Displaying 2,581 To 2,610 Of 3,237 Comments OWS Episode V: The U.S. Empire Strikes Back AOLHP STORY FINALLY UP BUT NOT ON THE FRONT PAGE… I posted the first comment. Story is buried. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 19, 2011 @ 8:12 am HINDSIGHT MY ASS! UC POLICE CHIEF JUSTIFIES USE OF FORCE UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza is defending her officers’ actions to KCRA. http://www.kcra.com/r/29809851/detail.html#ixzz1eA9j2Qs5 She argued that it just wasn’t safe for students to camp on the quad. “It’s not safe for multiple reasons,” Spicuzza said. In a report by the CBS Sacramento station Friday night, Spicuzza said the officers’ own safety was also a concern. “If you look at the video, you are going to see that there were 200 people in that quad,” she said. “Hindsight is 20-20, and based on the situation we were sitting in, ultimately that was the decision that was made.” Spicuzza also said authorities were reviewing the videos. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 19, 2011 @ 8:11 am THE MORNING AFTER There were 11 tents at the UC Davis site. ELEVEN!!! Concerns from multiple sources regarding the use of pepper spray: • spraying people in multiple bursts • spraying people directly in their eyes • spraying people who are or will be hog-tied • spraying people with preexisting respiratory conditions • failing to give proper medical care to someone after he or she is sprayed ALL OF THIS IS MULTIPLIED WHEN SMALL FINGER HELD ARE REPLACED BY LARGE CANISTERS OR FOUNTAIN SPRAYS. Police officers play an important role in society. They are charged with protecting us and maintaining law and order. In doing so they may employ a limited amount of force. But their discretion to use force is not unfettered. The key is that it must be 1. reasonable force 2. under the circumstances11 When cops use too much force…or “excessive” force…with you during an arrest, then it might be time to head to court. That’s exactly what happened with the redwoods protesters in 1997. Court documents from that case make this clear: that the cops in charge could not hide behind the shield of qualified immunity, which protects government actors from liability unless their actions are way out of bounds. The Ninth Circuit held firm, holding that, “it would have been clear to any reasonable officer that the manner in which the officers used the pepper spray was unreasonable.” UC DAVIS OCCUPY STUDENTS VICIOUSLY ASSAULTED. See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJmmnMkuEM&feature=youtu.be Chancellor’s office (530) 752-2065 » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 19, 2011 @ 7:59 am She bumped Robert Reich who was supposed to be Olbermann’s next guest. No one seemed to mind. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 17, 2011 @ 5:23 pm A Snapshot of The Occupy Movement Discussion on Planet POV Choicelady. Read your well done discussion on how to make some of the OWS demands move from the ideal to the real. With you very much in that. I think your closing deserves to be framed: “I want our side to be rational and thoughtful not just loud and demanding in the changes proposed and the targets of our action chosen. Otherwise we may see a major reversal and Romney or worse as our next President. That, to me, is totally worrisome.” I saw what happened in Florida when the Nader crowd, in the name of the highest reform principles, gave W the “in” he needed to take an election which has taken us down a very sad path. Well said, choice. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 3:51 pm Good to have company…. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 3:46 pm What did you google? I did three searches…did not land there. Is it NYCGA or something like that? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 3:45 pm Cher…posting well above where the dialogue began. I was suspicious of the “demands” list and put out a reply that I hoped would surface the poster’s intent (or the intent of the source from which the material came.) Looking at the source web site (and its references and links) revealed that it was a right/libertarian leaning site. That set me on the path to find a “representative site”. I went through a dozen or so and came up with the one I posted as “most representative” in that it seemed to capture the movements ethos very well. It also did not claim to have insider info or to speak for the whole which is also representative of the movement’s culture. The Manifesto I cited is referred to by a number of sites but I could find no point of origin at a Occupy site. The first reference to it is at a Daily Caller entry (which makes it suspect to me). The items on the Manifesto do fit in with the kinds of demands that have been enumerated by various groups but the Manifesto itself is just another document that is “out there.” The Declaration which I found at http://wearethe99percentnews.tumblr.com/declaration was passed by the GA in NYC on 9/29/11/. Bito’s trademark site also has it. Your comments on all of this put it into a broader Planet perspective for me. They ring true as well. Been a very interesting day. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 3:43 pm This has been an interesting day of discovery. Happy you found the OWS trademarked bulletin site. The problem is that google searches don’t take on there. How to remedy that. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 2:42 pm Nailed. Right On. Zip and Zing. As I having been arguing here for days….the spirit of the movement, the source of its anger- admirable and praiseworthy. Its political acumen- clumsy and ineffective. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 10:44 am Hey Khirad…I left a response to bito in which I laid out the two documents making the rounds on the internet: The Manifesto and the Declaration. They fill in some blanks as your post did for me. Ron Paul’s minions at work. WooooHooooo! » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 9:52 am Look up “occupy wall street demands” and you get lots of leads, none definitive. The most representative page is http://occupywallst.org/ There is no list there. This is the “Manifesto” which was making the rounds in mid-October as the work of a Manifesto Committee at Zuccotti Park- it was never adopted by an Assembly and has since been disowned by many individuals in the movement. Yet it is all over the internet, but I cannot find an original source except for The Daily Caller which leans right. Dear fellow Americans, We are assembled in Zucotti Park — which we’ve renamed Liberty Plaza — in the financial district of New York, because we believe that the American economy is heading in the wrong direction and we have a few ideas for what to do about it. There is a feeling shared by a growing number of people on the streets of the world that the global economy has become a kind of Ponzi scheme, a global casino, run by and for the benefit of the 1 percent. We believe that it is possible to inject justice into the global economy. We have come up with the following list of things that can be done right now to rejuvenate democracy and economic justice in our country: • Halt foreclosures for the unemployed, sick and elderly • Increase funding to public services by taxing the richest 1 percent • Forgive all student loan debt • Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act in order to control speculation • Work with the other G20 nations to implement a 1% “Robin Hood” tax on all financial transactions and currency trades • Ban high-frequency ‘flash’ trading and bring sanity to the markets • Break up the “too big to fail” banks that threaten our future • Arrest the financial fraudsters responsible for the 2008 meltdown and bring them to justice • Ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence corporate money has on our elected representatives in Washington If you agree with any of these demands, then join us! We will stay here in our encampment in Liberty Plaza until President Obama responds to each of these demands. This is just the beginning, there is more to come as we work together to reshape America. — The People’s Assembly of New York City ========================= As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known. They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses. They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization. They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices. They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right. They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay. They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility. They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit. They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them. They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil. They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit. They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit. They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media. They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas. They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. * To the people of the world, We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power. Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone. To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal. Join us and make your voices heard! *These grievances are not all-inclusive. http://wearethe99percentnews.tumblr.com/declaration » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 9:47 am The devils (and the angels) are in the details. The list is a smorgasbord reflecting interests from the far left, the far right and those in-between. There are 5 items here that are specific enough for Congress to consider via legislation already composed: There are 13 items that are so broad/unclear that it is hard to map out a legislative direction. The nature of each statement as a base for legislative action depends on one’s political/economic philosophy Follow and obey the United States Constitution (from the Tea Party or Progressive point of view) Ensure Quality Education for America’s Children (home schooling, national educational plan, oversight and funding) Stop the extraction of American capital (forbidding/penalizing overseas investment, fortress America) United States Treasury will print U.S. Dollars (versus what?) End Dependence on Foreign Oil (drill baby drill, or alternative energy) Bring manufacturing back to the U.S. (tariffs, no minimum wage, no corporate taxes, closing U.S. markets) Bring the U.S. troops home (Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Britain, Korea, Japan, Australia) Relief from college student loan debt (restructuring, limiting access, deal with college costs) Get money out of politics (campaign finance law, open access to all monetary and in-kind services to campaigns, oversight of all after office compensation for the elected and appointed) Forced Acquisition of the Federal Reserve (end it, fold it into the Treasury, end a national currency policy) Secure the Borders between U.S. and Mexico (fence, moat, enlightened immigration policy, closing off employment/services to the undocumented) Protect Social Security (reduce benefits, increase taxes, raise eligibility age, limit access) Reform the tax code, No income tax. (flat tax, national sales tax, end deductions and tax supports). » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 16, 2011 @ 6:52 am The End of #Occupy? Or a Restart of New Economic Justice Movement? Noted. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 15, 2011 @ 6:18 pm We disagree. About a great deal. Just want to be on the record. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 14, 2011 @ 8:16 pm I am all for helping them and am doing so for the two groups I am directly supporting. But they really need to know why they are there, what they hope to accomplish and by what means. The erosion of support would not be an issue if those willing to support them had a much stronger sense of what they were supporting. As to going to a GA, being listened to is not as simple as you suggest. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 14, 2011 @ 7:59 pm Thank you so very much. Your response is what we hoped to get from some of the Occupy organizers. Not to be, sadly. Feel free to copy, paste and pass it on to anyone and everyone. Found your insights just as compelling. We said the next step was to Occupy the Elections…your Occupy the Voting Booth is even better. We will copy and paste from you. Thanks. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 14, 2011 @ 7:40 pm Did you get a chance to read my longer article (“Occupy Wall Street: A Vision for a Movement by and for the 99 Percent”) I would interested in how you think it fits into your observations. I know two of the groups pretty well and I can tell you that the angry but sensible group of coordinators whose presence was significant in the first days has now been pushed off to the side. I learned this afternoon that the committees in both Occupy Encampments that asked my little group of old hands to lend a hand in imagining a future for their movement have been either been disbanded, abandoned, or reorganized with new membership. One of the original leaders told one of my group that the “radicals” have moved in and they have no interest in solutions which have anything to do with any institution; political, social, economic. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 14, 2011 @ 7:16 pm Atdnext— My own reflection on these developments…. ONE WEEK LATER…The Movement is Moving but Where? It’s been a week since “Occupy Wall Street: A Vision for a Movement by and for the 99 Percent” (https://planetpov.com/2011/11/07/occupy-wall-street-a-vision-for-a-movement-by-and-for-the-99-percent/ article) was published. In that week the headlines have shifted to coverage of growing efforts to end the encampments for safety, and health reasons. Efforts by Occupiers seem to have become focused on maintaining their camps that is a tactic of and not a goal for the movement. There have been a number of sad events in and around the camps in the last 10 days and even though some are unrelated to Occupy action their proximity to a camp connects them. Movement leadership is hoping to set up encampments on college campuses that is being resisted by colleges and that does not seem to be a great for the group given its “Wall Street” mission. When I was deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement, we were regularly reminded that our strategy was not THE story. When marches were called off, or demonstrations postponed, or strikes shortened, and we registered disappointment or anger, we were told that these actions were levers to use in the promotion of our well stated priorities and that if they ever became the focus of our efforts then they became obstacles to progress. This article has been widely discussed here. I appreciate the many comments both supportive and challenging. Unfortunately, the thinking it represents has not been the subject of much discussion among the Occupiers, nor have other efforts to engage their amorphous leadership in discussion regarding broader, long term strategy. Next steps? It has been suggested that the OWS Movement has identified and gathered a number of like minded persons who are deeply unhappy with many aspects of American and Global life and the movement should be understood as a reservoir of activism and principle. This seems to be a healthy, practical approach that invites the like minded to work together. And is accepting of those who do not want to take that approach. OFA, Unions, Voter Drives have already taken this approach inviting Occupy Movement participants to link up with its efforts via twitter, facebook, website sign ups with some success. Tying into the anger, disillusionment, and demands of individual Occupiers without expecting group behavior to fit into a well defined agenda or a set of concrete goals makes the best of the situation. I and a number of my friends will continue to donate materials and services on a case by case basis, and to participate in meaningful events. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 14, 2011 @ 6:17 pm Hey funk…..what was the conference? Was there a formal address with a Q and A to follow or does this represent the whole? Here is what I found most interesting: A) Bush instinctual (goes with his gut) and Obama analytical (uses his head). I know which one I prefer. B) Most dangerous. Iran- obvious for obvious reasons. S. Korea – really intriguing. Did he suggest that the South is more militaristic, more jingoistic? We know the North is much, much weaker and cannot count on China. Pakistan- I can think of several reasons Nuclear, Unstable, Military vs. Fundamentalists, India Rivalry. C) What drives International Diplomacy? Interests and Relationships. Same thing for our government. When there is no sense of shared interests and developing relationship- no progress. No Movement. D) His insight re. the DOD operating independently of administration change…. a bit assuring in that we are not a banana republic and there are systems and rules that transcend regime change; and a bit worrisome in that it seems to confirm how deeply institutionalized the military industrial complex is. Nice job. Funk. Good stuff to think about. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 15, 2011 @ 6:08 pm LIVE BLOG: GOP Debate on CNBC – 5:00pm PST ROMNEY AND GINGRICH- The General Verdict by the Media Punditry Thanks for the in-depth analysis BUT THEY WERE BOTH EITHER LYING, OVER-SIMPLIFYING, OR STALLING ALMOST EVERY TIME Their positions on the auto industry re-financing (shouldn’t have done it) while standing in the state of Michigan was outrageous… Their positions on the housing collapse (let the market rule- no restructuring, no refinancing, needs to collapse) was incredibly calloused and insensitive…. Their failure to recognize the nature of the global economy as one of deeply entwined national markets, government deficits, trade etc. was foolishly nationalistic or just plain pandering to the crowd. …. Neither mentioned the sources of the recession unless they could pin the blame on Obama or his allies- nothing about the monster deficit from the Bush Years that became the mega-monster debt of the Obama years…. Nothing about the dangers of too little regulation, or supervision….in fact cries for even less of both… ND what about the suggestion that we should start a currency and trade war with the first place holder of the nation’s debt, China (followed by Japan, he UK, OPEC, Brazil, the Caribbean Banking Consortium). Romney’s business career was one of grabbing up companies, tearing them down to their most profitable core and then selling them. Gingrich has never been in business (except that of marketing himself through his pointless faux-net company). FINALLY….Did you notice that the entire group seem to be both blind and deaf to the real needs of real people in the middle and lower class? The only people they addressed are the job makers, the business community, the investors…..they are the only ones they actually see or hear. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 10, 2011 @ 6:21 am It has a lot of cost cutting measures including higher professor to student ratios, lower professor salaries, low end facilities, limited sports etc. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 7:18 pm The field is still too large to do as you suggest. When will it shrink or is keeping it large part of the money strategy. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 7:09 pm Money makes the world go round….for sure. Citizens United and the end of Democracy. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 7:06 pm He does, but dumber….imagine that. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 7:03 pm But that’s what the GOP business model seem to be. Destroy the weak, let the strong swallow them. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 7:02 pm That would explain a lot. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 6:59 pm You are such a DumbDem, Obamabot…..oh my god…..my brain was just taken over by Michelle O. Now restore…you are so very right. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 6:58 pm In Texas…. The Lt. Gov. functioning as President of the Senate, which has five oversight committees which do most of the governing at the state level. He is a front, just like Bush. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 6:56 pm How do we restore faith in the stock market when it is driven by warp speed trading using computerized roller coaster rides second by second… Cain NO IDEA, blah, blah, blah, cheap sound bites. Does not know a thing. Perry We had the regulations in place before the meltdown. NOPE. Lobbies are bad and we should go after them (this from a state where crony contracting is the air they breathe) Paul Dodging the Texas question…..Wall Street – The fed, the internal favor trading, No real responses. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2011 @ 6:44 pmComments Posted By MurphTheSurf3
The report cites a “pitiful lack of scientific data” about pepper spray and expresses particular concern with….
UC Davis police (530) 752-1727
The officer who pulled out the pepper spray was Lieutenant John Pike. 530-752-3989 japikeiii@ucdavis.edu
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A MESSAGE TO AMERICA FROM THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY IN ZUCOTTI PARK
Now the following Declaration was adopted at the end of September. It is a fairly representative accounting of what the Movement’s members are angry with and what they are objecting to.
==========================
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act
Reinstate the Posse Comitatus Act
Audit the Federal Reserve
Repeal of the Patriot Act
No GMO Foods
HARDER TO HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG….
—Romney was self assured and confident
—Gingrich was well spoken and provided complex answers….
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