The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Pushback Against Occupy Sites


    The Portland Press Herald reports on the bombing of Occupy Maine:

    "We are more motivated to keep doing what we're doing," said Stephanie Wilburn, of Portland, who was sitting near where the chemical mixture in a Gatorade bottle was tossed at 4 a.m. Sunday. "They have heard us and we're making a difference."

    Wilburn said she was startled and briefly lost hearing in her left ear when the device exploded beneath a table about 10 feet away. Wilburn's hearing returned and police said no injuries were reported.

    "There was no fire . . . We had a good 20 feet of thick smoke rolling out from under the table," Wilburn said. They could see the "G" on the 24-ounce bottle and its orange cap, as well as bits of silver metal, she said.

    She and a friend who ran over to look at it breathed in fumes that smelled like ammonia, she said.

    Witnesses said a silver car had been circling before the attack, its occupants shouting things like "Get a job" and "You communist." They believe someone from that car threw the device, according to a statement from Occupy Maine.

    Democracy Now! also listed arrests at several Occupy sites:

    In Texas, 23 activists with Occupy Dallas were arrested Monday for blocking the entrance to a Chase bank while other activists attempted to close their Chase accounts.

    In Illinois, members of Occupy Chicago and a group of nurses protested outside City Hall and the offices of Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday, one day after Chicago police arrested 130, including many nurses, at Occupy Chicago in Grant Park.

    Oakland police are threatening to raid Occupy Oakland. A tweet by the protest group posted just before we went to air reported that police in riot gear had surrounded the encampment and began firing flash grenades and rubber bullets into the camp. UPDATE: Oakland police stormed the Oakland Occupy protest encampment outside City Hall just before 5 a.m. PDT. Police lobbed flash grenades and reportedly fired tear gas. Initial reports say at least 70 people have arrested and the police tore apart the protest camp.

    While the Daily Pennsylvanian covered arrests in Philly:

    Occupy Philadelphia saw its first sets of handcuffs last weekend.

    Fifteen people who had participated in the protest were arrested Sunday for blocking 8th Street near Race Street. Those arrests represented the first since the protest began in early October. According to the Division of Public Safety, none of them were Penn students.

    In contrast, no arrests were made Friday when about 500 activists assembled inside and outside Huntsman Hall, where United States House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) would have spoken had he not canceled earlier that day.

    The Daily Penn has an interactive map of arrests across the US as well.


    Democracy Now did have a bit of good news about Occupy Albany:

    In Albany, New York, protesters are continuing to camp across the street from the New York State Capitol. On Sunday, local police refused to remove the protesters from the park in defiance of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the city’s mayor. One police official said, "These people were not causing trouble. The bottom line is the police know policing, not the governor and not the mayor."

    This is why I don't understand the Occupy Baltimore stance against calling the police. Why antagonize union people that could become an ally, or at least protect you from adversaries? From Occupy Baltimore's website, City Sets Deadline for Occupy Baltimore Dispersal:

    Occupy Baltimore has been peacefully gathering in McKeldin Square on
    the corner of Pratt & Light Streets since October 4th, 2011.

    The City of Baltimore Parks & Recreation Dept has refused their request for a permit to legally occupy this space, and has responded to their permit request with a set of unreasonable demands - including a limit of 2 people overnight, and limiting the group to a small area in the corner of the park. Furthermore, they have given the group an eviction deadline of Wednesday Oct 26th to be in compliance with these demands, which would essentially end their movement.

    Comments

    First, there were townhall meeting were tea-baggers had an agenda and refused to allow or consider people with differing opinions.

    Then there were other meetings and rallies where tea-baggers began showing up with guns as if firearms were necessary show of force.

    From TPM, Josh writes ...

    Darren Huff on the witness stand in his trial for attempting armed citizens arrest of local judges and court officers in Tennessee over President Obama’s birth certificate.

    Try to mount an armed takeover of the local courthouse because President Obama is an impostor president and suddenly everyone’s up in arms.

    If there ever was a clear intent to change the government by force, I believe the tea-baggers fit the MO. They refuse to accept others might have a differing opinion than their own and have every right to be seen and heard as guarentteed by the very Constitution they hold so dearly.

    I have been of the opinion the GOP has latched itself to this tea-bagger/christian movement like a surfer looking for the big wave ... they're in it for the ride. If they do get the big one, they'll be the Big Kahuna that no one can contest until the next big wave occurs. In the meantime, they'll put up as many barriers to cut down the possibility of another one ever occuring again.

    In other words, they're aiming for one party rule with a brown shirt public base as their enforcers ...

    "... To 'keep the peace' and maintain law and order, the Nazi State Police (better known as the Brown Shirts) roamed the streets beating up those who openly opposed Hitler ..."

    I believe we're on the brink of internal political warfare being waged in the public square involving citizens of differing political flavors. It's no different than the religious warfare that had occured in Europe during the time of our revolution and the writings of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

    The problem is ... the GOPer's are all for it if it will give them lock-tight control over the governement. Kinda reminds me of what I was taught about how communism worked back in the 60's.