(via lonelyvagabond)
Posts tagged protests.
The importance of protests | Glenn Greenwald ›
[…] Meanwhile, needing to squeeze someone, most emerging-market governments look first to ordinary working folk—at least until the riots grow too large… .
In its depth and suddenness, the U.S. economic and financial crisis is shockingly reminiscent of moments we have recently seen in emerging markets (and only in emerging markets) … .But there’s a deeper and more disturbing similarity: elite business interests—financiers, in the case of the U.S.—played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger gambles, with the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive. The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them. [Simon Johnson, The Quiet Coup ]
It’s those two observations in bold that have been at the forefront of my thoughts about the Occupy movement: that oligarchs in a corrupted society will be free from any meaningful checks from the government they own and control, and will continue to pilfer from the rest of the society until resulting social unrest on the part of ordinary citizens becomes too disruptive and threatening to their interests. Put another way, an oligarchical class that operates without any fear in its collective heart of the citizenry will continue to assemble and protect its ill-gotten gains without limits. That is why this protest movement is so vital — so indispensable — because it is precisely that fear in the hearts and minds of the elite classes that has been so destructively lacking.
Anarchy in Athens, Greece - Riots over the new austerity measures 19 October 2011. At least 100,000 people have gathered in Athens in what unions described as the largest protest in years.
Occupy Philadelphia: Rally for Jobs and Student Debt Forgiveness, October 17, 2011.
At least 24 people have been killed and more 200 injured in the centre of Cairo after a protest over an attack on a church erupted into the worst violence since the 18-day uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt in February.
Trouble began when a demonstration against the attack in southern Egypt was reportedly met by gunfire close to the state television building.
Fighting spread to Tahrir Square and surrounding streets. Hospitals where the wounded were being treated also came under attack.
State television announced that a curfew was being imposed on the city’s downtown area and Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the February uprising that overthrew the former president. The curfew would last from 2am to 7am (midnight to 5am GMT) on Monday.
Appealing for calm after more than 1,000 security force personnel were deployed, interim prime minister Essam Sharaf said: “What is taking place are not clashes between Muslims and Christians but attempts to provoke chaos and dissent.”
“The only beneficiary of these events and acts of violence are the enemies of the January revolution and the enemies of the Egyptian people, both Muslim and Christian”
(via theamericanbear)
Photo Gallery: Occupy Wall Street Ignites Political Hackathon | Raw File | Wired.com ›
Photo Gallery: Occupy Wall Street Ignites Political Hackathon
View as gallery
- By Keith Axline and Bryan Derballa
- October 7, 2011 |
- 6:30 am |
- Categories: Internet, Jobs, Politics, Street Shooting
Critics dismiss #OccupyWallStreet as a bunch of dirty, whining hippies and trustafarians. But many of the protesters at Zuccotti Plaza are actually hacker-minded geeks bringing an engineering mentality to bear on politics and several high and low-tech problems.
The #OWS encampment runs on generators that power a media center packed with laptops, Wi-Fi and video equipment. Live updates and operational messages propagate over Twitter as well as over closed alternative networks resistant to sniffing by unwanted observers. Digital donations are funneled through Kickstarter, and material donations arriving from around the country supply a kitchen and a medical station — which treats minor protest hazards such as pepper spray and cuts.
The DIY nature of the movement evokes the spirit of the Maker Faire and Hackathon events, with participants contributing their skills and creativity to support a larger, loosely defined movement or goal.
Here are our favorite scenes and hacks from the protest so far.
Top photo:
Michael Mozart, 45, live-broadcasts at the #OccupyWallStreet protest in Zuccotti Plaza. Mozart is a beta-tester for YouTube Live (JeepersMedia channel), a live-streaming feature of the popular video site, which also integrates directly into his Facebook and Google+ pages.
Although Mozart is neither “supporting or not supporting” the ideals of Occupy Wall Street, he still feels compelled to use his status as a beta-tester to show what was actually happening after hearing a TV news report of “only a few dozen protesters” at the plaza where he was certain there were hundreds.
Bottom photo: An outlet for phone chargers is plugged into a generator at the media center.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Protesters volunteering for the internet and information boards of #OccupyWallStreet work and broadcast from their media center. 3G and 4G hotspots provide Wi-Fi.
Protesters spend a lot of their time broadcasting their efforts on social networking sites as well as updating their own www.nycga.cc. They also have Kickstarter pages to help them take in donations from around the world to support the protest.
Video volunteers work in shifts to cover #OccupyWallStreet activities and log footage. On and off-site editors cut the video together and post to YouTube.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Amelia Marzec, 30, displays her creation called Signal Strength. The hack involves using a device to send peer-to-peer signals between mobile phones, making a traditional network unnecessary and preventing conversations from being surreptitiously monitored.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
A dishwasher pours dirty water into a grey water system. The system filters dirty dish water through woodchips, soil and plant roots to create cleaner water suitable for watering the flowers and trees around Zuccotti Plaza.
Larry Left, 27, right, gives Zaqiy Brewer, 22, left, a haircut. Left, a licensed barber in Staten Island, says, “I’ve been fed, I’ve gotten free cigarettes. I’ll give something out for free too.”
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Shon Potado, 33, briefs the medic volunteers on how to use a solution to relieve the effects of pepper spray. Potado says the solution is half Mylanta and half water and is used to treat “chemical weapon exposure.” Potado has also treated baton wounds and handcuff injuries as a result of protesters’ run-ins with police.
The medic station boasts a number of supplies. Volunteers man the station but only give out homeopathic medicine, since they are not licensed professionals.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Justin Wedes, 25, does a live broadcast for the Global Revolution TV Livestream. Wedes is showing viewers how the photos Erik McGregor posted of a minor being arrested during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge were blacked out by Facebook.
Verónica Bayetti Flores, 28, left, and Veda Myers, 27, right, make free screenprints reading “Bring Down The Wall” for anyone willing to wait in line. They use a catalyst in the ink that helps it dry without heat lamps.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Volunteers pass out copies of the Occupied Wall Street Journal. The broadsheet was funded through Kickstarter and created and printed in two days.
Passersby gather to read the protest signs at the encampment’s gallery. The plaza is just across the street from Ground Zero and attracts lots of tourists on their way to the site.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Justin Wedes, 25, shouts a mic check. The protesters are not allowed to use amplification to project their voices so they rely on shouting and repeating to disseminate information among the group. A hack they call the People’s Mic.
Jon Keane, 24, set up his camera to get reactions from people at #OccupyWallStreet. His partner, Andrew Reiner, 24, holds a mic to record their opinions. The duo does not have a specific affiliation, but are interested in better understanding the event.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Milo Gonzalez, 20, left, rolls tobacco with friends. #OWS is providing cigarettes to all the protesters. Paddy Dore, 23, in yellow, says smokers can “pay if they can, or not if they can’t.”
Anam Farooqui, 24, lies down inside the “box castle.” Farooqui works for a FedEx retail store that used to also ship for UPS. Since they canceled their account, the store was left with hundreds of UPS boxes.
Farooqui took as many as he could carry to Zuccotti Plaza and used the adhesive strips “like brick and mortar” to block the wind and rain and make for “a more comfortable space that would have been a total waste at his store.” However, dwellings are prohibited in Zuccotti Plaza and Farooqui was later asked to disassemble the structure by the police.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Erik McGregor, 43, plays ping-pong on a makeshift table. McGregor, who has been at the protest since it first started two weeks ago, erected the ping-pong net by taping down books from the occupation’s library.
Clothes dry on handrails on the west side of Zuccotti Plaza. The protesters deal with a near daily dose of rain.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Kitchen staff prepare donated food for lunch. They are not allowed open flame at the plaza so most of the food is cold, unless volunteers cook in Brooklyn kitchens and bring meals to the plaza.
A spread of sandwiches and cold food is laid out for lunch.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Heather Haskell, 41, reads a book called “Give Me Liberty” by Naomi Wolf at the makeshift library during the Occupy Wall Street Protest in Zuccotti Plaza on Oct. 2, 2011. Mrs. Haskell flew in from Boulder, Colorado for the protest and stumbled upon this book that she says “outlines exactly why we’re here.”
Ethan Wolfert, 4, holds a sign at #OccupyWallStreet.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
Police huddle underneath a statue to avoid the rain across the street from #OccupyWallStreet. A large police presence remains throughout the area even on days when no demonstrations or activities are planned.
A police officer works in a mobile unit near Zuccotti Plaza.
Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com
View as gallery See Also: Tags: #OccupyWallStreet, Manhattan, nyc, Occupy Wall Street, protests
Bank protesters arrested after trying to cash $673-billion check: It was an over-sized check made out to the “people of California,” LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon said. The demonstrators sat down and refused to leave the bank and six men and four women were arrested as part of the protest organized by the Refund California campaign. Occupy L.A. protesters also joined in.
Photo: Police arrest protesters in the Bank of America branch at 7th Street and Figueroa in downtown Los Angles on Thursday afternoon. Credit: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times
5 oct 2011,
So, lets fucking do it!
(photo by Arka)
(via burnitall16)
ckck:
Anarchist protest rally in Union Square, New York City. May 1st, 1914.
(via lonelyvagabond)
NYPD Arrests 700 #OccupyWallStreet Protesters On The Brooklyn Bridge
“Protesters started marching up the pedestrian walk way over the bridge while others tried to take the traffic lane. For a few minutes officers held the line and then they turned around and led the way up the traffic lane on the Brooklyn Bridge. From what I saw no police told any of the protesters to leave until they created a barricade in front of the march about halfway through the bridge. They then pulled vans and buses up to the back of the group and started arresting everyone.”
In many of the threads on this forum and others I’ve seen references to these three films: The Corporation, Inside Job, and Why We Fight. These are three great documentary films and they can all be watched for free on FilmsForAction.org
- - - - - - - - -
The Corporation: http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/The_Corporation/
Inside Job: http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/Inside_Job_2010/
Why We Fight: http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/Why_We_Fight/
SPREAD THE NEWS!!!
WATCH THESE FILMS AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE ARE OCCUPYING WALL STREET!!!
(via lonelyvagabond)
The Cover: The New York Post.
The Angle: Today’s New York Post lead article:
About 700 protesters were arrested after a horde of anti-Wall Street demonstrators swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, halting traffic for more than three hours and clashing with cops on the famed span.
Up to 100 cars were left stranded as the loud, angry crowd covered the crossing from end to end in an inflamed day of demonstrations against high unemployment, bank bailouts and financial pain for the masses.
One irate driver, a Ground Zero construction worker, was livid.
“I work my ass off all day, and these goddamned hippies close down the Brooklyn Bridge so I can’t get home?” he said. “This ain’t right!”
“I remember the wade-ins because the bump hasn’t gone off my jaw yet. They started yelling obscenities at us, but we went on — myself and a group of teen-age girls. We were afraid but we felt we just had to go on.“ — Dorothy Cotton, SCLC.
(via blackculture)
IT'S OFFICIAL: Occupy Los Angeles begins Occupation on October 1st at City Hall! ›
Time:
Saturday, October 1 at 10:00am - December 31 at 11:30pmLocation:
LA City Hall 200 North Spring Street Los Angeles, CACreated By:
Occupy Los AngelesMore Info:
At Occupy LA’s General Assembly meeting on 9/25, we have voted and decided on the official occupation date and location!!!
********CITY HALL ON OCTOBER 1ST!***********
Bring your sleeping bags, tents, food, hygiene products, flashlights, anything else you can think of to sustain occupying overnights, and most importantly, BRING YOUR SIGNS!
“We are the 99%”
“Occupy LA”
Whatever signs you’d like, get creative!
SEE YOU THERE, “WHOSE STREET, OUR STREET!”
~Occupy LA
——-
About Occupy LA:
We are in solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet and the other occupations and actions happening across the nation and the world. We are the 99% that demand a world that works through democracy, not corporatocracy. We will not be silent. Join us. #OccupyLAWe won’t be there for the start of this as we’ll be out of town but signal boost nonetheless.
-Joe
(via amodernmanifesto)
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