OCCUPY WALL STREET

[persiphone]

Press clash with police during Occupy Wall Street raid; seven journalists arrested
By Dylan Stableford

Senior Media Reporter

PostsEmailRSSBy Dylan Stableford | The Cutline – Tue, Nov 15, 2011


Zuccotti Park, which has been ground zero for the Occupy Wall Street protest since mid-September, was cleared by police in riot gear early Tuesday morning. As NYPD officers carried out the raid, they turned away members of the media--occasionally by force, with several arrests ensuing .

And like the protesters they were trying to cover, the journalists swept up in the raid have been crying foul.

"I'm press!" Rosie Gray, a reporter for the Village Voice, claims she told a female police officer.

Her response: "Not tonight."

Reporters such as Gray took to Twitter, using a #mediablackout hashtag to update their industry colleagues.

At a press conference, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police barred the media from covering the raid for their own protection, and "to prevent a situation from getting worse."

"The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out, but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others," Bloomberg said. "Nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law."

"Could #Bloomberg be a secret Occupy Wall Streeter?" Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on Twitter. "He seems to have just revived the movement."

According to Gothamist.com, the NYPD restricted airspace in Lower Manhattan to prevent local news helicopters from CBS and NBC from capturing video images of the raid. Police also used pepper spray on a "large number" of reporters.

Reporters from NPR and the New York Times were among the 200 people whom police officers arrested during the initial raid. Julie Walker, a freelancer for NPR, was arrested "despite the fact that she was wearing an NYPD-issued press pass." Police held her for four hours before releasing her.

Jared Maslin, a reporter for the New York Times's local East Village blog, said he was arrested as he tried to comply with the police orders to move away from the area.

The "reporter was put onboard a police van with eight other arrestees, including two New School undergraduates, a photographer with Agence France-Presse, and city councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, all handcuffed behind their backs," the Times said. Rodriguez "had blood on his temple from what he said was an earlier confrontation with the police."

On Tuesday afternoon, police arrested at least four other journalists who were tracking OWS protestors as they tried to gather at another nearby park. Among that group of arrested reporters were journalists from the Daily News and the Associated Press, according to the Times.

[Cin]

This Is What America Looks Like
Thursday 17 November 2011
by: William Rivers Pitt, Truthout

Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zuccotti Park in New York, November 15, 2011. After being evicted by the police Tuesday morning, several hundred Occupy Wall Street demonstrators returned to the park the same night, but a judge’s ruling now bans tents, tarps and staying overnight.

They say it's hard to speak
They feel so strong to say we are weak
But through the eyes the love of our people
They've got to repay.

We come from Trench Town
We come from Trench Town
Trench - Trench Town
They say, "Can anything good
Come out of Trench Town?"

- Bob Marley

Let's get a few things straight right from the jump.

First of all, despite all the gleeful obituaries that have been appearing across the scabrous landscape of the "mainstream" news media, the Occupy movement is not, in fact, over. Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have sent in cops like thieves in the night to dispossess peaceful protesters and destroy books in New York City, but there are hundreds of Occupy camps still standing from one side of this nation to the other. As for the seedcorn New York protest, well...if you're one who opposes what they've been doing, you can cross your fingers and toes to your heart's delight in the hope that matters are settled in the Big Apple, but you best be prepared for disappointment, because those people have set their caps to accomplish what they endeavored to do back in September, and they are far, far more organized and determined than people like you seem capable of apprehending.

A setback like this only adds fuel to the fire. We're talking about people who are so committed to the ideals of the Occupy movement that they abandoned the soft conveniences of modern existence - walls, a roof, a bed, plumbing, locks on the doors and the soothing babble of cable TV - to sleep in a park surrounded by strangers for almost two months. Raise your hand if you've ever gone camping for two full months, anywhere. It has been hot, it has been cold, it has rained, it has snowed, and, oh yeah, there was the ever-present threat of catching a billy club over the head or a face full of NYPD mace for their trouble. You think they're going away after enduring all that?

Ha.

Second, I'm going to slap the next person who comes out with the pat line, "They don't have a message! They need a message! They're nothing without a message!" Um, cluebag, they are the message. The Occupy movement has created modern-day Hoovervilles from sea to shining sea to point out the simple fact that things have gone badly wrong in these United States, that the American Dream of even minimal upward mobility and the promise of a better future for our children were sold for pennies on the dollar to the bastards and whores who have perverted this democracy past the point of recognition. It's a fantastic bit of irony, a towering example of cognitive dissonance, that the same people who attack the Occupy movement are also the ones packing guns to Tea Party protests because they think the country is headed in the wrong direction. What in the name of Jesus H. Christ do they think the right direction is? 99% of us are getting screwed, and the Occupy movement has been the most eloquent firebreak against that heedless, moneygrubbing trend.

I'll make it simple: Wall Street has occupied American politics and stolen America's bright future in an orgy of graft and theft, so America has occupied Wall Street - along with every Main Street in every city and town you can think of - in order to try and set things right. Got it? It is pretty simple, folks. Two plus two does, in fact, equal four. The only reasons people refuse to see this thing, simply, for what it is come down to willful stupidity, stubborn partisanship, money, or a combination of the three.

Third, anyone who claims that the Occupy movement has not accomplished anything can kiss my whole entire ass. The upward mobility of our hard-earned money into the coffers of the rich and powerful has been going on since the disaster known as the "Reagan Revolution." The politicians bought by the cash-fat elite have appointed judges to every level of the state and federal judicial systems, and the serial corporate-favoring rulings handed down by these robed criminals have given this grand theft the imprimatur of legality, but it ain't legal, and it ain't right. One look at the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision, and the after-affects of same, can tell you that. Hell, Mitt Romney actually got up with his bare face hanging out the other day to make the very modern American argument that corporations are, in fact, people...non-existent multi-billionaire people protected from even the most minimal legal oversight or scrutiny, to be sure, but people all the same.

Is that the country you want to live in? I don't, and neither do the Occupy protesters, and what they have accomplished over these last two months is to finally, finally, finally draw major national attention to the deranged way we go about things here in America. In the immortal words of a fantastic Occupy protest sign, "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one." For the first time in modern memory, people in America, along with their elected representatives and the "mainstream" media that covers it all, have had their noses rubbed in the awful yawning gap between the Haves and the Have Nots, and the manner in which this doomed system of thievery-as-governance actually operates. Those who try to tell you the Occupy movement has no message are the very people who see the message with perfect clarity, and it scares the tar out of them, so they have made a point of saying black is white in order to muddy the waters. Don't believe it. In your gut, you know better.

No one, but no one, has explained it all better than Chris Hedges:

The banks and Wall Street, which have erected the corporate state to serve their interests at our expense, caused the financial crisis. The bankers and their lobbyists crafted tax havens that account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade. They rewrote tax laws so the nation's most profitable corporations, including Bank of America, could avoid paying any federal taxes. They engaged in massive fraud and deception that wiped out an estimated $40 trillion in global wealth. The banks are the ones that should be made to pay for the financial collapse.

The big banks and corporations are parasites. They greedily devour the entrails of the nation in a quest for profit, thrusting us all into serfdom and polluting and poisoning the ecosystem that sustains the human species. They have gobbled up more than a trillion dollars from the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve and created tiny enclaves of wealth and privilege where corporate managers replicate the decadence of the Forbidden City and Versailles. Those outside the gates, however, struggle to find work and watch helplessly as food and commodity prices rocket upward...And no one in the Congress, the Obama White House, the courts or the press, all beholden to corporate money, will step in to stop or denounce the assault on families. Our ruling elite, including Barack Obama, are courtiers, shameless hedonists of power, who kneel before Wall Street and daily sell us out. The top corporate plutocrats are pulling down $900,000 an hour while one in four children depends on food stamps to eat.

Finally, any and all who say the Occupy movement is meaningless in comparison to the civil rights struggle or the fight against the war in Vietnam are, quite simply, flat wrong. Worse than that, you know you're wrong. This is not to discredit or discount those great, noble and entirely just efforts in any way, shape or form. But to claim the Occupy movement is beneath those efforts not only misses the point by miles, but viciously undercuts the very fabric of those efforts. This fight is about race, and class, and justice, and what happens to a nation when it becomes addicted to war and the profits earned for a few by the delivery of death. The Occupy movement is the culmination of every great struggle, in this century and the last, against a powerful few who would have us return to the days of aristocracy and penury. Like Rosa Parks, the Occupy movement sat down where it supposedly didn't belong and said, "I'm not moving," until what is wrong is set right once and for all.

Just so we're clear
http://www.truth-out.org/what-america-looks/1321471600

[persiphone]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

An interesting article.

First Steps in Reforming the U.S. Financial and Tax System

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/...nd-tax-system/

i have been saying for a very long time that we don't live in a democracy, but rather we live in an oligarchy. we live in an illusion of democracy to keep us quiet.

[SoNotHer]

Great post, Toughy. Yes, like most change, this will be come in waves and phases. It's time to get out of the parks and into the community meetings and media and capitols.

Originally Posted by Toughy

Phase 1 has been about occupying turf....parks, sidewalks, etc...with a message of social, political and economic justice. We need to keep this turf war going while doing something else....move forward.

Now it's time for Phase 2 because if there is not a Phase 2 then folks are getting gassed, beat, hospitalized and jailed for no good reason except a turf war.

So what would Phase 2 look like?
* The halls and offices of Congress should be occuppied in the form of lobbying (going in the offices and talking to them or their staff) all Senators and House members.
* Voter registration drives should be part of every protest and every encampment.
* Call a Constiitutional Convention to get money out of politics would be a good thing. There are occupy movements in (I think) all 50 states now and we should be working in our states as well as on the national scene.

The Constitutional Amendment could be only 2 lines....that's it ....short sweet and unambigious.
1. Corporations are not people and money is not speech.
2. All federal elections will be publicly financed. No private money can be spent on federal elections. (this means the president, senate and house elections....Personally I think ALL elections should be publically financed.)

Article V of the Constitution outlines how it is done. Basically there are two ways to do it. One is by Congress and the way all previous amendments have been done. The other way is if 2/3 of the states (legislatures) demand a Convention, it must be called by Congress. To ratify an amendment it must be approved by 3/4 of the states. So 34 states demand a convention, then it takes 38 to ratify the amendment.

We get money out of politics and the possibility that government would again be by and for the people exists.

I got this idea from listening to the radio.........it makes sense to me.

[dykeumentary]

Originally Posted by SoNotHer

Great post, Toughy. Yes, like most change, this will be come in waves and phases. It's time to get out of the parks and into the community meetings and media and capitols.

Totally agree. And I also would add an analysis of racism.
The "New Deal" that came out of the great depression created the white middle class, and left People of Color behind. Unless this new "99%" movement studies history, listens, and doesn't make the same mistakes, we might be building a new set of institutional racist structures that just serve a few.

The extremist "Rght" has been getting themselves elected in school boards, county and town-level positions since the mid 90s. Then they moved onto state-wide seats from those constituencies. And now they are national players. People who want justice would do well to get to know their neighbors well-- it's become apparent who has been talking with them.

I remain hopeful!

[SoNotHer]

That is an exceptional article. Some many jewels are within it -

"he basic problem today is that nearly everyone is in debt. This is the problem in Europe too."

"The banking system’s alternative to 'the road to serfdom' thus turns out to be a road to debt peonage."

"Every Democratic congressional committee chairman has to pay to the Party $150,000 to buy the chairmanship. This means that the campaign donors get to determine who gets committee chairmanships. This is oligarchy, not democracy. So the system is geared to favor whoever can grab the most money."

"Today’s economic problem is systemic. This is what makes any solution so inherently radical."

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

An interesting article.

First Steps in Reforming the U.S. Financial and Tax System

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/...nd-tax-system/

[ruffryder]

here is a livestream you can check out that has a few OWS locations. .

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution



Occupy Portland demands the mayor apologize for the violent crackdown

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/1...ent-crackdown/





Violent crackdown in NY at Zuccoti, what's next? Protestors take to the streets of NY!

[AtLast]

So, how about members right here running for local school boards and city or county government offices? What about getting on bank or hospital boards in our communities? Join non-elected city and county committes like recreation and safety committees. Many of us have raised or are raising kids and also run small businesses or work for Mom & Pop/Mom & Mom/Pop & Pop businesses and have a stake in the schools they attend. Tea Party tactics have worked for them...... from the ground up. We can't do the same?

[theoddz]

I was wondering how long it would take for the moneyed interests, crooked politicians and bastard bankers to crawl out from under their rock to outwardly and openly oppose OWS. Here we go.

This on msnbc.com this morning.

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_ne...py-wall-street

My guess is that this is going to, ultimately, heat things up until there is rioting in the streets. The second American Revolution has begun.

~Theo~

[persiphone]

in Lobbyist terms...under a million bucks is not a lot of money. also, i think that once they start delving into the who's and the whys i think they're going to be in for a rude awakening. i think the financial sector is still subscribing to the idea that they are untouchable. i think we're going to see some sacrificial lambs emerge from banking and i think the idea that they're even considering moving in this direction is both skeery and vindicating. i think you're right though.....this could get uglier than it is now.

[Soon]

OMG Cops pepper-spray UC Davis students, point blank in face, who are just sitting there doing nothing

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

OMG Cops pepper-spray UC Davis students, point blank in face, who are just sitting there doing nothing

When I see things like this, and read about other cities and the problems they are having. I wonder, is the ACLU watching? Are they doing anything about this? It has been stated over and over again, (here) the ACLU will be watching everything. Redundant, but worth repeating. The police have been wonderful. Even the five people arrested this week, were put into plastic wrist cuffs, (not hand cuffed) and all walked nicely to the paddy wagon. I realize this could have gone the other way. ON EITHER PARTIES BEHALF>

[SoNotHer]

Is this photo-shopped or real? If the latter, I'm beyond words.

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

OMG Cops pepper-spray UC Davis students, point blank in face, who are just sitting there doing nothing

[VintageFemme]

Originally Posted by SoNotHer

Is this photo-shopped or real? If the latter, I'm beyond words.

It's as real as it gets. This is very hard to watch but here it is...

[SoNotHer]

What have we become...

Originally Posted by VintageFemme

It's as real as it gets. This is very hard to watch but here it is...

[persiphone]

i have to wonder what the members here in this online community that are members of the police force think of all of this. i was talking about this with one of them....and i said....worst case scenario if this country started transitioning into a police state....we would be on opposite sides of the fence just because hy's a cop and i'm not...not because of my belief in this movement.

[SoNotHer]

Imagine if everyone in Manhattan, Detroit and Chicago suddenly lost their ability to vote. That's the number of people -- 5 million and counting -- affected by passed and pending changes to voting laws in states around the country. When all is said and done, millions more could be disenfranchised.

The people passing these laws lie. They say that it's about voter fraud. What it's really about is systematically suppressing voters of color, students and the elderly.

While the NAACP is nonpartisan, the people pushing these laws are not. They know that the number of people, five million, whose votes would be suppressed by these laws is three times greater than the combined margin of victory in Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia during the 2008 presidential election.

Let's call these new voter requirement laws out for what they are: Extreme attempts by the far right-wing to legislate voter suppression. We can fight back. Knowledge is power. Will you take these quick and easy steps to learn the facts about these new voter requirements?

Take our mobile text quiz. Text the word TRUTH to 62227 on your mobile phone to take a simple quiz: Learn the truth about who is affected by voter ID laws.

Like Stand for Freedom on Facebook: Join the discussion on new voter ID laws across the country, and learn how you can get involved in our efforts to ensure everyone has the right to vote.

You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than you do of being impersonated at the polls.

11% of eligible voters would not have the proper, up-to-date, state-issued ID required to vote.

African American, Latino, young, elderly and disabled voters are far more likely to lack the required identification to vote. Your support in the coming months is more important than ever. Take these quick and easy steps to start fighting back today.

Thanks,

Ben

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

[Cin]

I just read this article. It has ten police assaults on occupy protestors caught on camera. Some I had seen, some i had not. All were appalling. Particularly the ones of people trying to engage in peaceful protests being beaten for no discernible reason. I guess we are not allowed to complain anymore. I remember a quote by Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas "The difference between the communist and capitalist systems is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream. And I came here to scream". It appears now that screaming is no longer acceptable under the newest version of capitalism. Or they will give you something to scream about.

http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst...esters/?page=1

[key]

Cops could start refusing to enforce illegal commands to attack peaceful protestors exercising their first amendment rights.

When that happens (and I believe it will) the revolution will be in full swing. Power to the Peaceful!

[Ebon]

Originally Posted by key

Cops could start refusing to enforce illegal commands to attack peaceful protestors exercising their first amendment rights.

When that happens (and I believe it will) the revolution will be in full swing. Power to the Peaceful!

That's right. They always have a choice to do the right thing. No excuses.