Category Archives: September 17 Wall Street Protest

Timothy Leary on the Wall Street Occupation Movement

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Dr. Timothy Leary and Anonymous - United In Their Support Of The Occupation - Collage by Carolyn Ferris

Michael Horowitz (Tim’s Personal Archivist – Since 1970) and myself (Tim’s Personal Digital Librarian – Since 1995) thought you might appreciate this little tidbit that sounds like it was written TODAY! After this craziness in Oakland, even. (Even though, of course, it wasn’t, cause Timmy’s been dead since 1996.)

He penned this in 1990, and slightly revised it in 1994.

Michael asserts under no uncertain terms that Tim would be behind what Anonymous, the Occupy Wall St. Movement, and ultimately Wikileaks/Julian Assange are doing. Daniel Ellsberg was Tim’s hero. Period.

Here’s’ a little excerpt: (Full story is over on the T R U T H O U T website.)

Imaginary conversation with Tim and Anonymous here.

From Tim’s writings:

“The post-political information society does not operate on the basis of obedience and conformity to dogma. It is based on individual thinking; scientific know-how; quick exchange of facts around feedback networks; high-tech ingenuity; and practical, frontline creativity. The society of the future no longer grudgingly tolerates a few open-minded innovators. The cybernetic society is totally dependent on a large pool of such people, communicating at light speed within and without geographical boundaries. Electrified thoughts invite fast feedback, creating new global societies that require a higher level of electronic know-how, psychological sophistication and open-minded intelligence.”

“This cyber-communication process is accelerating so rapidly that to compete in the world information marketplace of the 21st century requires the navigational skills of change-oriented, innovative individuals who are adept in communicating via the new cyber-electronic technologies.”

“The new breeds are simply much smarter than the old guard. They inhale new information the way they breathe oxygen. They stimulate each other to continually upgrade and reformat their minds. People who use cyber technology to make fast decisions on their jobs are not going home and passively letting aging, close-minded politicians make decisions about their lives.”

“The emergence of this new open-minded caste in different countries around the world is the central historical issue of the last 40 years.”

Oakland’s Snow Park and Main Occupy Oakland Camp’s Attacked By Police – Occupiers Re-Occupying Oakland

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Updated 7:31 pm

This is Snow Park right now:

Snow Park - Oakland, CA - October 25, 2011 - 7:30 pm - Photo by @jankyhellface

Updated 5:23 pm

(This is amazing front-line footage with the video guy calling out badge numbers from time to time.)

Here’s a video of the Razing of Occupy Oakland. I mean they leveled the place. Tore it to the GROUND – Crusades style!

Here’s a video of the Attack on Snow Park.

***

The Snow Park Occupy Oakland Extension called me this morning at 6am to let  me know they were being attacked. The next two hours were pretty horrible, as I watched first hand accounts of police brutality of ever flavor imaginable pouring over the feeds.

Tear Gas, Flash Grenades, Rubber Bullets, and LRAD sound cannons ALL USED EXCESSIVELY. (A lot to use to just round up people that are lying there in their sleeping bags – Arguably, by anyone’s standards.) They went out of their way to destroy whatever property they could with boxcutters and other tools. It was a real disgrace. It makes my stomach turn, and makes me not want to vote for Mayor Quan ever again, if she’s capable of pulling off something like this with a clear conscience.

There were cops from a number of different police forces. Here’s an SFGate article with details on that.

WE ARE GATHERING AT 14TH AND MADISON IN FRONT OF THE LIBRARY TODAY TO RESPOND TO THIS.

This just in from Anonymous:

Occupy Oakland – URGENT CALL FOR ASSISTANCE

 

Last night we faced an absolutely brutal assault by an army of the Oakland Police (with the help of cops from all over Northern California). Tear gas and flash bangs were fired into the camp where children were sleeping, people were beaten and shot with rubber bullets. The assault was also levied against our property in the camp, and the cops tried their best to completely destroy everything we had there. Almost every tent has been destroyed, many slashed with boxcutters, structures smashed, basically this was not an eviction, they came in to destroy everything we had. After they flattened our main camp, they also went to our small camp in Snow Park and repeated the process there.

Though we may be bloodied, we are even more determined to keep going. As we agreed upon in General Assembly, on the evening following any police assault on our camp, we will reconvening at the Oakland Public Library, on the steps. We will discuss our options and pick one, and then take action as a community to respond / rebuild our occupation. This is a big deal, we need everyone and their mother to come out, to help us reestablish and recommit to the occupation. They will not stop us. We will overcome this attack and emerge even stronger.

 

 

 

 

 

Occupy Oakland’s Snow Park Extension Makes It Through Its First Night

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Snow Park, 19th and Harrison, Oakland, California, October 19, 2011

Updated 10/22/11: Facebook page here – The camp is still alive and well. (Page includes video of conversation with the cops and other details about this camp.)

 

Oakland’s SNOW PARK occupation lives!

I work nearby in downtown Oakland, and heard that they had set up shop last night when a fellow worker warned me about extra cops she had seen in the vacinity.

Eager to find out what was going on, I walked over to the park and asked what the story was.

They informed me that a representative from Oakland’s City Government brought them a letter saying that, although the occupiers in front of Oakland City Hall were allowed to stay, due to historical precedence, the Snow-parkers would have to be out by 10pm for breaking the usual camping after 10pm laws.

“We’re making history now.” The supporter reasoned.  (I postulated if, in ten years, it would then be OK to camp out in the park, due to the previous generations historical precedence. ) But none of that mattered, the peaceful demonstrators were told in the letter from Oakland, and from several Police Officers who were sort of driving by and hanging around all day. (In a friendly way, I am told.)

So I tweeted about it and decided to show up myself at 10pm. To everyone’s surprise, nothing happened. No cops. No confrontation. There were at least five different news vans there, about 50 people that were not associated with the protest necessarily, watching. And a number of writers and reporters that had shown up on their own.

I finally left around 10:45, as I felt comfortable that we’d done all we could do to show support and solidarity with the protesters and also to show up with cameras to remind them the world is watching.

I was so pleased this morning to see the camp still standing.

So the struggle continues! But it kinda feels like we held our ground 🙂

Obama Says Wall Street Bankers’ Actions “Weren’t necessarily against the law.”

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Obama on Bank Prosecutions: They Did Nothing Illegal, Only Found Loopholes That We Worked to Close

From the article:

For perhaps the first time, President Barack Obama was forced to explain why there have been no prosecutions of Wall Street executives for their fraudulent actions during the run-up to the financial crisis. Asked by Jake Tapper to explain this behavior, Obama basically suggested that most of the actions on Wall Street weren’t illegal but just immoral, and that his Administration worked to re-regulate the financial sector with the Dodd-Frank reform legislation.

“Banks are in the business of making money, and they find loopholes,” the President said.

Apparently forging and fabricating documents to prove ownership of homes that are subsequently stolen from borrowers is now a loophole.

Many of the practices on Wall Street “weren’t necessarily against the law but they had a huge destructive impact,” said the President.

But as this Daily Show clip explains (see full episode, 8:28 minutes in), these loopholes have NOT been closed, in fact, the important parts of the Dodd-Frank Bill have yet to even be written!

This clip is about Occupy Wall Street really! The Dodd-Frank part is just at the end.

How can they wonder what the protesters are protesting about, when Obama’s now saying the financial loan crisis was nobody’s fault? It was just a few pesky loopholes!

Fox shot below from Daily Show clip:

Dodd-Frank is a Joke Apparently - And the Joke's On Us!

 

 

 

700 Arrested On Brooklyn Bridge Saturday After NYPD Led Them There and Trapped Them

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Wow I’m really surprised that this took place last weekend, but maybe I shouldn’t be.

Here’s the full article from Raw Story with a Democracy Now video.

From the article, quoting, Marina Sitrin,  an attorney from Occupy Wall Street’s legal working group:

“I think we have seen this a few times before, but it is an attempt, in our opinion as both a legal group and I think also the activist group, to intimidate people so that they don’t come out into the street,” Sitrin said.

“Including last weekend, it was wrapping people in that net on the sidewalk,” she continued. “Which is very similar to the police allowing people to walk somewhere and then wrapping them up again.”

“So, kind of giving the impression that where ever you go, you are not safe from potential arrest, and I think it is a potential message to people around the country, who are continuing to organize, that if you go out in the street, if you go on the sidewalk, there’s really nowhere where you could potentially be safe if you want to exercise your right to protest and to organize.”