Occupy Wall Street: Marin by Niki2

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Occupy Wall Street: Marin

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Sunday, October 16, 2011 08:14
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011 12:36 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

By sheer luck I discovered Occupy Wall Street has come to Marin (much to my shock). I mean, I know the liberals outnumber conservatives here, but I can't recall ever having had a demonstration right in town! By even MORE luck, I discovered them on Facebook just an hour before a demonstration downtown, in front of BofA. So I hustled and got there just after it started...we demonstrated for an hour, then met in the plaza to set up our own "General Assembly".

Here are shots of the "rowdy mob" that they claim are out to kill everyone:

Yes siree Bob, that's an ugly mob if ever I saw one!

There are too many intelligent people in Marin to pay much attention to FauxNews:

So there it is. The place was spotless when we left, but then we were only a hundred or so. But if the righties think the Occupy folk are a dangerous mob of druggies, felons and bums, the ones I saw sure weren't. I saw every race, every age, women in skirts, guys in long hair, and everything in between.

I'm a believer. Maybe this will be taken over by some group--or they will TRY to take it over, but at the General Assembly, they were trying to set up their own group, there was no leader and they made it clear there would BE no leader.

And yes, we also did the repetition thing, but no "jazz hands" (I do think that's pretty silly). At least here, we're NOT allowed bullhorns, and people at the edge of the crowd were yelling "We can't hear you!". So they sarted the repetition thing--I think it would be better if they had one person standing at the edge of earshot to repeat what the person is saying, rather than everyone doing it, but I understand the reason...to start with I was at the edge and couldn't hear them, either. The horns made it almost impossible at various points for ANY one person to hear.

It's a fledgling group, and the first thing they asked for was a show of hands for all who would be willing to meet again and stick with it...I would say a good 75% of us raised our hands.

We have another demonstration/meeting this Saturday, at which time we will be meeting somewhere QUIET to try and get things somewhat organized. They don't want total organization, just enough that we all know what we represent. No demands, just making our voices heard to protest what we think is wrong.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011 1:36 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Best wishes Niki, it sounds like you really feel good about your decision to join. I'm sure demands very from county to county and from person to person really, which is why I like the idea of not having cemented demands until/unless its absolutely necessary, but that's just me.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011 3:00 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

The beginnings of things are often the best part of things. Everything is new and full of hope, and there is a spark of belief that maybe this time things will change. The people will be heard. Everything will get better.

In 2007, that was me. That was the Tea party. That was the Ron Paul rEVOLution.

I hope your efforts yield better fruit than mine.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011 3:45 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Anthony, I remember you then. You weren't wrong. You were wronged.

Niki, give 'em hell!

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 9:16 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I agree with Mike. Ron Paul's original movement had a lot to say for it. It got co-opted with people who don't have our, or the country's, welfare at heart.

Won't be around much, working on placards...it's one thing I'm good at that I can contribute. Next demontration: Saturday.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 11:44 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

So on our local after-the-news news show they always ask a question at the beginning and at the end they read texts that viewers sent in about their answers. So the question was "What do you think the Occupy protestors want?" So the anchorwoman read several answers sent in and then the last one said "Another season of Firefly" I'm not teasing, and then the anchor in the background cheered and the newswoman reading the texts added, "Browncoats forever" I'm serious! It was so cool!
Not directly related but I had to tell you guys.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 12:22 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
[B So the question was "What do you think the Occupy protestors want?" So the anchorwoman read several answers sent in and then the last one said "Another season of Firefly" I'm not teasing, and then the anchor in the background cheered and the newswoman reading the texts added, "Browncoats forever" I'm serious! It was so cool!
Not directly related but I had to tell you guys.

Hey, that's the single most important part of your post or the newscast!

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 12:25 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Hey, Niki, who was it who said," The Occupy protests are just like the Tea Party protests, but with better spelling"?

Glad ya went, glad ya got a good response from the local folks, glad your city pols and police were cool.

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 12:48 PM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
So on our local after-the-news news show they always ask a question at the beginning and at the end they read texts that viewers sent in about their answers. So the question was "What do you think the Occupy protestors want?" So the anchorwoman read several answers sent in and then the last one said "Another season of Firefly" I'm not teasing, and then the anchor in the background cheered and the newswoman reading the texts added, "Browncoats forever" I'm serious! It was so cool!
Not directly related but I had to tell you guys.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

RionaEire, that just rocks.

Niki - thank you for the pictures! Now I know exactly what kind of long-haired unwashed California teenager hippy freaks I should be afraid of.

Oh... wait...

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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Thursday, October 13, 2011 1:23 PM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
So on our local after-the-news news show they always ask a question at the beginning and at the end they read texts that viewers sent in about their answers. So the question was "What do you think the Occupy protestors want?" So the anchorwoman read several answers sent in and then the last one said "Another season of Firefly" I'm not teasing, and then the anchor in the background cheered and the newswoman reading the texts added, "Browncoats forever" I'm serious! It was so cool!
Not directly related but I had to tell you guys.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

Epic. Browncoats for the win!

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Friday, October 14, 2011 7:10 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Riona, that is SO kewl! It's always amazing and wonderful to be reminded that we're all still "out there", alive and well. As it gets further and further away in time, I guess I've pretty much given up on it ever coming back in any form I would enjoy, but damn, you'd think SOMEOE would notice and want to bring it back!

I bump into people all the time who recognize my Serenity t-shirts and say something...several of them didn't know Serenity was the "conclusion" (if you will) of Firefly, so I turned 'em on to it. Lucky bastards, HOW I'd love to be seeing it for the first time!

The Science channel here has been showing it in marathons, ending with Serenity. I think I just saw the fourth go-around, and it always makes me smile to see it in the listings. There must be someone there who feels like we do!

Just checking in to say hi...back to making placards. Demonstration tomorrow and, thank gawd, the temps are supposed to go down just a big. Wednesday, yesterday and today we're in the high 80s, and that's damned unpleasant!

Yeah, those hippies never go away, do they? Hee, hee, hee...there WERE a few older guys with long hair and I saw a woman or two in hippie-type skirts, but for the most part it was twenties, middle aged and elderly folk...looked like a lot of "felons" and "druggies" to me, yes indeed.

Ran down to a small art store down the street to get some stuff for making placards, and got into a discussion with the guy who owns it. We are of a mind, about the economy, Obama (we both wish there were an alternative on the Dem side), and when I asked for something, he said "you with the Occupy folk?" I sad yeah, and he gave me a discount and a hearty "go get 'em!"

We shared our sadness; his store has been here since we first got here, 35+ years ago, and we were commiserating with one another about how many store which have been here that long or nearly that long have gone out of business. Scary times, but good to discover he's a kindred spirit.

Okay, back to work...only got today, since the next demonstration is tomorrow. There are always folk who arrive (like that elderly couple) who have no signs and want one, so I'm whacking up a bunch of 'em. Good to have a project, especially since I just sarted coming out of my most recent depressive episode four or five days ago, so I've got energy again.

Thanx for the good wishes. Onward...

Oh, I went back and pulled the URLs for the videos...they have new URLs on YouTube, so I'm going to try putting them in and see if anything comes out. Can't figure out why they're not showing up...grrrr...

This is them from across the street:

This is the reception we got--this is the main street in San Rafael, the plaza is the very center of town; everything "downtown" is on this street.

More of the same, but catch the elderly couple in pink and orange at the very end of the shot. They came hobbling across the street past me, the guy looked up at me with a big grin and said "This is great...where do we get signs?" They stuck it out the entire hour, and trust me, it was friggin' HOT in that sun!

In case you don't catch the chant in this next one, it was

"Na na na na, na na na na,
Hey hey hey, Fox lies"

eta; well damn, they finally came out. Computers...bah!

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Friday, October 14, 2011 7:38 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Just got a heck of a surprise and a good laugh! Others took videos and I was shifting through them--most are shit, people who don't know how to use a camera (!), but then I happened across this one:

You might recognize one of the people answering the "why are you here?" question...I keep getting surprised at how low my voice is when I hear it! So that's me (brown t-shirt and sunglasses)--when she filmed it, she said it was for some local community thing or other (I didn't catch it); this is the last place I expected to see it! Quite professional job, compared to the rest of us!

And I was surprised; there were over two hundred of us? Wow, that's AMAZING for Marin! I was too hot and my back hurt too much to stick out the entire General Assembly meeting, so I missed that we're gonna do something on the freeway (that should be interesting! Someone may have to bail me out of jail!) and that they wanted people to work on the committee. I'll have to check on that, I have the time and want to do whatever I can.

Speaking of which, back to work...

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Friday, October 14, 2011 9:08 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

I think it's great that there are so many who have the passion and time to do this. But I'm continually disappointed in how they (the very few) who have had a chance to present their case to the greater public have failed to do it well. It's as if they don't want to be bothered with organizing or having a thought out agenda and that just makes them look bad. That's frustrating to me since I believe in their cause. I saw an OWS gentleman on Charlie Rose show who seemed to cave under the moment, "what is it the Occupiers want..." "Well, I can tell you want we aren't...."

The following piece is pretty good - it clearly states the pitfalls of public protest, but also goes on to suggest ways for OWS to side step those issues and actually make the changes happen that they are looking for.

Niki - I hope you get a chance to read it and share it with your fellow protestors. There are some good ideas on what actions to try next.

http://envisionseattle.org/2011/10/turning-occupation-into-lasting-cha
nge.html

some highlights:

"If the Occupy movement is to succeed over time, it must follow the lead of community rights building efforts that have begun work to dismantle the body of law that perpetually subordinates people, community and nature to wealthy corporate minorities. For example:

- In November 2010, Pittsburgh’s city council stripped corporations seeking to drill for natural gas of their corporate personhood rights, protections of the commerce and contracts clauses of the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions and the right to pre-empt community ordinances with federal or state law.

- In March 2011, for the first time since Ecuador added rights for nature to its Constitution, a judge stopped destructive corporate development in a suit brought by ordinary residents on behalf of the Vilcabamba River.

- This November, Spokane residents will vote on Proposition One which 1) grants neighborhoods complete control over local development, 2) affords rights and protections to the Spokane River and Aquifer, 3) grants Constitutional protections to employees in the workplace and 4) makes People’s right’s superior to corporate rights."

"Mainstream progressive groups have failed by constraining their activities within legal and regulatory systems purposefully structured to subordinate communities to corporate power. Real movements don’t operate that way. Abolitionists never sought to regulate the slave trade – they sought freedom and rights for slaves. Suffragists didn’t seek concessions but demanded the right for all women to vote. The Occupy movement must begin to use lawmaking activities in cities and towns to build a new legal structure of rights that empowers community majorities over corporate minorities, rather than the other way around."

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Saturday, October 15, 2011 3:49 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Damn. Video's been removed. :0( Oh well.

Yes, Pizmo, I will take that idea to the protest today; I doubt it will have much impact, tho'. There seems to be a determination to remain leaderless; i.e., be the "voice of the people"--probably at least in part in response to the astroturfing of the Tea Party. But it doesn't do any good in the end, for the reasons you stated.

As I wrote, they're starting some kind of committee, and I plan to join that. Maybe what you wrote would have more impact there, we'll see. I certainly agree with all you wrote, and I WILL read the article. Right now my brain wouldn't take it in--I was up very late doing placards, and Jim's GODDAMNED tea kettle woke me at 5:30. He can't hear it, but it wakes me up way out in the Outback

. Couldn't go back to sleep, but that doesn't mean I'm AWAKE!

Thanx for the input. It's important. I'll print it out and take it with me.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Sunday, October 16, 2011 5:58 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

What's REALLY behind all this...

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Sunday, October 16, 2011 6:30 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Ahhh, I wondered where you were and why you hadn't shown up yet to start snarking. I knew you WOULD eventually.

Given it's "my" thread (in more ways than me just having put it up), may I respectfully request Raptor not be responded to...I'd rather keep this from becoming his usual back-and-forth game. Can we please not play, just this once? Thank you.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Sunday, October 16, 2011 7:13 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Update: Yesterday's demonstration was pretty much a repeat of Wednesdays, only slightly bigger (300-400 according to the news):

It starts out with the guy who was reading "our" statement, but about a minute in shows the actual demonstration. (I'm at 2:25; the brown t-shirt has the First Amendment on it) I miss that sign and will have to remake it, dammit. I made 6 signs...I see some of them in the video...and only two came back to me! Pisses me off, especially as that one was my favorite and while sitting through the general assembly, a woman asked if she could walk around with it. I never saw it again. I assume some of them will show up at future demonstrations...I'll be looking for them! I put a lot of work (and some money) into the signs I make and would like to be able to take them to further demonstrations. Got a TON more to do!

This group seems more organized than those on Wall Street--we've already got a media committee (which made both these "slick" videos), a website and enough funds to start making bumperstickers. They're really going great guns in getting active and have several committees working on varous things. They're planning demonstrations every day next week at the freeway entrance for a couple of hours during rush hour...I'll try to make as many as I can. I'm going to get in touch with the bunch working, hopefully that means I won't have to sit through every general assembly. After an hour in the hot sun, I'm not crazy about sitting around another hour or more listening to updates, questions, etc., and I'm not crazy about the repetition thing. But the cops are always there, and we're not permitted bullhorns of any kind (they say it's "noise pollution--yeah, right). Luckily I've staked out a tree that gives me a bit of shade and which I can lean against, and a spot on the plaza where I can sit under another semi-shady tree. Nonetheless, it's hot and tiring, and I've learned enough to wear my back brace and take my cane, which helps.

We got the same reception yesterday as Wednesday, tons of honking horns, thumbs up, fists, waves--it's really encouraging. (This one's only 30 seconds or so, but gives you an idea of all the encouragement we got.)

I didn't have a chance to talk to them about Pizmo's excellent suggestions, but I'm taking a copy of the link he posted and a copy of his post to some kind of smaller meeting. It's obviously too long for the general assembly, tho' next time I am going to bring UP the idea anyway.

I heard on the news yesterday the suggestion that, given state legislators have much more impact on people's lives than federal (mostly true), there's a group organizing (dems AND repubs) to try and get some people elected in Saccamenna (our capital) who will actually REPRESENT their constituents, in other words to look into their backgrounds, who's supporting them monetarily, and try to figure out if they'll actually do what they promise when running. I think it's a great idea--people vote for the charismatic, the pretty, the ones who say what they want to hear, and that's what's gotten us where we are!

Just heard San Ramon has joined us...another city that would have been one of the last I'd have imagined becoming part of this. It's like a daily surprise to find places I NEVER would have thought would mobilize. And yes, Anthony, the energy is always highest at the beginning; I'm prepared for that but, like you, am hoping something GOOD comes of this.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Sunday, October 16, 2011 7:25 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Just discovered our "media committee" has come up with some pretty slick graphics (the second one is a flyer). Shouldn't really surprise me, as they'e tapping into Marin's artistic community and the Bay Area is full of graphic designers:

And the next demonstration is planned for next Saturday. These guys are really motivated!

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

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Sunday, October 16, 2011 8:14 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Pardon, but I missed the sign at the door that said 'Niki's World'.

But hey, no worries. I'll play nice. I fully understand that you'd not want the truth being brought up here, or there even being any NEED for a dissenting point of view.

I understand, fully.

As you were...

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