I have seen much debate on the UC Davis pepper spraying incident. I think this will have a huge impact on the OWS movement and protestors. I look forward to seeing what becomes of this incident and how it will affect what happens with tactics and force in time to come with protesting and occupying.

"I wrote back suggesting that I am a happy dude, and its not Anger — its closer to an ineffable sadness that comes once you realize you have lost something dear. I am old enough to have grown up when this nation was a Democracy, but that era has passed. We now live in a nation no longer run by the citizens — it is a Corporatocracy — and that makes me sadder than angry ..."

Great piece, Kannon. Thank you for posting it.

http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst...r/?page=entire

Norm Stamper certainly made mistakes as Chief of Police in Seattle, but he was willing to learn from them. I think he offers a few important insights in the article linked above:

1) That although the 1999 "Battle in Seattle" should have served as a primer of what NOT to do for law enforcement agencies, the opposite has happened. It has ushered in an era of increased militarization of law enforcement. He writes: "The paramilitary bureaucracy and the culture it engenders—a black-and-white world in which police unions serve above all to protect the brotherhood—is worse today than it was in the 1990s. Such agencies inevitably view protesters as the enemy."
2) That militaristic policing causes violence. "My support for a militaristic solution caused all hell to break loose," Stamper says. He's right. It did.
3) That 9/11, or more specifically the government's heavy-handed response and exploitation of public fears, has fueled the current crisis in law enforcement. "[T]he federal government began providing military equipment and training even to some of the smallest rural departments ... Everyday policing is characterized by a SWAT mentality, every other 911 call a military mission."

The whole article is worth a read. One thing I have been thinking about that he didn't touch on is the way that the proliferation of non-lethal (or really, less-lethal) weapons has made police forces considerably more aggressive and considerably less concerned about consequences, even in this day when almost everything is captured on video. These tools that were supposed to allow officers to defend themselves without killing people have instead become offensive weapons deployed to secure compliance (or, it seems, sometimes just as a show of dominance) rather than to secure the officer's safety.

Yes, what you say above (I bolded and underlined) seems so true to me. This whole thing about non-lethality of these kinds of weapons (and they are weapons) has given license to using them in situations not calling for them at all- and the public has accepted this. There is new information that the manufacturers of stun-guns like Tasers (a brand name) not giving the full story about how they can kill a person. They have not really given police department the real data!! So, departments have been developing crowd control and even perp apprehension tactics based upon faulty information. Then there is the fact that some (and it is a very small number) of police have aggressive personality traits that point to the fact that they shouldn't even be in law enforcement.

I wonder too- about all the TV cop shows and the displays of force used by characters that we see continually. How has that influenced the public about these tactics? I have heard from cops that they would be fired on the spot for a lot of the things TV cop heros do.

This may sound hoaky, but, I do respect police and I think they have a very difficult job. I support whatever equipment and training they receive for their own protection. However, something is really wrong here with the lack of training about differences in crowds like citizens exercising protest in a non-violent manner and that is not trying to stick it to cops.

So many of the incidences over the last couple of months just seem like waiting out dispersal by police would have been the best thing. Yes, they need to make certain emergency routes are open, but why don't they send in officers to "talk" through what is needed to keep people safe first- kind of like officers trained in negotiation with hostage situations. I might be very naive here, but, it just seems like the entire police crowd control of un-armed citizens needs to be overhauled and updated. And these kinds of weapons have influenced more responses of a first-aggressive nature based upon the false premise of these weapons are not harmful.

Could be talking up my own rear- I do not have any law enforcement expertise at all.

I think with what happened at UCD and has gone viral may help in law enforcement having to re-evaluate these tactics and make a lot of changes.

Honestly, I've been wondering how much of the violence is due to simple disdain for the protestors? My uncle has been cop for about 20 years, and he's been going on lately about how back his day he was too busy focusing on how he could contribute to society and how he would support himself and how it never crossed his mind that anyone owed him anything blahblahblah. Then all his cop buddies chime in and agree.

And he's not even one of the aggressive jerk cops. He rescues kittens.

I'm not trying to present "anecdata" in an argument or anything, but it's been hard for me to ignore what's right in front of me. Like AtLast, I could be talking up my own rear. :)

So when cops have disdain for someone they can just spray them in the face with pepper spray? Even when they are just standing there doing nothing, like those women at Occupy Wall St caught on camera being sprayed in the face by a white shirt for no discernible reason. You can open their mouth and spray pepper spray down their throat if you have disdain for them. Or you shoot them with rubber bullets when they are asking you if they are okay or too close if you have disdain for them. Or if the cops have disdain they can beat the crap out of a transperson or a queer. If cops have disdain they can act as they please, is that the idea? Too bad they don’t have some disdain for child molesters and rapists.

I'm not saying I think it's acceptable at all, definitely not was I was trying to imply...

But could lack of training + disdain for the group in front of you lead to making jerk decisions? Maybe.

In Slater's post (sorry, I don't know how to double quote), he mentioned Norm Stamper saying "The paramilitary bureaucracy and the culture it engenders—a black-and-white world in which police unions serve above all to protect the brotherhood—is worse today than it was in the 1990s. Such agencies inevitably view protesters as the enemy."

I appreciate your voice, Ruby Woo, and I am really grateful to hear about your uncle. I talk with the police in my neighborhood, and I have worked with some very compassionate police on the issue of prostitution.

I think we have to start to address perceptions. I think we have to talk about why protestors are perceived as malcontents with no real point or cause and how that view gets used. Perhaps some are, or perhaps some are the like the people I've stood with who have lost homes, have no healthcare, have lost all of their personal savings in a bad 401K, an underwater mortgage or a medical bankruptcy.

Personally, I find the desire to protest and speak up for a more equal and just society not only welcome but brave and one of the most hopeful things I have seen in my voting lifetime.

But most of all, I think we have to allow people to exercise their right to disagree and to even protest without fear of violence. Without these, I think we're looking at something other than a democracy.

http://www.fictionews.com/news/105/B...ews-story.html

Good news for UC Davis students.

When individual police officers assault peaceful citizens with chemical or other 'non-lethal' weapons they should be arrested for assault at a minimum...

If individual police officers get away with this......a police state follows...

Seattle woman miscarries after police assault her despite her yelling she is pregnant and wants to leave....

2 Iraq war veterans are hospitalized due to police assault in Oakland

the press says the Occupy folks make it unsafe and the Chancellor of UC Davis is AFRAID of her students....

Bush the shrub wins....be damn afraid .....

It's interesting. I'm watching Nixon right now. While Oliver Stone takes way too many liberties, the footage of real protesters and the rhetoric of the government is real. And it hasn't changed in 40 years. It reminds me of what we are hearing from Faux News right now. And the Nuevo Hippies are right now too. Or are they Neo Hippies?

There is a correct way to use pepper spray and tasers. People authorized to do so do go through training for this. They also are told when to use it and to what aggression. With UC Davis the question is were the students ready to be forceful and not comply? We do know they were asked to leave. Some law enforcement people debating this say the officers should have proceeded to arrest them first and if they did not comply then give the warning to comply or be sprayed. For some reason these officers felt threatened? .. or felt the need to just spray.. which is where the debate comes up and why they did this. My guess was because the students were asked to leave, was it justified? I say no. I guess we will find out. I definitely think this case will determine how pepper spray and force is proceeded with in the future.

Women's OWS Action
 

RAISE OUR VOICES! Women's OWS Action, Nov 25th, 1PM, Foley Square, NYC

Everyday around the world women-identified persons survive different forms of violence. Physical violence leaves us with traumatic scars. Economic violence causes us to struggle to feed our families. Sexual violence in our homes and on our streets causes us to feel shame. Political violence silences the power of our voices to make decisions in society. Military violence divides nations of women who want peace.

We say no more! We want respect, equity, compassion, peace, security and healing for ourselves, our children, our communities and our world.


Wall Street is violence against women. Corporations get nearly 70% of their profit from women workers who earn $2 a day. In the U.S., women make as low as $0.52 for every dollar a man makes. Women of color are 70% of the global poor. More than 15 million of our children live in poverty in the U.S., the richest nation in the world. Women remain strong! We raise our voices to promote a fair and just economic system!

Women’s bodies & voices are under attack. Individuals disrespect our bodies with street harassment, rape, and other forms of physical & sexual violence. 1 in 6 American women has been a victim of attempted or completed rape. The courts, cops and lawyers continue to blame us for this violence. Media corporations make billions with music and films that disgrace our bodies, minds and spirits. And now, state governments in the U.S. have created restrictions on voting which shut out the voices of women of color at the polls. Women remain strong! We proclaim our right to peace, legal justice, respectful images and voting access!



We are not cheap labor, sexual objects or people to be disregarded!

We use the strength of our voices to demand respect, justice, peace, fairness, voting rights, wealth and a living wage!

***trans, gender-varient women are welcome & encouraged to attend***

(please share far & wide!)

Full Declaration: http://bit.ly/sZ985S
Facebook Invite: http://on.fb.me/sHzun8


Organized by CLAW (Clear Action by/for Women) Coalition:

AF3IRM

http://af3irm.org



A.N.S.W.E.R

http://www.answercoalition.org



Black Women's Blueprint

http://www.blackwomensblueprint.org



SisterSong NYC & Trust Black Women
http://bit.ly/mnxD7J



Feminism Now Podcast

feminism-now.com



Party for Socialism & Liberation

http://www.pslweb.org

Occupy protestors have made direct contact with Obama in NH and slipped him a note....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/o...201229558.html

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/OQ...ccupy-note.jpg

ok... so obviously OWS is a hot topic. i posted a link on another page about the davis pepper spray incident. and my cousin who is a cop responded, along with her mom, they fully back wall street and the cops, not a surprise, but she gave me a penal code to justify the police action: PC 407

CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE

· 407 PC Unlawful assembly defined.
Whenever two or more persons assemble
together to do an unlawful act, or do a lawful
act in a violent, boisterous or tumultuous
manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.


the link below explains the criteria for conviction of this offense:

http://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/...2600/2686.html

after reading it... my thinking is that it still wasn't justified from what i saw because it didn't appear to be a riot, and there didn't appear to be malicious intent or intent to break the law. because my cousin is so adamantly defending the action, (i really don't know the motivation, because she refused to answer any of my questions, so i can only speculate) i'm wondering if the cops are perceiving the demonstrations as riots, illegal activity, or if it's her more conservative (and privileged) viewpoint that she's perceiving it this way, or an attempt to stick together? it sounds like other people on this thread have had similar experiences... thoughts?

I think the cops clearly mistake peaceful protestors with rioters. How they make that connection in their minds is just baffling to me. Someone staging a sit in, someone standing on a side walk or in a park with a sign, someone banging a drum and chanting is not a threat to anyone. Pepper spray is one of many non-lethal weapons that are supposed to be an alternative to using lethal force (guns for instance). But instead of using pepper spray as an alternative to using lethal force, the cops use it as a way to use force in situations that don't call for any type of force - which is totally inappropriate imho.

thank you az. it is so hard for me... to hear my cousin spouting such hatred for people she has never met. it just baffles me how easily we (humans) can be duped into seeing each other as the enemy.

You can call me Drew :D

thank you Drew! :D

I am amazed by it myself. With a few exceptions here in Oakland, in particular, the OWS folks have been completely peaceful and all of the violence has been committed by the State.

Ask your cousin how many of her friends have lost their houses to the banks while they were working on a modification? My experience as an REO real estate broker is that while the bank is working on your modification they are "double tracking" the foreclosure. Meaning they are stringing you out and then "Bam!" they take your house. I didn't dream up derivatives. Did you? I didn't even dream up options, and while I understand the investment product, options are no more than legalized gambling. I said that in 2000 when I got my Series 7 license. This shit is legalized gambling. So when the OWS folks say the banks have been gambling with our money on our future, they are exactly right. Bank of America is so bloated that they could fail and it would take months for the rank and file to find out about it. Yet their executives still receive huge pay packages while the middle class shrinks away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a capitalist for sure, but I believe in conducting business with a soul. Am I working towards the top 1%? You bet your ass. But I think you don't have to make every penny on every deal. You have to give back. A lot. Its the right thing to do. You help people who need help. And you operate with a conscience, not from a place of greed. Greed is still is one of the seven deadly sins. If every business person handled themselves in this manner this country would be out of this mess in a month.

Sickening
 

"Double tracking," eh? The games never end do they?

I very much respect all the posters and viewpoints that have been stated here and I am just wanting to say that yes I don't think that the way it has been done is the right way and while the cops on the street are following orders from higher up it is not a excuse to use methods that are not called for. I am recalling my training in moving a passive resistor and we were taught not to use pepper spray but there are other pressure points that we would use yes it is called pain compliance but it is not a maneuver that will injure you. As a campus police officer I have had to break up some protest because they could not be in the spot that they were as I was told to by my higher command it was a small scale and I was able to just to talk it out. but was I a little scared heck yeah yes I have a gun but the very last thing I want to to have to use it I am here to protect these students but you never know about the beer bottle that gets throws or worse I worry about Officer safety all the time.. again I am not excusing the acts at all they make me ashamed

I wish they could have finished. He was listening then some idiot started chanting. Then it just got garbled up. Not that I'm a fan of Obama, but had this had been Bush, they would have been escorted out or arrested. Sorry if this is already posted. The Obama chanting was a bit unsettling for me though.

I absolutely disagree with what has been going on in terms of peaceful assembly and the use of tear gas, etc. to disperse them.

I have to speqk up about the fact that not all OWS demonstrators have been non-violent. Although, the case in SF wherein a woman slashed 2 officers (one in the face) with an exacto knife (which she stole from an artist showing at a street art fair nearby) was not peaceful assembly. Now, it looks like she and the guy she was with were hanging out at the SF encampment and not really OWS people. Most of the attacks on police with bottles, etc. all over the US have been done by anarchist groups or people just there to party. They do not represent the core of OWS demonstrators at all.

This always happens and I do think the cops need to protect themselves. This is a complex set of circumstances. Many of the OWS folks have let the homeless and other groups share space simply due to feeling the pain of disenfranchised people. The non-violent OWS folks are not at fault for a few lashing out at police, but, I just can't sit back and say it has all been peaceful or that police have some things to worry about. How do they know who is safe and not going to strike-out?

In no way do I support what happened at UCD- and I think that the Admin and the campus police department is at fault for failing to train officers for these kinds of protests. Also, I do think there were rogue officers involved that would act that way no matter what.

I sure don't put the actions of a very few "outsiders" that have been violent on the movement as a whole. But, there have been incidences of people attacking officers. This is where I think "knowing" the population is really important and that the first thing that happens should be communication between the campus police chief and demonstrators that can speak to what is planned and who might not be really part of the protest.

The UCD police officers were wrong and I hope prosecuted outside of the university in criminal court. Those students were not posing any kind of physical threat. But other people have. Not many, but it has gone on.

December 6: Occupy Wall Street “Goes Home”
 

LINK: http://occupywallst.org/article/dece...eet-goes-home/

Excellent post, Drew
 

I'm happy to know 12/6 :-)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C8EDe9hRS6...hz3smj+tw1.jpg

My business puts me smack in the middle of the foreclosure debacle. And I've seen it all. Seriously. All. I've been beating a drum on the subject, but it falls on deaf ears. Here's a link to a particularly bad man who still doesn't get it.

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/baum-...ose-2011-11-22

He blames a NYT columnist for the failure of his law firm. The truth is is firm was doomed to fail because of it's depraved corporate culture. The NYT columnist was just the means to the end.

I remember seeing those disgusting Halloween office party pictures a couple weeks ago on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. I have no sympathy for this guy.

The latest Move On email -pretty cool
 

MYTH #1: The congressional Super Committee failed because both sides refuse to compromise.


REALITY: The Super Committee failed because Republicans’ number one, non-negotiable priority is to protect millionaires and billionaires from paying even one more penny in taxes.1 Democrats repeatedly offered deep spending cuts (far deeper than most progressives would like) in exchange for raising taxes on the wealthy and closing corporate loopholes, only to be refused again and again.2 So even though the vast majority of Americans say they want to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits, and raise taxes on the rich and corporations,3 that won’t happen until Republicans put aside their extremist stance.


MYTH #2: Nobody knows what Occupy Wall Street is about.


REALITY: Occupy Wall Street may not have a formal list of demands, but anyone who’s been paying attention understands the core problems that occupiers are protesting–that corporations have far too much power in our political system, that Wall Street banks crashed our economy but were never held accountable, and that the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans–156 million people–combined.4


MYTH #3: Occupiers should stop protesting and just get a job.


REALITY: As anybody who’s looked for a job in the last few years knows, there just aren’t jobs out there. That’s a big part of why occupiers are protesting. In September, there were four times as many unemployed people as job openings.5 And for those who are lucky enough to find a job, median wages today are lower than they were a decade ago.6


MYTH #4: Occupy Wall Street is intent on provoking violence, especially against banks and the police.


REALITY: Occupations across the country have committed themselves to nonviolent protest, in the greatest traditions of protest movements. Some of their protests have been met with acts of police violence–tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets7–but in many cases, protesters have reminded police that the police are part of the 99%, too.8 And in the few cases when people have shown up at occupations and committed acts of vandalism, other protesters have even repaired their acts of vandalism.9


MYTH #5: The biggest crisis facing our country is out of control government spending.


REALITY: The two biggest drivers of our deficit–by far–are the economic crash and the Bush tax cuts.10 We have millions of people out of work, corporations hoarding cash, and factories sitting idle. If we put all those people back to work–rebuilding infrastructure, educating our children, and researching new technologies–it’ll shrink the deficit and make our economy stronger for the long haul. And we can easily afford it if we make sure the rich–who are taking home a larger percentage of income than any time since 191711–pay their fair share.

Ever cook something jalapenos in it and accidentally get it in your eye? Or your nose? Scoville index on a jalapeno is max 8000. Police grade pepper spray? In excess of 2million heat units.

http://www.eatmorechiles.com/Scoville_Heat.html

I loves me some heat, but not 250 times the heat of a jalapeno sprayed in my face.

thank you for your input. i'm wondering how long ago your training was? and if you think location of training would make a difference? my cousin is a cop in la county and all her buddies chimed in with the same kind of response: saying that the people sprayed deserved it and the cops were showing restraint.

A constitutional movement to end corporate mule
 

From - http://movetoamend.org/amendment

Amendment

Section 1 [Corporations are not people and can be regulated]

The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.

Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.

The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.

Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]

Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.

Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.

The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.

Section 3

Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.

Help Us Name The Amendment!

What do you think the amendment should be called? We want to hear from you!

Here are some ideas already proposed:

Amendment to End Corporate Rule
Clean Elections Amendment
Abolish Corporate Personhood Amendment
Amendment to Remove Corporations from the Constitution
End Corporate Personhood Amendment
Making Democracy Real Amendment
The Democracy Renewal Amendment
Government of the People Amendment
The 99% Amendment
The Amendment to Liberate Democracy (or Our Republic)
We the People Amendment
The Peoples Personhood Amendment
Corporations are Not People, Money is Not Speech Amendment
The Common Sense Amendment

Very well put. Thank you

Social movements absolutely effect change in our political system- Vietnam is a very good example of this. Yet, it took 5-7 years for this to happen. There is a lot of groundeork to this. And starting as individuals outside of protesting (keep doing that, too), we must enter the political climate via local elections on up.

I know that for our particular queer population, it isn't easy to get involved with groups outside of our comfort zone, but we have to. We have to be part of voter registration drives, volunteer to work at polling places, volunteer for candidates (and some of them will not have ALL of our stances on issues), educate our families and neighbors and just participate in the system that I know we have problems with. But, the right-wing has done this quite effectively mainly due to the assumption that they represent the majority of the electorate. They do not! The US is quite diverse.

Yes, when I have gone to some candidate meeting at someone's home, I have received the "stare" - even in a region that is touted as very open. We tend to only join political groups with people like us- and that isn't going to get to the numbers we need in the US to be heard.

This movement needs to get our messages out much sooner than in the past- and we need to join forces with people that align politically but look different than we do and take our rightful place in our democracy. I have found that most of the fears I have about joining community action groups outside of queerdom are false and that I have much more in common with people outside of my usual social groups than I realized.

This movement needs to "move" along to action that will have an impact on our political institutions much faster than in the past.

As someone who is admittedly and openly sceptical about the Occupy movement, this is one of the aspects that I struggle with. On the one hand the Occupy movement tries to portray itself as representing all, or almost all (99%) of society, uses rhetoric and, on occasions, imagery that attracts anarchists and, worse, those with no sense of social responsibility ... and, yet, distances itself from the consequences that result.

The desecration of St Paul's Cathedral here in London is the perfect case in point.

Funny, I think Occupy is calling on the world to be more socially responsible. Social responsibility is really it's core message.

I think it is really important to understand that Occupy is about peaceful protest and non-violence. Any riff-raff elements out there who do cause trouble don't represent Occupy. I don't like it when people look at those few anarchists and trouble makers who show up at peaceful protests and cause trouble, and assume that they represent the protestors. The Occupy movement doesn't actively try to attract anarchists. Anarchists just see an opportunity to make trouble so they show up. Desecration of property is not in any way a goal of or condoned by the Occupy movement.

I'm stealing this from Ruby Woo's post on another page. I hope you all here in the States had a good holiday today. :-)

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/im...RQGhy6y_sOugAw

Good morning
 

AZ,
thank you for the nudge about my participation in this forum thread.

I've been very quiet... When I'm quiet, it can mean a number of things but most generally, my being quiet in this instance (OWS, et al) concerns knowing certain people in my region who play instrumental roles, publicly.

When I see them make particular decisions that do not square with my reality, I sit up and take notice and listen with an acuteness to detail. I try to gather as much information as I can - verbal, non-verbal, hidden elements in various fields of interest, so that I am able to gather some sort of meaning that makes sense not only to me, but helps me to understand them better as well. Sometimes I am able to understand better and other times my own trained incapacities limit my ability to see a fuller picture of what is transpiring.

I'm not happy with some of the decisions made by key officials in Portland.

I'm not able to deliberate on those feelings or things I am privy to or what kind of meaning-making I am getting from everything that transpired in our city.

What I can say this morning is more along the lines of a comment and thanks to Diavalo's recent post on organizational culture, I am able to say that Diavalo's observation on key elements in organizational culture illustrate a key principle in Organizational culture: Organizational culture (no matter if the culture we speak about resides in the OWS movement, institutional houses of power, familial, community, workplace or such) mirrors problematics in tangible or intangible ways with respect to how values, decisions or a sharing of goals culminates over time.

Whether an organization succeeds, stumbles and recovers, or fails, we can examine what elements of culture within the company and community it resides in and take note of what elements contributed to success or failure or a stalling of growth necessary to bring all elements together to produce an orchestration of success or failure.

IMO, the most successful organizations resist isomorphic elements and utilize sets of data key in determining the breadth or depth in order to orchestrate and administer successful mission priori.

Thank you for your observation and comments Diavalo.

One thought that has stayed with me since the inception of the OWS movement is that greater care to detail of organizational success might be worth a closer fine-toothed examination for clues on maintaining strength and equilibrium at optimal peak performance to withstand isomorphic tendencies that impale organizational success. A field marshalling of logistical detail.

That's all I've got today and I wish each of you a beautiful holiday weekend,

~D