Sam Levin

Zuccotti Park in January.

​The birthplace of Occupy Wall Street lives on! And so does the anger surrounding the infamous eviction of protestors back in November.

Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a brief with the city's Criminal Court arguing that Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park, had no legal authority to exclude people from the public space where OWS got its start.

This latest action is on behalf of demonstrator Ronnie Nunez, who was arrested in Zuccotti Park on November 15th -- after allegedly refusing to leave the park when the campsite was evicted at Brookfield's request. The NYCLU, in its brief, is arguing that Brookfield could not legally evict the occupiers the way it did last year. When private owners agree to create public spaces like Zuccotti Park, they give up their right to treat them as private spaces, the NYCLU says. (A zoning permit granted in 1968 established Zuccotti Park as a "permanently open park" for "the public benefit.")

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​Everybody hates PowerPoint. There is no disputing this. The only thing anyone has ever learned from a PowerPoint presentation is the fact that PowerPoint is worthless. Most of us just weakly accept that we can't escape Microsoft's juggernaut and continue to live in a world where animated transitions with accompanying audio effects are a routine part of the workday. One man, however, has decided to take a stand. Ironically, this heroic stand-taker is Swiss.

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​It seems counterintuitive, maybe, but according to a recent study of 1,300 people to be published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, those who are "contented" are more likely to vote than those who are unhappy. Further, unhappy people are not more likely to participate in political protests, to volunteer, to contribute to candidates, and the like. There's little evidence that participating in politics makes you happier -- but people who were more satisfied with their lives had a greater chance of getting involved in politics. So, what does this mean for the Tea Party? [Newswise]

​We have a rather serious adorable animals in trouble for you today. Did you hear about the 1-year-old pit bull, now named Patrick, who was cruelly thrown 19 stories down an apartment trash chute in Newark and left for dead? He was rescued by Humane Society workers the day before St. Patrick's Day, and thanks to the Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, has been recovering daily. The outpouring of public support for Patrick has been huge, which in some way mediates the truly disgusting behavior of his onetime owner, 27-year-old Kisha Curtis.

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​Have you unfollowed Charlie Sheen on Twitter yet? If not, are you prepared to? You have two more days to decide before Worldwide Global Unfollow Charlie Sheen on Twitter Day, a day of reckoning, a day of justice, a day to end enabling. We've given you our reasons for unfollowing (spelling "Korner" with a "k" sticks in our craw -- with a c -- big time), but everyone is entitled to their own. We spoke to some other folks who believe in the cause, because who better to explain a power-of-the-people movement like Unfollow Charlie Sheen on Twitter Day than the people themselves? Here's what they had to say.

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Tobacco leaves drying. via Chang W. Lee/NYT

​While you losers are out there paying $12 a pack for your Marlboro Lights -- or even quitting, like the quitters you are -- Audrey Silk, a retired cop in Brooklyn, is growing her own cigs for a quarter of the price. Silk lives in Marine Park and is the founder of a smoker's rights group called CLASH (Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment), and she has "gone off the grid" by growing her own tobacco. And she doesn't plan on sharing. More >>

So, Cookie Monster made this video to convince the powers that be that he would be quite excellent as a Saturday Night Live host. We think he's got a pretty good shot, if he can just get that little lazy eye problem treated. Also, we'd like the extended version of "Cookieface," please. If you agree, join his Facebook group. America, we can make this happen.

We care what you think! A lot! So much so that we're asking you to nominate your favorite blogs, blog posts, websites, Tweeters, Facebookers, viral videos, and a whole host of other Internetty things for our first-ever Village Voice Web Awards. Submit your nominees here, and stay tuned for the winners to be announced on Tuesday, December 7, with excessive partying to follow. Need inspiration? Never say we never gave you anything.

​Yesterday we mentioned that civilians seem to have kind of had it with crime. An East Village woman beat her attempted mugger up at an ATM; a Park Slope shopkeeper warded off his store's thief with a heavy-duty wastebasket. Now, take this group of stalwart Vancouver residents, including one who is wheelchair-bound -- who bonded together to fight off the attempted robbery of a Food Stop.

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​Maybe it's due to crime spikes recently noted by the NYPD (robbery is up more than 5 percent from this time last year), but we're also noticing something of a spike in badass. That is to say, people fighting back against their would-be muggers and robbers with a renewed sense of fury, like all of a sudden we're in some great big WWE match.

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