the protesters arrested in the first raid. "When you're in it, it's almost surreal. This takes on a whole 'nother flavor."

The arrests came after a week of police crackdowns around the country on Occupy Wall Street activists, who have been protesting economic inequality and what they call corporate greed.

In Nashville, more than 200 people came to Friday evening's meeting to discuss the first round of arrests and future plans, though those numbers had dwindled as the night wore on and temperatures dropped.

In Oakland, Calif., an Iraq War veteran was seriously injured during a protest clash with police Tuesday night. In Atlanta early Wednesday, helicopters hovered overhead as officers in riot gear arrested more than 50 protesters at a downtown park. In San Diego, police arrested 51 people who occupied the Civic Center Plaza and Children's Park for three weeks.

There was no noticeable law enforcement presence for nearly two hours after the curfew went into effect, while adjacent theaters let out and patrons filtered back through the plaza to their cars without being challenged for violating the restrictions.

"Nothing was done to them, they were not arrested," said protester Michael Custer, 46. "But we are arrested while we are expressing our constitutional right to free speech."

Once the theater traffic cleared, dozens of state troopers descended on the plaza and began arresting protesters and a journalist for the Nashville Scene, an alternative weekly newspaper.

Protesters remaining at the scene vowed to return Saturday, even if it means more arrests.

The 29 demonstrators arrested early Friday were taken to the Nashville jail, only to have Nelson, the night judge, rule the state had not given them enough time to comply with the new curfew. They were instead issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing, which carry a $50 fine if they are found guilty.

Profiting from Occupy Wall Street

The administration of Gov. Bill Haslam has cited what officials described as deteriorating security and sanitary conditions on the plaza, saying that acts of lewd behavior had been observed by workers in state office buildings.

Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said it was unrealistic to meet requests from protesters for a stronger law enforcement presence to help deter thefts and altercations often involving homeless people who had attached themselves to the encampment.

"We don't have the resources to go out and in effect babysit protesters 24-7 ... at the level that would have been necessary to address their concerns," Gibbons said during a press conference Friday.

Occupy Wall Street becomes global phenomenon

Occupy movement: A closer look at economic issues

Started Sept 27th 2011
We are granted the right to non-violent protesting. And that is what has been taking place by the 99ers.  Now the police, mayors, and certain other citizens are aggressively taking to the encampments of these protesters and dragging them around like criminals. That is not what the constitution states as the way to stop these peaceful citizens from demonstrating.  Somewhere, where does it state that the police and others law officials can do this.  No laws are being broken, no disturbing the peace, these people have a right to protest under the Constitution of these United States.
President Obama, please put a stop to the intentional harming and physical violence against a group of citizens that are demonstrating per their constitutional rights given them by the Constitution and by the wars that were fought by our soldiers(some of who gave their lives) to win our freedom from oppression.  We of all the counties on this earth have that right, don't turn us into Libya or Syria.  Who kill and injure citizens for doing the same thing.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rachel Maddow reports headlines from the Occupy Wall Street movement across America and around the world.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tensions between “Occupy Oakland” protesters and the city’s police remain close to a boil after an Iraq War veteran was injured during a demonstration. NBC News’ Miguel Almaguer has the story.

Michael Moore rallies Occupy Oakland protest

In NYC, generators used for heating seized; Nashville demonstrators return

John Partipilo  /  The Tennessean via AP

Police arrest Occupy Nashville protestors early Friday near the state Capitol.

msnbc.com news services

updated 10/29/2011 12:35:13 AM ET

Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore told hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters in front of Oakland's City Hall on Friday that the events there over the past week have helped change the national discussion about the movement.

Moore, who flew in from New York, said the Occupy demonstrations are "a movement of equals," and that everyone had something to offer.

The director of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine" said the movement will not tolerate violence against demonstrators, referring to Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, who was badly injured during a clash between protesters and police.

Moore urged the protesters, many of whom are demonstrating against what they see as a growing disparity between rich and poor, to continue their movement until they run the country.
On Thursday night, a crowd of at least 1,000 people, many holding candles, gathered in honor of 24-year-old Scott Olsen, who is hospitalized with a fractured skull after a clash with police.


Police overnight cleared out protesters in Nashville, Tenn., and San Diego, Calif., as other Occupy encampments came under growing pressure from authorities to abandon sites in parks and plazas.Michael Moore confesses: I am the 1 percent

In New York City, which could see its first snow on Saturday, the fire department confiscated six generators and about a dozen cans of fuel at the Occupy site in Zuccotti Park. The generators had been powering heat, computers and a kitchen that activists set up six weeks ago.

"They think that taking the 'power' away will take the power away, and that's absolutely not true at all," said Occupy Wall Street spokesman Michael Booth.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the generators were confiscated because they were considered a safety hazard and it was not a bid to remove protesters.

"As long as they don't take away anybody else's rights to say what they want to say, or to not say anything, to go about their business safely ... at the moment it will continue," Bloomberg told local radio.

Profiting from Occupy Wall Street

In San Diego, police arrested 51 people as officers cleared out economic demonstrators who occupied the Civic Center Plaza and Children's Park for three weeks. Dozens of police officers and San Diego County sheriff's deputies descended on the encampment around 2:30 a.m. Friday, declared an unlawful assembly and removed tents, canopies, tables and other furniture.

Occupy Nashville protesters defied a new curfew a day after they were forced off the Tennessee Capitol grounds because a new curfew was set.

Several dozen people remained on the grounds after the new curfew passed Friday at 10 p.m. There was no noticeable police presence and it was not immediately clear whether authorities planned to make arrests if the protesters stayed throughout the night.

Twenty-nine protesters were taken into custody at shortly after 3 a.m. Some were dragged from the campsite they've occupied for about three weeks.

Those arrested were taken to Davidson County Night Court for booking, but were freed by Night Court Commissioner Thomas Nelson.

"You have no lawful basis to arrest and charge those people," Nelson said to state troopers.

"For three weeks they've sat up there and protested under no admonition whatsoever that they were violating state policy regarding camping out on Legislative Plaza or that they were committing a crime."

He said he understood that the state had changed its policy on Thursday, but "they (the protesters) have to be given the opportunity to comply with those rules."

The action — a line of 75 troopers swept through the camp after giving a 10-minute warning — came less than a day after the state's Department of General Services said the plaza and other public areas nearby would be subject to a curfew, with no occupation between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Protesters had asked the state on Wednesday for more help with security. There has been some theft from tents as well as reports of marijuana being sold and lewd behavior in the area.

Occupy Nashville protesters blamed those incidents on a homeless population that has joined them on the plaza because of the availability of free blankets and food.

The demonstrators face charges of criminal trespassing Nov. 18 in General Sessions Court. Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons defended the sweep, saying troopers took the appropriate action.

Story: Winter set to be Occupy movement's 'Valley Forge'

"The process was handled by state troopers in a professional manner and without incident," he said in a statement to the press.

"It is our responsibility to keep the protesters safe on state property, along with citizens who work, live and enjoy downtown. We all must work together to ensure a safe environment."

He said the early hour for the raid was chosen because it would be least disruptive for those who work, visit and live downtown. Protesters plan a rally Friday evening.


Other developments
Elsewhere across the United States:
Protesters at San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza braced for a police raid early Thursday that never came. Still, police have warned the protesters that they could be arrested on a variety of sanitation or illegal camping violations.
Officials told protesters in Providence, R.I., that they were violating multiple city laws by camping overnight at a park.
Anti-Wall Street protesters camped out in downtown Los Angeles said they're planning to continue their demonstration indefinitely, although both they and the mayor's office were eyeing alternate sites.

On Thursday night, many in the crowd in Oakland shooed away Mayor Jean Quan who retreated back into City Hall after trying to address them during a tense late-night appearance. She apologized to Olsen during a hospital visit earlier Thursday.

"I am deeply saddened about the outcome on Tuesday. It was not what anyone hoped for, ultimately it was my responsibility, and I apologize for what happened," Quan said in a written statement to protesters late Thursday. "I cannot change the past, but I want to work with you to ensure that this remains peaceful moving forward."

Protesters also held a vigil for Olsen in Las Vegas, which drew a handful of police officers. Afterward, protesters invited them back for a potluck dinner.

"We renewed our vow of nonviolence," organizer Sebring Frehner said.

The Marine veteran, who won medals in Iraq, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the nation, with Twitter users and protest websites declaring, "We are all Scott Olsen."

Joshua Shepherd, 27, a Navy veteran who was standing nearby when Olsen got struck, called it a cruel irony that Olsen is fighting an injury in the country that he fought to protect.

Despite the financial underpinnings of the protests, Olsen himself wasn't taking part out of economic need.

PhotoBlog: Brrr! Occupy Wall Street protesters brace for cold weather

His friends say he makes a good living as a network engineer and has a nice apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay. Still, he felt so strongly about economic inequality in the United States that he fought for overseas that he slept at a protest camp after work.

"He felt you shouldn't wait until something is affecting you to get out and do something about it," said friend and roommate Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq.

It was that feeling that drew him to Oakland on Tuesday night, when the clashes broke out and Olsen's skull was fractured. Fellow veterans said Olsen was struck in the head by a projectile fired by police, although the exact object and who might have been responsible for the injury have not been definitively established. Officials are investigating exactly where the projectile came from.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

#OccupyWallStreet with Michael

Down at #OccupyWallStreet right now in a bone-chilling rain. Day 41!

                                                                      

@MMFlint

Michael Moore October 27, 2011                           

Heading 2 the StockExchange past the steps of Washington's inauguration. Democracy's enemy is Greed.

  

Neighborhood awakens to the sound of #OWS music and pours into Columbus Circle. Crowd growing fast!

It's the OccupationThatNeverSleeps! Most people who were here R grandparents. 57% of US backs #OWS  

#OccupyOakland with Michael

@MMFlint

Michael Moore October 29, 2011

On the steps of City Hall at #OccupyOakland. The police have left. The sun is out.

Amazing day in Oakland. A note was handed to me: "The mayor would like to see you."

The crowd was too big for the human microphone, so a hip-hop artist went & got his amp. #NotLegal