Here’s an on-the-scenes report from OWS, and an open thread.
OWS Update
by $8 blue check mistermix| 67 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
by $8 blue check mistermix| 67 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Here’s an on-the-scenes report from OWS, and an open thread.
Comments are closed.
WereBear
I was shocked at the protester who was left to suffer for 18 hours before getting medical help. Another vet, too, I hear? Which makes me feel all the better about what I can do to support the movement, however small it is.
To cheer some up, here is 14 month old Tristan. I showed off plenty of pictures when he was just a kitten… and he’s still charming.
Kiss mah belly.
DecidedFenceSitter
Apparently a bunch of DC protesters got hit/run over.
Cat Lady
Hilarious. I need a cigarette.
JPL
Thanks for posting the video.
@WereBear: How cute. I just want to scritch that belly.
Phylllis
The twenty five or so folks who have been occupying the grounds of the South Carolina State House are starting to get on State Representative Rick Quinn’s (R-Mr. Stick-Up-His-Butt) nerves: http://www.thestate.com/2011/11/05/2035247/protest-community-settling-in.html.
harlana
I have never watched Conan but that is fricking hilarious!
Also, men with bald spots and thinning hair should not wear dreads. I’m just saying.
harlana
@Phylllis: aw, linkie no workie.
Phylllis
@harlana: Maybe this time?:http://www.thestate.com/2011/11/05/2035247/protest-community-settling-in.html
Eta: Works!
harlana
@WereBear: That is a horrible story! Waiting to hear about it on the teevee, nothing so far.
Also, too, I seed that belleh last nite (or was it the nite before?) and it needs numerous furberts.
Cat Lady
Earthquakes in Oklahoma? Ruh roh.
someguy
@DecidedFenceSitter:
Yeah, they were outside the white supremacist conservative AFP conference at the time and a 1 percenter gunned the engine and hit at least three of them near an intersection. No word on the extent of the injuries. They haven’t said anything about any arrests so it may have been hit and run. The TV coverage in D.C. is making it sound like it’s the protestors fault.
harlana
@Phylllis: Thanks Phyllis! I was born and raised here in SC, and
Hardee-fuckin-har! This is a good point. This is a really good, balanced article for The State, which leans republican most of the time.
And keep your fucking greedy paws off Assembly Street!
harlana
I do think we need a post on that vet who got his spleen slashed, a gruesome, bloody, horrible story, hopefully from Mr. Cole. If that doesn’t engender more sympathy for the movement, I really don’t know what can.
And, to my mind, the treatment of this guy and the unnecessary, extended delay in getting him to the hospital basically constitutes torture. It’s almost as if the intent was to let him die in the streets but then somebody thought better of it. That’s what I came away with.
gnomedad
@Cat Lady:
God hits red states with droughts and earthquakes to show his displeasure with libruls.
WereBear
Thank you, they were applied as “guest furburts.”
beltane
Not directly OWS related but this Republican campaign ad which inadvertently pays homage to Soviet war veterans brought a smile to my face http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/04/1033280/-Loudoun-County-Republican-wants-voters-to-stand-with-Soviet-communists
I guess all they saw was “old white guy” so the Red Army medals escaped their attention.
Phylllis
@harlana: I was impressed as well, since they usually give Ricky quite a tongue bath. The comments are mostly pro-occupiers as well (so far, anyway) which gives me some hope.
harlana
@Phylllis: that is awesome, I have a couple of the local activists on my FB and have been trying to follow, I’m signed up for a Common Ground event (not protest) on Nov. 19 in Columbia. Anyway, I may have to drive into town while I’m there cuz I’d love to see a nice gathering of protesters on the State House lawn, would be inspiring
soonergrunt
@Cat Lady: They were apparently centered about 30-40 miles northwest of the OKC metro. I live in south OKC, and slept right through them. The strongest one was 4.4 Richter scale.
Also, WTF with Oakland PD? Are they going after Vets specifically, is it only Vets we’re hearing about, or what?
Southern Beale
Bought myself a juicer for my birthday. Can’t wait to start enjoying fresh veggie and fruit juices!
cathyx
The video was funny, haha, but I get frustrated that every time the OWS movement is shown on TV, it’s always the hippy, freaky people with brightly colored hair and costumes who they show. Even the comedy shows do this who you would think would support the movement. There are way more people at these movements who are normal looking but that doesn’t make good TV, but this is also the way most people get an idea of what’s going on and it will only minimize the impact of the movement overall.
cathyx
@Cat Lady: I always figured that with all the tornado dangers that the midwest faces, it’s at least spared the dangers of earthquakes, but it isn’t.
Amir Khalid
@WereBear:
Tristan’s a handsome fellow. How are his relatives doing? Glad to hear you managed to find homes for them all, especially the sensitive orange boy.
soonergrunt
@beltane: Oh, My Holy God.
The number of things this says about these people…
1–they wouldn’t recognize a US military uniform (or what ISN’T a US military uniform)–the party that’s always claimed to be strong on defense doesn’t know what a US Servicemember looks like.
2–they are utterly incapable of using google.
Amir Khalid
@cathyx:
Sad fact of life: A media business, e.g. newspaper/TV station/website, lives or dies by the attention it gets. After all, it is your attention (page hits, circulation, ratings) that it sells to advertisers. Journalistic values take a back seat to attention-seeking as a matter of course, even — or rather especially — when reporting the news. Pictures of the freakishly dressed get more attention than do pictures of regular people.
bbhotep
Gotta love Triumph.
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: Thanks! All doing well so far & settling in. Appreciate the good wishes from Balloon Juicers, especially the efforts of schrodinger’s cat, which led to 2 kittens getting a great home.
ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©
People at OWS D.C. hit by car.
~
WereBear
He has been scritched by proxy.
Omnes Omnibus
@beltane: That is absolutely hilarious. OTOH it may be a recognition of the role the Soviets played in WWII…. Aw, who am I kidding, they’re idiots.
harlana
@cathyx: I thought it definitely has a satirical element of poking fun at the media’s portrayal of OWS, along with some buffoonery thrown in for good measure.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
You have to wonder how creative the “I meant to do that” excuses will get.
ETA: You’re right. If it wasn’t for them Russky dudes the Allies wouldn’t have won double-you double-you eye eye, so in fact America does owe them a debt of gratitude.
spartacus
@someguy:
Not only are they making it the protesters’ fault in DC, the driver “was not cited because he had a green light when his vehicle struck three people.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/occupy-dc-protesters-block-streets-near-convention-center/2011/11/04/gIQA05vunM_blog.html
Un-fking-believable (or not, which is even worse!).
Southern Beale
Taking away people’s unemployment benefits is for the birds …
harlana
oops, i was wrong about the vet, he was tortured in jail, wanted to correct that
cathyx
@harlana: I don’t think your average to below average intelligence person would get that nuance.
handsmile
@someguy: (#11)
Linda Featheringill
The second injured vet in Oakland.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/05/MNQ41LQVMQ.DTL
Not much info but apparently he is still hospitalized but “awake and alert.”
Mark B.
Well, the fact that Triumph joined the drum circle at the end showed pretty clearly which side he’s on, even for the slow people watching the show.
handsmile
@spartacus: (#33)
Apparently you posted your comment as I was writing mine. Sadly, it’s all too “fking-believable.”
cleek
@handsmile:
pedestrians have the right of way in a cross walk, given the traffic light. otherwise, vehicles have the right of way. were they in a cross walk?
Omnes Omnibus
@spartacus: So, per Pravda on the Potomac, it is now legal to run over jaywalkers?
Southern Beale
Saw a video of protestors being mowed down by an asshole in a silver Mercedes in Oakland, too.
handsmile
@cleek:
I guess “letter of the law” is paramount. Otherwise anarchy, right?
Brian R.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Interesting.
On a totally unrelated question, do the editors of the WaPo walk to work?
I mean, now that Robert Novak is no longer driving around clipping pedestrians in his Galtian sportscar, maybe they’ve decided to walk around with us plebes again.
Linda Featheringill
Veterans in Oakland:
I have no knowledge about what’s happening but I wonder if vets, having faced real danger, are harder to scare and harder to dominate. This might infuriate bullies.
Omnes Omnibus
@cleek: One can be cited for things like unsafe driving. Also, I think it is possible that criminal battery charges could be considered. OTOH, if the bits about the protesters throwing themselves in front of the car are true, it becomes a question of whether he tried to stop or had time to do so. But “he had a green light” is the the beginning and end of the query.
Phyllis
@harlana: I’m meeting a friend for lunch at a place on Main Street. Might wander over & chat a few of them up afterwards.
cleek
@handsmile:
when it comes to road rules, yeah. the mass and velocity differences between pedestrian and vehicles, make it kindof imperative that all people know and follow the rules. otherwise, you get situations where vehicles or people are in unexpected places doing unexpected things, which leads to people getting hurt.
i am not claiming to know anything about the specifics of what happened in DC, of course. but road rules are important, for everybody’s sake.
patrick II
@Mark B.: I thought it was the giant Triumph fucking the Wall Street Bull from behind that gave it away.
bemused
@beltane:
Too funny. I wonder if any rabid anti socialist/commie republican voters getting the mailer even noticed or cared if they did.
cleek
@cleek:
also, if you’re going to break the rules (which we all do from time to time), you really have to be damned careful when you do it. otherwise…
Mark B.
Hmm, I’m hoping there is video of the event. Some accounts were saying that the protesters jumped in front of the car and the driver was possibly unable to stop in time. Even if that were the case, leaving the scene of the accident would be a serious crime, unless the driver somehow felt they were in danger by staying, which to me seems unlikely.
xian
people have the right of way
Mark B.
I kind of wonder what was keeping the people who were at the event from walking out, going a few blocks past the protestors and taking a taxi home. Sure, it would be an inconvenience, and you’d have to take the taxi back later to pick up your car, but it’s a nonviolent resolution to a bad situation. Oh, wait.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
Given the negative feedback of the serfs supporing the 1% that we saw over the Oakland vet incident…
Yeah, they’re idiots. If anyone spit on returning Vietnam vets, it was assholes who thought they were “losers”. Vietnam vets got a chillier reception at the VFW and American Legion halls than they ever did at an airport from DFHs.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
Ever since the Prince of Darkness did it in his ‘Vette, it’s been something of a Villager pastime.
OzoneR
@Omnes Omnibus:
You act like this isn’t something many Americans would support.
handsmile
@cleek: (#49/51)
“Road rules are important” is an anodyne statement which with I would concur. But they are not the only rules applicable in such situations. For example, civil/criminal cases filed by individuals struck by automobiles while jaywalking are not routinely dismissed.
The application and enforcement of laws to maintain public order is contingent upon circumstance and interpretation. Arresting individuals for walking off a sidewalk into a roadway during a protest march is another relevant example. While related to the “mass and velocity differences between pedestrian and vehicles,” it is a common violation the enforcement of which is ignored at all other times.
In the case of last night’s incident in DC, there is one report that the driver was stopped by police to check for intoxication. That would suggest that the location of the struck protesters within the sidewalk or not or the issue of “right of way” was not the principal concern.
Xenos
@handsmile: RE: car incidents – We do not need an Anonymous movement so much as an Eumenides movement. Locate these people who do this sort of thing, and occupy their neighborhoods, place of work, and so on. Needs to be non-violent and non-threatening, but find a way to shame these people in the course of their daily life. Make it creative, and make it personal.
Chris
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yeah, I’ve heard that too. The assholes from the World War Two generation who were all “duude, we won our war, why couldn’t you? You suck!” Odd that no one ever brings them up. Or perhaps not so odd given how Vietnam veterans get treated by the “patriotic” crowd whenever they run for office and have thoughts of their own.
El Cid
@OzoneR:
What’s this un-American “walking” thing, anyway? What, they’re too lazy to drive a car?
Occupy Jon Corzine's Gazebo
Bad form to shit on cop cars, organize chants of FUCK THE POLICE, and then when your dudes get rolled, whine to the cops about them not being arrested. But then, self-awareness is not a Fleabagger’s long suit.
Judas Escargot
@Xenos:
Did anybody get the plate numbers on these cars?
cleek
@Judas Escargot:
the vid @ #28 shows the plate of one of the cars.
Zagloba
The driver was taken into the station and then reports start to differ; either released without charge (original story) or still being held.
Valenciennes
@Occupy Jon Corzine’s Gazebo: Look how maliciously stupid you are.