Just got back from Occupy Oakland/General Strike

[robdogbucky]

It was quite an awesome display of people peacefully protesting. Of course, on my way home the KCBS story on it spent 3 minutes talking about the damage to banks. As most here know, there is a suspicion that agent provocateurs did it, and I am inclined to believe that as there are many thousands gathered in the 6-square block area around Oscar Grant Plaza and it is like one giant party. It was also reported that protestors were helping to clean off the graffiti and to board up broken windows and reminding everyone that this is not the intent of Occupy Oakland/General Strike.


Not a single cop was seen.


That same radio report indicated they were massing out of site, for the marches that are now in starting toward the Port. Hundreds of protestors are boarding busses for the trip, which is a ways away from the downtown, but not that far. Many dozens of protestors on bikes went early and were reported swarming around the APL (American President Lines) facility there.

I had checked out the news reports at 11AM before I went down there and one reporter was amazed that this many people could gather for anything and have just a giant friendly, yet political, gathering. Again, she reported not a single cop was present this morning and there were no incidents.

I have photos I just had processed but have never posted photos on an internet site. I have them open on a Facebook page and wonder how do I transmit them here to post them all.


Would anyone care to offer instructions?


Should be interesting to monitor events as they unfold tonight in Oaktown.





We will not be silenced

[iamthebandfanman]

1. i dont see the problem

with breaking corporate property personally....

it actually used to be very common practice even in the united states to be mildly violent (not towards people or in a life threatening way).

even the strikes at GM in the 30s had tons of damage done to the buildings ..

heck its well known for its group of women protesters that broke out the windows of a building to distract police away from another key building they were wanting to occupy.. worked too.. GM had its most important building at the plant taken over because of their actions ;)

[socialist_n_TN]

7. Well making an omelet is pretty bad for eggs

:) However in your example, the damage was done for a tactical purpose. Random acts don't necessarily do much good.

I could actually see vandalism used as a tactic though. Say, you've got a load of cops about to mace, teargas, etc. demonstrators at one location when all of a sudden a call goes out because several banks in the area are being vandalized. What are the cops going to do? Protect the banks of course.

[iamthebandfanman]

21. totally agree,

random acts arent so helpful ..

but at the same time lets not kid ourselves...

not every struggle between the classes over the course of human civilization has been done through completely peaceful means. its unfortunate, but true.

this is not the first time this has been an issue in a society.

[Remember Me]

16. In the 1960s, and quite probably now too, anyone making such suggestions

would immediately be considered a likely infiltrator by the seasoned protesters.

Such "tactics" as you suggest play totally into the hands of the defenders of the status quo, give a huge go-ahead for police crackdowns on otherwise peaceful protesters (police brutality), discredit the movement or protest in the eyes of the public, and especially once the police crackdown starts dissuades others from joining the protest.

Please don't suggest or promote such ideas here. The Occupy Movement is actually smarter than that, but it dishonors them and what they stand for.

Also, you really don't KNOW that the "very common practice" that you think it used to be was protesters or agents provocateurs. I think for the most part it was infiltrators.

[iamthebandfanman]

17. Yes,

im sure the entire group of women that i gave as an example were all paid plants by outside forces and had nothing to do with an organized plan by protest leadership to gain access to the most valuable building of the company.

that being said, you and whoever else you want to get to be outraged can call me whatever you want. that doesnt make it so.

also, i would never suggest being the first to act out in a violent way.

but if they are already beating you and gassing you, how much further damage can you do ?



Guess what, the 'tactics' the women used worked and GM caved.

[Remember Me]

33. I said NOTHING about the history you cited --

and frankly know nothing about it.

Whatever happened is over and done. THIS is a different time with far different needs. It will not survive with any violence displayed. Period.

And I'll repeat myself: you do them a disservice and dishonor their work by even bringing the subject of violence up. You can take exception to my "outrage" if you want but I am seriously offended and appalled by your remarks and no amount of pushback from you is going to change that.

[Electric Monk]

2. I like imageshack for free picture hosting

http://www.imageshack.us/

Easy to use and free.


As to not seeing any uniformed police there, some have been speculating that's because they were in plainclothes and the ones breaking the windows :shrug:

[alfredo]

3. Thanks for the report. You can post the URL to your Facebook

photos.


Posting images.
Are you on a Mac or PC.

Mac
On a one button mouse, it is control click to copy the image URL . On a trackpad like the MagicPad, a two finger tap will bring up the dialog

PC right click

Practice with this image.
.

[Kaleko]

4. To your last sentence:

We can hear you roar all the way up in Canada.

A tsunami of higher awareness is going to crash and flush the old system out to sea.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. I hope it remains peaceful throughout the night! Thanks for the report, look forward to the pics!

:hi:

[Rabblevox]

6. Thanks for the 1st-person update! We are with you! On photo's, if you've already put them on...

on Facebook, all you need to do is right-click on the image you want to share, "copy image URL", and then paste that into your DU post. Simple as that.

Love to see the pics!

[robdogbucky]

11. I took the suggestion above and signed on to imageshack

now I am waiting for the imageshack site to send me a confirm and then I will try to upload them.

Do I just follow their instructions when that happens? I will try to copy the URL from imageshack and try that.

One way or another I will have them on this thread if it takes me all night.


Meanwhile on the Bay Area TV news, they are falling all over themselves in anticipation of some confrontation tonight at the port. Crowds have really increased at the port in the last half hour, all channels are there live now. One interview was hilarious, as a longshoreman was turned back at the gate from reporting for his shift. The reporter asked if he was upset he couldn't get to his job, so he could support his family, etc. He said, I'm union, our union supports this action. I will go and call my union agent and take it from there. He added this capitalism stuff has been trying to take over the whole world and I don't want that for my kids. I support the occupiers. The reporter really didn't know what to do with that response. It was great!

The truck drivers that are stuck in a long line, due in part to this and due in part to a work slowdown taking place at the port related to a dispute about ships that were loaded in Vietnam, etc. That labor dispute has nothing to do with Occupy, but there has been that situation down there for the workers to deal with.

So far, everything and everyone is cool.

This is better than I ever dreamed it could turn out. School kids joined in today downtown, accompanied by their teachers, marching with banners down the middle of Broadway. They were beaming with pride and enthusiasm, joining in on all the chants and human microphone messages that take place constantly. That was probably the most awesome thing I saw, aside from a photojournalist with a badly deformed body, working the news scene without any legs and arms that were about 18 inches long, sitting on a platform on an electric wheelchair type of vehicle. He was just doing his job, just like all the other photographers that were there, including me.


More as I get my photo thing together and monitor the live news reporting. So far, Channel 2 and Channel 7 have the best live coverages.


Later, when I learn more.

rdb

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. Jordan and Quan are on the split-screen livefeed, don't have sound

so I don't know if it's live or not:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=8416255

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Ended

[NYC_SKP]

9. ****Right Click, then view photo, then copy the web address URL think and paste it into your OP or.

reply...

That is, once it's on your facebook page.

:hi:

Thanks!!!!!

[lonestarnot]

12. K & R!

[robdogbucky]

13. Here's my first lame attempt to post a picture:

E:\Pictures\a7f56e8d-b301-414c-a0e9-a03f4e01cd5e_0014.jpg

[al bupp]

14. You want the URL, not the file path

The URL will be from the site where you uploaded the photos, and look something like this:

http:// www.somedomain.com /images/ picture.jpg

(Spaces added to keep the DU engine from thinking that I'm trying to reference a photo.)

You can check if you've got it right by using the "Preview" button on the DU posting page.

[robdogbucky]

15. Fuckit, I can't get this photo upload thing accomplished.

Things are heating up a the port, and the TV channels are going bonkers here. What a pile of crap to focus on the few instances of alleged vandalism. I was down there and saw none of it at any of the banks on Broadway in the area of the Plaza. None.

They are switching back and forth from the Plaza to the Port.

Now a report coming up on Channel 7, "Who are these people?"

I hope someone gives them an answer like the lonshoreman did to Mike Mibach, that tool "news," reporter for Channel 2.


I signed up with imageshack and got a confirm from them. Put my disk in my computer, will not upload to imageshack. I have tried everything possible on their page, upgrade to premium upload, download their uploader program, etc. Nothing. I thought I was copy and pasting the URL when I could get my pics opened in Windows Media on my machine but no dice in transmitting them to this site, as you can see I cannot find a URL anywhere in that mode to get them over here. I am a neophyte with computers and I don't care enough to learn it.

Oh, well, my family and friends will enjoy these photos. My wife is proficient with Facebook and when she arrives home I will confess my ineptitude (once again) and ask her help. At least she knows how to navigate and transmit stuff from a Facebook platform. Dog knows she dotes on our grandson with his pics on her Facebook page. I don't do Facebook, even though I am signed up and receive those silly friend offerings from apparently everyone I ever had an email exchange with.

Getting dark at the Port now, with the cops assembling. The news fucks can't do a single report without mentioning vandalism that occurred today. There it was again, when they were reporting from the Port, saying things like "Thus far there have been no signs of the vandalism that took place this afternoon...." What dickheads. What do they think the protestors are going to do, vandalize a barbed wire fence or a telephone pole? There's not much at the entrance to that facility other than concrete and steel.

Ooooooh, now the anchor asks the live reporter who is on a phone, "Now that it is dark, have you seen any sign of those things that might signal any trouble with the protestors?" To her credit, she said no, I have not seen anything like that all day. Actually, Frank, now that it is getting dark down here, half the folks are already heading back to the Plaza. Back to you Frank."

Now it was the anarchists, with black hoodies and masks on that are being touted as the vandals.


Sheeeesh

[MedleyMisty]

23. "Who are these people?"

The Libyans got hit with that one a lot. Their answer was "We are Libya!"

They also got held to insane standards, with any misconduct by a small group supposedly showing that they were all brown skinned savages while no one said anything about Gaddafi enriching himself at their expense for 42 years and torturing and killing them.

Authoritarians all play by the same rulebook.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. FYI, before I bail from your thread...black bloc

Use the google.

[robdogbucky]

22. That's cool, Nadin

I will get them up somehow eventually. So many have suggested so many ways I can't help but get it done. I just am busy now monitoring the local news feeds that come on. We have lots of channels here and one of them is usually covering it live. There is a lull now with no local TV reporting. No reason to think it worrisome, as it was last reported that folks were heading back to the Plaza from the Port. The Port was effectively being shut down, with the protestors allowind loaded trucks to exit the Port, but none to enter. Those truck drivers were interviewed and indicated they supported the protestors and were willing to wait as long as it takes to get in, if they can get in.

I think this is symbolically a shutting down of the Port more than anything. Today has marked a real turning point in my estimation. The City Council in Oaktown is pissed. The Police are cautious and stationary and largely were out of view COMPLETELY today in downtown Oaktown but the unions and the mainstream, elders and the youth were in much greater numbers than ever before. The demographic is remarkable now.

One of the reporters summed it up thus' that since last Tuesday night when Scott Olsen was injured and the camps had been violently broken up that morning, that a new crowd has joined the Occupation. It is now older, more savvy, leaderless but efficient and organized. Everyone is very respectful. One of the pictures I will upload eventually is of the Teamsters and their huge semi-truck that was conspicuously parked next to the Plaza in the afternoon sun. There is a different, more mature, maybe older, more determined vibe to this now. There are reallly good speakers at the always packed amphitheater in front of City Hall and next to the Plaza.

Not to be lost in all the spectacle, this simple message by FDR was taped to an ATM window:


"The first truth isthat the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 29th, 1938

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I did not mean photos

But the agent provocateours.

You had no cops...coincidentally you had blac block

!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bloc

Good you are safe...now I am bailing.

[robdogbucky]

25. Sorry, I thought you were offering advice on the photos, I know of the anarchists

they have been present here for all major demonstrations and were the brainchild in Europe by that Italian guy, forget his name. They were in Seattle, they were here in 2003 and 2004, they were likely in Oaktown today. They always turn up at the G-whatever conferences and were in Pittsburgh, PA last year for that one. My step daughter was a DA in Pitt and knows the whole scoopie-doo. They really gave the cops there an excuse to wail on the demonstrators at that conference.

That is a pretty educated guess. There were no visible police for sure. One interesting photo I will post later shows the rooftop surveillance next to the Plaza today. Myself and everyone around me were taking pictures of these guys on the roofs of two buildings taking pictures of us. Just like the cops were up in the Hyatt Regency on Market St. in SF on MLK Day in 2003 filming us for posterity. Of course I have them on video for posterity as well.

What's going on in San Diego tonight? There is a lull in any live reports from here in Oaktown.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. I staid home to do live threads on the strikes

Quiet from the fb page. Should turn tweeter feed soon.

[robdogbucky]

28. Just saw a video of the black bloc violence at Whole Foods in Oaktown

The Whole Foods employee was also interviewed. It's all on twitter now I think, at least this news report hae that twitter logo on it. They actually have the faces of two of the black clad, masked attackers as the crowd of peaceful protestors in the area tackled one of them to the ground, but he was proficient in martial arts according to the employee interviewed and got away in the confusion. The second black clad guy also filmed running away had his mask fall halfway off and his face can be seen as well. They also had to abandon their spraypainting equipment they used. Apparently it was also ginned up by a false rumor on Twitter that Whole Foods was going to fire any employee that participated in the general strike.

Whole Foods denied it and said the Twitter rumor was a hoax.

The next item, after another extensive report on the vandalism to banks today, was a report on the (possible) involvement of Anonymous in the Occupy Oakland and General Strike movements. No proof was offered and there has been no indication that Anonymous is doing anything other than shutting down the OPD's website last Wednesday for a while and spreading the community-based videos taken last week when Scott Olsen was attacked.

Other than that, I would say Anonymous isn't involved. Of course the innuendo used and the charges one interviewed expert had to address was "Was Anonymous in any way influencing or sponsoring this movement in Oakland?"

My, my, but the machine is having fits.

[iamthebandfanman]

30. you gotta love

the anarchists when they organise... lmao...

ive always found it funny.

anarchists organizing i mean.

[AsahinaKimi]

19. On KO's show tonight they showed at least one person

Smashing windows at either a Wells Fargo or Bank America..I am betting he wasn't part of the plan..not sure I care about that kind of thing, because it makes the entire group look thuggish.

[EFerrari]

20. Anon_Medics say police are staging at Broadway and 7th. nt

[robdogbucky]

26. I love those truck drivers delayed at the Port

to a man they have said it's cool, they support the 99%


Hot Damn, we got the truckers supporting us!

[robdogbucky]

29. I hate to be in this breathless reporting mode.

The latest is that the crowd at the Port, still large but half gone, noticed that trucks seemed to be going into the Port through another of the nearby entrances. They had the crowd having one of those public microphone discussions about what they should do about that.

I hate that something could happen here to destroy all that was gained today.

It shouldn't be too hard to eventually identify some of those troublemakers from black bloc or whatever.

I hope everyone stays cool down there.

Are people still coming into the area at the Port?

I have seen some shuttle bussed bringing a few back in, but it is really fluid right now, but no large groups are re-assembling at the Port. They seem to be stretched thin and the Port is trying an end-around to get some trucks in there.

[Fire Walk With Me]

31. Please continue!

:hi:

[robdogbucky]

32. All seems to be quiet at this hour (10:45PM)

It was reported that most of the protestors had returned to Plaza from the Port and were celebrating what they considered a successful day, etc. Then they showed several folks all dressed in black moving dumpsters into intersections around the plaza to block them. They were then immediately removed by other protestors (not dressed in black but having lived there for the last few weeks) after which the black-clad group then did the same thing at the next intersection, finding 3 or 4 large dumpsters and tipping them on their sides to block the street. Once again, the Plaza residents removed the dumpsters from the intersection.

No police in evidence at the Plaza area in what I saw.

I heard no further updates on what eventually happened at the Port but I took the rather relaxed and pedestrian report from the Plaza and more of these black-clad folks instigating stuff as a good sign that nothing dire happened at the Port.

I had a family situation arise and have to shut down for tonight. i have a tube on with the sound off in the other room so I will check the end of this hour's newscast to see if they update the Port situation.

Maybe someone else has been able to pay more attention in the last couple of hours.


No news is good news in this shit.



We will not be silenced. Feel the might of the 99%!