Archive for November, 2011
Parade, Sports, Leftovers
(1) Are John Pike’s 15 Minutes Up Yet? I have read one good piece sympathetic toward the “casually pepper-spraying cop”: Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike, at The Atlantic. The point is that it’s structural, and there’s a nice review of changes in police tactics to deal with civil unrest: ...Read more.
#OccupyThanksgiving! plus: Stealing Thanksgiving
(This post’s “possibly irrelevant image” is from a heartbreaking group of photos by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, The Ruins of Detroit.) (1) #OccupyThanksgiving! I’ve seen the suggestion go around: many of us are having Thanksgiving with family and/or friends who may not know enough about or be involved enough in the Occupy movement. It ...Read more.
The John Pike Meme; Rick Wolff Video; EU
(1) The Lt. John Pike (UC Davis pepper-spraying cop) meme: See more pictures of UC Davis Lt. John Pike casually pepper-spraying innocents here and here and here. Find a template to make your own image here. (2) Video of Rick Wolff’s Excellent Talk at #OccupyBoston, November 17, 2011. Thanks to Doug G. of the Zinn ...Read more.
UC Davis Brutality; Greenway Letter; etc.
(1) Police Brutality at UC Davis Watch the video for yourself. Watch to the end–there’s a happy ending! Find another video of the same scene here. Good coverage at the Davis Enterprise. A useful primer on the legalities of pepper spray and excessive force. Here’s the money quote (this is from Vineyard v. Wilson and ...Read more.
NYC March Tomorrow; Mass. 3-Strikes Vote TODAY
(1) Day of Action Tomorrow: If you are in or near New York City, try to make it to tomorrow’s Day of Action. I think it’s important to show the power of the movement after yesterday’s early morning eviction from Zuccotti Park. (2) Mass. House to Vote on “Three-Strikes” Bill: I was shocked to hear ...Read more.
“Stop Beating Students!”; “Not Nonviolence”
In case you haven’t been following what’s been going on at UC Berkeley, where students have been attempting to start an #OccupyCal, here’s a primer (this is just one of lots of shocking videos): The university chancellor, a Robert J. Birgeneau (creepy name, eh?), sent an email to the university community with this bit of ...Read more.
Troika to PIIGS: Shut Up and Take Your Medicine
Troika to PIIGS: Shut Up and Take Your Medicine Economists to Shepherd Greece and Italy Mike Epitropoulos | November 11, 2011 The mainstream press around the world is jubilantly covering the change in leadership in both Greece and Italy, as the people in those countries and the other “PIIGS” continue to have harsh austerity measures ...Read more.
Labor Victory, Greece, Clowns, etc.
A quick bunch of links–I have been having trouble finding time to do a proper blog post, for which I apologize. (1) Labor Victory in Ohio: NYT report; interesting piece in the New Republic (which I usually don’t have much use for). (2) Dean Baker on Greece: In the Guardian, for TM to show to ...Read more.
The Weather; General Strike; Goldman Sachs
(1) The Weather and #OWS: The image above is from a German Socialist Students Union poster from 1968 (it was apparently a takeoff on a slogan from the national rail system, according to this site). The poster headed a nice piece from Viewpoint Magazine on #OWS and the weather–super-relevant now that many inches of ...Read more.
