Peaceful anti-NATO protests increasing in Chicago prior to Summit

Prior to the NATO Summit on Sunday, Chicago, IL is experiencing peaceful mass protests, which will continue throughout the weekend, despite the extra security.

Digital Journal recently reported that Chicago is ready for the NATO Summit with security in place against possible terrorist attacks by peacefully protesting activists.

However, with the Summit set to start on Sunday, the streets have not been quiet. Yesterday it was the turn of nurses, with National Nurses United teaming up with trade unions in a mass rally in the city, protesting against proposals to cut back nurses' pensions.... read full article and view video.

Facebook to be sued for $15 billion in class-action privacy suit

Facebook had better do well on the stock exchange. It may need to money to pay off a class action suit on behalf of users who were tracked on the Internet by Facebook after logging out.

A 15-billion-dollar nationwide class-action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook in California. The allegations? Tracking Facebook users after logging out and also violating U.S. wiretapping laws.

ZDnet.com reports that the suit combines 21 cases filed across the U.S. of alleged privacy violations by Facebook and was filed on Friday in the Federal Court of San Jose. The plaintiffs are claiming that Facebook used cookies to track them across the Internet, after they had logged out of the social media network.... read full article.

Video: 'American Spring' the Occupy documentary

A documentary has been produced about the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, U.S.A. Interviews with protesters are included and views are given by other people in the street.

Although spring in New York is still chilly, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) members are out in the streets trying to make their case.

The movement includes people from very varied backgrounds, but the agenda remains the same. They are fighting against income inequality, the corruption of the banks and multinational corporations, against foreclosures on peoples' homes, climate change and police brutality... read full article and watch 26 minute documentary.

Win in NYPD case against OWS due to video footage

Alexander Arbuckle went on trial for disorderly conduct in the Occupy Wall Street protest early on New Years' Day. However, he won his case due to the video footage of a journalist.

In what Occupy Wall Street are calling a victory of justice, Arbuckle had his day in court (well two days) before being found not guilty.

Over the past few months since Occupy Wall Street began in September 2011, hundreds of protesters have been arrested. However, it was photographer and citizen journalist Alexander Arbuckle's case that came up first for trial.... read full article.

ONE is painting the street with your tweets for G8

The grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization ONE is fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, mainly in Africa. Now they want the G8's attention.

With the G8 starting on May 18, 2012, the team has started the ONE Street Tweet - you send a 40 character tweet to their Twitter page and if they like it they print it on the street. The team at ONE want the leaders at G8's Annual Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security to take notice.

On May 15, ONE visited Maryland to print the first batch of messages on the street surrounding an agricultural research facility.... read full article.

The Pirate Bay hit by DDoS attack — Anonymous not responsible

The Pirate Bay was hit by a DDos attack and has been largely unavailable for 24 hours. They say that Anonymous are not responsible.

The Pirate Bay (TPB) has its suspicions who is responsible for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Their Facebook page read, "Once we've awaken our tech guru Winston Q we'll get on the issue."

TPB's Facebook page now reads:

"Just to clarify, we KNOW that it is NOT Anonymous who is behind the ddos attack. Stop spreading rumours like that.

We may not agree with Anonymous in everything, but we both want the internet to be open and free.

There, now carry on with whatever it is you were doing." ... read full article.

Video: Occupy Minnesota protesters given drugs by police?

The publication of a video on YouTube stating that Occupy protesters in Minnesota have been given drugs by police officers, has caused authorities to open a criminal investigation.

So far at least one Minnesota state trooper has been put on paid leave, as law enforcement officials investigate allegations that police officers visited Occupy Wall Street encampments in Minnesota and gave free drugs to protesters.

The video was made by independent journalists and filmmakers in the state. They interviewed members of the local Occupy movement who say they have been offered drugs by police officers.

Apparently protesters who opt in to the program are given the drugs for free and the police, in turn, monitor the effects of the drugs. Some protesters say they've been rewarded for offering to snitch on the movement... read full article and view video.

UK police protest 'criminal' cuts (video)

It's not just the Occupy and 15m movements out on the streets lately. 34,000 police in the United Kingdom are protesting salary cuts and loss of jobs.

With worries over public safety, as well as cuts in staff, salaries and benefits, the police are currently policing their own protests on the streets of the United Kingdom.

The protesters claim that with less police out on the streets, people will no longer feel safe. However criminals will feel safer with the lack of policing... read full article and watch video.

Hawaii is the first US state to ban plastic bags

The option to choose paper or plastic is officially coming to an end in sunny Hawaii, the first U.S. state to ban plastic bags.

A bill was approved in December 2011 to ban the use of plastic bags on the Big Island. Now the whole state is following through with this ecological ban.

People will need to take reusable bags when shopping for their groceries in every city and unincorporated area in the Hawaiian islands.

Paper bags will still be in use as long as they are biodegradable, as they don't have the same negative impact as plastic on wildlife and the eco-system.... read full article.

Black box found near Sukhoi Superjet-100 crash site

The search teams involved in the investigation of the crash site of the Russian plane have now found the black box. Investigations continue.

Today the search teams located the flight recorders of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 which crashed on May 9, 2012 during a demonstration flight.

Head of the search operation, Ketut Parwa, has told reporters that the black box was found 100 meters from the tail of the crashed plane.

A team of Russian experts and Indonesian searchers have been searching on the densely forested Mount Salak for some days.

Tatang Kurniadi, chief of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) told the Jakarta Post on Monday: “We will first open the black box here in Indonesia.” ... read full article.