OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Toughy]

They are at the Port now...........find a live feed KTVU

peaceful except for a group of anarchists.......

police say 3000 so it must be at least 5,000

[MissItalianDiva]

Originally Posted by Toughy

police say 3000 so it must be at least 5,000

I laugh at that comment....so true

[Toughy]

police now say 4500..........

KRON 4 is probably a better news feed......it's not FOX

peaceful children and adults ....its about 1.5 hour walk to the Port from downtown........and there are still plenty o folks downtown

[betenoire]

some simple ways to support the occupy movement without sleeping in a park

sorry if this has been posted already. i appreciated coming across this today, since i don't live anywhere near any of the "occupy ____" places and am frankly not in a position to go occupy anything.

[SoNotHer]

Excellent. Thank you, Bete Noire.

Originally Posted by betenoire

some simple ways to support the occupy movement without sleeping in a park

sorry if this has been posted already. i appreciated coming across this today, since i don't live anywhere near any of the "occupy ____" places and am frankly not in a position to go occupy anything.

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Toughy

police now say 4500..........

KRON 4 is probably a better news feed......it's not FOX

peaceful children and adults ....its about 1.5 hour walk to the Port from downtown........and there are still plenty o folks downtown

Maddow has it as her opening tonight. Rock on Occupy!

[Martina]

Wow. The coverage on Rachel Maddow is awesome. Proud of the East Bay.

[SoNotHer]

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908...42018#45142018



From - http://www.occupyoakland.org/

[MissItalianDiva]

Police are now forming. Not in gear but in hoards and making themselves very visible

[MissItalianDiva]

Inside source has told me cops are coming in groves down West Grand towards the port with lights and sirens...hopefully they stay back

[Ebon]

Originally Posted by MissItalianDiva

Inside source has told me cops are coming in groves down West Grand towards the port with lights and sirens...hopefully they stay back

I hope so too.

[Ebon]

Nothing on the news here. Corporate controlled media won't show it.

[Ebon]

[nowandthen]

https://www.facebook.com/index.php?l...50361480894006

[MissItalianDiva]

Occupy SF now forming to take the bridge in solidarity with Occupy Oakland

[Ebon]

I'm listening to the police scanner and they are saying that people are getting hostile towards the cops at 11th and broadway. I wonder if someone there can confirm this.

Oh this is interesting. They keep telling each other that the radio is not secure.

[cara]

Can someone point me in the direction of some clear, easier to understand information about the OWS movement? I support OWS, but I want to understand it more.

Thanks!

[SoNotHer]

Great question, Cara. I think this sign summarizes it well, but you may find more in the article associated with it as well.



From -

http://www.salon.com/2011/10/31/how_...ion/singleton/

Originally Posted by cara

Can someone point me in the direction of some clear, easier to understand information about the OWS movement? I support OWS, but I want to understand it more.

Thanks!

[AtLast]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/31/first-on-cnn-occupy-des-moines-ctivists-to-propose-shutting-down-candidate-offices-during-iowa-caucuses/

Activists propose 'shutting down' candidate offices during Iowa caucuses
Posted by
CNN Political Reporter Shannon Travis


Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – Occupy Wall Street activists plan to amass in Iowa one week before the Iowa caucuses - up to the day they're held on Jan. 3, CNN has learned.

The plan has been dubbed the "First in the Nation Caucus Occupation" - a play on words for the first-in-the-nation presidential contest. The idea is to have activists from across the nation, and possibly beyond, descend on Iowa.

The plan: "people coming to Iowa, occupying every presidential (candidate's) office, shutting them down until they start talking real turkey about what's going on in this country, where the 99% of the people who are not benefiting, at the expense of the 1% who are getting away with murder," said Frank Cordaro, one of the organizers.

The plan is to target offices for Republican candidates and President Barack Obama's campaign offices in the state.

On Monday evening, a group of Occupy Des Moines activists - who crafted the proposal - presented it to the larger group, seeking an endorsement.

The larger group of 50 to 60 Occupy Des Moines activists backed the idea. Following that, an invitation went out to Occupy Wall Street groups nationwide and beyond to come to Iowa. Thus far, organizers say, they've eyed the dates of December 27 through January 3.

If the protests occur, it appears they would be unprecedented for the Iowa caucus season. They could also spark clashes between Occupy Wall Street activists and scores of conservatives.

On Oct. 22 roughly two dozen Occupy Des Moines activists protested outside a gathering of about 1,000 conservatives attending the Iowa Faith and Freedom coalition in Des Moines.

After being ordered from the front of the venue, activists heckled attendees: "Is this the freedom you preach?"

Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum attended the event, though it's unclear whether any came in contact with the protesters.

Asked whether protesters intend to disrupt the caucuses and whether their "occupation" might turn violent, Cordaro said:

"Disrupt does not mean violent. We're not going to destroy any property. We're not going to hurt anybody. We're just going to, with our bodies, occupy these offices or shut them down until they actually start talking about the real issues that are facing the 99% of the people who are losers in this country."

"We're not going to prevent anybody from voting. We're not against the actual electoral process. We're against the people who own it right now. And we're trying to reclaim it. We're not trying to destroy it," he added.
Said another creator of the idea, Jessica Reznicek: "Through the occupation of these political campaign headquarters, and actions, we intend to make our voices more known."

The Iowa Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment about the protest plan. The Iowa Democratic Party issued a statement saying they "understand" the frustrations of the protesters.

"That's why we're working hard to make sure President Obama is reelected," party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky said in a statement. "While President Obama is working to strengthen middle class, make sure millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share and reign in Wall Street, Republicans want to let Wall Street write their own rules and return to the same failed economic policies that got us into this mess."

Drew Ivers, a member of the Iowa GOP's Central Committee, was critical of any Occupy Wall Street-type protests.

"They will be engaged in a fruitless effort, because all they will do is create a lot of overtime hours for the Des Moines Police Department, who will make sure they are not obstructing any activity in any of those offices," Ivers said. "So I think their plan is futile."

"I think it's poor judgment on their part to express their frustration of the system," he added. "They should be shutting down, demonstrating outside the halls of the U.S. Capitol, and maybe the president himself."

Ivers also defended his party's presidential hopefuls as "attempting to change the economic plight, not add to it."

"I sympathize with (the Occupy Wall Street) frustration. But I disagree with their methods."

[SoNotHer]

Why Is OWS Blanketed With NYPD Cameras -- And Are Police Breaking the Law?
By Tana Ganeva, AlterNet
Posted on November 2, 2011, Printed on November 3, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152896...eaking_the_law

On October 15, the day OWS solidarity protests broke out as far away as Australia and Japan, and thousands of people poured into Times Square, a line of NYPD TARU (Technical Assistance Response Unit) officers stood on the street, pointing handheld digital cameras at the protestors jammed behind metal barricades. The SkyWatch tactical platform unit -- a "watchtower" with tinted windows like the one that's loomed over Zuccotti Park for most of the occupation -- stood at one corner, its four cameras roving across the crowd. The whole scene unfolded under the NYPD security cameras stationed all over Times Square and in most parts of the city.

Like the massive crowd control arsenal unleashed on OWS -- riot gear, smoke bombs, rubber bullets, pepper spray, horses, metal blockades, helicopters, plastic cuffs, and the police motorcycles, cars and vans that clog the streets -- the three-tiered surveillance seemed like overkill for an overwhelmingly peaceful movement, where the occasional slur thrown at police is usually shouted down with reminders not to goad cops because they're part of the 99 percent.

It's unclear what the NYPD plans to do with footage obtained by TARU. But recording legal protest activity violates the Handschu decree, a set of legal guidelines designed to check the NYPD's historic tendency to steamroll First Amendment rights. The order emerged from a class-action lawsuit prompted by revelations that the NYPD had spent much of the 20th century and millions of dollars monitoring legal protest activity, an endeavor that generated up to a million files on such dangerous radicals as education reform groups and housing advocates. The Handschu decree prohibits investigations of legal political activity and the collection of data, including images and video of protests, unless a crime has been committed.

The ruling has had a complicated life post-9/11, mutating in response to terrorism fears and authorities' willingness to exploit them. A judge relaxed the order in 2003 after the NYPD argued it needed more flexibility to deal with terror threats. The department promptly proved its trustworthiness by secretively shooting hundreds of hours of footage of protestors at the Republican National Convention. In 2007 the court ruled that the NYPD had repeatedly violated Handschu and tightened the guidelines, limiting videotaping to cases where there's specific evidence that a crime has taken place.

An internal department memo sent out in 2007 instructs police to comply with the new order by only rolling the tape when "it reasonably appears that unlawful conduct is about to occur, is occurring, or has occurred during the demonstration." But Franklin Siegal, a lawyer who has spent years fighting for Handschu in court, tells AlterNet he's received multiple complaints about police videotaping OWS protesters for no good reason.

"Your photo shouldn't be taken and made into a record if you're not engaged in anything illegal. At demonstrations with no illegal activity taking place, cameras shouldn't be on," says Siegal.

The NYCLU has called on police commissioner Raymond Kelly to stop surveillance of the protests, citing the cameras pointed at Zuccotti Park and an incident where NYCLU representatives observed TARU members filming a peaceful march.

"This type of surveillance substantially chills protest activity and is unlawful. In light of the mayor's recognition of the peaceful nature of these protests, we call on you to stop the videotaping of lawful protest," read the letter.

Another camera has more recently been hoisted above Zuccotti Park, joining the four sitting on top of the tactical platform unit (police claim the cameras are only transmitting a live feed and do not record video). Those cameras are visible, at least. Donna Lieberman, executive director of NYCLU, told AlterNet over the phone that Zuccotti can be seen from any number of NYPD security cameras in the area, both by private cameras attached to businesses that are accessible to police and NYPD security cameras.

A 2005 NYCLU survey found over 4,000 cameras below 14th street in Manhattan; five times more than they'd tallied in 1998. Lieberman says that number was a lowball because there are so many cameras that NYCLU didn't have the manpower or the time to count all of them.

Authors of the report warned at the time about a "massive surveillance infrastructure" creeping across the city, unattended by adequate public oversight or outside regulation. Five years later, there's no exact count of all the cameras in New York, but Lieberman says, "We believe if we were to try to repeat the survey today, we would find that there are so many more cameras. Way beyond our wildest imagination."

Today that task would be complicated by the roll-out of the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, a plan launched in 2005 to cover the area below Canal Street in video cameras constantly streaming footage that's analyzed at a centralized location. In 2009 police commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that the Initiative would be expanded to midtown.

In a macabre twist, journalist Pam Martens has discovered that the law enforcement center where much of the camera footage is examined can be accessed by high-level Wall street employees. Martens obtained 2005 correspondence from Commissioner Kelly promising Edward Frost, a then-Goldman Sachs VP, the creation of "a centralized coordination center that will provide space for full-time, on site representation from Goldman Sachs and other stakeholders."

Martens writes, "According to one person who has toured the center, there are three rows of computer workstations, with approximately two-thirds operated by non-NYPD personnel. The Chief-Leader, the weekly civil service newspaper, identified some of the outside entities that share the space: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, the Federal Reserve, the New York Stock Exchange. Others say most of the major Wall Street firms have an on-site representative."

The surveillance gadgetry available to the NYPD, and apparently to the very finance industry forces that OWS is protesting, is sophisticated. There are license plate readers that can capture license plate numbers and match them to a database. The cameras can be programmed to alert officers to activities like loitering, and people can be followed as they move from camera to camera.

Over the past year, reports have come out suggesting that the NYPD has plans to integrate face recognition technology into the operation.

As the AP reported, "New facial-recognition technologies will soon make it possible to track exactly who is walking down the street," [Bloomberg] said, adding that he believes "we're going in that direction."

The mayor then opined, "As the world gets more dangerous, people are willing to have infringements on their personal freedoms that they would not before."

At the beginning of the year, local outlets reported that the NYPD was recruiting officers for a new face recognition unit. The NYPD has not replied to repeated requests for comment, so it's not clear if the face recognition technology is in use, and if so, in what cameras -- but a representative of ICX Technologies, the company that builds tactical platform towers like the one stationed at Zuccotti Park, tells AlterNet that the cameras on the tower are compatible with face recognition software.

That would mean an image can be matched up to a mugshot in any criminal database, or any non-criminal database for that matter -- including one of the largest public identity databases in the world, Facebook.

Right after 9/11, when airports and cities enthusiastically embraced face recognition, the technology was fairly crude and a lot of the programs were dropped. But in the past 10 years advances in the software -- including 3-D imaging and "skinmetrics," which maps marks and imperfections in the skin of the face -- have revived law enforcement and Homeland Security's interest.

Sophisticated face recognition software, combined with cameras that can track activity all over the city, would be a useful tool if police wished to collect dossiers on people involved in OWS, as they so casually did pre-Handschu.

Whatever the advances in technology, Siegal says that core principals should remain. "Police should not be keeping records about the legal, political, non-criminal activities of anyone."

Tana Ganeva is AlterNet's managing editor. Follow her on Twitter. You can email her at tana@alternet.org.