Since the legislature has escalated their autocratic methods, Governor Elect Cooper would be justified if he chose to empower protesters. Here's a petition asking Gov Cooper to guarantee a pardon for anyone convicted after arrest for nonviolent protest activities: https://www.change.org/p/nc-governor-elect-roy-cooper-governor-elect-roy-cooper-should-pardon-anyone-convicted-for-nonviolent-protest

A coalition of groups from across the state is seeking a ballot initiative supporting a constitutional amendment explicitly declaring that corporations do not have the rights guaranteed to natural persons and that money is not speech.

Coalition partners:
Charlotte Area We the People (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County)
Corporations Ain’t People (Jackson, Macon, Swain Counties)
Greenpeace, NC
NC WARN
Occupy WNC
The Canary Coalition
The Climate Times
United to Restore Democracy (Asheville, Buncombe County)
Democracy Spring NC
Mountain People's Assembly
Mountain Voices Alliance
Asheville Buncombe Branch of the NAACP

Here's a link to the petition drive kick off press conference:

To get involved in this project call 828-631-3447 or email info@ncwethepeople.org

I encourage others, whose representative voted for this bill to ask this question:

Since transgender people exist and many do pass for the gender they identify as,

Since it is virtually impossible to get the gender on your birth certificate or driver's license changed,

Since people who pass as their identified gender are now legally obligated to use the bathrooms designated for the gender on their ID,

Since the net result of HB-2 (if followed or enforced) is sending more people who look like men into the women's room and people who look like women into the men's room,

Since acting like a creep in a public bathroom was already illegal,

Since anyone who would use the wrong bathroom to act like a creep, falsely claiming to be transgender, now has more cover rather than less (and will probably ignore the law anyway),

How does HB-2 do anything to keep sex offenders out of the wrong bathroom?

If you get an answer please post it.

A record of the House vote is here: http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/voteHistory/RollCallVoteTranscript.pl?sSession=2015E2&sChamber=H&RCS=9

A record of the Senate vote is here: http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/voteHistory/RollCallVoteTranscript.pl?sSession=2015E2&sChamber=S&RCS=3

Video and pics of today's protest in Hickory NC. If you have others of your own that you'd like to share please reply with links. Our primary is tomorrow so we won't likely get another change to protest him in person until the general election.

http://ban.jo/News/US-Canada/20160314/Protest-Against-Donald-Trump-In-Hickory-NC-Hickory/
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-rally-nc-interrupted-protesters/story?id=37634221

Trump will be at Lenoir Rhyne University this Monday. This is a fb page for organizing the counter protest: https://www.facebook.com/events/520700278135583/

Edit to add a link.

Here the Asheville car pool page for folks wanting to car pool to the Trump protest on Monday: https://www.facebook.com/events/1019962444751266/

Two hundred protesting outside and at least 3 disruptions inside.
"No Trump, No hate, time to escalate!" https://www.dropbox.com/s/ef2oipgolhhyjsn/VID_20160309_192040758.mp4?dl=0

Edited to add another video link, this time with some cowboy throwing elbows at protesters: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ef2oipgolhhyjsn/VID_20160309_192040758.mp4?dl=0

Wanna join the demonstration against Trump's brand of hate? Follow the link for info about the demonstration: https://www.facebook.com/events/1125583160815029/

OccupyWNC (operating in the western counties of NC) pulled off a novel form of demonstration back in November. We partnered with other activist groups including local NAACP chapters and Raise Up for $15 to occupy the drive through. We picked a chain fast food resturaunt, identified each of their locations in our area, and volunteers spent about 90 minutes visiting every franchise location in town to order a living wage at the drive through window. We had a lot of fund with this and got some great feedback from employees (who were general amused and heartened by the event). We even made the local news.

If anyone is interested in replicating this type of direct action I'd be happy to provide more info about how this came together and share the materials we used (fliers, scripts, etc).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=wNAEMIoLsuI&app=desktop

Here's a wiki with super delegates and who they've declared for: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Democratic_Party_superdelegates,_2016

Do what you will with that info.

Following a successful rally and mobilization at the Democratic debate in Charleston on January 17, the Fight for $15 along with other groups across the South are coordinating another mass mobilization -- this time at the GOP debate in Greenville, SC on Saturday, February 13th. Our message is clear. We demand:

*$15 and union rights for all workers
*An end to to racism, police brutality and mass incarceration!
*Black Lives Matter!
*No to Islamophobia!
*Justice for immigrants now!
*Quality, affordable childcare and long-term care

There will be free buses coming from across North Carolina -- reserve your seat on the bus today and share this link widely: http://bit.ly/Feb13GOPprotest

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and the rest of the GOP presidential candidates have been vocal in their opposition to raising wages, with some going so far as to say that wages are too high, or that the minimum wage should be abolished all together. This, while they whip up fear and mobilize around a hateful agenda directed especially at Muslims and immigrants -- and consistently undermine and criminalize the Black Lives Matter movement. It's time to stand united against attacks on working class Black and brown people -- our unity and solidarity is our strength.

**This is the same day as the HKonJ mobilization in Raleigh, which begins at 8:30am by Shaw University (Wilmington and South St), and ends around 12 noon. Bus details and logistics still being developed -- most buses will leave cities between 2 and 4pm, and some will leave directly from HKonJ. It will be possible to participate in both actions taking place that day.**