Bahrain: Social Media, Graffiti Art and Revolution
‘Social media’ conjures up thoughts of instant internet communication, global chatter over the web, computers, mobiles, tweets, posts etc. But there is a communication form that predates these modern tools – political street art. Street art can be dated back to ancient Egypt and throughout history it has been employed by those with a political point to make.
A Black Bloc Rebuttal To Chris Hedges
Thank you to Calypso_1 for providing the link! A rebuttal by David Graeber to this earlier post, via n+1
In response to “The Cancer in Occupy,” by Chris Hedges.
I am writing this on the premise that you are a well-meaning person who wishes Occupy Wall Street to succeed. I am also writing as someone who was deeply involved in the early stages of planning Occupy in New York.
I am also an anarchist who has participated in many Black Blocs. While I have never personally engaged in acts of property destruction, I have on more than one occasion taken part in Blocs where property damage has occurred. (I have taken part in even more Blocs that did not engage in such tactics. It is a common fallacy that this is what Black Blocs are all about. It isn’t.)
I was hardly the only Black Bloc veteran who took part in planning the initial strategy…
What’s Next For Occupy?
Erik Eckholm ponders the future of the Occupy movement, writing at the New York Times:
The ragtag Occupy Wall Street encampments that sprang up in scores of cities last fall, thrusting “We are the 99 percent” into the vernacular, have largely been dismantled, with a new wave of crackdowns and evictions in the past week. Since the violent clashes last month in Oakland, Calif., headlines about Occupy have dwindled, too.
Far from dissipating, groups around the country say they are preparing for a new phase of larger marches and strikes this spring that they hope will rebuild momentum and cast an even brighter glare on inequality and corporate greed. But this transition is filled with potential pitfalls and uncertainties: without the visible camps or clear goals, can Occupy become a lasting force for change? Will disruptive protests do more to galvanize or alienate the public?
Though still loosely organized, the movement is putting…
Andrew Breitbart Tells Occupy Protesters to Behave and Stop Raping People
If Breitbart ever has a meltdown, how will anybody know?
The Cancer In Occupy
Chris Hedges writes about the Black Bloc at Alternet (thanks to Adam for the tip):
The Black Bloc anarchists, who have been active on the streets in Oakland and other cities, are the cancer of the Occupy movement. The presence of Black Bloc anarchists—so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property—is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power.
They were shut down because they articulated a truth about our economic and political system that cut across political and cultural lines. And they were shut down because they were places mothers and fathers with strollers felt safe.
Black Bloc adherents detest those…
KMFDM Bitch-Slaps Plutocracy With A Drug Against Wall Street
From Johan of HoodooEngine:
The whole #OccupyWallStreet thing is cool and all, but it’s not a real party until some heavyweights of radical music start throwing their weight behind it. Fans of industrial metal will be pleased to know that KMFDM has done just that, releasing a new version of their classic track (which the more angsty of us rocked in our angsty bedrooms over a decade ago), A Drug Against War, but have altered their own lyrics to spotlight the recent rebellion against evil psycho-clown corporations.
The vocals in the track are now all about defeating our shady bankster-GMO-Annunaki overlords with the new title A Drug Against Wall Street! Calling upon the 99% to “march to the drum of the ultra heavy beat,” the vocals warn against remaining passive to the ravages of class warfare, warning us rather succinctly that “make no mistake, our children’s future is at stake.”
Shortly after the release of this…
The A-Z Of Occupation
Every social movement I have been involved with, or covered as a journalist, develops its own language of liberation, its own alphabet, and its own buzzwords, rhetoric and discourse.
Here are some of the key words I heard/retained in covering the Occupy Wall Street movement. I am sure there are many words, phrases, and slogans I overlooked, never heard or forgot. Send your favorites to: dissector@mediachannel.org.
These are words that power a struggle and speak to the internal processes that attracted so many to take part, as well as the issues that drive it and the obstacles that face it. They are some of the phrases, terms, sayings and expressions that the occupiers use in their conversations to define themselves and discuss their mission.
A. Adbusters, Anarchy, Arrest, Activist, Action, Anger, Angry, Atrium, Assembly (Freedom of,) Arab Spring, Autonomy, Anonymous. All Night, All Week, Austerity, Autumn Awakening.
B. Bloomberg, Billionaire, Banker, Bank Transfer, Bankster,…
It’s Time To Occupy A New Year
"Plunder" Filmmaker Danny Schechter
Out with the old. I would say good riddance to 2011 even as I fear 2012 may be worse, given the financial trends, social chaos and political idiocy that we confront every day.
Every time I think it can’t get worse, it does.
It seems so clear that the political system is moribund and paralyzed and the economic system may be in worse shape.
A tiny sliver of the 1% may be in charge although not in control. Their own short-term greed makes it unlikely that they can stabilize the system or do any longer term planning. Their Titanic has hit its iceberg. Some new technologies may be keeping it afloat for now but for how long?
We lurch from crisis to crisis in an atmosphere of deep denial.
Obama clearly has no new ideas and the Republican candidates for the most part don’t know what an idea is, as they pander…
Occupy vs. Ron Paul
Via CNN:
Five members of the Occupy the Caucus movement in Des Moines Iowa were arrested this morning while blockading the entrance to Ron Paul’s campaign headquarters.Using their iconic mic-check speaking style, the protestors spoke out against Ron Paul’s campaign pledge to close the Environmental Protection Agency if elected.
Sitting arm in arm, the members of the Occupy movement chanted; “We are fighting for the future generations. In order to live we need clean air, clean water, and safe food. Don’t dismantle the EPA. We won’t allow this business to open before our demands are met.”
Police gave the protestors the opportunity to move from the private entrance to the public sidewalk twenty feet away. Some complied, but five refused to move and were arrested.
Many of the occupy demonstrators claimed sympathy, if not outright support for the ideology of Ron Paul, which made this protest especially uncomfortable for both the occupiers and the…
Batman: Occupy Gotham
Don’t you love it when pop culture reflects real life? From the Wall Street Journal:
In addition to the morally ambiguous Catwoman and the enhanced strongman Bane, it appears the new Batman movie will tackle income inequality, according to the below trailer.
In the clip, a whispering Anne Hathaway (Catwoman) can be seen telling Bruce Wayne, Batman’s billionaire alter-ego: “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne… when it hits, you’re all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.”…
Occupy: WWJD?
BBC News asks What Would Jesus Do to OWS?
The Occupy movement has become the latest to use the slogan “what would Jesus do?”, something that has been questioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. But where did the slogan come from and is there ever an answer to the question posed, asks Stephen Tomkins.
Like all the most enduring slogans, “what would Jesus do?” has inspired countless rewrites.
There has been everything from political parody – anti-war T-shirts asking “who would Jesus bomb?” – to the beyond parody such as the “what would Jesus eat?” biblical diet plan.
The original question “what would Jesus do?” has been taken seriously by millions of Christian teenagers who have worn it over the last 20 years as a reminder to live their life in the right way. But it’s now been co-opted by protesters outside London’s St Paul’s Cathedral threatened with eviction.
Particularly in the US, but also elsewhere,…
Why Politicians Don’t Understand OWS
Frank Luntz. Photo: Larry D. Moore (CC)
Paul B. Farrell remixes Republican spinmeister Frank Luntz’s ten techniques for talking about Occupy, for MarketWatch:
Forget politics. The 99%, the Occupy Wall Street movement, is not about politics. But politicians don’t get it yet. The Dems sure don’t. And while Bill O’Reilly says the movement is already dead, insider Frank Luntz thinks OWS is not only very alive, but getting dangerously bigger. In fact, he’s very “scared” for his clients.
Warning: Will somebody please tell Luntz Occupy Wall Street is not about politics? This is class warfare, a revolution about economic inequality, not about political parties, political policies and political solutions … and it’s not going away any time soon.
Luntz is a conservative pollster so he’s making it all about politics. But he’s missing the point, and misleading his clients. Luntz is author of some great books like “Words That Matter” and “What Americans Really…
Miley Cyrus Gets Political, Supports #OWS
Does the endorsement of Miley Cyrus spell the end of cool for #OWS? Check it out:
Most Americans Have No Idea What OccupyWallStreet Is About
I suspect the percentages are reversed here in New York, but out there in the USA Today-reading American heartland, OWS doesn’t mean much according to a new poll:
A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows that the “Occupy” movement has failed to capture the attention of a majority of Americans, indicating either ambivalence toward it or lack of interest.
The poll finds that 56% of Americans surveyed are neither supporters nor opponents and 59% say they don’t know enough to have an opinion about the movement’s goals.
The survey, however, does show an increase from 20% to 31% in disapproval of the way the protests are being conducted…
[continues at USA Today]
Zuccotti Park Retaken By NYPD
Zuccotti Park, pre-Occupation. Photo: Tony (CC)
So it’s finally happened. Breaking news (and so likely to change as the day goes on), reported by the New York Times:
Hundreds of police officers early Tuesday cleared the park in Lower Manhattan that had been the nexus of the Occupy Wall Street movement, arresting dozens of people there after warning that the nearly two-month-old camp would be “cleared and restored” but that demonstrators who did not leave would face arrest.
The protesters, about 200 of whom have been staying in the park overnight, initially resisted with chants of “Whose park? Our park!”
The massive operation in and around Zuccotti Park was intended to empty the birthplace of a protest movement that has inspired hundreds of tent cities from coast to coast. On Monday in Oakland, Calif., hundreds of police officers raided the main encampment there, arresting 33 people. Protesters returned later in the day. But the…
Behind The Scenes At OWS With Danny Schechter
Danny “Media Dissector” Schechter (director of Plunder: The Crime of our Time) says that “Behind the scenes of Occupy Wall Street is an organization that is pretty invisible. It is decentralized, it’s bottom up and it’s organized into working committees.” He’s created a video report about it for PressTV:
U.S. Marines In Dress Uniform To Protect Occupy Protesters
Via OccupyTheHamptons (thanks Miles Jaffe):
What Will Happen To OccupyWallStreet If It Loses Its Park?
Zuccotti Park. Photo: David Shankbone (CC)
The tarps are flapping and the tents are not bringing much warmth.
The harsh winds of winter are lashing the encampment at Zuccotti Park, or as many would prefer. “Liberty Plaza,” the symbol of a wannabe revolution against the status quote and powercrats of the American oligarchy.
The hard real-world contradictions of urban life have bumped up against the idyllic hopes of the occupiers as all the urban crises that our society has ignored and neglected surface in that half acre of hope.
There are man/woman handlers and gladhanders, doers and dopers, ragers and even rapists and so many poor with no where else to go. There are cops on the outside (and many on the inside) who plan for and hope for the worse.
This fight is not just the 99% against the 1% because, truth be told, this movement has so far only motivated a minority of…
Media Roots: Occupy Oakland — Police Tear Gas, Black Bloc, War in the Streets
Abby Martin of Media Roots was on the front lines of the war in the streets of Oakland during the aftermath of the Occupy Oakland general strike and shutdown of the port on November 2, 2011. Over 10,000 peaceful protesters successfully shut down the Port of Oakland, the fifth largest port in the country at 8 p.m. earlier that night. About two hours later, the anarchist “Black Bloc” came to downtown, smashing windows of banks and setting trash cans on fire. The Oakland PD in full riot gear lined up and marched toward the now out of control rally. They started firing smoke grenades and tear gas into the crowd of people, to which people starting throwing bottles and other objects back to the police. After the crowd scattered, the police lined up and starting to close in and arrest the remaining protesters at the Occupy Oakland camp:
