REVISIT :: Occupy Wall Street :: Occupy *ALL Street USA :: Call to Action
Hi hooah212002 et al
For updates on the stage of the protest from the protesters side (rather than mixed mass media) follow the original link -- see the police brutality that has already occurred, see that this is more than a college kid flash in the pan protest:
We have the ability to keep this moving: there are many support protests popping up all over the nation. There is one planned for Providence RI next Saturday, for example.
quote:When the skies opened up around 5:40 p.m. and participants became increasingly drenched, the group -- with ages ranging from their 20's to 60 and beyond -- held its ground, with the tone set by Jarad Paul, serving as one of its facilitators.
The gathering was billed as an organizing session, with participants breaking into smaller groups -- media, food/sanitation/medical, goals/tactics and facilitation -- as a step toward planning the next series of events. They will include a protest in front of the state Departrment of Education in downtown Providence, tentatively set for 4 p.m. Friday, and a much bigger Occupy Providence event to coincide with a national day of protests on Oct. 15.
Search for OccupyWallStreet or #ows on facebook etc to see if there are protests near you.
quote:Op-Ed Columnist Confronting the Malefactors By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: October 6, 2011
When the Occupy Wall Street protests began three weeks ago, most news organizations were derisive if they deigned to mention the events at all. For example, nine days into the protests, National Public Radio had provided no coverage whatsoever.
It is, therefore, a testament to the passion of those involved that the protests not only continued but grew, eventually becoming too big to ignore. With unions and a growing number of Democrats now expressing at least qualified support for the protesters, Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.
What can we say about the protests? First things first: The protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force, economically and politically, is completely right.
It is the beginning of a movement, just as the Civil Rights Movement started with small simple protests.
This cuts across age groups and it cuts across cultural groups and it cuts across political groups.
Conservatives are the country's largest recipients of affirmative action. In almost every arena announcing yourself as a "conservative" is enough to wind up starting at the finish line.
crashfrog writes:/ The "liberal" media is a myth, part million
I agree with you, that the media are not liberal.
I think, however, that the graph you show does not demonstrate that. The teaparty, from the start, has looked totally off the wall lunatic fringe insane. And that is what gets the attention of the media - they are looking for drama that will sell newspapers.
Fundamentalism - the anti-American, anti-Christian branch of American Christianity
The teaparty, from the start, has looked totally off the wall lunatic fringe insane.
No, I don't think that's true. Recall that the Tea Party was originally started by the media:
Almost immediately, the media was not only covering the Tea Party protests as a perfectly legitimate and grassroots groundswell of opposition to Obama's stimulus and health care reform initiatives, they were actually inflating attendance of these minor demonstrations:
quote:Accounts vary, but it seems that a few hundred thousand people attended one of about 500 Tax Day Tea Parties on April 15. In the aftermath, politicians on both sides of the political aisle were energized.
In fact, only about 90,000 people attended April 15 Tax Day Tea Party events across the country; even those in major metropolitan areas had attendance no higher than 4,000 people or so. You can read the rest of the Forbes article and see - this isn't by any means an article about loony Tea Partiers chanting "get your government hands off my Medicare". It was several months before the media was willing to portray the Tea Party as primarily conservative, instead of as a "bipartisan" movement that "cut across ideological lines"; it was a year and a half or so before the media stopped pretending that Tea Partiers were anything but the traditional Republican base, just with a new name.
Here's another example; Sarah Palin's Tea Party rally was reported as being attended by more than ten thousand people:
Glenn Beck's "9/12" rally was reported as two million in attendance, and the following picture was disseminated to illustrate that:
One problem - the missing buildings!
quote:There's another big problem with the photograph: it doesn't include the National Museum of the American Indian, a building located at the corner of Fourth St. and Independence Ave. that opened on Sept. 14, 2004. (Looking at the photograph, the building should be in the upper right hand corner of the National Mall, next to the Air and Space Museum.) That means the picture was taken before the museum opened exactly five years ago.
Right out of the gate, the Tea Party had media legitimacy and a pose that allowed Tea Party organizers to overinflate attendance and portray themselves as a groundswell of the common people (who just coincidentally happened to favor the exact conservative Republican policies that had lost in the last election). Occupy Wall Street has enjoyed no such advantage.
The Tea Baggers have been around for years, the Occupy Wall Street idea wasn't conceived until July this year. It only makes sense that the Tea Baggers would start with a higher number. Also, if I'm reading the chart right, it's counting Tea Baggers from April, so there's another bump.
Frankly, I think it's remarkable that it appears that the Occupiers are trending to catch the Baggers as quickly as it appears they are. Of course, being a new phenomenon means they're more interesting than the same old same old.
Edited by subbie, : Tyop
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. -- Thomas Jefferson
We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat
It has always struck me as odd that fundies devote so much time and effort into trying to find a naturalistic explanation for their mythical flood, while looking for magical explanations for things that actually happened. -- Dr. Adequate
...creationists have a great way to detect fraud and it doesn't take 8 or 40 years or even a scientific degree to spot the fraud--'if it disagrees with the bible then it is wrong'.... -- archaeologist
The Tea Baggers have been around for years, the Occupy Wall Street idea wasn't conceived until July this year. It only makes sense that the Tea Baggers would start with a higher number.
I don't follow. Maybe you misunderstood the graph? It's "nth day of protest", as in, from the respective beginning of each protest.
Ah, I see now what it's saying. Thanks for the clarification.
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. -- Thomas Jefferson
We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat
It has always struck me as odd that fundies devote so much time and effort into trying to find a naturalistic explanation for their mythical flood, while looking for magical explanations for things that actually happened. -- Dr. Adequate
...creationists have a great way to detect fraud and it doesn't take 8 or 40 years or even a scientific degree to spot the fraud--'if it disagrees with the bible then it is wrong'.... -- archaeologist
Sorry for the digs. I've taken them out of my post.
Not to worry. Your opinion doesn't mean much to me to begin with.
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. -- Thomas Jefferson
We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat
It has always struck me as odd that fundies devote so much time and effort into trying to find a naturalistic explanation for their mythical flood, while looking for magical explanations for things that actually happened. -- Dr. Adequate
...creationists have a great way to detect fraud and it doesn't take 8 or 40 years or even a scientific degree to spot the fraud--'if it disagrees with the bible then it is wrong'.... -- archaeologist
Opinions? Could this mark the beginning of an actual movement, or is it just some college kid protest that will amount to fuck-all? Is the system too far gone to be repaired? Do we, as citizens, still have a voice in our government? Or has that voice been drowned out by corporate dollar signs?
Having just been down there this weekend (for research, not protesting) I can point out two things that were clear: There are lots of young college educated people protesting, and there are enough hippie morons out there for the media to focus on.
Also there is plenty of weed to smoke, buy and sell out there. If anyone is in the buisness.
If it amounts to anything more than sensationalism I'll be surprised. As Dronester so effectively points out, Obama loves those Wall Street peeps and it's safe to assume his administration will not support any legal actions toward them. So I think it will amount to 'fuck all', like you said. But time will tell. I doubt it will have the same changing effect the protests in the Miiddle East have had, I just don't see how it could.
I doubt it will have the same changing effect the protests in the Miiddle East have had, I just don't see how it could.
I am unclear as to exactly what change even the most optimistic Wall Street protestor is expecting?
Is the aim to overthrow the capitalist system? Whilst weed and witty banners are always welcome even I (born optimist that I am) can't see that having the desired effect.
From what I can tell the most optimistic protester is hoping for a socialist revolution.
But the more pragmatic among them want things to go back to the Glass-Steagall era of regulated speculation. Or maybe higher taxes payable on capital gains, especially for those whose main income is now made through capital gains.
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