Calling all keyboard protestors, ranter and ravers

Discussion in 'About the Members' started by Mrs.Lucysnow, Sep 28, 2011.

  1. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    Ok, so I have been hanging out on Broadway and Liberty St. at Zucotti Park on Wall St, where a few hundred activists & pissed off citizens have been protesting since the 11th of September. There was a protest march of approximately 2000 people which turned into a planned long haul sleep in. The hard core and committed are camped out with sleeping bags and make-shift food centers and they have supplies coming in from all over the country. Day protestors are coming in each day just to show their love and make sure the others are not all dead or in jail since they are not moving.

    This is a protest against corporatism ie: wall st. & bank bailouts, a failed political system where both dems and repubs alike pander to corporate interests at the expense of the american people, the privatization of everything like the present attempt to privatize postal services. The privatization of everything means the commodification of everything.

    The organization is similar to that of the WTO protests that took place in Seattle in '99. There is no 'head' nor even a 'head' organization, this is a conglomeration of the Green people, the anti-war people, the fiscal responsibility people, fair trade, anti-nafta, GMO, the We Hate The Police State people, against the occupation of iraq, afghanistan and Gaza people, I really hate foreclosures folk, and gimme back my job guys. Anyone who is against corporations running governmental protection agencies, buying politicians, emptying the treasury and selling out democracy for the illusion of democratic process.

    There have been some interesting moments here like when a high ranking police officer named Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna pepper sprayed some female activists who were peacefully protesting and attacked indy media journalists. You can find the footage of that on youtube I'm sure or occupywallst.org. And of course there have been arrests. Still those who are there are not moving.

    The mainstream media ran an article claiming that the protestors edited the footage to 'make the police officers look bad', this is untrue. If you look at the footage you will understand why.

    We have had celebrities such as Cornel West who showed up in solidarity last night to give some words of inspiration, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore (of course

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    ), Amy Goodman and Chris Hedges have all made an appearance.

    It has become apparent to me that the will is there and no one is going to leave, its being live streamed 24/7, there is now solidarity being shown from groups in Europe, Canada and south America, and there are other locations where this is taking place. If you haven't heard about this never fear its just your mainstream media black out, if they focus on the happening its dismissed as misguided young people who don't know what they are doing (disorganized, without intent etc) or they claim we're all just a bunch of radical anarchists and communists misfits. This is the same tactic the mainstream press used when describing the protestors in Greece, they were described as 'wayward unions' or 'anarchists' when they were everyday people like the cute grannies wearing straw hats with paper flowers I see hanging around here among the protestors.

    This event is not isolated to NYC, there is an Occupy Chicago at the Sears Tower which has had much more difficulty keeping their sleep-in together (you know how those chicago cops are! Worse than our donut eating, shooters of pedestrians-minding-their-own-business

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    )

    Varda, if you live in Chicago, get off your tukus and find a grass-roots org (they're all involved) and find out how you can join or support. There is also an Occupy Boston, one being organized in Dallas and other places around the nation.

    If you want to find out the other locations where this is taking place go to The Indypendent.org or Occupywallst.org

    You can send supplies (NO MONEY) like medical supplies etc to:

    The UPS Store
    Re: Occupy Wall Street
    118A Fulton St. #205
    New York, NY 10038

    If you want to create the same action in your community then contact your local indypendent.org media, organize from your local university or grass roots organization. If you don't belong to a grass roots organization join one.

    THEY ARE NOT MOVING! THEY'RE PREPARING FOR WINTER! Methinks they are anticipating a US Spring.

    For those of you who have no clue go and visit the website occupywallst.org because this is what democracy looks like.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2011
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  3. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    While I'm not questioning your assertion, per se, the one piece of mainstream media coverage of this I have seen, to be fair, spent 5 paragraphs presenting the protestors side of things, and two paragraphs explaining the police side of things, and stated it rather plainly "Protestors have accused the police of..." "Police say the videos failed to..."
     
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  5. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    What side could they have? This was one deputy officer who decided to take out a pepper spray canister and turn it on a small group of women who were isolated behind a plastic barricade surrounded by cops. What danger could these gals have posed? Also a guy standing by with a huge camera filming the event is grabbed by cops and thrown to the ground and arrested. What's the purpose of that?
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    I'll go, but only if I get to pepper spray some hippies.
     
  8. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    Show me again where I commented on the validity of either side?

    I didn't. My point was, quite simply that - to be fair on the media, not all presentations of the incident have been as one sided as you appeared to be suggesting.

    The cops have one side, the story as they portray it, the Protestors have another side. In most cases the truth lies somewhere in between the two sides, in some cases one side is an outright fabrication.

    The article (CNN) that I am referring to, that I saw rather plainly, and rather neutrally presented both sides of the story, and that's all I had to say on the matter.
     
  9. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    wow Lucy ! Jump in with both feet why don't we . You got some big players organizing. I seen it about 4 times in the Media and what i am sure a representative of the group ( Mainstream tired of being fucked by the left and the right by special interest) talk on an interview with Cavuto . Who I look up to . Cavuto I look up to . He is a voice of reason furthering the cause . You may not be able to tell but he so much as said so yesterday . Old carpenters on picked lines , you better have some good weed + micro brew .
     
  10. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    I know you are not claiming one side, I'm simply asking what side could this cop have, they haven't offered any, they simply say that the footage isn't 'real'. I say go and take a look at the footage:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBC2gNRk63s

    I don't buy this the truth is a relative thing that one cannot know. Its simply an excuse to pretend no one knows what happened. There isn't one story of protestors being unruly or disruptive or interfering with police in any way. There were dozens of photographers and video people on the scene which means there is footage from all sorts of angles.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eHMqu6aMZ4&feature=related

    or

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU9qTj3fwck&feature=related
     
  11. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    9,879
    No weed my friend and definitely no booze. There cannot be one excuse to sully or bring big boots upon the crowd. They will have to have all of their wits about them if its going to be sustained.
     
  12. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    Specifically they say that it is incomplete and fails to provide context, in that it doesn't show events that eventually led to the altercation.

    Quite - now pay attention to the first video, and compare and contrast it to the second and third videos.

    Notice that at around 0:55 in the first video, the women that were sprayed are yelling something at (presumably) the police (their attention seems to be focused on them anyway), but there's no audio, so we can't tell what it is, even at 0:43 in the first video, the woman in the black - what I would call gym gear, appears to be engaged in some degree of verbal exchange with the officer nearest her however in the two videos that have audio, they don't go back this far, they don't appear to start until 5 or 10 seconds later, and with the amount of background noise, I can't really make out anything specific in the audio.

    Perhaps therein lies the missing information that the police will not discuss as it potentially represents evidence in an ongoing investigation, perhaps one or more of the protestors said something to the officer that the officer decided past the test of being menacing, and therefore justifying the use of pepper spray.

    I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying he's right, I'm just saying it bears consideration.
     
  13. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    "Determining whether the force used to effect a particular seizure is "reasonable" under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful balancing of ‘the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests’ against the countervailing governmental interests at stake…Our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has long recognized that the right to make an arrest or investigatory stop necessarily carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coercion or threat thereof to effect it.... its proper application requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances of each particular case, including the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight."
    Graham v Connor
     
  14. Varda The Bug Lady Valued Senior Member

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    Can't talk about this here. Suffices to say that I am aware.
     
  15. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    I will pm you about this when I have the time.


    Occupy Wall Street vs. the banksters
    Posted by Jon Talton, Seattle Times

    For almost two weeks, protesters have been rallying in New York's financial district under the name Occupy Wall Street. They have numbered from a couple of hundred to about a thousand, and have been peaceful despite a group being pepper sprayed by an NYPD officer. Smaller Tea Party rallies received wide media attention while this event has barely been covered by the main-stream media -- but this doesn't have the powerful corporate backing of the Tea Party.

    Like the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street is an entirely predictable outcome from the events of recent years, where the corporate evil doers got away with it while millions of Americans suffer unemployment, loss of their homes and downward economic mobility. As the economy continues to suffer, expect more unrest.

    The goals are nebulous or evolving, depending on who one talks to. Is it to protest the enormous social costs and economic damage caused by the swindles of the banksters? Or call attention to high income inequality? Call for real financial regulation? Or seed a movement that can go nationwide?

    No question that Wall Street is crushing Main Street, and setting us up for an even more severe financial bust in the coming years. But this is hardly the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., consisting of perhaps 300,000 protesters, and galvanizing a nation to fight injustice. This reminds me more of the Cindy Sheehan protests during the worst of the Iraq War. Sheehan looked at the Obama administration and said, "I don't think much has changed since the Bush administration."

    The same could be applied to Wall Street. That doesn't mean people shouldn't resist and protest. But most of the nation remains passive, watching an average 34 hours of television a week (and not CSPAN) and distracted by the latest electronic wonders made in Asia.

    Today's Econ Haiku:

    Germany says 'ja'
    In the latest bailout vote
    Soon they'll count to 'nein'

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...016355311_occupy_wall_street_vs_the_bank.html
     
  16. John99 Banned Banned

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    I'm supposed to send supplies to the UPS stor?
     
  17. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    They rent post office boxes genius.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2011
  18. John99 Banned Banned

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    What?
     
  19. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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  20. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    rent
     
  21. John99 Banned Banned

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    Rent? Why would i send supplies?
     
  22. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Because you want to support the protesters.
     
  23. Crunchy Cat F-in' *meow* baby!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I would love to support something like this, but in its present form it cannot be successful because of the following reasons:

    1) The message is inaccurate. While corporations contribute to the problem, they are not the sole part. The issue is that America is not being run for the benefit of the people. It's being run for the benefit of special interest groups. Some of those groups are corporations, some of those groups are foreign countries, some of those groups are Mom & Pop shops, some of those groups are enthnic empowerment lobbyists, etc.

    2) The protest has no power. There is no incentive for people to listen to the message (no matter how good it is). Both positive and negative reinforcment have to be exercised and from what I can see, neither presently exists.

    If this group really wants to be successful then I would suggest making the group a unique special interest group... something like "People for the People" and give it a charter... perhaps something like:

    * This special interest group's goal is the permanent removal of special interests from American government. The group gets disbanded the day special interest in government is made illegal by constitutional decree.

    * This special interest group will allow zero influence from other special interest groups.

    * This special interest group will accept cash and material donations.

    * This special interest group will use its donations to put politicians in American government office whom will make decisions for the people and pander to our specific special interest exlusively.

    * This special interest group will protest regularly. In the protest we will expose the damage that special interest groups have on America and will showcase the successes of our movement.
     

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