A great video via Amnesty International:

Also from the rally against the FBI’s surveillance of peace groups was Des Moines Catholic Peace Ministry Director, Jeffery Weiss, who gave an interesting speech. Roger Routh again provides video.

Roger Routh provides this footage from the rally which took place prior to our confrontation with the FBI’s federal security.

As it turns out, the FBI didn’t want to see us.

The homes and offices of several prominent peace organizers and international solidarity activists in Minneapolis, MN, and Chicago, IL were raided September 23 by members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. During these raids, the FBI delivered subpoenas to eleven organizers, accused them of providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations, and ordered them to testify before a federal grand jury in Chicago on Tuesday, October 5.

The coalition organizers say that a Supreme Court decision in the recent case, Holder versus Humanitarian Law Project, opened the door to the September 23 raids by allowing the FBI to act with a broad mandate to target peace organizers and international solidarity activists who work with legitimate popular resistance movements abroad.

The FBI raids came in the wake of new revelations released last week that the FBI spent hundreds of hours spying on student and community organizations in Iowa City, Iowa that participated in direct action street protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN.

And it comes on the heels of a report recently released by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice which found that, between 2001 and 2006, the FBI opened criminal investigations against peace and justice organizations without cause, extended those investigations with weak factual evidence, violated their own policies, and routinely mischaracterized civil disobedience as a domestic terrorist threat to national security.

A lovely piece of music from a fantastic ambient band, Stars of the Lid, paired with a minimalist video timelapse by Ryan Manning. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but Stars of the Lid have been one of the few bands whose music I would characterize as “healing.” A nice way to start October.

From Amnesty International, USA:

Sign a petition online to help prevent a terrible miscarriage of justice for this British grandmother under threat of execution in Texas!

Ever wish you could see more of the phenomenal artistic detail in Tod and Bob? Want to enjoy the soundtrack in all its uncompressed glory? Well now you can, because Tod and Bob has made its debut on YouTube and Vimeo! Markedly less popular than Dragonfist, Tod and Bob combines the visual eyesore of stick figures with the cumbersomeness of reading subtitles in a bad movie.

Episode 1: World-Famous Pilot

Episode 2: The Wrath of Boss

Episode 3: An Unjust Office Policy

Episode 4: Convicting Evidence

Episode 5: Marketing Strategy

Just finished off modifying this promo art for our local screening here in Des Moines. The director is supposed to be around for questions afterward, and all donations go straight to Scott Demuth and Carrie Feldman’s legal fund to assist them in a ridiculous and tragic court battle. I have yet to see the film, so it should be interesting. Hope some of you can make it!

Check out the film’s web site for more information, or view the trailer below.

This is the last of our batch of Buxtehude shorts for August, and is best watched after having viewed Behind the Scenes: Dragonfist. If you’ve seen that, this video basically explains the rest with its opening notes:

On August 12, 2010 the “Top 12″ 48 hour films from Des Moines, IA were screened at a special red carpet event. Amidst widespread dissatisfaction with many of the judges’ high-budget picks, an after party was thrown next door to the theater where six rejected low-budget atrocities were shown. Thomas J. Buxtehude graciously agreed to defend city producer Sam Tuomi and critique the losers in a pre-recorded video message.

With under 12 hours to go, Shrieking Tree was tasked with creating an opening monologue for the 2010 Des Moines 48 Hour Film After Party. This is the resulting video.

Links to the films that this short references:

Behind the Scenes: Dragonfist

Broken Image

Idiot Quest

Loose Pipes

Personal Space Invaders

Refraction

A poster I whipped up for the event.