#OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby operator kos » Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:10 pm

!!!

from Tikkun:
Oakland Police Trained Alongside Bahrain Military and Israeli Forces Prior to Violent Occupy Oakland Raid

A month before Occupy Oakland was violently raided by riot police using chemical weapons, rubber bullets and flash grenades – a raid which critically injured Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen – the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department trained alongside a military unit from Bahrain and an Israeli Border Police unit.

The occasion was Urban Shield 2011, an annual training competition which gathers heavily militarized police from the United States and across the globe to explore the latest in tactical responses and to promote collaboration. It’s a training that northern California police departments credited for their “effective teamwork” in dealing repressively with Occupy Oakland.

Max Blumenthal, who broke this story in al-Akhbar in an exhaustive piece on the militarization of U.S. police, describes the units alongside which multiple California departments trained before violently crushing Occupy Oakland:

Training alongside the American police departments at Urban Shield was the Yamam, an Israeli Border Police unit that claims to specialize in “counter-terror” operations but is better known for its extra-judicial assassinations of Palestinian militant leaders and long record of repression and abuses in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Urban Shield also featured a unit from the military of Bahrain, which had just crushed a largely non-violent democratic uprising by opening fire on protest camps and arresting wounded demonstrators when they attempted to enter hospitals. While the involvement of Bahraini soldiers in the drills was a novel phenomenon, the presence of quasi-military Israeli police – whose participation in Urban Shield was not reported anywhere in US media – reflected a disturbing but all-too-common feature of the post-9/11 American security landscape.

That landscape is being revealed in full relief as militarized SWAT police across America continuously crack down on nonviolent, peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters. Indeed, excessive, coordinated force – unparallelled in contemporary American history – is being used against both protesters merely assembling to air their grievances and against journalists attempting to merely chronicle such protests.

One needs to look no further than Urban Shield 2011 to see why police departments across the country are beginning to resemble repressive forces in countries such as, say, Bahrain.

Indeed, Urban Shield 2011 was held on the University of California, Berkeley’s campus weeks before university police used excessive force on students occupying a campus green. One of the departments that participated in Urban Shield 2011 was the University of California Police Department, Berkeley. Is it any wonder, then, why campus police brutally beat and arrested students in early November in a crackdown on its Occupy Cal encampment?

Occupy Wall Street is not going anywhere. Even as groups are evicted from their encampments, protest actions are creatively expanding – from reclaiming foreclosed-upon homes to flash occupations of commercial districts.

As these nonviolent protests expand, it will be telling how long Americans will tolerate militarized police responses to what is becoming one of this generation’s civil rights movements.
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:45 am

.
    Religious Talk OWS | Chris Hedges
    — December 3, 2011 | HD

Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:46 am

.
    Occupy Wall Street | a photo album
    — Desiree J. Photography | uploaded Oct 9, 2011

Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:52 am

.
    Occupy Wall Street Music | random selections







Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:07 am

.
    Liberty Toast | Clay Sails
    — composed 2003

    [TEXT DISPLAYED IN VIDEO.] “Although this song was written during the early Bush years, much of it applies today. I rededicate it to the OCCUPY WALL STREET protesters and ALL revolutionaries everywhere who stand for justice and freedom.”

    LYRICS
    Total Awareness and housing bubbles
    styrofoam wrecking shuttles
    proud towers always seem to fall

    Code Orange agents like clockwork dropping
    daisy cutter shrapnel chopping life
    byte sized down to weaponized fuel

    both sides of the aisle of Congress agree
    it'll cost you your freedom to keep you free
    a Patriot Acts by shutting his eyes so he can't see

    well Freedom Fries aren't the only thing sizzlin
    when secret courts convict our citizens
    I'm mad enough to start resistin at last

    imagine tellin' old Tom Paine
    we torched his words in the name
    of saving ourselves from a fool like Saddam Hussein

    i hate to see democracy resting
    just because they say its messy
    no one should be callin' Stalin for TIPS

    our leaders keep us in the dark
    about energy meetings and budget shortfalls
    while slashing taxes for the richest few

    there words are designed to hide all meaning
    look behind the plastic sheeting
    tape my eyes so I can't watch us bleeding, oh my

    the president feels wisdom's easy
    learned fools just make things messy
    all you need is clarity to keep the Axis straight

    so he's hawking public property
    to media giants and oligopolies
    saying the market will set us free
    (yeah right, I've heard that one before)

    its time we gave up playing tragic
    no one else believes our magic
    "coke or pepsi?" ain't no choice at all

    if our liberty toast goes up in flames
    fire can't hurt us if we act insane
    how can we lose if there ain't no rules to the game anymore?
Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby AlicetheKurious » Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:45 am

JackRiddler wrote:And if they don’t listen … if they ignore us and put our demands on the back burner like they’ve done so many times before … then, with Gandhian ferocity, we’ll flashmob the streets, shut down stock exchanges, campuses, corporate headquarters and cities across the globe … we’ll make the price of doing business as usual too much to bear.


There's no, no, no other way. It would be an incredible feat, a miracle in fact, but it's just in black days like these that miracles can happen. It then becomes possible to view all the failures of the past as rehearsals. And if not this time, then next.
"If you're not careful the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:14 pm

.
    Occupy Wall Street | Bill Moyers’s video library
    — What’s the common cause behind Occupy protestors?

    → uploaded 19 days ago

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How Wall Street Occupied America
— By Bill Moyers | The Nation, November 21, 2011
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby crikkett » Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:04 pm

AlicetheKurious wrote:And if not this time, then next.

:yay
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby coffin_dodger » Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:13 am

I apologise if this has been posted before (165 pages is a lot to check!).

http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/more-ows/

Getting out of bed, to go out into a world that has been shaped into something utterly alien to my sensibilities, by people I don't know or care for, is getting more difficult each day. I feel saturated with shitty truths about the world I inhabit. It's a terrible realisation to be struck with - that a few families with a lust for power have controlled the Western World, and by extension the RotW, for the last few hundred years. It's almost too much to believe, yet alone face.

I hope that the momentum built of words will morph into action this year. Change is going to be messy, but necessary.
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Bruce Dazzling » Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:00 pm

"Arrogance is experiential and environmental in cause. Human experience can make and unmake arrogance. Ours is about to get unmade."

~ Joe Bageant R.I.P.

OWS Photo Essay

OWS Photo Essay - Part 2
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby elfismiles » Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:10 pm

Occupy Austin was unceremoniously evicted Friday night in direct violation of City policy and procedure ...

Austin Chronicle: Occupy Austin Evicted
http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/ne ... n-evicted/

Police shut down Occupy Austin, make arrests
http://www.americanindependent.com/2107 ... ke-arrests

Police evict protesters at Occupy Austin encampment
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/pol ... 47704.html


Notes on Friday's eviction/arrests
by Debbie Russell on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 7:46pm.
Image

This is what I sent to media today (along with a copy of the photo of me in front of the officers)...


Re: the eviction and arrests Friday night at Occupy Austin:

1. The City Manager, or any representative from City Hall, has NOT been talking to OA about evicting people prior to being told so at approximately 9:30pm Friday evening. Previous discussions included removing infrastructure, but not people. Please don't allow their claim otherwise to go unchallenged.

2. The memo issued does NOT have legal standing. Yes, by ordinance the City Manager can take actions to ensure proper management of the City - but he cannot take actions that conflict with ordinances on the books. He can't administratively change the Charter. Only Council can do that, or the people, by initiative and referendum. If he wants to declare City Hall Plaza a park space so it is now under the parks curfew ordinance, then the Council must pass language to change our code. He'd also have to seek an exemption for the City Hall Plaza ("Free Speech Plaza", at that) to be removed from the zone spelled out in the new Sitting, Lying, Sleeping ordinance where people are allowed to sleep when there is free speech activity at the site.

3. Austin Chronicle's John J. Anderson saw Lt. Dusterhoff (in charge of the operation) instruct officers to arrest the first person, the one with the computer livestreaming the event. The second arrest was of a young, obviously harmless woman taking photos. This is a well-known police tactic to disrupt our coverage/recording of their activities.

4. I was arrested for asking questions...there were dozens of people on the plaza for some time after I was put in a paddywagon. So I was not arrested for Criminal Trespass (charged with, yes) because I was backing up when the police were advancing, as ordered to do (which is why at the jail, they crossed off a 2nd charge of "failing to comply with orders" after superiors phoned in an order to do so). So I was leaving the plaza, but asking questions while doing so. One officer in the back of the line yelled "arrest her" - he was not a supervisor - but that's all it took. So the ones in front cuffed me. One didn't like what I was saying, and clearly his distance meant I was no threat to him, so I was arrested for his annoyance at my attempt to speak to Mr. Stockton (I was holding the memo in the photo--loudly asking for Eric Stockton to come discuss the legalities with me - he was hiding behind that line of officers).


QUOTE: "I was arrested for asking the questions my elected officials should already have asked in the days leading up to this....I was arrested for doing their job." - Debbie Russell

http://www.facebook.com/notes/debbie-ru ... 9309858573



This was on the heels of an FTP (Fuck The Police) march which some are wondering about the authenticity of ... it caused quite a dustup among Austin activists when Austin CopWatch "endorsed" the potentially violent protest and other non-violent Austin activists have been speaking out against this FTP rally.

Austin FTP on the march
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpbPilOkylg
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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby elfismiles » Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:27 pm


PRESS RELEASE
OCCUPY AUSTIN’S TIMELINE OF EVENTS WEEK OF EVICTION


Austin, TX. February 6th, 2012 - Individual members of Occupy Austin met with staffers from the offices of Council members Tovo and Morrison on the morning of Monday, Jan. 30th, 2012, regarding concerns about costs of police overtime. Monday afternoon these individuals received a phone call from Assistant City Manager McDonald ordering the immediate removal of the Occupy Austin Medical & Media tent, and our free library. A deadline of Wednesday evening for the tent/library order was negotiated to allow opportunity to communicate this order to our General Assembly. Afterwards, we requested the order in writing and Mr. McDonald refused.

Tuesday, Jan. 31st, 2012, we continued our request for the written order and invited Mr. McDonald to address the General Assembly in order to clarify and answer questions. He refused. We contacted City Council offices to further relay our concerns and requests.

On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 1st, 2012, we continued our outreach after Mr. McDonald told one of the Occupiers to tell their "boss" that the tent had to go. We relayed the message at 7pm to our General Assembly, and consensus was to continue our request for a written order. The night passed without any enforcement of the order.

Thursday, Feb. 2nd, 2012, we contacted the offices of Asst. City Manager McDonald, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, and every Councilmember asking for the written order. We were referred to the City Manager's office, and again we were refused a written order. Thursday passed with no enforcement of the order.

Friday, Feb. 3rd, 2012, at about 8pm, Dave Cortez, a member of the Occupy Austin Bank Action group that has helped organize the movement of $1.5 million out of big, bail-out banks, asked both City Manager Marc Ott and Asst. City Manager McDonald in person to clarify their order and issue in writing. Asst. City Manager McDonald replied, "The tent has to go. Remove it.” He once again refused to issue any written statement.
At 9:30pm, Occupy Austin was issued a Notice of Change of City Hall Building Use policy that was dated February 3rd, with changes scheduled to go into effect on February 2nd.

Any statement from the City of Austin claiming that Occupy Austin had notice of full eviction since Monday is blatantly false and we have the records to prove it.
###

About Occupy Austin: Occupy Austin is an occupation and peaceful protest that began on October 6, 2011 at City Hall in Austin, Texas, vowing to end the moneyed corruption of our democracy. It is affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City, and also with the "Occupy" protests in the United States and around the world.
About the Occupy Austin Media Team: We are a group of Occupy Austin activists who gather information regarding our upcoming events as well as up-to-the-minute news, and relay this to the press. All official Occupy Austin press releases are a collaboration of the Occupy Austin Media Team. If you would like more information on the topic of this press release or would like to schedule an interview, please contact: media@occupyaustin.org

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyAustinTx/ ... 5110893923

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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Laodicean » Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:44 am

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Re: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Saurian Tail » Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:44 pm

Holy Smokes! Andrew Breitbart is a nutcase ...

Andrew Breitbart Freaks Out On Occupy Activists (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | By Melissa Jeltsen
Posted: 2/11/12 | Updated: 2/11/12

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/1 ... 70390.html

Breitbart is angry.

On Friday night, the conservative muckraker accosted activists who were protesting the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference. Emily Crockett of Camp Progress was on hand to capture the remarkable tirade on video.

Breitbart screamed at the protesters to 'behave yourself' repeatedly. He also called the protesters freaks and animals and told them to 'stop raping people.'

It's pretty entertaining.

Watch the full video below:

"Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him." -Carl Jung
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#OCCUPYWALLSTREET campaign - September 17

Postby Allegro » Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:16 am

.
    The Police and the Protestors
    published 4 months ago: Sun, Oct 2, 2011

    SEE VIMEO CREDITS & NOTES | Music by The National

    Ed David also filmed this piece for Alex Mallis and Lily Henderson.

    Right Here All Over
    published 4 months ago: Wed, Oct 5, 2011

    SEE VIMEO CREDITS & NOTES | Music by Loscil
Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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