The Party of Open: Open Government, Open Culture, Open Innovation & People First
June 30, 2015
Massachusetts is now the 21st state that allow you to register to vote on-line. If you aren't registered to vote or want to register in the Pirate political designation, check out https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/Welcome.aspx. If you do, we would appreciate hearing your feedback on how easy it was and what problems you had. Just write a comment below. Thanks!
June 29, 2015
Unfortunately the Senate voted to give the president fast track trade authority for six years. While the Massachusetts delegation voted against it, not everyone did in New England including NH senator Jeanne Shaheen.
The vote in the House was very close and that is where we will need to focus our efforts to stop TPP and every other agreement that will criminalize file sharing, reduce our privacy and place us more at the mercy of blood sucking corporations. This fight is far from over.
E...
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June 29, 2015
Back in March we asked for opinions on the bid to host the Olympics in Boston. We got some feedback and have continued to ask opinions the bid. Now we ask you to vote on what our position on the Boston Olympics should be. Fill out our anonymous form to express your opinion by Sunday, July 7th. Thanks! Image: Mark Cartwright, published on 26 April 2012 under the following license: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.
June 28, 2015
On Saturday, Bree Newsome scaled a thirty foot flagpole, and took down the Confederate flag flying at the South Carolina statehouse. The images are amazing to look at.
This was both an act of civil disobedience and an act of extreme courage. To many -- and especially to those in the black community -- the stars and bars represents racism, oppression, and hundreds of years of slavery. When the state flaunts an instrument of oppression, be it mass surveillance, the war on drugs, overzealous l...
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June 21, 2015
Many trade agreements can be viewed as neither truly beneficial nor complete losses. Occasionally, there are clear winners. In the case of the TPP and related agreements, corporations will gain the most at our expense.
This fight is returning to the Senate, with a vote possibly taking place as early as today. While the entire Massachusetts delegation is against fast track, 61 Senators voted for it last time. We have to stand in opposition to handing our fates to fickle leaders hiding in the s...
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June 21, 2015
We've posted the audio for two more Piratecon 2015 talks: Lightning Talks (various speakers) Officer Elections (various speakers)
June 18, 2015
The House voted 218 to 208 for give the president Fast Trade trade power and a limit their control over our trade policy to a simple up or down vote. The bill now goes to the Senate which had passed a more complex bill that provided limited compensation to workers displaced by trade.
From the documents that Wikileaks leaked on TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), we know that these treaties would:
governments would be prevented from using Free Software:
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June 18, 2015
The House will again vote to sacrifice our future to their corporate paymasters for Fast Track (aka TPA) this morning. We know the MA delegation will vote against it, but Florida Representative Alan Grayson pointed out the Democrats who voted for TPA last week. All we need is four of them to vote against it this time. C-Span says the House will debate and vote on TPA starting at 9am today. Call them:
Rep. Ami Bera (Calif.) – 202-225-5716
Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.) – (202) 225-3341
Rep. Sus...
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June 16, 2015
We had a great contingent of Pirates at the Boston Pride Parade last Saturday. I want to personally thank everyone who marched with us including Steve, Ben, Harry, Robby, Arjun, Ryan, John, Noe, Jamie, Peggy and Kate. It was great to have twelve people unexpectedly join us for the last stretch down Beacon Hill. Here are some pictures of us at the Pride Parade.
