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The videos below show exactly how much fun it can be to interrupt the day of war profiteering oil barrons and educate the public about an occupation that we said six years ago would be blood for oil and that we say now is blood for oil. This tongue-in-cheek press advisory preceded Wednesday's action in front of the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C.: American Petroleum Institute To Grant Congress Permission to Stop Funding Iraq War and Occupation The activist group No War, No Warming today announced that they will be celebrating outside the headquarters of the American Petroleum Institute Wednesday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m. The API is located at 1220 L St. NW, at the corner of 13th and L. Activists will be celebrating the expected announcement by API that it is changing its name to the Alternative Power Institute. Its first act as the new API is anticipated to be the notification of every member of the United States House and Senate whom it has legally bribed in recent years that, in light of API's just announced transition to promotion of renewable energy technologies, there is no further requirement to fund the occupation of Iraq. Activists will also be distributing API tax rebate coupons to pedestrians and car drivers. The tax rebate will be partial compensation for the approximately $3800 paid by each taxpayer since 2003 for the Iraq war and federal subsidies to Big Oil. The action at the newly-named Alternative Power Institute is one of a number of actions in Washington, D.C. on March 19th being coordinated by United for Peace and Justice (www.5yearstoomany.org). No War, No Warming organized a nonviolent civil disobedience action on Capitol Hill last October. 68 people were arrested blockading entrances to the Cannon Office Building and Independence Avenue. (www.nowarnowarming.org). *** Wednesday's action was part of a national day of actions around the country, and an endless series of actions all over Washington, D.C. We approached the American Petroleum Institute (API) at 8 a.m., and they already had barricades set up and numerous police and police vehicles on hand. We proceeded to demonstrate out front, talk to pedestrians, and block the intersection for almost the next two hours, and we came back later in the day as well. People blocked the streets several times, but the police just dragged them to the sidewalk and let them go, after which the same people would block the streets again. The police clearly wanted to avoid making arrests. A group of bicylclists almost chained their bikes across one street, but the police stopped them before they could get both ends of the chain locked. Eventually, the police began preventing people from crossing the south and east crosswalks, so people crossed the other two repeatedly and very slowly, with the police hurrying them along but never arresting anybody. A lot of college students took part. People set up windmills, hung large banners, and are took green hard hats and clipboards around to poll people on behalf of Oil Addicts Anonymous. Here's video from API:
http://www.davidswanson.org DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
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