About 40 people attended a women's rights rally in Chicopee, Massachusetts on January 5. Chicopee borders Holyoke and Springfield. “The rally went well. We had a few dozen people brave the cold and darkness to make their voices heard," Jeannette Rivera told the Valley Post. She organized the rally with the help of a group that has a web site at www.OurRevolutionMA.com.

Rivera said, "We made our demands for councilor Galecki to resign, we expressed our disappointment to the silence of the other councilors on this matter, we demanded an expedient charter change and we did receive a promise of a future public forum on the matter."

Lucjan Galecki is a member of the Chicopee city council. He recently posted on Facebook that men are sometimes justified in raping women.

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On January 6 in Northampton, 21 or so people attended a pro-democracy rally. It was organized by Northampton resident Michael Klare. "We demanded that elected officials protect the democratic process," he told the Valley Post.

Klare is a professor at Smith College. One of his books says the USA uses its military to steal oil and other resources from poor nations in Africa.