dagblog - Comments for "Occupy Baltimore Begins"

I think this was filmed after

Donal — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:51:16 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

I think this was filmed after I went back to work:

Kory made it on youtube:

Donal — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:35:33 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

Kory made it on youtube:

In The Sun (which BTW is

Donal — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:40:18 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

In The Sun (which BTW is moving to a paywall scheme next week):

Some are out of work. Some can't afford to visit a doctor. Others are sick of corporate greed. Most blame financial institutions for the tumbling economy. They think the rich are trampling on the poor and middle class and getting away with it.

They're fed up, and they're willing to camp out in downtown Baltimore to voice their complaints.

Protesters staging Baltimore's version of Occupy Wall Street converged on the Inner Harbor on Tuesday, bringing an array of grievances but one common theme — corporate America and government have bankrupted the country and their pocketbooks.

At 10 p.m., up to 125 people gathered at McKeldin Square, far from the hundreds who had signed up on Facebook, far from the numbers seen in New York, where the movement started and where police have arrested scores over the past several days. The protests there have turned confrontational.

Earlier in the day, up to 50 people gathered. The protesters, many holding hand-painted signs, said that if nothing else, the outdoor sit-in — which organizers hope will draw hundreds more over the next few days — gives people a chance to vent.

"He said he didn't expect

Richard the Electrician — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:23:09 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

"He said he didn't expect trouble, wasn't there to make trouble, and in fact the group had committed to a peaceful demonstration, but he was aware that in times of change, trouble sometimes happens anyway. (So I slugged him.)"

I'm still laughing. That is a truly hilarious line.

A fellow wearing a LaRouche

artappraiser — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:19:04 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

A fellow wearing a LaRouche breadboard

Sometimes it seems to me that they somehow manage to know about every demonstration going on everywhere about anything and have someone show up there pronto. Just goes to show you how cults can be a pretty efficient method of operation.

I think it is a cumulative

Richard Day — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:43:17 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

I think it is a cumulative thing. These gatherings are being mentioned all over the web, all over cable.

And Shorty Bloomberg is pissed.

If it were not for the injuries, it would all be good.

I have no idea what could result from all of this unless a hundred thousand showed up on Wall Street.

And the problem of protesting

artappraiser — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:16:54 +0000

In reply to Sharon Astyk blogged a

And the problem of protesting the thing you depend upon is more so in NYC than in probably anyplace else. Facts are that while teh Wall Street doesn't pay federal taxes in an amount to anyone's liking except themselves, what they pay to NYC does make up a big big part of the NYC government coffers. Without tourist taxes and them, NYC would be in deep shit. I been here a few decades and have seen a couple cycles of this happening: if it's a bad bonus year on Wall Street, the local government has deficit problems. NYC very much depends on that money and even plans its budgets with their fortunes in mind.

To be clear, I'm not offering an opinion on the protests, just saying Astyk's point is more so in NYC than anywhere else. Maybe that doesn't matter.

Edit to add one thing: this might be why attendance is not that contagious in NYC but could be better elsewhere.

Sharon Astyk blogged a

Donal — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:54:42 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

Sharon Astyk blogged a dissenting opinion in, Don't Feed the Zombies: The Problem of Protesting the Thing You Depend On:

A number of readers have asked me what I think about the Wall Street protests. In general I think public protest is usually a good thing, and I'm pleased to see demonstrations in favor of good things like corporate accountability and against bad things like climate change. I think there are plenty of reasons for political activism in our country, and am always pleased by it.

On the other hand, do I think that this is the beginning of something profound and important? I can't say for sure, but I would guess not. Protesting Wall Street isn't a bad idea - but there's a fundamental problem in marching and demonstrating against something you are wholly dependent upon. ...

Standing against Wall Street and calling them out to justify their implication in the political process and in issues like climate change is great - except that Wall Street gets its money in large part from, well, us. An economy that depends for 70% of its worth on consumer spending is not one in which one can look entirely to the powerful abstract evil of "corporations" but to the specific evil of that fact that all of us depend for food, clothing and shelter on those institutions we claim to deplore.

This is the same problem that leads those who protest middle-eastern oil wars to drive their cars to the demonstrations, to those who protest coal plants writing their angry blog posts on grid, coal powered laptops, and any number of other hypocrisies. Now hypocrisy itself is not evil, and it is generally inevitable - none of us can live here without implication in a larger economic system - all of us are complicit.

First of all... First I saw

tmccarthy0 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:16:35 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore Begins

First of all...

First I saw a large group of people doing jumping jacks. That turned out to be Health City.

At first I thought you were describing Seattle!

Then this:

I felt like saying, "Please don't misspell morons."

Hahahahaha.

Then you killed me off with the description of the kid in his woven shirt and no pants I almost couldn't continue I was laughing way to hard.