Zombie Does Occupy Oakland
Photojournalist Zombie took a tour of Occupy Oakland. I'm getting to think the same people participate in all the events she covers. They certainly look like the same crowd, anyway.
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I had some business in Old Town, Eureka yesterday so decided to drive by the county courthouse to see what was going on, not having heard anything about the encampment there for at least a couple days.I was surprised to see not only tents on the courthouse lawn, but tents that seemed to cover just about every inch of the lawn with only a handful of people standing around. As with Zombie's photo essay of Oakland, the people standing around were what I'd have expected.
If it weren't the courthouse lawn I'd have been amused.
As it was I found myself surprised that the tents were there to that extent. I was also a bit angry as this seemed to me to be an obvious attempt at provoking a confrontation with police. And for what purpose?
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To add insult to injury, I was listening to KMUD radio at the time. The radio guy announced that more campers were needed at the courthouse. I might have heard "Occupy" used once, but no word about why they were camping and no word about it being illegal- at least while I was paying attention.I thought that was shamelessly irresponsible. If he was going to support an illegal encampment he could have said why they were camping and that there could be legal ramifications for doing so.
I enjoy KMUD radio and listen to it all the time. Still, I'd be more than happy to see someone who ended up following that radio guy's advice- and ended up in trouble because of it- suing either the radio guy, the station, or both. It would be their just reward for, as we called it when I worked at Juvenile Hall, contributing to a difficult situation.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:27 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
FRED!!!! You are repeating the "corporate mainstream journalism" line of reporting. Did you not get the meno? You MUST think like Herldo & Company... Make ready for the onslaught sir....
Am I missing the connection between Occupy Wall Street and Occupy the Courthouse Lawn? Why don't they move one block over and occupy BofA's parking lot?
Otherwise to me, it looks like the organizers are purposefully attempting to provoke state violence. It has very little to do with the banks.
No. You're not missing any connection, because there isn't one. I made that same point here a few days ago.
Your point about the bank being more appropriate is valid, although even that would provoke confrontation with police with no effect on how banks operate in the end.
The recent move by some to divest themselves of large banks and switching to local banks or credit unions makes much more sense. Totally legal, and it's already had some effect towards changing bank policy, although I'm sure there might be unintended consequences to such actions we haven't considered if we completely destroyed the large banks as some have advocated.
Fred, the occupy movement is to put our politicians on notice. That beter place than the County Seat to do that? I don't get that you don't get it.
Granted, most people are there for the party, and some just want to be in somebodies face. But, at the root of these demonstrations is a grievance that someting is wrong with America.
Than go walk back and forth in front of the courthouse with signs and demonstrate your message. If you break the law and damage property or violate other people's rights you should accept the consequences.
Call it civil disobedience if you want, but expect to be arrested if you're doing something illegal. Especially if your being in everybody's face and confrontational about it.
Naaa... I gotta job!~
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