Demonstraties VS #3: Wanneer valt 'the wall'?

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:17 schreef Bananenman het volgende:

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Wat zijn precies de drogredenen volgens jou en wat heeft dit met democratie te maken?

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:20 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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In een democratisch land mag je demonstreren. In een ondemocratisch land gebruikt met Thugs of leugens als alibi om de veiligheidsdiensten de demo's op te laten breken.

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:21 schreef Bananenman het volgende:

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Volgens mij ken jij het verschil tussen democratie en rechtsstaat niet zo goed.

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:21 schreef Bananenman het volgende:

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Volgens mij ken jij het verschil tussen democratie en rechtsstaat niet zo goed.

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:24 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

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Wat is precies het verschil volgens jou en wat heeft dit met het opbreken van demonstraties te maken?

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:36 schreef popolon het volgende:

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Je hebt duidelijk die beelden van de achtergelaten troep en de ondergescheten openbare parken niet gezien.

Ik kan me best vinden in wat ze proberen te doen, echter sommigen overdrijven het en gaan veel te ver: Einde oefening dan.

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BREAKING PHOTOS: Images CONTRADICT Oakland PD Press Release on Rubber Bullets

A press release said that the Oakland Police Department DID NOT use rubber bullets. They said the "bangs" heard at the protesters were M80s thrown at police officers by the protesters.

Unfortunately for the OPD, it the press release seems to be wrong. I'll let the images speak for themselves:

Here's an empty shell and the cap of a fin stabilized rubber slug from a 12 gauge shotgun:

Oakland Policeman Throws Flash Grenade Into Crowd Trying To Help Injured Protester

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Op woensdag 26 oktober 2011 16:41 schreef Perrin het volgende:
Een beetje troep op straat maken of een enorme troep van de economie maken.. het is maar wat je erger vindt.

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The film shows, for example, that Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia were flown out to luxury resorts at the expense of the Federalist Society in order to hobnob with the people attending the infamous political strategy conferences hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers, whose partisan goals are no secret (and whose companies are frequently in federal court). Thomas went in 2008 and Scalia in 2007. David Koch himself explains these meetings are for "combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it." One may reasonably ask which public policies Scalia and Thomas were there to combat in these closed-door Koch conclaves.

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Op dinsdag 25 oktober 2011 17:49 schreef Resonancer het volgende:

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Ik vrees met grote vreze dat dit uiteindelijk heel bloedig gaat worden.
Gelukkig hebben de Amerikanen hun wapens nog.

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Last night, a group of 1,000 protesters in Oakland, CA were gassed and shot at by the local police after they allegedly "started throwing bottles, paints, beer, eggs" at officers. Late into the night, officials deployed tear gas on the crowd and began arresting people for disrupting the peace. But things took a turn for the worst when the police started using either rubber bullets or bean bag rounds to bring the chaos to order. (The police are saying one thing, the protesters another.)
Unfortunately, things ended badly for one young man who was actually shot in the face during the mayhem. Video capturing the gruesome scene has gone viral, but it isn't for the faint of heart. The video contains NSFW language and disturbing images of the man being carried by his comrades in the streets searching for help, blood pouring from his face that was wounded.

twitter:

wiljago twitterde op donderdag 27-10-2011 om 06:12:14 National Guard is here at #occupyoakland getting ready. #StandwithOakland if you can tonight. #occupy reageer retweet

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Latest round of Occupy Oakland protests to be closely watched

Until this week, the movement had been disciplined -- then the Oakland police eliminated the encampment outside City Hall, Heaney said.

"People are going to respond to that in a not-peaceful way," Heaney said. "Either they (law enforcement officials) expected that this would be the response or they were incompetent not to expect this response.

"When you engage in (more than) 100 unjustifiable arrests, basically what you do is give credibility to the people you're trying to stop," Heaney said. "The smarter strategy on the part of police is to ignore them and it would eventually burn out and people would go home."

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NY Times: Crony Capitalism Comes Home

Whenever I write about Occupy Wall Street, some readers ask me if the protesters really are half-naked Communists aiming to bring down the American economic system when they’re not doing drugs or having sex in public.

The answer is no. That alarmist view of the movement is a credit to the (prurient) imagination of its critics, and voyeurs of Occupy Wall Street will be disappointed. More important, while alarmists seem to think that the movement is a “mob” trying to overthrow capitalism, one can make a case that, on the contrary, it highlights the need to restore basic capitalist principles like accountability.

To put it another way, this is a chance to save capitalism from crony capitalists.

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Occupy first. Demands come later

What to do after the occupations of Wall Street and beyond – the protests that started far away, reached the centre and are now, reinforced, rolling back around the world? One of the great dangers the protesters face is that they will fall in love with themselves. In a San Francisco echo of the Wall Street occupation this week, a man addressed the crowd with an invitation to participate as if it was a happening in the hippy style of the 60s: "They are asking us what is our programme. We have no programme. We are here to have a good time."

Carnivals come cheap – the true test of their worth is what remains the day after, how our normal daily life will be changed. The protesters should fall in love with hard and patient work – they are the beginning, not the end. Their basic message is: the taboo is broken; we do not live in the best possible world; we are allowed, obliged even, to think about alternatives.

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Washington Post Under Fire For Occupy Wall Street Coverage

While the police crackdown of Occupy Oakland has made international news, the Washington Post is coming under criticism for how it covered the story. On Wednesday, it ran a story titled, "Protesters wearing out their welcome nationwide." Above the photo was a photo of a police officer petting a cat. The caption read: “A police officer in Oakland, Calif., pets a cat that was left behind by Wall Street protesters who were evicted from the grounds of City Hall.”

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http://videocafe.crooksan(...)ext-straw-attack-ows

OLBERMANN: First, the protesters were drugged up hippies. Then, they were anti-Semitic. Then, yesterday they were part of the Muslim Brotherhood. In our number one story now, the right wing has grasped at its next straw; the Occupy movement is actually being organized by the most vile of community organizations... ACORN.

twitter:

Leemtee twitterde op donderdag 27-10-2011 om 17:49:31 RT “@iRevolt: Egyptians plan to march from Tahrir Square to the US Embassy in Cairo tomorrow in solidarity with @OccupyOakland #OWS” reageer retweet

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Immunity and impunity in elite America

The top one per cent of US society is enjoying a two-tiered system of justice and politics.

As intense protests spawned by Occupy Wall Street continue to grow, it is worth asking: Why now? The answer is not obvious. After all, severe income and wealth inequality have long plagued the United States. In fact, it could reasonably be claimed that this form of inequality is part of the design of the American foundation - indeed, an integral part of it.

Income inequality has worsened over the past several years and is at its highest level since the Great Depression. This is not, however, a new trend. Income inequality has been growing at rapid rates for three decades. As journalist Tim Noah described the process: "During the late 1980s and the late 1990s, the United States experienced two unprecedentedly long periods of sustained economic growth - the ‘seven fat years’ and the ‘long boom’. Yet from 1980 to 2005, more than 80 per cent of total increase in Americans' income went to the top one per cent. Economic growth was more sluggish in the aughts [the first decade of the new century], but the decade saw productivity increase by about 20 per cent. Yet virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes, an outcome that left many economists scratching their heads."

The 2008 financial crisis exacerbated the trend, but not radically: the top one per cent of earners in the US have been feeding ever more greedily at the trough for decades.

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Marine, Navy, Army and Airforce Vets and Police Vow to Protect Innocent Protesters

In response to the police brutality against peaceful American protesters – here, here, here, here, here and here – military and police groups are forming to protect American citizens.

In fact, many in the military support the protests (and see this).

As of today, OccupyMarines, Occupy Police, Occupy Navy, Occupy Airforce, and Occupy Army have formed to protect the people against police brutality.

After Veterans for Peace member Scott Olsen – a Marine Corps veteran twice deployed to Iraq – was critically wounded in the Occupy Oakland protest, Occupy Marines tweeted:

WHEN YOU SHOOT ONE MARINE, YOU SHOOT AT ALL OF US. OORAH. Do It Peacefully Occupy We Stand In Solidarity

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Fraude van 1 miljard dollar bij spoor VS

Amerikaanse aanklagers in New York meldden vandaag een fraude van 1 miljard dollar (700 miljoen euro) te hebben ontdekt. Honderden spoorwegmedewerkers blijken onterecht een uitkering voor arbeidsongeschiktheid te krijgen.

De medewerkers hadden drie artsen omgekocht voor valse verklaringen. De 'arbeidsongeschikte' medewerkers bleken ondertussen vrolijk te tennissen of te golfen, aldus de aanklacht. Door arbeidsongeschikt te worden vlak voor hun pensioen, kregen ze een hoger pensioen van een bedrijfsfonds.

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NYPD sergeants threaten to sue Wall Street protesters

"Deeply concerned" police sergeants are coming out swinging today against obnoxious Wall Street protesters, saying they plan to "pursue legal action" against demonstrators who injure any of its members.

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD's Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, said his group plans to pursue legal claims against Occupy Wall Street protesters should they cause injury to any of its 5,000 members.

“In light of the growing violence attendant to the 'Occupy' movements across the country, particularly as evidenced by the recent events in Oakland, I am compelled to place these so-called 'occupiers' on notice that physical assaults on police officers will not be tolerated," he said.


Mullins added that any "assault on a police officer is not only punishable as a felony in the State of New York, but will also be met with swift and certain legal action by the SBA, which will seek monetary damages against any individual who causes injury to a New York City Sergeant.”

He said over 20 cops have been injured in Occupy Wall Street-related incidents.

"I am deeply concerned that protesters will be emboldened by the recent rash of violent acts against police officers in other cities. New York’s police officers are working around the clock as the already overburdened economy in New York is being drained by 'occupiers' who intentionally and maliciously instigate needless and violent confrontations with the police," said Mullins.

"In response, I have instructed the SBA’s attorneys to pursue the harshest possible civil sanctions -- including monetary damages -- against any individual protester who causes injury to my members. Protesters are not immunized from civil liability merely because their victims are wearing the uniform of the New York City Police Department."

This comes as the charges against hundreds of protesters who were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge or Union Square over the past six weeks could be dropped if the protesters accept a deal from the Manhattan DA's office.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/n(...)bSQeMI#ixzz1c0xY1Tt4

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Op donderdag 27 oktober 2011 20:26 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

Bill Maher Defends Occupy Wall Street

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Sgt. Shamar Thomas Is Back And He Brought The Marines With Him To #OWS

Occupy Wall Street demonstrators marched in a show of solidarity with Occupy Oakland Wednesday night. Leading the march front and center was none other than Marine Sergeant Shamar Thomas sporting his uniform proudly.